I traditionally have a thread heading to the election, here we go.

Get out the popcorn for this one.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce next week he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The governor's official entry into the Republican primary field will put him head-to-head with former President Donald Trump, the party's current frontrunner for the nomination. Trump has already spent months treating DeSantis as his primary campaign rival, thrashing him with torrents of criticism over his gubernatorial record, his political skills and his personality.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/desantis-plans-to-officially-announce-presidential-run-next-week.html

subee said:

We haven't seen a proper SOTH speech since Obama.  

I never watch it and usually just catch the takeaways so I can't say.  But there was a speech or two where Trump got good reviews.  Biden's recent SOTU seemed to go over well with my social media friends and this one opinion piece (along with others that didn't like it).  As always it can be picked apart and criticized.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/opinions/sotu-speech-biden/index.html

 https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/politics/rnc-trump-takeover-lawyers-election/index.html

The RNC is putting election denying attorneys in place to convince their voters of election nonsense.  This should go well.  They are setting the stage for corruption.  

toomuchbaloney said:

 https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/politics/rnc-trump-takeover-lawyers-election/index.html

The RNC is putting election denying attorneys in place to convince their voters of election nonsense.  This should go well.  They are setting the stage for corruption.  

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I look forward to working to secure our elections and restore confidence in the process.

 

I'm all about election integrity, so by all means let's continue to make sure everyone votes once, every vote is counted, and fine tune the process.  

But it was Trump that destroyed confidence in the process for a lot of republicans.  The rest of us have faith that it wasn't proven flawed or rigged, and believe the results of a process that has been going on for hundreds of years.  Yes, I understand there are cases of voter fraud, but the system is relatively good at picking that up.  Stop your leader from his lies and hold him accountable to the truth.  

 

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-classified-documents-hearing-03-14-24/index.html

The former president is campaigning in Georgia today. 

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238765442/rnc-trump-republicans-whatley-lara-election-integrity-voter-fraud-early-voting

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Shortly after Whatley and Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law who is serving as RNC Co-Chair, stepped into their roles more than 60 people were fired, including senior staff in the political data and communications departments. As NPR reported, the cuts also included staff that ran the committee's community centers, in African American, Asian and Hispanic communities.

In the memo to staff sent later in the week, Whatley pushed back on the notion that those community centers, designed to reach Latino, Black, and Native American voters, were being left behind.

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Whatley also emphasized wanting to enhance RNC programs focusing on early voting, ballot harvesting where legal, absentee ballot and mail-in programs — including continuing the Bank Your Vote campaign, which encourages voters to mail in their ballots early even as Trump casts doubt on the trail about the legitimacy of mail-in voting. These are all areas of voting Republicans have been publicly skeptical and critical of in the past.

The RNC is also staffing up legal counsel related to its election integrity efforts. Whatley announced Christina Bobb, who has served as an attorney for President Trump, will now serve as senior counsel for election integrity.

Bill McGinley, a longtime election attorney who served as Cabinet secretary in the Trump White House, will be assuming the role of outside counsel for election integrity.

Just wait for the election integrity messaging from these "experts". This should be interesting. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4531521-trump-cleans-up-remarks-about-cutting-social-security-medicare/

The republican can candidate is trying to attract voters outside of his cult. That requires that he try to moderate his speech about cutting Medicare and social security.  

toomuchbaloney said:

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238765442/rnc-trump-republicans-whatley-lara-election-integrity-voter-fraud-early-voting

Just wait for the election integrity messaging from these "experts". This should be interesting. 

How do people conjure up a sense of integrity?  If they have no moral compass they can't ever be anything but amoral.  I hope that Lara Trump sings loudly in the office.  That would drive most people away.

toomuchbaloney said:

Just wait for the election integrity messaging from these "experts". This should be interesting. 

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"The RNC's new posture as it relates to this litigation will be an aggressive, proactive effort to ensure that it will be easy to vote and hard to cheat," Whatley explained.

It's all hot air designed to continue the narrative the election was stolen in 2020 and they are doing something about it.  There really isn't much, if anything, they are going to get done to change the voting system in place for the November election.  

It is interesting the focus on early voting, something Trump has said was corrupt.  

Tweety said:

It's all hot air designed to continue the narrative the election was stolen in 2020 and they are doing something about it.  There really isn't much, if anything, they are going to get done to change the voting system in place for the November election.  

It is interesting the focus on early voting, something Trump has said was corrupt.  

They plan to create chaos and confusion about the November election results, it will be easier to cheat for Trump in that fog. That's how fascists work.  

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4535472-lauren-boebert-ken-buck-colorado-reelection/

This is a real conundrum for Boebert.  A carpet bagger's work isn't easy.  

toomuchbaloney said:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4535472-lauren-boebert-ken-buck-colorado-reelection/

This is a real conundrum for Boebert.  A carpet bagger's work isn't easy.  

I'm curious what percentage of her war chest comes from put of state contributors.  90-95 ?  She 's already become persona non grata in Colorado.  

  

  

Thursday:

Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez will not run in N.J. Democratic primary, but may run as an independent

 

While Sunday, Philadelphia Inquirer reporting

New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy suspends her Senate campaign to replace indicted Sen. Menendez

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Murphy said in a video posted to social media that winning the Democratic primary would require her to wage "a very divisive and negative campaign.”

"With Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,” Murphy said.

 

Clears the way for  U.S. Rep. Andy Kim in the  June 4th. Democratic primary. Young, articulate. NJ fighter and image of him helping clean the Capital rotunda after January 6th, 2021 seared in our brains.

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Republicans have their own primary unfolding, featuring businessman Curtis Bashaw, Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former TV news reporter Alex Zdan.