Redistricting has zero (or near zero, there might be some turnout related effect) effect on electoral college results which are all determined by statewide elections. I don't know enough about third party voter patterns to say if it would help Republicans or Democrats in any particular state, but I doubt it would flip a place like Texas (it would mean that the third party voters would have to break heavy for Democrats over Republicans as their subsequent choices).
not only did she dismantle his 1st retort, she went ahead and destroyed his likely response as well just cause
Not true. Need to use 2nd order thinking. Legislators can suppress the votes, which they have been doing to gain an upper hand. It's legal cheating. And if this crazy independent legislative theory gets the nod from the SC, it becomes legal stealing.
A glimpse into what we would face if dip$hit is re-elected... We Don’t Have to Speculate About Trump’s Next Term Ever since the U.S. Senate failed to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection and disqualify him from running for president again, a lot of people, myself included, have been warning that a second Trump term could bring about the extinction of American democracy. Essential features of the system, including the rule of law, honest vote tallies, and orderly succession, would be at risk. Today, however, we can do more than just speculate about how a second Trump term would unfold, because the MAGA movement has been telegraphing its plans in some detail. In a host of ways—including the overt embrace of illiberal foreign leaders; the ruthless behavior of Republican elected officials since the 2020 election; Trump allies’ elaborate scheming, as uncovered by the House’s January 6 committee, to prevent the peaceful transition of power; and Trump’s own actions in the waning weeks of his presidency and now as ex-president—the former president and his allies have laid out their model and their methods. Begin with the model. Viktor Orbán has been the prime minister of Hungary twice. His current tenure began in 2010. He is not a heavy-handed tyrant; he has not led a military coup or appointed himself maximum leader. Instead, he follows the path of what he has called “illiberal democracy.” Combining populist rhetoric with machine politics, he and his party, Fidesz, have rotted Hungarian democracy from within by politicizing media regulation, buying or bankrupting independent media outlets, appointing judges who toe the party line, creating obstacles for opposition parties, and more. Hungary has not gone from democracy to dictatorship, but it has gone from democracy to democracy-ish. Freedom House rates it only partly free. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s ratings show declines in every democratic indicator since Fidesz took power. The MAGA movement has studied Orbán and Fidesz attentively. Hungary is where Tucker Carlson, the leading U.S. conservative-media personality (who is sometimes mentioned as a possible presidential contender), took his show for a week of fawning broadcasts. Orbán is the leader whom the Conservative Political Action Conference brought in as a keynote speaker in August. He told the group what it loves to hear: “We cannot fight successfully by liberal means.” Trump himself has made clear his admiration for Orbán, praising him as “a strong leader and respected by all.” ... First, install toadies in key positions. ... Second, intimidate the career bureaucracy. ... Third, co-opt the armed forces. ... Fourth, bring law enforcement to heel. ... In his first term, both of Trump’s attorneys general bowed to him in some respects but stood up to him when it mattered most: ... That now changes. ... Fifth, weaponize the pardon. ... Sixth, the final blow: defy court orders. Naturally, the president’s corrupt and lawless actions incite a blizzard of lawsuits. ... Ultimately, however, matters come to a head. He loses on appeal and faces court orders to stop what he is doing. At that point, he simply ignores the judgments. A famous precedent suggests that he would get away with it. ... With reelection in the balance, defying the courts was a bridge the president did not cross in his first term. ... Yet having been reinstated and never again to face voters, Trump now has no compunctions. The courts’ orders, he claims, are illegitimate machinations of Democrats and the “deep state.” Ordered to reinstate an illegally fired inspector general, the Justice Department nonetheless bars her from the premises. Ordered to rescind an improperly adopted regulation, the Department of Homeland Security continues to enforce it. Ordered to provide documents to Congress, the National Archives shrugs. At first, the president’s lawlessness seems shocking. Yet soon, as Republicans defend it, the public grows acclimated. To salvage what it can of its authority, the Supreme Court accommodates Trump more than the other way around. It becomes gun-shy about crossing him. And so we arrive: With the courts relegated to advisory status, the rule of law no longer obtains. In other words, America is no longer a liberal democracy, and by this point, there is not much anyone can do about it. In the first term, resignation threats acted as a brake on Trump. They thwarted the Jeffrey Clark scheme, for instance. A resignation threat by the CIA director deterred Trump from installing a hack as her deputy. A resignation threat by the White House counsel deterred him from firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Now, however, the president has little to fear politically, because he will never again appear on a ballot. If officials threaten to resign, he can replace or circumvent them. Their departures may slow him down but cannot stop him. Besides, he finds ways to remind his subordinates that angering him is a risky business. Noisy resignations will result in harassment by his supporters (the sorts of torments that hundreds of honest election officials have endured) and—you never know!—maybe by federal prosecutors and the IRS, too. Might he go so far as to turn even Republicans in Congress against him? Unlikely. We should rationally assume that if Republicans protected him after he and his supporters attempted a coup, they will protect him no matter what else he does. Republicans are now so thoroughly complicit in his misdeeds that anything that jeopardizes him politically or legally also jeopardizes them. He already showed in his first term that he can and will stonewall congressional investigations. Unless Democrats drive Republicans into the political wilderness, overriding his veto (which requires a two-thirds vote of both chambers) is nigh-on impossible. Impeachment no longer frightens or even concerns him, because he has weathered two attempts and come back triumphantly. Of course, there are congressional hearings, contempt-of-court orders, outraged New York Times editorials. Trump needn’t care. The MAGA base, conservative media, and plenty of Republicans in Congress defend their leader with whatever untruths, conspiracy theories, and what-abouts are needed. Fox News and other pro-Trump outlets play the role of state media, even if out of fear more than enthusiasm. Meanwhile, MAGA forces are busy installing loyalists as governors, election officials, district attorneys, and other crucial state and local positions. They do not succeed in every attempt, but over the course of four years, they gather enough corrupt officials to cast doubt on the legitimacy of any election they lose. They invent creative ways to obstruct anyone who challenges them politically. And they are not shy about encouraging thuggish supporters to harass and menace “traitors.” And so, after four years? America has crossed Freedom House’s line from “free” to “partly free.” The president’s powers are determined by what he can get away with. His opponents are harried, chilled, demoralized. He is term-limited, but the MAGA movement has entrenched itself. And Trump has demonstrated in the United States what Orbán proved in Hungary: The public will accept authoritarianism, provided it is of the creeping variety. “We should not be afraid to go against the spirit of the age and build an illiberal political and state system,” Orbán declared in 2014. Trump and his followers openly plan to emulate Orbán. We can’t say we weren’t warned. [unedited lengthy article at the link in headline]
But they can pay for a vanity wall? Oh no, let’s take it from the m Liees. That’s what will happen if Biden is re-elected
State legislative districts are not the same as Congressional districts. State legislatures can suppress votes (or determine the election rules for federal elections if the independent legislature theory is upheld/enforced/whatever the proper verb is here), but they are not affected by redistricting of federal congressional districts. Nor should the federal government have any say in state legislative districts, as they are purely a state issue. I think ranked choice voting makes all the sense in the world, and would support it 100% on both the state and federal level, regardless of outcome. People shouldn't be put in a situation of choosing only the lesser of two evils (I feel for my swing state peeps), and instead should be able to both vote for who they want most, but also hedge against who they really don't want. I'm "fortunate" to live in a place where my vote is meaningless, so I vote for whoever I want even when I know that my vote will have no impact on the election. I really feel for the people that vote in places where voting for an alternative party could really swing things.
Trump has made btching about the election being stolen a new political tactics Basically a toddler flipping the table when losing at a board game.
America 1st capitalism by instituting tariffs should be the rule of the day. It levels the playing field.
We will see about this. If somebody asked me I wouldn't tell them my true thoughts or I would probably tell them I'm not interested in participating in the poll. Who took the poll? CNN or MSNBC?
I could care less about the politics in this. If this goes down then I really cant wait until a GOP wins the POTUS. Dems will live to rue this.
