Young Voters

Voting Patterns For Presidential Election Of 2024 Hard To Predict

Indications are that the Democratic Party has been gaining in suburban areas among well educated voters with a college education and more in recent years, a massive change from long term trends that such voters were usually voting Republican.

At the same time, rural voters, often less educated, are becoming much more oriented toward Republicans than they have been, leaving the role of racial minorities as being crucial in national elections.

The Democrats have seen alienation by Latinos and African Americans from the very high percentages that usually vote for them, and Asian Americans are also unpredictable in their voting patterns.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has become an issue that is causing division among racial minorities, including the growing influence of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans, as well.

Also, Jewish Americans, usually two thirds Democrats, are in play for this upcoming election.

At the same time, the abortion issue is gravitating more women toward the Democrats than is usually the case.

And the growing number of young voters, particularly Generation Z, is also a factor hard to predict the extent of their participation and where it will go.

So there are so many strands of voters competed for by both Democrats and Republicans, making predictions on the upcoming Presidential Election of 2024 even more confusing and hard to project.

Joe Biden Election In 2024 Endangered By Israel-Hamas War

With the Presidential Election year upon us, there is new concern that Joe Biden’s election to a second term is endangered by the Israel-Hamas War.

Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and many younger voters of all backgrounds have shown their support of the Palestinians, as the death toll mounts in Gaza.

The early sympathy about the October 7 Massacre of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas has evaporated, and antisemitism is rearing its ugly head, endangering American Jews in their daily lives, and infuriating the groups mentioned in what otherwise would be strong support of the Democrats.

The fact that the Republicans and Donald Trump do not offer a real alternative for these voting blocs does not mean that one can count on these groups coming home to Joe Biden and the Democrats in November.

If voting support for the Democrats declines through alienation, that could help elect Donald Trump and a Republican majority in Congress.

So Joe Biden and the Democrats have a daunting task facing them in 2024!

“ProLifers” And “Election Deniers” Fail Miserably In Midterm Elections 2022

“Prolifers” and “Election Deniers” failed miserably in the 2022 Midterm Elections.

Most candidates for State Attorney General and Secretaries of State lost, and it looks like Kari Lake will lose the Arizona Governorship, as already has occurred to Tudor Dixon in Michigan and Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania!

Sadly, some of these lunatics did win House seats or were reelected, but in a body of 435 members, that can be expected.

Clearly, however, the results of the Midterm Elections of 2022 are a victory for Democrats and Joe Biden, in comparison to past midterms for Democratic Presidents, going back many decades!

And young people and women came out in droves on the issue of abortion rights, and five states, including of all places, Kentucky, insured abortion rights would be part of their state constitutions!

So the predicted “Red Wave or Tsnuami” ended up as a “Red Ripple”, or as one humorist suggested, a “Ketchup Smear”!

Women And Young People Are Registering To Vote In Record Numbers, Due To Abortion Issue!

Women of all ages and backgrounds, and young people in general, are registering to vote in record numbers, and the main reason is the denial of abortion rights by the Supreme Court in June.

That, plus the danger to American democracy represented by the “MAGA” Republicans, who are Fascist in orientation and empower Donald Trump, no matter what is emerging about his treason and sedition, are motivating Americans to realize that the Midterm Elections of 2022 are crucial for the future.

While the Democrats have a major problem historically, with the reality that the party out of power gains in the midterm elections that follow, this time, more than ever before, it is absolutely essential that Democrats keep control of both houses of Congress and do better in state legislatures and governorships, as otherwise, the Consitution and rule of law will be in danger!

Tonight’s First Presidential Debate: The Middle Class Guy Vs The Phony Billionaire And Bully

Former Vice President Joe Biden enters tonight’s first Presidential debate in Cleveland against President Donald Trump in a position of strength. He is far ahead in most state polls, including in the Midwest where Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016.

Biden is the middle class guy who has had struggles and tragedies in his life, much like the vast majority of Americans. He possesses naturally great compassion, empathy, decency, and tons of government experience as US Senator for 36 years and as one of the two best Vice Presidents in American history, alongside Walter Mondale.

Biden comes in with public opinion polls showing great strength for him among college educated voters of both genders; suburban women; African Americans; Latinos except for Cubans; Asian Americans; Jews; Social Justice Catholics; mainline Protestants; moderates; Independents; young voters; and a small sliver of Trump voters in 2016 who realize Donald Trump is a phony billionaire and bully!

Putting Biden in the Oval Office will give us a President with more background knowledge and expertise than any President when he entered the Presidency—more than Lyndon B. Johnson or George H. W. Bush.

Biden knows world leaders and can restore US foreign policy so that foreign allies can against trust our government.

Biden can restore much of the damage done to our domestic infrastructure and our government agencies that are so necessary to continue the advancements of the New Deal, Great Society, and the later accomplishments of Presidents of both parties from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama!

We will have a President who does not lie 20,000 times in three and a half years;

who will not ignore medicine and science;

who will pay his fair share of taxes;

who will not cheat on his wife with other women;

who will pick judges who understand that originalism is the wrong approach to law;

who will work to cross the aisle when possible, instead of constant insults and bullying of opponents and critics;

who will have a Vice President, Kamala Harris, who gives us confidence should there ever be an emergency;

who will restore faith in our basic values of democracy and freedom;

who will bring back honor and decency to the Oval Office;

and who will support total exposure of all crimes committed by the present incumbent of the White House!

36 Legislative Seats In States Flipped From Republicans To Democrats Since Trump Election

With a victory in a state legislative race in Florida last night of a Democrat in a Republican held seat, we can say that 36 legislative seats in states that Trump won in 2016 have now flipped, a sign of likely great results for Democrats in November 2018 for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, state legislative races, and state governors.

Many traditional Republican voters are clearly alienated from Donald Trump, and specific groups–suburbanites, women, and young people–are seen as likely flippers in large numbers, to the Democrats in the upcoming elections.

Several other races that have ended up with Republican wins have been by much closer margins than in the past.

Changing the state legislatures and making for more Democratic seats will be extremely important when it comes to reapportionment of seats in 2020 and after, and it is urgent that Democrats gain the edge, as that will affect politics for the entire decade of the 2020s.

So the urgency is to make sure voters come out in greater numbers than is traditional in midterm election years, and if people stay home and allow the Republicans to continue their control of state legislatures, governors, and the two houses of Congress, they will have no one to blame but themselves for the disastrous long term results of such apathy.

As 2017 Ends, Trump Approval Rating In Rapid Decline, And Democrats In Rapid Rise Among Major Voting Groups

As 2017 ends, Donald Trump is in free fall in his approval rating.

CNN has just come up with new figures that show the Trump base is rapidly declining in its support of the person they backed in 2016.

The approval rating overall has dropped to an all time low of 32 percent from a high in February of 39 percent right after Trump’s inauguration.

Republicans have dropped from 84 percent to 76 percent in their support, shocking in the fact it has not dropped much more, and a sign that the GOP might be in its death knell, as many observers have predicted.

Men have declined in support from 45 percent to 40 percent.

Whites support for Trump dropped from 49 percent to 41 percent.

Those over 50 years of age declined in support of Trump from 47 percent to 38 percent.

White Evangelicals, a major part of Trump support, despite the hypocrisy involved, went from 78 percent to 61 percent.

And White Non College support went from 56 percent to 46 percent.

When specific groups of voters have dropped 5 points to 17 points in nine months, that is a danger sign for the future.

Beyond these specific groups, it is clear that women, young voters, suburbanites, college educated, and African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans are clearly going over to the Democratic Party, and this is what fueled victories in New Jersey, Virginia, and Alabama.

So the future bodes well for the Democratic Party in the upcoming Congressional and Gubernatorial and state legislative races in November 2018.

The Young (Under 45) Challenge To “Baby Boomers” Control Over Politics! Is It For Real?

If one goes by public opinion polls and turnout at rallies, the “young”, defined as those under 45, born after 1970, are rebelling against the “establishment”, the “Baby Boomers” in this upcoming Presidential Election of 2016.

They seem to want a complete  overhaul of government, and many of them are gravitating, ironically, to the OLDEST Presidential candidate of all, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a democratic Socialist, who has been in office for 25 years in Congress, plus eight years as Mayor of Burlington!

One would think that Sanders was an “outsider”, but he has been in government positions for more years than anyone else running, including John Kasich and Hillary Clinton!

But he is seen as a dramatic change because of his attacks on Wall Street, and his non-interventionist foreign policy, including his votes against the Persian Gulf War and Iraq War.

But the question arises whether one can be sure that the young, particularly those under 29, and even more, those who are teenagers or early 20s, can be relied on to show up in the primaries and caucuses, and actually vote in November for the change they say they want.

Many observers are skeptical, and wonder if the youngest “new” voters really even understand politics, foreign policy, and major complicated issues, or are just “along for the ride”, the excitement of being involved now, but losing interest as the months go by.

We shall see just how the young among us will transform American politics, and if it leads, somehow, to the election of a democratic Socialist President, it will be historic, even more so, than the election of the first African American President!

The False Voter Fraud Issue Of Republicans Challenged Head On By Barack Obama

One of the most outrageous activities of the Republican Party is its attempt to prevent people from voting by requiring all kinds of documents, and cutting voting days and hours, and refusing same day voting registration.

The GOP claim of widespread voter fraud is absolutely ridiculous, and Barack Obama took it on in a speech yesterday, at a time when the Supreme Court, Republican dominated majority, has weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, just as we celebrate 50 years of the Civil Rights Act, and next year, 50 years of a now weakened Voting Rights Act, something civil rights workers died for in the early 1960s.

As Obama pointed, statistics demonstrate that between 2002 and 2005, out of 197 million votes cast, there were ONLY 40 examples of people indicted for voter fraud, a infinitesimal number, a percentage of 0.00002 percent!

For this, we need millions of African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, elderly, poor, disabled, and young voters denied the basic right to vote?

What the Republican Party is doing in Republican controlled states with Republican legislatures and governors is against the whole concept of fairness, justice, and equality, dating back to the old Jim Crow days in the South, but now embraced in areas outside the South as well.

Abraham Lincoln is turning over in his grave as to what his party has done, a true example of their political corruption, and lack of ethics!

CPAC Convention: The Lunatic Right Displays Itself!

Watching, listening, and reading about the Conservative Political Action Conference makes anyone with a stable mind roll his eyes in wonderment at what conservatism has become!

All the losers of the past were there and ranting and raving their insanity, including Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, and Mike Huckabee. The “newcomers”,” people not yet defeated but soon to be, including Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie, also appeared, and made fools of themselves. Of course, the ultimate lunatic and embarrassment, Donald Trump, also spewed his sick mind and constant need for attention. And to top it off, Sarah Palin is making an appearance, as if any sane, intelligent person cares! And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, desperately trying to keep his seat, showed up brandishing a rifle, a horrible image for a Senate leader to display just a year after the Sandy Hook Massacre!

Jeb Bush and Scott Walker stayed away, for both a smart move, and Jon Huntsman was also not there, and at least for Bush and Huntsman, who are the most mainstream of this group of characters, it made sense NOT to be there!

Speaker of the House John Boehner was not invited, which should really be seen as a blessing, as he has upset right wingers by being exasperated with the Tea Party Movement, for making his job absolutely impossible in the lower chamber.

It is still reality that ONLY Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman would have ANY chance to be elected over Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election of 2016, but not very good odds for either of them. And again, let this author repeat, that the Electoral College strongly favors ANY Democrat to win the White House, and as long as the GOP alienates African Americans, Latinos, women, and many young voters, it will not win the White House. And as long as it fights the idea of national health care coverage for all; acceptance of gay rights and same sex marriage; opposition to immigration reforms; favors the energy industry over the environment; and continues to fight against a living wage for the poor and middle class, it will lose for the long term future! And if it continues to promote religion and theocracy, it will NEVER win the White House ever again, in a nation that believes in separation of church and state!

So those of us who care about our fellow Americans can sit and observe the CPAC Conference, and feel good that the potential candidates and the Republican party are sealing their doom for 2016 and beyond!