This essay is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1342622
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1342622
How about the rampant voter suppression orchestrated by one side. And the Prez using his control over the post office to sit on votes. And the nefarious other activities, many we don’t even know yet, to turn the whole of government into his re-election machine beginning on his Inauguration Day.
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Interesting article, thank you. I live outside of NYC. I spent multiple evenings making phone calls into PA prior to Tuesday. I also went to New Hope PA one weekend and knocked on doors. One evening there were over 500 people from all over the country making calls with the Dem organization I was with. When I knocked on doors, there were many, many folks in town checking into Dem HQ for their voting lists and walking orders. I don’t feel that numbers, at least in the way I participated, was an issue. In fact, the app I used for my door knocking had a history of contact for every voter. I did not check all of them, but I do remember that many had over 20 contacts listed, either mailings, phone calls, texts, or individual contact. I have no idea what the Republicans did. The Biden campaign was really on this stuff, so that was not an issue.
Polling however, is an issue. I know I never answer a phone call that I do not know, ever. I wait for a voicemail message, and then return the call, if needed. Cell phones have changed the game. I am not sure how you address that, but it does require some new approaches. Also, in this era of polarization, many people will never reveal anything about their political preferences to a stranger, no matter their political leanings. Clearly, the pollsters need a total re-boot. Listening to any of them until they prove themselves in the next election is a fool’s errand.
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Thoughtful comments. Welcome.
Welcome to our little club of doom!
What about 270 to 268 - Is that outside the window of litigation ?? That’s what it’s looking like at 3pm PST, with Biden just one Nevada away from 270. (If you count Michigan for Biden - seems some sites have called it and others put it back to leaning for Biden). Please release us from this long national nightmare.
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I don’t think he’s talking about electoral vote counts. He’s talking about state vote counts. He’s suggesting by his count that no state getting Biden to 270 will have a margin close enough that any amount of litigation will change the outcome in Trump’s favor. Obviously, we haven’t seen the results yet, but that’s a different issue to what you’re asking and I don’t think he addresses it in the article.
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First, as we’ve seen time and time again - if Repubs accuse someone of something, it’s a safe bet that they are guilty of that very thing.
Now the case of Drumpf - he and his ilk openly cheated in the weeks leading up to the election. Shutting down USPS, closing polling sites, purging voter rolls. He even told us he was doing it to prevent voting. No ifs ands or buts about it. Openly undermining free and fair elections. There should be a law…
Ponder this - If he openly confessed to all of this, how else did they cheat? Assuming they used all the tricks from 2016 and then some, it will be interesting to see if CISA shares any of their discoveries.
BTW, all that cheating, and the mf still lost. So if you’re down about the non-landslide, remember that it probably was.
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There are constitutional reasons that Democrats can’t protect against this. I agree with you that what conservatives in both parties have done over the last century and what Trump did in the last 4 years exist in opposition to a functioning democratic system, but unfortunately its the one that we inherited.
The question is given the present reality, how do we find maximum success. We did it in 2008 and I’d argue that all the same forces were in play starting in 2000, but they were less obvious and more competent.
We need a better system of voter conversion/activation and it doesn’t look like tripling the amount of text messages and phone banking does it. I’d equally argue that stadium rallies like Bernie did arent effective either.
People really aren’t giving Omaha it’s due here.
The flaws in relying on computing technology to take the place of human interaction are legion in many areas of our dis-function. Cubical isolation in workplaces, individual isolation in so-called “social media” where fake personas are not only possible, but common place; and finally, “reality shows” that are completely staged have created the society we live in today. There is a lot of re-evaluation that needs to be done before this country can go forward.
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Something to consider: Facebook and Twitter know far more reliable information about citizens opinions than the polling industrial complex. Their data is so good they are able to ensure we live in a bubble of our own self-confirming information feeds.
First, very few people now answer their phones when pollsters call.
Second, very few people actually make a call, 90% or more text.
I know I do not pickup the phone, my cell is actually in another room so usually I never hear the ring. Additionally, I use a screening service and have recorded a message simply stating; leave name, organization, phone number, and the reason for the call, I then go on and say without the requested info I will NEVER return the call. The call is translated, sometimes hilariously, into a text message. 99.9% hangup recording zilch. If a polling organization called I never got a message so of course would never return the call, their loss. A fix would be to leave a message as requested with a requested callback window, a better fix is to send the requested info in a text with a callback request.
I would love to see Trump win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College, just to see how the GOP reacts with the shoe on the other foot!
Though I really only want to see Biden win and i don’t care how.