Almost no one expected Donald Trump to win the 2016 presidential election, but his campaign’s strategy to focus on disaffected Midwest voters long abandoned by the Democratic Party leadership paid off in a big way. A majority of voters in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Wisconsin, all pulled the lever in favor of Trump.
To win a second term, Trump is going to need a similar level of success in the Midwest, and it looks as though Minnesota, which has long been thought of as an iron-clad Democratic stronghold, could be a big part of his 2020 strategy — and for good reason. Without Minnesota, the Democratic presidential candidate — regardless of who wins the primary race — would face a nearly insurmountable uphill battle. For example, even if the Democratic challenger were to flip Michigan and Pennsylvania to his or her side, it still wouldn’t be enough to win if Trump were to hold every other state he captured in 2020 and wins in Minnesota. Winning Minnesota would also mean that Trump could lose Florida and Arizona — two states he won in 2016 — and still end up with more than the required 270 electoral votes. Of course, beating the Democratic challenger in Minnesota is easier said than done. No Republican presidential candidate has won in Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972. But Trump is not a “normal” Republican. He only lost Minnesota by a little more than 40,000 votes in 2016. Mitt Romney lost by more than 200,000. And that only tells part of the story. Trump also dramatically outperformed other Republicans running for statewide offices in 2012, 2014 and 2018.Many Republicans concerned about Trump voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson, who received more than 112,000 votes, or conservative Trump critic Evan McMullin, who garnered more than 53,000 votes. It’s unlikely similar candidates will get the same level of support in 2020, which means Trump should have a better shot in Minnesota than he did in 2016. There’s another great reason to believe Trump has a good shot of winning Minnesota: Democrats are increasingly moving away from the policies swing voters in the state have long valued in favor of radical progressivism and even socialism. Democrats have moved so far to the left during the current election cycle that it’s becoming difficult to tell the difference between their party's platform and the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America. Democrats no longer represent the party of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton. If Minnesota’s more moderate Democrats realize that, it could mean huge trouble for whomever the party’s left-wing base chooses to face off against Trump. And there’s a great reason to believe they will take notice thanks in part to freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. To say Omar has had an absolutely disastrous first term in office would be an understatement. Not only has she been plagued by questions about potential violations of campaign finance rules and immigration laws and remarks some have deemed to be anti-Semitic, she has also routinely advocated for some of the most radical, socialistic policies offered in decades — including "Medicare-for-All," the "cancellation" of all student loan debt, and the craziest proposal of all: the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal, the brainchild of fellow socialist radical New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would destroy millions of jobs by completely eliminating the fossil-fuel industry — almost overnight — and forcing people to purchase much more expensive renewable energy. It would also impose other socialist schemes, including basic income programs, a federal jobs guarantee, single-payer health care, a slew of “social justice” programs, and a whole new system of publicly-owned banks. This radical socialist proposal might be a popular idea among elites in parts of the Northeast and on the West Coast, but it isn’t the sort of thing middle-of-the-road Democrats have historically backed in the heart of the Midwest. Earlier in 2019, left-wing Democrats attempted to pass a 100 percent renewable energy mandate, which energy providers in the state would have been forced to comply with by 2050. The destruction of the fossil-fuel industry would be particularly disastrous for Minnesotans. The Center of the American Experiment estimates just a 50 percent renewable energy requirement would cost the state more than $80 billion and nearly 21,000 lost jobs. Despite a massive campaign, the mandate failed on a bipartisan basis in the state’s Senate after Minnesotans, thanks in large part to the work of groups like the Center of the American Experiment, realized just how crushing the new law would be. Such radical policies, mixed with Omar’s far-left views on immigration and her close relationship with socialists like Ocasio-Cortez, have led to a dramatic decline in her popularity nationally and among swing voters, the very people likely to decide the 2020 race in Minnesota and the rest of the Midwest. A July Economist/YouGov poll found that only 25% of Americans said they have a favorable view of Omar, and an internal Democratic poll of likely swing voters — white voters with two years or less of college education — showed just 9 percent support for Omar. Yes, you read that correctly: 9%. This is particularly interesting because, like most states in the Midwest, Minnesota has more non-college-educated white swing voters than many other regions. By the way, the same survey of likely swing voters also found support for socialism is just 18 percent, another good sign for Trump. Omar won her far-left congressional district in 2018 by more than 50 percentage points, earning more than 78% of the vote, so it’s unlikely she’s in any danger of losing her seat in 2020. However, Minnesota-based media reports have suggested her antics have raised doubts among some voters in the state, although by just how much remains to be seen. Democrats might point to preliminary 2020 polling that shows Trump’s approval rating among Minnesotans isn’t high as proof that he is likely to lose the state again, but it’s important to remember pollsters performed terribly in 2016 in the Midwest. For example, the two final surveys conducted in Minnesota prior to the 2016 election (according to Real Clear Politics) showed Trump losing by an average of 9 percentage points. He ended up losing by less than 2. Similarly, the final survey conducted in Wisconsin predicted Trump would lose by 8 percentage points. He won the state. If Trump can paint the 2020 election as a choice between his economic achievements — Minnesota now has the 14th best unemployment rate in the nation — and the radical socialism of Ilhan Omar, it’s very possible Democrats could be in for another very rough election night.
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A New York Times headline about President Trump’s remarks on the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton drew condemnation online-- including some Democratic presidential candidates-- and was subsequently changed late Monday.
The newspaper summarized Trump’s comments, in which he denounced hate and white supremacy, with the headline “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism” on the front page of its first edition. A photograph of Tuesday’s first edition was tweeted out by journalist Nate Silver Monday night and was quickly slammed by critics who accused The Gray Lady of inaccurately representing Trump’s comments.
Some Twitter users threatened to cancel their subscriptions and urged others to do the same. “I canceled my subscription,” tweeted author and CNN contributor Joan Walsh, adding, “I can’t keep rewarding such awful news judgement.” Prominent Democrats in Washington also took aim at the Times, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.“Let this front page serve as a reminder of how white supremacy is aided by - and often relies upon - the cowardice of mainstream institutions,” the freshman congresswoman tweeted. Presidential candidates, many of whom blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the El Paso, Texas, shooting that left at least 22 dead, also decried the headline. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted, “That’s not what happened.” “Lives literally depend on you doing better, NYT. Please do,” wrote Sen. Cory Booker.
A photograph of the Times’ second edition of the front page hours later revealed that the headline had been changed to “Assailing Hate But Not Guns.” Its website also showed a similar headline: “Trump Condemns Bigotry but Doesn’t Call for Major New Guns Laws.” Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy acknowledged in a statement the original headline was problematic. "The original headline was flawed and was changed for all editions of the paper following the first edition," the statement read. "The headline in question never appeared online, only in the first print edition." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-to-visit-el-paso-mass-shooting-site-as-2020-dems-warn-him-to-stay-away
El Paso, Texas, Mayor Dee Margo told reporters on Monday that President Trump will visit the city on Wednesday, even as several prominent Democrats indirectly blamed the president for Saturday's mass shooting there -- with some warning him, in frank terms, to stay away. News of Trump's planned appearance teed up a potentially bitter national political moment just four days after suspected gunman Patrick Crusius, 21, allegedly opened fire at a Walmart and killed 22 people while injuring more than two dozen others. "He is president of the United States," Margo, a Republican, told reporters. "So in that capacity, I will fulfill my obligations as mayor of El Paso and hope that if we are expressing specifics that we can get him to come through for us." The mayor said he is “already getting the emails and the phone calls” from “people with lots of time on their hands," but that his focus remains on his community, not politics. “We’re dealing with a tragedy of 22 people who have perished by the hateful, evil act of a white supremacist,” he said. “I don’t know how we deal with evil. I don’t have a textbook for dealing with it other than the Bible. "I’m sorry. We are going to go through this. The president is coming out. I will meet with the president. I guess for people who have lots of time on their hands, I will deal with the emails and phone calls.” The White House has not confirmed Trump's schedule, or whether he will also visit Dayton, Ohio, where a gunman killed nine people over the weekend. But the Federal Aviation Administration has advised pilots of a presidential visit Wednesday to both El Paso and Dayton. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley told reporters that she had "not gotten a call" about a presidential visit as of late Monday, and didn't have more details. But both before and after Margo's announcement, several Democrats forcefully urged Trump not to visit El Paso. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who represents the district that is home to the Walmart where Saturday’s shooting took place, lashed out at the president on Monday morning -- placing some of the blame for the weekend’s tragedy at his feet. “The president has made my community and my people the enemy,” she told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “He has told the country that we are people to be feared, people to be hated," Escobar continued. "From my perspective, he is not welcome here. He should not come here while we are in mourning.” And Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, urged Margo in a televised interview to "quietly" tell Trump that he is not "welcome" in the city, because of his rhetoric on immigration. Ryan has escalated his language in the last 24 hours, as he struggles to raise his political profile. He tweeted “Fck me” after Trump mistakenly, at one point in his speech, said the Ohio shooting took place in Toledo and not Dayton. For Ryan, the language appeared to be part of a deliberate approach: Earlier Monday, the longshot candidate went on CNN and tore into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying, "Mitch McConnell needs to get off his a-- and do something.” On Sunday, he tweeted: “Republicans need to get their s--- together and stop pandering to the NRA. Period.” 2020 DEMS UNLEASH PROFANE ATTACKS ON TRUMP, REPUBLICANS OVER MASS SHOOTINGS Bernie Sanders also called out the president, saying "I say to President Trump, please stop the racist anti-immigrant rhetoric. Stop the hatred in this country which is creating the kind of violence that we see." In 2017, a far-left Sanders supporter fired upon a Republican congressional baseball practice, critically wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and injuring three others before U.S. Capitol Police took him down. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said the gunman was screaming, "This is for healthcare." Sanders did not take responsibility for that episode. Trump, for his part, on Monday called for reforms at the intersection of mental health and gun laws -- including so-called "red flag laws" to take guns from those deemed a public risk -- in the wake of the back-to-back mass shootings over the weekend, which left at least 31 people dead in total. The Trump administration previously enacted a ban on firearm bump stocks that enable weapons to fire with greater rapidity, like machine guns -- and the ban was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. The move came after a 2017 massacre in Las Vegas, Nevada killed 58 people. In unequivocal terms, the president on Monday also condemned white supremacy, responding to reports that the shooter in El Paso wrote a racist manifesto ahead of the violence. The manifesto specifically said that Trump's rhetoric was not to blame for the shooting, and said the shooter's views "predate" Trump's presidential campaign. Former Vice President Joe Biden falsely suggested after Trump's remarks that Monday was the first time the president had condemned white supremacy. Francis Brennan@FrancisBrennanJoe Biden just claimed on CNN, that today was the first time he had ever heard President Trump condemn white supremacy. THAT IS FALSE. Here are MULTIPLE examples of President Trump condemning white supremacy, going back to 2016. Later, McConnell – a Republican who has been lambasted by Democrats for refusing to allow votes on gun control legislation – said Monday he is willing to consider “bipartisan” solutions in the wake of the mass shootings, though he emphasized that he opposes gun control policies that infringe “on Americans’ constitutional rights.” Democrats have been calling for McConnell to recall Congress from its current recess, which is slated to run to the second week of September, to address the matter. The political fight over Trump's visit came amid a series of rapid-fire developments in the investigations in both El Paso and Dayton. Crusius was booked on capital murder charges, and authorities said Sunday that he is under investigation for alleged domestic terrorism. Officials were also looking into whether hate crime charges are appropriate. El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza said his office will seek the death penalty against the suspect. "The loss of life is so great, we certainly have never seen this in our community. We are a very safe community," he told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. "We pride ourselves on the fact that we're so safe, and certainly this community is rocked, shocked and saddened by what has happened here yesterday." El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said Monday that the gunman got lost in a neighborhood before ending up at Walmart "because, we understand, he was hungry." Allen didn't elaborate. Crusius' hometown is the affluent Dallas suburb of Allen. The police chief said the gun used in the shooting was legally purchased near the suspect's hometown. In his application for a public defender on Monday, Crusius said he has been unemployed for five months, and has no income, assets or expenses. He claimed he has been living with his grandparents. Meanwhile, authorities revealed that the gunman in Ohio rampage, 24-year-old Connor Betts, opened fire outside a bar around 1 a.m. Sunday, killing his adult sister and eight others. Police say he was fatally shot by officers within 30 seconds, and was wearing a mask, bulletproof vest, earplugs and had at least 100 rounds. Authorities provided a dramatic video of officers rushing onto the scene and taking Betts out before he could enter another packed bar. Video Police had not determined a motive for the attack as of Monday evening. Reports linked him to left-wing groups and showed that he apparently supported Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Betts was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, police said. If all of the magazines he had with him were full, which hasn't been confirmed, he would have had a maximum of 250 rounds, said Police Chief Richard Biehl. "It is fundamentally problematic. To have that level of weaponry in a civilian environment is problematic," Biehl added. Of the more than 30 people injured in Ohio, at least 14 had gunshot wounds; others were hurt as people fled, city officials said. Eleven remained hospitalized Monday, Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne said. Still unknown is whether Betts targeted any of the victims, including his 22-year-old sister, Megan, the youngest of the dead. "It seems to just defy believability he would shoot his own sister, but it's also hard to believe that he didn't recognize it was his sister, so we just don't know," Biehl said. While the gunman was white and six of the nine killed were black, police said the speed of the rampage made any discrimination in the shooting seem unlikely. |
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