Tag Archives: 2020 elections

VIDEO: Republican Group Endorses Biden With Anti-Trump Ad In Battleground States

George Conway’s Lincoln Project hits Trump and praises Biden in a blistering new video.

Huffington Post, by Ed Mazza, April 21, 2020

A conservative group critical of President Donald Trump is going on the attack with a new ad endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden for November’s election.

[First, a Lincoln Project ad on the Huffington Post Youtube Channel: “Trump Gets Scorched in GOP Ad“]

The spot from The Lincoln Project, titled “Ready,” lauds Biden as “a bipartisan leader who puts good ideas ahead of party politics” and praises his strength and character.

“America knows Joe Biden,” the narrator states. “He is the man for this moment.”

“Donald Trump has left America in a state of danger, despair and economic depression, and the risks are too high to allow him another term,” Jennifer Horn, one of the co-founders of The Lincoln Project, said in a news release.

The group’s other leaders include conservative attorney George Conway, husband of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, along with GOP strategists Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt and John Weaver.

The ad is airing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, both key markets in swing states Trump won in 2016.


Bernie Sanders out – Joe Biden presumptive nominee

See also Bernie Sanders’ concession speech – inspiring call for an ongoing movement and Democratic unity

Bernie Sanders drops out of presidential race

Image: Sen. Bernie Sanders arrives for the Polk County Steak Fry in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 21, 2019.
Sen. Bernie Sanders arrives for the Polk County Steak Fry in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 21, 2019. Daniel Acker / Bloomberg via Getty Images file
by Jane C. Timm & Allan Smith,

Bernie Sanders is ending his presidential campaign, he announced on Wednesday.

The Vermont independent senator’s 2020 bid started off strong. He narrowly missed first place in Iowa before picking up wins in New Hampshire and Nevada. All the while, his campaign continued to rake in millions in small-dollar donations and pack rallies full of supporters as he ascended to national front-runner status amid a crowded Democratic field.

Running as a progressive insurgent against Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders popularized ideas like “Medicare for All.” In 2020, however, a number of candidates backed similar policies, and he faced another prominent progressive in Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was the first to propose canceling some student debt in April.

Sanders followed with a more far-reaching plan of his own in June. Warren surged above Sanders in the fall, right up until he suffered a heart attack in October. That — along with the high-profile endorsement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., — revived his national polling numbers, and he remained in second place until Biden’s dismal fourth-place showing in Iowa, which propelled Sanders to front-runner status.

In his 2020 bid, the senator worked to broaden his support with Latino voters, and his coalition grew more diverse because of it. But despite years of outreach to increase his popularity among black voters, Sanders failed to earn their votes in large numbers. He also lost some of his white working-class supporters to Biden, a fracture of his coalition that cost him crucial votes in states like Michigan.

Sanders also stumbled with women voters, facing accusations of sexism in January after tensions between his and Warren’s campaigns spilled out into the open. The two progressives had largely remained allies while campaigning for the nomination, but a series of leaks to the media from aides and supporters of both senators accusing the other camp of dirty tricks and lying culminated in Warren saying in a statement that Sanders once told her he didn’t think a woman could win the presidency.

Sanders denied the claim, but he was hit with further criticism of his supporters — dubbed the “Bernie Bros” — after female union leaders in Nevada who spoke out against his candidacy said they were attacked by his fans.

His campaign officially stalled in South Carolina. Fueled by a crucial endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Biden won the Palmetto State decisively. The moderate wing of the party then consolidated around him — Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg both dropped out of the race and endorsed him — and Biden won 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Warren dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday, but declined to endorse any candidate.

A week later, on March 10, Biden dominated in five of the six states that voted, including Michigan, one of Sanders’ biggest 2016 victories, to grow his delegate lead over the Vermont senator. Sanders’ substantial losses in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on March 17 put Biden on an insurmountable path to the Democratic nomination.

A day after those contests, and with the next voting night weeks away, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir wrote that the candidate was “going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign. In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable.”

In a message to supporters, Shakir was more pointed.

“No sugarcoating it, last night did not go the way we wanted,” he said of the March 17 losses. “And while our campaign has won the battle of ideas, we are losing the battle over electability to Joe Biden.”

Valero set aside $200,000 in November 2019 to influence Benicia’s 2020 election

Here we go again – Valero, refinery labor unions and big outside money plan to take over our Benicia elections like they did in 2018.  We (or they) will elect a Mayor and two City Council members.  Will it be another dirty smear campaign?  – R.S.

Benicia committee receives $200,000 from Valero

Vallejo Times-Herald, by John Glidden, February 7, 2020

BENICIA — While many of the active political campaigns in town were quiet during the second half of 2019, a special general purpose recipient committee received $200,000 in cash from the Valero Benicia Refinery, according to contribution forms submitted to the Benicia City Clerk’s Office.

The committee, Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor, Industrial Services Companies, received the donation on Nov. 20. It reported a cash balance of $248,111 at the end of the year.

The committee was active during the Benicia City Council elections in 2018, raising thousands of dollars from Valero, unions, and businesses. The committee actively supported Vice Mayor Christina Strawbridge and Councilmember Lionel Largaespada, while opposing unsuccessful council candidate Kari Birdseye.

All open campaign committee were required to submit reports on Jan. 31, 2020 for the period covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2019.

Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson reported having a cash balance of $1,277 at the end of 2019, while Strawbridge reported a zero balance after paying herself back $1,500 of a $4,000 loan she gave her committee. She forgave the rest.

Largaespada said he had a $95 balance as councilmembers Tom Campbell and Steve Young reported no action.

The Progressive Democrats of Benicia picked up $180 from Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown. The club reported a cash balance of $1,196 on Dec. 31.

Finally, the Benicia Police Officers’ Association reported no action during the same time period. It ended the year with $4,581 in cash.

For safe and healthy communities…