DAY 1: Fear & Loathing on the COVID Campaign Trail

@jheil is wheels down in Texas giving you a good gonzo roundup of the state of the presidential race.
@jheil San Antonio: We’re looking at 9M+ votes already cast in this no-shot-turned-long-shot battleground state.

Is it possible Biden could pull out the shock of the century, @jheil?
A lightning round of @jheil questions with @juliancastro:
• Odds Biden pulls it off? 50/50.
• Odds Hegar upsets Sen. Cornyn? Less than that.
• How’s that possible? Texans have “woken up.”
• What are you watching? Harris County.
Over to Iowa, @jheil’s gone — what’s he phoning home?

The Iowa Democratic clusterfuck of yore (aka February) has settled, clearing a possible pathway for a Senate seat gone blue.
The results of the final Iowa poll are in. Widely regarded as the gold standard of polls, it’s predicting a big win for Republicans in both the Senate and presidential races.

GOP strategist @ddkochel joins @jheil to give us a clearer picture of Iowa's role in the race to 270.
@ddkochel @jheil The final Iowa poll gives Trump a 7-point lead over Biden in the Hawkeye State.

Is Dem strategist @MattPaulIA freaking the fuck out right now? It’s time for a good old-fashioned @jheil interrogation.
DAY 2: Fear & Loathing on the COVID Campaign Trail

@jheil touches down in Minnesota, a state both campaigns still consider in play. Trump is hoping for a late break, but Biden may have a lock on the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Minnesota found itself at the center of a nation’s moral reckoning when Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd in May.

@jheil walks us through the site that sparked a summer of unrest.
Minneapolis City Council member @jeremiah4north joins @jheil for an honest chat about the "ebb and flow" of today's politics, voter enthusiasm, and whether this election has become a referendum on race.

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More from @therecount

29 Oct
As we’re sure you’re aware (you’re on Twitter, after all), we’re 5 days from Nov. 3 — also known as Election Day — also also known as your deadline to vote.

There are tons of ways to make sure your vote is counted. Let’s run through ‘em right here, just in case:
Have an absentee ballot in your possession right now? Before you send that sucker in, make sure you:
✅ Used a black pen
✅ Signed and dated everywhere (and double check!)
✅ Followed the instructions for the secrecy envelope, if applicable in your state
If you’re an early bird who’s already mailed your ballot in, you can track the status of your vote here: ballottrax.net/voter
Read 8 tweets
22 Oct
Tonight’s the final debate before the ballots get counted. And turns out, getting your ballot counted is easier said than done.

It wouldn’t be an American election without voter disenfranchisement. Take a look around the country 👇
In 16 states, ballots must be enclosed by *two* envelopes. Ballots in only one are deemed “naked” and risk being thrown out.

This could imperil up to 100,000 ballots in swing state Pennsylvania — which Pres. Trump won by fewer than 50,000 votes in ‘16.
In Florida — the nation’s largest swing state — more than 11,500 ballots already need to be “cured.”

This means the ballot has small mistakes that must be fixed for it to count … but only if the voter knows about it.
npr.org/2020/10/19/924…
Read 8 tweets
7 Oct
The VP debate is not usually a star-studded affair. Republican strategist @MichaelSteele dubbed the 2016 VP debate “mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip.”

But this year, things are looking a little different 👇
In the wake of the president’s COVID diagnosis and hospitalization, the White House is now a hotspot in its own right. More than 23 people in Trump’s orbit have tested positive.

Pence, head of the Coronavirus Task Force, will have to answer to that. Image
As you know, VP Pence is facing off against Sen. Kamala Harris, who’s never shied away from posing difficult questions — from the Dem primary debate stage to the halls of Congress:
Read 6 tweets
23 Sep
Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron says no officers can be charged for killing Breonna Taylor because "the use of force" by the officers was "justified to protect themselves."
Here’s a breakdown of the charges from the Louisville grand jury:

• No charges filed against any of the three officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor
• One officer charged with 3 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for shooting into neighboring apartments
For reference: First-degree wanton endangerment is a Class D felony.

Other Class D felonies: stealing mail, promoting gambling, vandalism, and eavesdropping.
Read 4 tweets
22 Sep
Hypocrisy be damned, it’s looking likely Trump will get the Senate votes he needs to appoint a third Supreme Court justice. So the big question: Who will he nominate?

Here are the women who have reportedly made the president’s shortlist 👇
The frontrunner is Amy Coney Barrett, a Scalia-trained constitutional conservative and Trump-appointed court of appeals judge.

She was among the finalists to fill Justice Kavanaugh’s current seat, but Trump allegedly wanted to save her for an RBG vacancy.
cnn.com/2020/09/22/pol…
Barrett’s staunch Catholicism is a point of contention for some Dems — and praise for most Republicans.

She once argued Catholics can and should recuse themselves in some cases regarding religious matters, which could potentially be … many SCOTUS cases.
reuters.com/article/us-usa…
Read 7 tweets
21 Sep
Zendaya won an Emmy last night, the youngest best lead actress and second-ever Black woman to win.

In her speech, she offered a hopeful message for the future and acknowledged activists in the streets: “I see you, I admire you, I thank you.”
Gen Z (or Zoomers) is a very political generation. Their formative years have been characterized by multiple mass shootings, a rapidly changing climate, police brutality, recessions, the 2016 election, protests, and of course, a pandemic.

And Gen Z is ready to vote.
Gen Z’s sheer size has caused a sea change in the American electorate: A whopping 24 million people have turned 18 since the 2016 election, and Gen Z is the most racially diverse and digitally connected generation in history.
npr.org/2020/09/09/911…
Read 9 tweets

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