GOP Senate Lemmings Headed For Cliff

 

There was a ton of info in the latest Change Research poll of new and infrequent voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that was released yesterday. "New and infrequent" but this year 84% of them say they are definitely voting. This is going to be the highest turnout election in our lifetimes and Trump is the motivating factor-- mostly antipathy towards him. Biden leads by 49-37% among these voters, who went for Hillary Clinton by 35-30%. Undecided voters are largely negative about both candidates, but they’re much more strongly negative about Trump than Biden. Biden leads among this cohort of voters in all 6 of these swing states-- 50-36% in Arizona, 52-37% in Florida, 58-31% in Michigan, 47-38% in North Carolina, 49-39% in Pennsylvania and 43-41% in Wisconsin. More factoids:

• Biden leads 44-16 among Gary Johnson voters
• Biden leads 42-17 among Jill Stein voters
• Biden leads 47-32 among those who did not vote in 2016
• A plurality of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe every single conspiracy theory and falsehood Change Research asked about, although more voters believe Trump is trying to suppress the vote, and that Russia is interfering, than that Democrats are trying to rig the election
• 5% of these voters would take a vaccine as soon as possible, even if it has not gone through standard safety procedures

And Republicans up and down the ballot are circling the drain with Trump. The latest poll in Arizona how's Mark Kelly ousting GOP incumbent Martha McSally by 10 points 52-42%. The latest poll in Maine has Sara Gideon beating GOP incumbent Susan Collins by 12 points 54-42%. The latest poll of Colorado voters shows them picking Hickenlooper over incumbent Cory Gardner by 10 points, 52-42%. Even in beet red South Carolina the latest polling shows Democratic lobbyist Jaime Harrison tied (48-48%) with Trump-whisperer Lindsey Graham!

Republican senators may know they're marching over the cliff but these lemmings are not breaking ranks with Trump. Eric Lutz wrote yesterday at Vanity Fair that Senate Republicans still seem dead set on doing Trump's dirty work. Especially Wisconsin sociopathic reactionary Ron Johnson, who has already announced his 2022 lame-duckiness.

I doubt there's a more blatant and preposterous hack in the Senate than Ron Johnson. Ginning up a fake investigation of Hunter Biden's moronic adventures in Ukraine, Johnson said, "I would think it would certainly help Donald Trump win reelection." He's been running around telling anyone who will listen that he has an October surprise to tarnish Biden coming out of his Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee fishing expedition.

Following a vote Wednesday morning, Johnson will expand his panel’s Crossfire Hurricane probe. The committee authorized dozens of subpoenas to be issued to Obama era officials, including Bruce Ohr and Andrew McCabe-- two frequent Trump targets over their role in the Russia investigation that consumed the first two years of his presidency. But another vote, to issue subpoenas in the Burisma probe, was canceled after Mitt Romney slammed that inquiry as a “political exercise” aimed at taking down Biden.

“It’s not the legitimate role of government, for Congress or for taxpayer expense, to be used in an effort to damage political opponents,” Romney said. “I do believe it's very important that the committees of Congress, and ours in particular, not fall into an increasing pattern that we're seeing, which is using taxpayer dollars and the power of Congress to do political work. That's the role of campaigns.”

Romney, the only Republican who voted to convict during Trump’s impeachment trial earlier this year, had previously expressed concerns that Johnson’s Burisma probe was being driven by partisan politics rather than oversight. On Wednesday, he said recent remarks by the committee leader “have only confirmed that perspective.” He was likely referring to comments Johnson made earlier this week during a video conference with Republicans, in which he promised to release a report that would hurt Biden politically. “Stay tuned,” the Wisconsin Republican said, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “In about a week we’re going to learn a whole lot more of Vice President Biden’s unfitness for office.”

Of course, there’s been no evidence that Biden did anything wrong in Ukraine, and Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee, has railed against Johnson for “knowingly advancing discredited claims that our own Intelligence Community has warned are part of a Russian attack on our democracy.” Nevertheless, Johnson has continued to promise a report by election day November 3.

With his sharp rebuke of the Burisma probe, Romney effectively got the vote to issue subpoenas in the Burisma probe scrapped. But the Utah Senator did vote in favor of dozens of subpoenas in the committee’s investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Russia inquiry, which the president and his allies have claimed was a “witch hunt” by deep state officials who sought to undermine Barack Obama’s successor. Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, identified procedural missteps by federal law enforcement in the early days of the investigation, but found no evidence of political bias. Still, Attorney General William Barr and other Trump allies have been investigating their boss’s investigators, particularly since Biden, the vice president under Obama, became the Democratic nominee. Romney expressed support for a narrow inquiry by Johnson’s committee into the errors outlined by Horowitz, as long as it “does not fall in the realm of rank political undertaking.” But, in the hands of a loyalist like Johnson, whose stated mission is to damage Biden and help Trump, it’s hard to imagine such a probe being anything but that.

Yesterday afternoon, Johnson announced he has COVID-19 and is going into quarantine. Pray that the October surprise isn't the one he was plotting. Samantha Bee has a November surprise to discuss:

The Republican Party Has Allowed Itself To Die And Be Reborn As The Trumpist Party

Gangsta President by Nancy Ohanian

Two Republicans who don't know each other, diverged on their reactions to the end of the impeachment saga. Trump's top Florida butt-wipe Matt Gaetz (lately on thin ice with the Trumpists himself ) demanded Mitt Romney be thrown out of the GOP, implying strongly that the GOP is simply a vehicle for Trumpism and nothing more. Vermont's Republican governor, Phil Scott, a mainstream conservative doesn't agree and on Thursday, while Gaetz was sucking Trump's ass, he said Trump should have been removed from office by the Senate. Scott: "I believe he abused his position of power. Withholding some of those funds is inappropriate and I believe, as Sen. Romney did, that he shouldn’t be in office." [Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, also strongly implied that Trump was guilty and should be evicted from the White House. Speaking yesterday at the State Solutions conference, he said "I don’t think Congress did their job. But the American people will, and I have more faith in the American people to make that decision in November, and that’s what they're going to get to do."]

Yesterday, back in Maine, one of Trump's arch-enablers, Senator Susan Collins said "I’m obviously not in favor of any kind of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence." Obviously? Who knows with you? What a phony! There may be other Republican office holders who agree with Governors Hogan and Scott, but they're not speaking out. The vast majority of Republican voters are now part of the Trumpist cult and they are abiding no disobedience to The Leader. And The Leader is now making it clear to the party, that those who fail to toe the line will pay for their infidelity. And Romney is on the very top of his list (replacing Bolton, who is now #2 on the Trumpanzee enemies list).

On Thursday, Trump announced he will be unleashing miners and drillers to devastate what's left of Utah's pristine national monuments (Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante).




But that's nothing compared to what Trump has in mind for Romney personally. "The only one that voted against us was a guy that can't stand the fact that he ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of the presidency," he growled on Thursday. The the SMTT (Social Media Trumpanzee Thugs), led by Trumpanzee, Jr., launched an all-out offensive against Romney online, of the sort McKay Coppins wrote about in his Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign for The Atlantic this week. Jr. called him a pussy on Instagram and asserted that "He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he's joining them now. He's now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the @GOP." He and his fascist gang have been all over Twitter inciting their cult followers to spread the hate.

Josh Dawsey reported at the Washington Post that the Trump campaign that Trump plans to finance a primary challenger against Romney in 2024 and to pressure donors to shut off the financial spigots. Trumpists also say they will make sure none of Romney's legislation will be passed in the Senate. A small handful of Republicans-- basically the #NeverTrumpers-- are pushing back. Republicans For the Rule of Law, are running this ad defending Romney:



Friday, Dawsey was joined by Robert Costa and Greg Miller to lay out the parameters of the Trumpist plans for revenge against others Trump sees as his enemies. The first Trump intends to make an example of is Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated National Security Council official who testified against him during the impeachment hearings. Vindman "is being reassigned to a position at the Defense Department, taking a key figure from the investigation out of the White House... Trump is eager to make a symbol of the Army officer, who had already requested a transfer himself.

Trump made clear on Thursday that he is ready to make his impeachment a key part of his reelection strategy and highlight his anger at Democratic leaders who led the charge to remove him from office, as well as Republicans who did not embrace the defense of his actions even though he was acquitted by the Senate on Wednesday.

At an event in the East Room of the White House, he called Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a “horrible person” and derided Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) as a flip-flopping Republican with “no sign of principles” whose vote to convict Trump on abuse of power charges was born not out of principle but bitterness over his failed 2012 presidential bid.

And he kicked off the day at the National Prayer Breakfast by questioning the two lawmakers’ claims about the role religion plays in their public lives.

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong. Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so,” he told a room full of religious leaders.

Trump and his allies are considering doing more than just launching verbal fusillades at his perceived enemies over impeachment as the decision regarding Vindman shows. Some of the president’s aides are discussing whether to remove or reassign several administration officials who testified during the impeachment inquiry, according to aides and advisers who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. Meanwhile, Senate committee chairmen are ramping up their investigation into Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine while his father, Joe, was vice president.

“Lieutenant Colonel Col. Vindman and his twin brother-- right?-- we had some people that-- really amazing,” Trump said during an event at the White House, mocking the national security counsel aide who testified during hearings investigating the White House’s actions toward Ukraine.

Trump has complained about Vindman in private, mocking the way he spoke, wore his uniform and conducted himself during the impeachment inquiry, according to people familiar with his remarks. He has discussed with aides removing other national security officials who testified or cooperated with House Democrats, with Trump calling them disloyal and asking whether he should further cull his national security staff after impeachment. He remains incensed that so many people in his administration testified last year, according to allies of the president. No final decisions have been made on what to do with the officials, these people said.

But the White House is not hiding from the fact it would like to see Democrats and Romney feel some pain for their role in his impeachment.

Stephanie Grisham, the president’s press secretary, said making people pay for their conduct was a reason Trump held an event Thursday in the East Room of the White House, which Trump later said was not a speech but a “celebration” of his acquittal by the Senate a day earlier.

Advisers to the president said Trump is already thinking about a scorched-earth nine-month campaign and how Democrats might attack him next-- and how he can land punches of his own.

“He’s keenly aware of the fact that the Democrats only have one play: to destroy him personally every single day… until November,” said Jason Miller, an informal adviser and former campaign aide.

Additionally, Trump sees it as valuable to frame previous investigations as witch hunts because he expects more probes, Miller and other Trump allies said, and the president has told his aides that Democrats will continue to investigate his finances, his Cabinet officials and his interactions with foreign leaders.

Trump was not in a reflective mood about his conduct on Thursday.

...Trump has denied any wrongdoing and-- despite some Republican senators calling his action wrong even if not impeachable-- he has shown no remorse.

That was evident from the time he left the White House on Thursday morning on his way to the prayer breakfast being held at a nearby hotel.

He rewrote parts of his speech for the event, scribbling en route, to highlight his impeachment and attack his foes at a traditionally staid, nonpartisan affair, according to officials. When Arthur Brooks, a conservative columnist, encouraged guests at the breakfast to “love your enemies” and set aside contempt, Trump pointedly said that he did not concur.

“I don’t know if I agree with you. I don’t know if Arthur is going to like what I’m going to say,” he said, before attacking both Pelosi and Romney from the dais at the Washington Hilton.

His event in the East Room later in the day was part celebration, part tirade as he thanked his supporters and laid into his critics.

“They are vicious and mean, vicious. These people are vicious,” he said of Democrats before focusing specifically on Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), who led the impeachment inquiry.

He brought up Hunter Biden, criticizing his role in Ukraine and mocking him for being discharged from the Navy Reserve after allegedly testing positive for cocaine.

Trump plans to repeatedly bring up the younger Biden on the campaign trail, according to White House officials, hoping to use it against Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and to argue that Democrats are corrupt. Neither Biden has been charged with any wrongdoing by Ukrainian officials.

Trump has continued to suggest to aides that his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, could have valuable information and that Hunter Biden resonates with the general public.

He may get help on this topic from Senate Republicans.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the head of the Secret Service, two Senate committee chairmen wrote that they are “reviewing potential conflicts of interest posed by the business activities of Hunter Biden and his associates during the Obama administration, particularly with respect to his business activities in Ukraine and China.”

Sens. Charles E. Grassley (IA) and Ron Johnson (WI) said they are seeking information on any instances when Hunter Biden traveled with a protective security detail during the time his father was vice president, as well as when he flew on government planes.

Trump has been convinced by polling and rallies in recent months that relentlessly attacking Pelosi is key to his reelection success, and he has shown flashes of anger when discussing her, according to aides.

Republican lawmakers and Trump have also discussed ways to exact revenge on Schiff for his leading role in the president’s impeachment, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Some White House, campaign and congressional officials are pushing Trump to move on from talking about impeachment or attacking Romney, the lone Republican to vote for his conviction. RNC and campaign officials said they were happy Thursday that Trump did not seem to have a specific plan to take on Romney, even as the White House lashed into him in a long page of talking points.

“There’s a lot of anger there. But I think this, too, shall pass,” said Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), a Trump ally.

One top ally suggested the president should go to Florida, golf for a few days and bask in the sun with his friends-- or turn his focus to attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) or attempting to sow division among the Democratic 2020 nominees.

...But Trump was unable to hide his anger in public on Thursday and it’s unclear when or if he will stop focusing on his impeachment and investigations into his administration.

“We’ve been going through this now for over three years. It was evil. It was corrupt. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars,” he said in the East Room. “And this should never, ever happen to another president, ever.”