In 2016 the Democrats lost the election despite their constant attacks on Donald Trump's personality. Over the last four years they continued those attacks with Russiagate and impeachment nonsense. Trump turned each of the attacks into a win for himself. Unfortunately that pattern continues.

Over the last two days the Joe Biden campaign made a rather hapless attempt to smear President Donald Trump over allegedly negative comments about previous wars and dead soldiers. The attack was launched with a Jeffrey Goldberg piece in the Atlantic headlined: Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’

When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.

Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”

None of what those four anonymous sources claimed is true according to on the record quotes from people who were there:

Several White House officials at the time said the decision not to take Marine One to the Belleau Wood cemetery was made by Zachary Fuentes, a close aide to Mr. Kelly, without consulting the president’s military aide. Others argued that a trip by road would have taken too long, at roughly two hours.

Administration officials said then that Mr. Fuentes had assured Mr. Trump it was fine to miss the visit.
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More than a half-dozen current and former aides to Mr. Trump backed him up with Twitter messages and statements disputing that part of the Atlantic article. “I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion — this never happened,” wrote Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was then the White House press secretary. “This is not even close to being factually accurate,” added Jordan Karem, the president’s personal aide at the time.

John Bolton, who at that time was National Security Advisor but has now fallen out with Trump, describes the cancellation in his tell-all book as solely weather related.

Yesterday he reconfirmed that:

Mr. Bolton said he was in the room at the ambassador’s residence when Mr. Trump arrived and Mr. Kelly told him that the helicopter trip had to be canceled. A two-hour motorcade would have put him too far away from Air Force One and the most capable communications array a president needs in case of an emergency, per usual protocol, Mr. Bolton said. “It was a straight weather call,” he said.

The next day Trump visited a different military cemetery in France.

The quotes in the Goldberg piece may be correct but are most likely not what Goldberg claims them to be:

Cont. reading: How Attacks On Trump Help Him To Make His Case

The Hill writes (emphasis added):

Russian media and other groups are intentionally “amplifying” concerns around mail-in voting in order to undermine the 2020 U.S. elections, a report compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made public Thursday found.
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“Russian state media, proxies, and Russian-controlled social media trolls are likely to promote allegations of corruption, system failure, and foreign malign interference to sow distrust in democratic institutions and election outcomes,” the Office of Intelligence and Analysis wrote.

Do these DHS folks ever look into mirrors?

And what exactly are the Washington Post and New York Times pieces below doing but "to sow distrust in democratic institutions and election outcomes"?

What’s the worst that could happen?
The election will likely spark violence — and a constitutional crisis

What Will You Do if Trump Doesn’t Leave?
Playing out the nightmare scenario.

Those scenarios are the Color Revolutions Coming Home and they are promoted not by Russian media but by the U.S. establishment.

As Whitney Webb writes of the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) war games:

A group of Democratic Party insiders and former Obama and Clinton era officials as well as a cadre of “Never Trump” neoconservative Republicans have spent the past few months conducting simulations and “war games” regarding different 2020 election “doomsday” scenarios.

Per several media reports on the group, called the Transition Integrity Project (TIP), they justify these exercises as specifically preparing for a scenario where President Trump loses the 2020 election and refuses to leave office, potentially resulting in a constitutional crisis. However, according to TIP’s own documents, even their simulations involving a “clear win” for Trump in the upcoming election resulted in a constitutional crisis, as they predicted that the Biden campaign would make bold moves aimed at securing the presidency, regardless of the election result.

This TIP war game (pg 17f) is indeed the plot for a coup:

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It is amazing how all this is unfolding in plain sight.

The Civil War of 2020 continues apace.

2020

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After three months of continuous clashes in Portland between Antifa rioters, who hide behind peaceful protests, and the police, the mayor is finally concerned about the damage:

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Wednesday he hasn’t done enough to focus on damages caused by some city protests over the last three months and the fallout from coronavirus. He called on the community to help him come up with better solutions to city issues.

During the last months the Magnificent Mile in Chicago was looted – twice. Yesterday new riots and looting occurred in Minneapolis after a rumor of another police killing incited some people:

Cont. reading: ‘Mostly Peaceful’ Rioting And Looting Is Helping Trump’s Campaign

Satire:

The Onion @TheOnion – 19:55 UTC · Aug 18, 2020

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upgraded To Full DNC Speaking Slot After Announcing Support For Iraq War https://bit.ly/2Y9Kw19

Democrats:

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1 – 23:20 UTC · Aug 18, 2020

Breaking on @MSNBC: Colin Powell will be a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention tonight.

Can anyone explain to me why Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as running mate?

I find nothing that makes her an attractive candidate:

• We just had a summer during which Democrats applauded to Black Live Matters and cheered anti-police riots. Harris has the well deserved (vid) reputation of being a hard line prosecutor and is unlikely to be sympathetic to the issue. Stocks of private prison companies went up when Harris was confirmed as vice president candidate.
• Harris comes from California. She will not attract critical swing state voters.
• Her campaign during the primaries was chaotic. She polled at some 2%, about the worst number of all candidates.
• She has little governing and zero foreign policy experience. As Joe Biden has obviously (vid) mental problems a more experienced potential replacement would have been more assuring.
• Kamala means "horrible, terrible" in Finnish.

In my view the choice of Harris as VP candidate increases the already high chance that Biden will lose the presidential election.

So what was the real reason for this choice?

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The Wall Street Journal headline hints to a potential answer but my hunch is that there is more to it.

U.S. President Donald Trump has finally recognized that his reelection is in danger. The most obvious cause for that is the pandemic which  is spreading uncontrolled throughout the United States.

When the pandemic broke out in Wuhan, China, the U.S. did not take it seriously. The reporting in most main stream outlet was concentrated on maligning China. No danger for the U.S. was anticipated.

A small early outbreak in Washington state was soon brought under control. Trump thought that the pandemic was not going to touch him. It was – in his view – like Russiagate and Ukrainegate just another fake scare that the Democrats were using against him.

Then Italy was hit as well as other European countries. That was a bit of a warning but still not serious enough to take countermeasures. Then came New York and finally it dawned on everyone that the U.S. was unprepared.

Trump recognized that he had to do something. A chaotic White House started to buy up everything – masks, ventilators, drugs – that would be possibly needed. A nationwide lockdown was implemented. The stock market crashed but Trump threatened the Fed until it saved the markets and his bacon. Every day he held widely noted press conference about the pandemic and his 'wonderful' response to it.

The casualties in New York turned out to mostly black lower class people. Only few in Trump's social circles were affected. The numbers in New York came down but the economy still lingered. Against the opinion of every noted specialist Trump declared that the pandemic was over.

He stopped the press conferences and urged that the lockdowns be lifted. There was an election to win and an economy that had to be revived to make that possible.

But the virus had different plans. Trump's June campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a flop. Too few people attended. Especially the elder people who usually attended such events stayed away. At the beginning of July Trump stopped live campaigning. Then came the big pandemic waves in states that had voted for Trump. Suddenly it was no longer the black underclass of liberal New York that was dying but the elderly white in Republican states who had voted for Trump.

The mood in the country had turned against him. Trumps poll numbers are down. The economy is still flatlining. The people are afraid and want reassurance. Sunday's Fox News interview (transcript) during which he was called out was a mess for him.

Yesterday Trump, who hates masks, tweeted this:

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The tweet has more than 100,000 retweets and nearly 300.000 likes. Trump also announced that he will again hold daily press briefings on the pandemic.

Did he finally get it?

Those leaders who had their countries successfully counter the pandemic, Xi in China, Moon in South Korea, Merkel in Germany, have all profited politically from their countries' performance. Even Boris Johnson who messed up in Britain did not lose much in the polls. He at least seemed to care for his people.

If from now on Trump plays it right the pandemic can still win him the election. He must show empathy. He must let the (selected) experts speak. He should comment as little as possible on the detailed points they make and stick to the generalities.

The daily face time on TV will be great for campaigning but will not be enough to lift him in the polls. For that he needs to show that he cares.

To tell the people that there is no need to fear the pandemic is wrong. He must acknowledge that the people are afraid and he should assure them that they are not alone in it. Only after he has done so can he appeal to them to go back to work, to again send their kids to schools and to behave reasonably by wearing a mask and by keeping social distance.

Is Trump capable of doing this?

I have my doubts about that.

Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo – 12:16 UTC · Jul 5, 2019

Today, #Venezuela’s Independence Day, we are reminded of the country’s prosperous past – and the future the Venezuelan people deserve. The U.S. stands with @jguaido, @AsambleaVE, and all Venezuelans yearning for a return to democracy and a brighter future. #EstamosUnidosVE

Joe Biden @JoeBiden – 21:10 UTC · Jul 5, 2020

On this Venezuelan Independence Day, my thoughts are with Venezuelans who continue to work tirelessly for the cause of democracy. It’s time for free and fair elections so that the Venezuelan people can turn the page on the corrupt and repressive Maduro regime.

h/t Syricide

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Sanders endorses Biden

Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden on Monday during a surprise appearance on the former vice president’s livecast.
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Bernie is giving up.

Joyce Karam – @Joyce_Karam – 15:27 UTC · Apr 8, 2020

BREAKING: Bernie Sanders is Ending his Campaign for 2020, making Joe Biden essentially the presumptive Dem. Nominee to face Trump.

Please keep anything related to the election in this thread.

There is a debate tonight.

Matt Taibbi has some thoughts about it:

Bernie’s Last Chance
Heading into a one-on-one debate with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders should not go gentle into that good night

Please keep anything related to the election in this thread.

This thread is exclusively for comments on the 2020 presidential election.

This thread is exclusively for comments on the 2020 presidential election.

This thread is exclusively for comments on the 2020 presidential election.

This thread is exclusively for comments on the 2020 presidential election.