November 7, 2023
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
The poll that has Democrats scared shows Trump leading in five battleground states: AZ, GA, MI, NV and PA
By Robert Romano
The latest New York Times-Siena poll taken Oct. 22 to Nov. 3 shows former President Donald Trump leading incumbent President Joe Biden in five critical battleground states a year away from the 2024 election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
A sharp departure from the very closely contested 2020 election, Trump is up big in the states that matter the most, leading Arizona 49 percent to 44 percent, Georgia 49 percent to 43 percent, Michigan 48 percent to 43 percent, Nevada 52 percent to 41 percent and Pennsylvania 48 percent to 44 percent.
Biden only led in a single state, Wisconsin, 47 percent to 45 percent. But amongst undecideds in Wisconsin, when forced to choose, Trump is leading 26 percent to 21 percent. 53 percent didn’t know or refused to answer.
Interestingly, Trump and Biden split both young voters and old ones, with Biden leading among 18- to 29-year-olds by just 47 percent to 46 percent, and both candidates receiving 46 percent from 65-year-olds and above.
But among 30- to 44-year-olds, including older Millennials, Trump leads 47 percent to 44 percent, and among 45- to 64-year-olds, including Generation X, Trump leads by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent.
And among independents, Trump leads 45 percent to 44 percent. The difference in the poll is Trump picks up more Democrats than Biden picks up Republicans.
The very poor performance by the incumbent is an ominous sign for Democrats not only hoping to keep the White House and Senate in 2024, but reclaim the House of Representatives. A last-minute effort is underway to replace Biden, hoping the President’s negatives don’t rub off on Democrats if he were to be replaced.
But when polled, Kamala Harris does no better than Biden, losing six out of six of the same battleground states to Trump.
Similarly, when polled nationally, Trump has been easily leading Kamala Harris in most recent polls taken, according to the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls, showing Trump with a 46 percent to 42 percent edge.
Unfortunately for Democrats, they can’t run a generic candidate against Trump, and so the calls to replace Biden might even reach a fever pitch, but it is almost too late to act, with Democrats’ primary ballots for 2024 being finalized. And there is no certainty that such a move would even help Democrats.
The last time a president vacated his office, choosing not to run again, was 1968, and the result was the election of Richard Nixon.
When Harry Truman vacated the Presidency in 1952, the result was the election of Dwight Eisenhower.
In both cases, the outcome favored the opposition party, something Biden’s team will be savvy to as they look to preserve the President and also their own positions in power, arguing that the chaos of vacating the office has more of a tendency to hurt the incumbent by demonstrating electoral weakness and harming confidence.
The argument Democrats would have to make is effectively saying the country got so bad that they had to replace the sitting president, and they still want you to vote for them. For independents, that is, voters who tend to be free agents, that could be a kiss of death.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2023/11/the-poll-that-has-democrats-scared-shows-trump-leading-in-five-battleground-states-az-ga-mi-nv-and-pa/
Video: Trump Defies Rules In Partisan Witch Hunt Trial
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaH71Pf_a6c
Brie Stimson: Trump gag order in election case is 'unconstitutional': law professor
By Brie Stimson
Former President Trump’s gag order in his Washington, D.C. 2020 election interference case is "unconstitutional," George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley claimed Friday.
On Friday, the gag order was temporarily lifted by U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, so the judges can consider Trump’s request for a longer pause on the restrictions while his appeals play out.
"They decided in perhaps an abundance of caution to order this stoppage until they can give it a full review," Turley told Laura Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle" Friday. "The reason I think this could be quite significant is because I think the order is unconstitutional. I said that when it was first issued."
Turley called it a "very odd concept of an order because the court here insisted on having this trial before the election – sort of shoehorned it in before Super Tuesday – and everyone in this election’s going to be talking about these cases except one person under this gag order and that is Donald Trump."
Trump’s attorneys had previously denounced the gag order in an appeal saying it is a violation of the First Amendment.
"No court in American history has imposed a gag order on a criminal defendant who is actively campaigning for public office — let alone the leading candidate for President of the United States," Trump's attorneys wrote in a filing. "The Gag Order violates the First Amendment rights of President Trump and over 100 million Americans who listen to him," they added.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan first imposed the partial gag order Oct. 17, blocking Trump from making statements targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith, his staff, witnesses and court personnel.
The order does not prevent Trump from airing general complaints about the case, and Chutkan has said the former president is still allowed to assert his claims of innocence and that the case is politically motivated.
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case, and has argued that it's part of an effort to prevent him winning the presidency in 2024. He has also sharply criticized those involved in the case, including Smith, who he often refers to as "deranged."
Turley noted that Smith asked for the gag order to be expanded "in an equally unconstitutional way and that has drawn the criticism of even the ACLU, which is a staunch critic of Donald Trump. But the ACLU has said, ‘Look, this is flagrantly unconstitutional’"
He added that "millions of people believe the criminal justice system has been weaponized" with Trump’s prosecutions "and whether that’s true or not, when you hold these trials before the election everyone’s going to be talking about it and there’s going to be sharp criticism."
He said gag orders are usually issued to protect a jury pool "so they’re not influenced by all of the publicity that might be generated."
Turley added that the question for the court of appeals is "What is the purpose of this" gag order? "If you’re silencing not only one of these leading candidates in the election where this is being debated but he can’t even criticize his former opponent Michael Pence or the witnesses bringing evidence against him that I think is pretty problematic and she’s going to have a hard time – the court, that is – to sustain this if not from the D.C. circuit, the Supreme Court. And if it goes to the Supreme Court that could very well cause issues with her scheduling."
To view online: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-gag-order-election-case-unconstitutional-law-professor
ALG supports amendments 63, 67, 73, 107 and 109 to Transportation and Housing Appropriations
Nov. 6, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in favor of amendments 63, 67, 73, 107 and 109 to the Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill, H.R. 4820:
Amendment 63: “U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale’s amendment would reduce Transportation and Housing by $4.9 billion to be more in line with Fiscal Year 2022’s spending levels of $81 billion, undoing the 6 percent increase in spending that occurred in the 2023 omnibus bill, and keeping the promise of the 2023 debt ceiling deal’s 6 percent budget sequestration that Congress enacted earlier this year.”
Amendment 67: “U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison’s amendment would deny any transportation funds to municipalities that provide safe harbor for illegal immigrants and otherwise refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities’ detainer requests and to submit crimes to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database. With hundreds of thousands of immigrants crossing the border every month, sanctuary cities serve as a magnet for not only economic refugees but criminal gangs and even terrorists, posing a continued risk to national security.”
Amendment 73: “U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles’ amendment would defund implementation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations ‘Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Cars and Light Trucks for Model Years 2027-2032 and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans for Model Years 2030-2035’ that set fuel emission standards so high they cannot technically be met, effectively banning the internal combustion engine at a time of high inflation and when our dependency on fossil fuels remains very high, all to favor green electric vehicle alternatives.”
Amendments 107 and 109: U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman’s amendments would end the practice of remote work for the Departments of Transportation and Housing, more than three years after Covid, when there is no longer any reason for remote work to be continuing. This long overdue adjustment comes at a time when there isn’t any data showing at what rate federal remote workers even report to work.”
To view online: https://getliberty.org/2023/11/alg-supports-amendments-63-67-73-107-and-109-to-transportation-and-housing-appropriations/