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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

30 Sep

1. The debate was a disaster - for America, for Trump, for democracy, and for the risks of political violence in November. An objective assessment of the candidates performances must lead with this: Biden inhabits reality, whereas Trump inhabits a concocted victimhood complex.

2. Internationally, the debates were an enormous embarrassment. They were unwatchable, not because of Biden or Wallace, but because of Trump. He refused to condemn white supremacy. He was an unhinged bully talking about some mythical "coup" against him. It was a glimpse of lunacy

3. Last night badly damaged Trump politically. He's losing by a lot at the moment. His aggressive rants further repelled the very swing voters he needs to win. The base may like the racist conspiracy theorist from the YouTube comments section shouting at them, but few others do.

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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

28 Sep

1. Donald Trump's tax returns show that he is clearly a fraud - a fake businessman who used the impression that he was rich to get people to give him money, which he then effectively set on fire with business failures, which he then used to avoid paying federal income taxes.

2. There are two big angles to the returns: a) the fraud, both in terms of how he lied about his business acumen and how his tax returns raise questions of actual illegal tax fraud; and b) the disqualifying financial conflicts of interest that make him even more unfit for office.

3. The fraud: Trump ran on being a successful businessman who spun straw into gold. In reality, most of the gold he got came from his Dad or from reality TV, which he then invested into his businesses, that lost tens of millions of dollars. Politically, that's devastating.

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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

26 Sep

1. At some point, we should talk about whether it's the best system to have the timing of the death of one woman result in radically changing the ideological composition of the country's highest court in the world's most powerful democracy for decades, without much recourse.

2. It's not just anti-democratic to have lifetime appointments for justices (though it is), it can also be terrible for the judges themselves, who effectively have to work until death because their ability to draw breath is sometimes literally protecting basic rights for millions

3. Something like 10/12 year terms for justices would go a long way, as would reforms like an independent scoring procedure for qualifications; a requirement for justices to be given hearings and up-or-down votes within a certain time frame; and formal rules around elections.

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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

19 Sep

1. Most Americans have a strong belief in fairness. Republicans established a new rule in 2016: no confirmations of new Justices in election years. Now, in 2020, they plan to violate the rules *that they set*. Democrats should hammer that message home in a blitz of advertising.

2. Democrats should also try to deter such procedural abuses with credible threats of actions *if* Republicans choose to ram through a Justice in violation of their own rules. Options should include a) adding additional Justices; b) eliminating the filibuster; c) DC/PR statehood.

3. In the past, I favored Senate institutionalism (I think it's a good thing to have procedural mechanisms that encourage cross-party compromise). But those, largely due to McConnell, have been obliterated. Either both parties play by the rules, or the rules can be changed.

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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

1 Sep

1. I could be wrong, but having grown up in the Midwest suburbs, I suspect the media narrative about Trump decisively benefitting from Kenosha and Portland is wrong. Trump's strategy is to use racial division and racism to scare Midwestern suburbanites. That could backfire.

2. Many Midwestern suburbs (say, the Minnesota 3rd District) are wealthy but largely socially progressive. The GOP often wins those districts with soft conservatism (low taxes, small government, but not with overt racism or bigotry). In 2018, Republicans lost many such districts.

3. The mistake Trump (and some in the press) are making is to believe that Midwestern suburbs are full of latent racists just waiting for a politician to activate it Willie Horton style. Some of those voters exist, sure. But this isn't 1988. And in 2020, I think it'll backfire.

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Brian Klaas

@brianklaas

28 Aug

1. On March 4, 1997, the NYT front page ran a story about Al Gore allegedly making a few phone calls from the White House to donors. It was portrayed as a serious scandal.

Compare that to what just happened with Trump using the White House for his campaign's convention speech.

2. The White House and campaigns are supposed to be totally separate, so that presidents can't abuse their powers for private or political gain. Trump held a political rally at the White House, using the building as a prop, hosting donors, using his powers to boost his campaign.

3. It's obvious that Trump is also calling donors, raising money, making shady quid pro quos etc. from the White House grounds. But if journalists let scandals get buried simply because there are so many of them, then the press has failed to do its job.

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