Thread by @doctorow

Trump has been repeating a groundless conspiracy theory about postal voting leading to fraud - despite the fact that he, himself, votes by mail.

His supporters believe him.

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They believe him so much that they're refusing to cast postal ballots, leading GOP strategists worried that they will lose races because of it this fall.

washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…

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"It’s very concerning for Republicans. I guarantee our Republican Senate candidates are having it drilled into them that they cannot accept this. They have to have sophisticated mail programs. If we don’t adapt, we won’t win." -"Top party operative"

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Postal voting benefits many people - stay-at-home parents without childcare, people whose employers won't give them time off, people who work for apps and are classed as "contractors," people whose polling places have been shuttered as part of voter suppression efforts.

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But postal voting is also vital to two of the GOP's most important constituencies:

I. Old people

II. Rural people

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"Especially for older, more rural voters, that could be important for Republicans getting out the vote in 2020. I don’t want ‘I will not vote by mail’ to become a political statement. But it may be too late." -"senior GOP strategist"

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And while Republicans may believe Trump and so fail to cast a ballot at all, Democrats know he's lying: "in Kentucky’s June 23 primary only about 10 percent of Democratic votes were cast on the day of the election, while 20 percent of GOP votes were."

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87% of Democrats think it should be easier to cast a postal ballot; 33% of Republicans want this. GOP strongholds are thus less likely to permit vote-by-mail and even when they do, their voters are less likely to take advantage of it.

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When Senator Joni Ernst [R-IA] urged voters to sign up for postal ballots, her supporters sent her messages like, "I can’t believe you’d support absentee ballots" and "We need in-person voting with ID or no voting at all."

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Another GOP senator's constituent replied to a vote-by-mail text with "Absentee ballot? Nah. I’ll be there in person. No one should legitimize this mail in voting hogwash."

The hits keep coming!

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"I don’t want you sending a ballot application with my name on it to somebody else who could do something bad with it, and then I show up on Election Day, and I’m not allowed to vote" -Joel Freeman,chairman, Kent County GOP, Grand Rapids MI.

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As @milbank writes, Trump's decisions to politicize voting and wearing masks means that his base have been convinced not to vote and to commit mass suicide. This will not bode well for the GOP.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

Image: Ben Hannam
postalprotest.com

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