Filling Gaps

According to WESA (90.5 FM), Pittsburgh's public / news radio station. the GOP in Allegheny County plans to use a MAGA tactic in an attempt to work ar0und existing rules and practices.

Justices of the Commonwealth Supreme Court will be asked to rule on the date set for interim elections, such as those to fill seats held by legislators who have passed away.  As you might imagine, the Republican Party in western PA wants the date moved forward or even postponed, because:

• Over the weekend, Democrats chose attorney Abigail Salisbury to run for the 34th House district vacated by Summer Lee, while Republicans picked retired police officer Robert Pagane
• In the 35th District seat vacated by Austin Davis (as candidate for Lieutenant Governor), Democrat Matt Gergley will run against Republican Don Nevills
• The GOP chose Clayton Walker, pastor of the fundamentalist Grace Tabernacle Church of God in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, to seek the 32nd House district seat formerly held by the late Anthony DeLuca. Democrats nominated Joe McAndrew for that seat last weekend.

Looks like the Democrats' ticket is complete and ready to go ...

Inside Out

According to Spotlight PA, Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state House could hold a functional majority until at least mid-February.  Because of Democratic vacancies, these paragons of patriotism are considering using that advantage to pass a handful of far-reaching constitutional amendments. The strategy dovetails with GOP leaders attempting to delay special elections in two heavily Democratic Allegheny County districts, one being vacated by Summer Lee as she moves to the (Federal) House of Representatives.

Kiss the First Amendment Goodbye

This past Thursday, Donald Trump threatened, in effect if not in fact, to burn the Bill of Rights.

Trump promised that, if elected president again, he would:

• ban federal money from being used to label speech as misinformation or disinformation
• fire federal officials who have engaged in what he characterized as domestic censorship
• punish universities engaging in censorship activities with cuts to federal funding

Don't dismiss the meshugah.  His plans include:

• unilateral executive orders
• legislation that would need some degree of congressional approval

Be afraid - be very afraid.  Or better yet, get involved in local politics.  To paraphrase the late Rep. John Lewis, grass-roots activism is one of the best weapons we have for progressive political change.

Not While We're Eating

Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer discussed the 2024 election, and the possibility of a rematch between President Biden and 45.

The tete-a-tete took place over lunch, with both Democratic leaders favoring a Biden- Trump second-go-round.  What GOTV found even more interesting, and agreed even more with, was Speaker Pelosi's comment on The Donald.

I don't think we should talk about him while we're eating she said.

Nce Work If You Can Get It

Doug Mastriano ended his failed campaign for Governor with more than $1 million in his campaign's coffers.  It's unlikely that this money would have put him any closer to the Governor's Mansion, but what's certain is that it left Mastriano quite a piece of change short of the campaign funds available to Josh Shapiro - $7 million for Mastriano, and $66 million for Shapiro.

What GOTV finds delightful is the fact that some Republicans now grouse that the $59 million difference in such funds could have helped the party’s candidates down ballot, and perhaps even preclude Pennsylvania Democrats' winning the state House for the first time in more than a decade.

It’s one of the most irresponsible and selfish actions I’ve seen a candidate for office at any level take said Mark Harris, a Pittsburgh-based Republican strategist. The potential loss of the House rests heavily on Doug Mastriano’s decision.

GOTV has only one rejoinder.  Where were Mr. Harris and his (probably MAGA) colleagues when Mastriano's candidacy took a turn toward fascism?

GOTV urges you all to read the piece just cited ...

No Shame

GOTV is planning an online seminar on the relationship of the Federalist Papers to our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other significant amendments.  A statement yesterday from Marjorie Taylor Greene, and another, similar one from that paragon of respect for accepted standards Elon Musk, causes us to feel that they each would benefit from our teaching materials, especially those involving James Madison's work on the Constitution in general, and on the First Amendment in particular.

Re: the online seminar, if you're interested in a preview, just email Bodhi; you'll get a cursory syllabus by return email.

 

 

Flipping the (State) House

Even here in the Keystone State, the 2020 election exposed gaps in election rules.  Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg have gone mano-a-mano with outgoing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf over changes to make in election management.  But this competition could change in the coming months.

Since Democrats have tenuously flipped the state House and retained control of the governorship, that gives us good guys more leverage to advance a policy agenda.

Reading Material

It may sound either pompous or trite.  But GOTV, in our effort to help our neighbors understand and participate more effectively in our politics, has come up with a brief reading list.

It consists of only two titles, neither recent, but each seminal to our politics and government.  It's our feeling that plowing through these (and it will require effort) will give you a better understanding of how we became the United States.

• Democracy in America , in which Alexis de Tocqueville inspected the democratic revolution, manifesting in America, that he believed had been developing over the previous several hundred years
• The Federalist Papers , in which Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison prescribed a functional foundation for a government de Tocqueville would have appreciated

Pop quiz - chicken or egg.  I.e., which of these studies influenced which?

A Shining Example

It's been reported that over $40,000,000.00 ($40 million) went into yesterday's victory for Raphael Warnock.  That number, mostly covered by the Democratic National Committee, paid, not for ads, but rather for boots on the ground.  Whether those boots accomplished knocking on thousands of doors (they did), translating campaign literature into several languages (e.g., Vietnamese and Cambodian), or simply helping folks get to the polls, is almost immaterial.

Rev. Warnock won by the largest margin of victory for a Democrat in decades.

Just Like a Clock

Even a broken (AKA conservative-laden) court can be right twice a day ...

The Supreme Court declined today to take up a case brought against Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook by voters who claimed the companies illegally influenced the 2020 election.

Lower courts had previously rejected the case, ruling that the eight plaintiffs lacked the procedural threshold - in legal-speak, standing – needed to bring the suit.

It should come as no surprise that SCOTUS ruled in this way, since lower courts decided:

• the plaintiffs didn’t have standing, and
• their claims were felt to be frivolous

Cancel Culture

The petulant child known as Donald J. Trump came up with a fine satire on the far-right idea of cancel culture.

Merriam-Webster defines that trope as a figure of speech first used in (why does this not surprise us?) 2016.   GOTV doubts, however, that M-W imagined such cliches as indicating that our government is itself an illusion, a chimera.

But don't think that stopped 45 ...

Stacking the Deck

Today, the Democratic National Committee approved a proposal to reshape the 2024 presidential nominating calendar .  The DNC voted to make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on the same day a few days later, and then Georgia and Michigan before Super Tuesday. 

Makes lots of sense, from more than one point of view:

• encouraging heavier turnout in states that have been trending liberal
• encouraging turnout in states like Michigan that traditionally vote Democratic
• garnering beaucoup press coverage well before Super Tuesday, in turn driving turnout on that day

Yet another tactic for GOTV ...

Dream On, Herschel

Yesterday, Herschel Walker said that the record turnout so far in early voting in Georgia's Dec. 6 Senate runoff election looks good for him.

Don't hold your breath, Mr. Walker:

• more than 1 million Georgians have already cast ballots
• Democrats have aggressively pushed their supporters to give Senator Raphael Warnock a head start

Unless this race turns out to be another unfathomable which came first / chicken / egg riddle, GOTV hereby goes out on a limb and declares Rev. Warnock the winner.