1/ I watched Donald's speech last night. I watch almost all of his major addresses. It was recycled rally material with a few guests and anecdotes to make it current. Despite media coverage of the spectacle on the South Lawn, I submit to you it wasn't the speech that mattered. 
2/ Rather, the speech that mattered was the hour he spent on stage in Charlotte on August 24th. In it, I think he revealed his true views on this election, and his priorities. He spent vast swaths of it describing what he asserts is the Democrat plot to steal the election.
3/ Because I think it is important, I am going to post the key segments of the speech for you to read here. While last night's speech will receive triple the coverage and commentary, I think we all need to read these words. (Here is the full transcript: rev.com/blog/transcrip…)
4/ "You can see them setting it up. Be very careful and watch it very carefully. Because we have to win."
5/ The President goes into detail about vote "harvesting" and claims Democrats are doing it (there was a GOP scandal in North Carolina in 2016 around harvesting).
6/ "But what it means is they’re trying to steal the election from the Republicans, that’s what it means."
7/ "But this is big stuff. This is stealing millions of votes. And it’s going to be very hard."
8/ He gets into the details of the alleged harvesting scheme he sees unfolding around the country.
9/ "What they’re doing is using COVID to steal an election. They’re using COVID to defraud the American people, all of our people, of a fair and free election. And we can’t do that."
10/ "Be very, very careful. This is going to be, and I really believe this. This is the most important election in the history of our country. Don’t let them take it away from you. Don’t let them take it away."
11/ I truly believe he is not focused on winning, but rather on turning out his base to generate a plausible enough result to challenge the outcome. He says it: "It’s an incredible base. Everybody here is going to vote, everybody in our base. I mean, we have a tremendous base."
12/ We must focus on what is coming- a post-election fight like almost nothing we have seen in this country. nytimes.com/2020/08/08/us/…
13/ Every American needs to have a plan for how they will behave in this coming moment. We must not allow Donald Trump to achieve a second term through intimidation. #ProtectTheResults, coordinated by @IndivisibleTeam & @StandUpAmerica along with 70 organizations, is one effort.
14/ A lot of the thinking that has going in to the #ProtectTheResults project is informed by expertise, such as the Transition Integrity Project- read the 22-page final report of its various scenarios: bostonglobe.com/2020/08/03/nat…
15/ Then, sign up here to participate in #ProtectTheResults. We must be ready. protecttheresults.com/?utm_source=Ma…
