What to Watch

August 31, 2020

Election Day 2020 is just 64 days away, and there is so much breaking news every day. We're introducing a new weekly update with news from the weekend that will point you to the stories and trends to watch this week. Let us have your feedback at [email protected].

In Case You Missed It

Insights into the Trump campaign
We had a great discussion during the Republican National Convention with Jason Miller, senior advisor to the Trump campaign. Watch it here. 

Matt Brooks with the Inside Scoop on the GOP Convention
RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks was interviewed by the AJC about the Republican National Convention. Watch it here.

Breakthrough UAE-Israel Peace Accord
Listen to RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks, RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman, Ari Fleischer, and Jason Greenblatt brief the media on the historic UAE-Israel peace accord the day the news broke. Listen here.

The Presidential Race is Tightening - and Here's Why

When it comes to presidential election polls, the state-by-state polls tell the real story. New polls in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin show Biden’s average lead in those key swing states dropping, The Hill reports.

Talking point: The White House and GOP think President Donald Trump’s chances will improve if the election becomes more of a choice between Trump and Joe Biden and less a referendum on the president.

Fox News adds: “[P]olling averages indicate that Trump may actually be in better shape in his race against Biden than he was at the same stage in his 2016 race against Hillary Clinton… Trump is largely outperforming his 2016 benchmarks in some of the most important states to the Electoral College.”

Support for Trump appears to be rising in some “unexpected” (by the media) places:

• Many Orthodox Jews Support President Trump. I’m One of Them — Here’s Why. (MUST READ)
• Poll: Trump approval rises among Black, Hispanic Voters Amid Convention
• Trump Lands Major Endorsements From Democrat Mayors in Minnesota
• Ohio County Tells Story of the Seismic Shift of Working-Class Voters toward GOP
• This will make you smile: C-SPAN Had So Many Democrats Calling In Support For Trump That They Had To Change Their Protocol

Top Issue This Week: Law and Order

The riots in Portland, Kenosha, DC, and other cities have gone on now for more than 90 days. This horrific situation – including the looting and burning of businesses, attacks on federal buildings, attacks that have seriously injured law enforcement personnel, and several deaths – is allowed to continue by Democrat mayors who tell the police to stand down and by national Democrat leaders who try to blame the violence on President Trump.

After President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday night, rioters threatened people leaving the White House lawn. Senator Rand Paul and his wife were rescued by DC police after being surrounded by a mob of screaming “protesters.”  Ironically, they shouted “Say her name” – referring to Breonna Taylor – at the Senator who wrote the bill in her name intended to end the kind of no-knock warrants that cost Taylor her life in March. Senator Paul and his wife publicly described their experiences that night.

Last week, Joe Biden finally commented on the violence, decrying the shooting in Portland. But he immediately pivoted to blaming the violence on President Trump, proving that his campaign sees the rioting as just another tool in the Democrats’ political toolbox.

But Democrats are beginning to realize that voters are, rightly, going to lay the blame for the violence in the streets of America’s cities on the Democrats. Last week, David Axelrod tweeted that the violence in Kenosha last week is a “gift” to President Trump. CNN’s Don Lemon warned that Democrats need to pay attention now, because the violence is “showing up in the polling.” And Andrew Sullivan called the violence a “trap” that Democrats walked right into. He describes the thinking of most Americans when he writes:

Rioting and lawlessness is evil. And any civil authority that permits, condones or dismisses violence, looting and mayhem in the streets disqualifies itself from any legitimacy. This comes first. If one party supports everything I believe in but doesn’t believe in maintaining law and order all the time and everywhere, I’ll back a party that does. In that sense, I’m a one-issue voter, because without order, there is no room for any other issue. Disorder always and everywhere begets more disorder; the minute the authorities appear to permit such violence, it is destined to grow.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) put the message plainly in an ad now running in Minnesota and Wisconsin: Don’t let the mob win.

In his acceptance speech on Thursday, President Trump set out the choice facing America today:

At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between the parties, two visions, two philosophies or two agendas.  This election will decide whether we save the American dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny… Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens. And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we will allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it.