Here’s How the Election Deniers Are Performing in the Polls—and Why
Plus, From Dog Whistle to Rebel Yell...
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WILLIAM SALETAN: Here’s How the Election Deniers Are Performing in the Polls—and Why.
In several crucial states, candidates who have claimed or suggested that the 2020 election was stolen are close to becoming governors. In Arizona, Republican Kari Lake is narrowly leading Democrat Katie Hobbs. In Wisconsin, Republican Tim Michels is within half a percentage point of Gov. Tony Evers. And in Michigan, the last four polls put challenger Tudor Dixon within six points of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
If these candidates were to win on Nov. 8, they’d control the certification of 36 pivotal Electoral College votes in 2024. If they were to be joined by Doug Mastriano, who trails in Pennsylvania but is polling above 40 percent, they’d control 55 electoral votes. Together, they could deliver the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump, who is polling neck and neck in a hypothetical rematch with Joe Biden.
How is this happening? What the hell is going on?
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THEODORE R. JOHNSON: From Dog Whistle to Rebel Yell.
With the midterms just weeks away, MAGA Republicans have been busy playing up racial stereotypes and hurling invective. During a Trump rally in Nevada on Oct. 8, Senator Tommy Tuberville declared in a frenetic ramble that Democrats are “pro-crime” and that black Americans are “the people that do crime.” Not to be eclipsed, the next day Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told a crowd in Arizona that “Joe Biden’s 5 million illegal aliens are on the verge of replacing you . . . replacing your culture”—echoing the central premise of the conspiratorial “Great Replacement” theory.
The crudeness of MAGA race rhetoric starts at the top: Donald Trump leapt into politics by becoming the chief proselytizer of birtherism, falsely asserting that Barack Obama is not an American citizen. He began his campaign in 2015 by saying Mexican immigrants to the United States are mostly drug dealers and rapists. He continued as president to make racist remarks, including notorious comments about “shithole countries” sending immigrants to America and about how the black and brown congresswomen of “The Squad” should “go back” to the countries they came from (even though all but one were born in the United States). Trump’s references to COVID-19 as the “kung flu” and the “Chinese virus” were no fluke, either; he described Elaine Chao—who served as his transportation secretary and is married to Mitch McConnell—as the senator’s “China loving wife, Coco Chow!”
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Friday! The weekend is here! And it was so, so good to see so many of you last night at our first live event, which was a smashing success.
I have lots of favorite stories, but my favorite it my first one. I’ve been to a lot of these sorts of events back at TWS. And the news-heavy demo tends to skew older. It just makes a lot of sense. But this was the first time we had a lot of our audience, not just locally, in a room. As I waited for a drink, a chatted with some folks my age and while I didn’t want to be seen as preening, I didn’t do the whole “thanks for coming” thing. And I was asked “what brought you here?” Well, work!
But while a whole lot of work went into making last night a success, it sure didn’t feel like work. It was a blast. To put names with faces, talk about email exchanges we’ve had about everything from Capitol Hill, to baseball, to how you can avoid 270 by taking U.S. 522… The content last night was wonderful, but what really made it special was meeting all of you. So, from us, thank you. Based on last night’s success, I hope we’ll do another one of these events soon.
It was also good to be back in the office again, to catch up with colleagues old and newish.
One cool thing… Since the beginning of the pandemic, which snuffed out my favorite bar, I haven’t been back to Post Pub, where I spent a lot of time taking interns and sources and colleagues to lunch. I wrote about it for Washingtonian when it closed.
The previous owners were kind enough to give us a booth when TWS was snuffed out, and the new owners moved it, and it helped make my day.
I don’t go into D.C. enough, but maybe, eventually, we can get a Bulwark booth!
How are things going for Paul Ryan? Apparently not great.
Whoopsie! The Ye takeover of Parler seems to be going apace, and hastily.
Don’t mess with the special master. Be careful what you wish for, team Trump.
Bannon to prison… But not just yet.
Testimony time? We’ll see, the clock is ticking on Trump’s subpoena.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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