Monthly Archives: October 2020
October 31, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Late Thursday night, I taped an appearance with host Rowan Dean on Australia’s Sky News. In that interview, I previewed the predictions I made last night during our VIP Live broadcast. This is the edited version of my interview as it appeared on Australian television: I think President Trump will be re-elected, and I think the Republicans will hold the Senate, narrowly. The tide is obviously moving in a Republican
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October 31, 2020 — Steven Hayward
If Trump wins the electoral college again on Tuesday while losing the popular vote (perhaps by a bigger margin than he did in 2016), the left will lose its mind. Well that’s a given, but they’ll really lose their mind about the electoral college. After hoisting a couple of toasts to the passing of Sean Connery and a second sour whisky shot for Britain going back on COVID lockdown, “Lucretia”
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October 31, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
There are dozens of reasons why conservatives and moderates should vote for President Trump. One reason that has received virtually no attention is education, an issue as central as any to America’s future. President Trump has tried to combat the rot in higher education. As Stanley Kurtz points out, Trump’s popular Executive Order on Campus Free Speech was followed by an Executive Order banning the use of Critical Race Theory,
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October 31, 2020 — Steven Hayward
Back in the late 1990s, The New Republic suffered from serial scandals with writers who made things up, most spectacularly Stephen Glass, but also Ruth Shalit, who was fired from TNR in 1999 after she was discovered to have plagiarized and “reported inaccurately.” Lately Shalit, now married and using her married name “Ruth S. Barrett” as her byline, has been attempting a comeback in journalism. Her latest feature about meritocracy
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October 31, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I sought out former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman for lunch this week in St. Paul. Before his service in the Senate (2003-2009), Norm was the best mayor St. Paul ever had (1993-1998). I won’t revisit the voter fraud behind his painful defeat by Al Franken in 2008 post-election proceedings. I will only add that Franken himself proved a disposable commodity to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Thus we now contend
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October 31, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about the film The Plot Against the President here on Power Line this past weekend. Every time I attempt to post my review — most recently, this morning — I receive this notice: I have written twice to Amazon seeking an explanation. Despite the invitation extended to me in the notice, Amazon has rested on its right to remain silent. I am mystified. I can freely post reviews
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October 31, 2020 — Scott Johnson
The best epidemic related commentary I read this week was Matt Continetti’s Washington Free Beacon column “The next populist revolt.” I want to flag it for readers here at the top of my update. The Minnesota Department of Health threw me a curve ball with its third briefing of the week. Upsetting the customary schedule, they held it on Thursday rather rather than on Friday. I have posted the audio
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October 31, 2020 — Steven Hayward
This year the trick is on all of us, in the form of “two-weeks-to-flatten-the-curve” turning into a year-long treat for authoritarian bureaucrats and other “experts.” Thus the dilemma for anyone hosting trick-or-treaters tonight: is that cadaver-costumed kid trying to look like Joe Biden on purpose or . . . is that Joe Biden? Very hard to tell this year. And if you think people out after dark in costumes and
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October 30, 2020 — John Hinderaker
In general, I don’t think celebrity endorsements of politicians mean anything. Who cares what Cardi B thinks? No one. But there are a few celebrities, mostly athletes, who are so respected that their opinions might count for something. In the last few days, several iconic athletes have come out for Donald Trump’s re-election. First, Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer ever. Get out and vote. I did! pic.twitter.com/IfQb3NeSO3 — Jack Nicklaus
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October 30, 2020 — John Hinderaker
If you have been following Scott’s Coronavirus In One State series, you know that the Incompetent Blowhard is Minnesota’s left-wing Governor, Tim Walz. That characterization is, in my view, generous. This afternoon, President Trump made a campaign stop in Rochester, Minnesota. He was only able to speak in person to 250 people because of a mandate from our leftist Attorney General, but thousands of Trump fans assembled outside the venue.
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October 30, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Earlier this year, in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Oregon Legislature established a $62 million relief fund that’s only available to individuals and business owners who “self-identify as Black.” These public funds are not available to Hispanic, Asian-American, Native American, or White business owners or individuals. This blatant racially discriminatory scheme cried out to be challenged as unconstitutional. Sure enough, it is now being challenged. The plaintiff is
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October 30, 2020 — Scott Johnson
It’s dangerous to come out in the Twin Cities — to come out as a Trump supporter, that is. I’m deeply impressed by my fellow Minnesotans who showed up at Joe Biden’s drive-in rally at the Minnesota State Fair parking lot in St. Paul to express their support for Trump. They mightily annoyed Biden. They got under his skin. Biden called them “ugly folks over there beeping the horns.” Not
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October 30, 2020 — John Hinderaker
In Minnesota, polls show a tight race between President Trump and Joe Biden. This has Democrats worried; in 2016, the last October poll showed Hillary Clinton with an 11-point lead, and she carried the state by a point and a half. That was remarkable, in view of the fact that in 2016, the Trump campaign allotted $50,000 to Minnesota, according to Mick Mulvaney. This year, the campaign is spending millions,
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October 30, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Well, he should win in a landslide. To find out whether he will or not, tune in to tonight’s VIP Live show. President Trump’s tremendous record on the economy is one of the main reasons why he deserves re-election. Today the Council of Economic Advisers published an excellent analysis of that record. In the first 3 years of the Trump Administration, the United States economy experienced a reversal of several
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October 30, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Last night, in discussing the state of the race to control the Senate, I cited an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. That analysis gives the GOP the edge in picking up a seat in Alabama, but the edge to Democrats in capturing seats in Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, Maine, and Iowa. These results would give the Dems a 51-49 margin in the Senate. I also noted that the Democrats could get to
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October 30, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
A new poll by SurveyUSA finds the Maine Senate race between Sen. Susan Collins and Sarah Giddeon to be a dead heat. Gideon, who once held a clear lead, is ahead by a statistically insignificant one point margin, 46-45. The poll was conducted from October 23-27. Maine uses a ranked-choice voting system. Votes for third party candidates, of which there are two this year, will be distributed to the Democrat
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October 30, 2020 — John Hinderaker
YouGov conducted an interesting survey, asking Americans their opinions of various countries. Among other things, the survey identifies differences between Republicans and Democrats in their views of nations, including the United States. This chart shows the countries with the greatest and least partisan divides with respect to the percentage having a positive view: Two things jump out at an observer. The first is the parties’ radically different opinions of Israel.
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