Early U.S. voting surges to new record as Trump, Biden make late push

[rooster59]

Early U.S. voting surges to new record as Trump, Biden make late push

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jeff Mason

 

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the media as Trump supporters gather in Rochester, Minnesota, U.S., October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich./READING, Pa. (Reuters) - A record 90 million Americans have voted early in the U.S. presidential election, data on Saturday showed, as President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden campaigned across the country to try to sway the few remaining undecided voters.

 

The high number of early voters, about 65% of the total turnout in 2016, reflects intense interest in the contest, with three days of campaigning left.

 

Concerns about exposure to the coronavirus at busy Election Day voting places on Tuesday have also pushed up the numbers of people voting by mail or at early in-person polling sites.

 

Trump, a Republican, is spending the closing days of his re-election campaign criticizing public officials and medical professionals who are trying to combat the coronavirus pandemic even as it surges back across the United States.

 

Opinion polls show Trump trailing former Vice President Biden nationally, but with a closer contest in the most competitive states that will decide the election. Voters say the coronavirus is their top concern.

 

Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in ballots are susceptible to fraud and has more recently argued that only the results available on election night should count. In a flurry of legal motions, his campaign has sought to restrict absentee balloting.

 

"I don’t care how hard Donald Trump tries. There’s nothing – let me say that again – there’s nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back this democracy,” Biden said at a rally in Flint, Michigan, where he was joined by former President Barack Obama for their first 2020 campaign event together.

 

Officials in several states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, say it could take several days to count all of those mail ballots, meaning there could be days of uncertainty if the outcome hinges on those states.

 

At a small, in-person rally in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Trump mocked his opponent for his criticism of the administration's record of fighting COVID-19, which has killed more people in the United States than in any other country.

 

"I watched Joe Biden speak yesterday. All he talks about is COVID, COVID. He's got nothing else to say. COVID, COVID," Trump told the crowd, some of whom did not wear masks.

 

He said the United States was "just weeks away" from mass distribution of a safe vaccine against COVID-19, which is pushing hospitals to capacity and killing up to 1,000 people in the United States each day. Trump gave no details to back up his remarks about an imminent vaccine.

 

In his closing arguments, Biden has accused Trump of being a bully, criticized his lack of a strategy to control the pandemic, which has killed nearly 229,000 Americans; his efforts to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law; and his disregard for science on climate change.

 

He has offered his own made-in-America economic platform, a contrast with Trump's "America First" approach, saying he will get the wealthy to pay their fair share and make sure earnings are distributed more equitably.

 

STANFORD REPORT

 

Stanford University economists on Saturday released an estimate that Trump rallies held from June to September led to more than 30,000 additional COVID-19 infections and possibly as many as 700 deaths. The study was based on a statistical model and not actual investigations of coronavirus cases. The paper, which did not cite disease experts among its authors, has not been peer-reviewed.

 

Public health officials have repeatedly warned that Trump campaign events could hasten the spread of the virus, particularly those held in places where infection rates were already on the rise. Determining the actual impact of those rallies on infection rates has been difficult due to the lack of robust contact tracing in many U.S. states.

 

Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, described the report as "suggestive."

 

“I would just say it’s suggestive but hard to completely isolate the specific impact of one event without robust contact trace data from the cases,” Adalja said.

 

Biden’s campaign, which has sharply limited crowd sizes at events or restricted supporters to their cars, quickly seized on the Stanford findings.

 

"Trump doesn't even care about the very lives of his strongest supporters," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

 

On Saturday, Trump was focused on campaigning in Pennsylvania, with a total of four rallies planned.

 

“If we win Pennsylvania, it’s over,” Trump said during his second rally of the day, in Reading.

 

The state has not as yet seen the dramatic rises in coronavirus cases that are threatening hospital capacity in Wisconsin and other battleground states. Still, nearly 8,700 people in the state have died of the disease.

 

(https://polling.reuters.com/)

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali, Michele Gershberg and David Morgan; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Ross Colvin, Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-01

 

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[Jeffr2]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/523789-18-trump-rallies-have-led-to-30k-cases-700-deaths-stanford-university

 

A new study from Stanford University found that 18 of President Trump’s campaign rallies have led to over 30,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and likely led to over 700 deaths. 

 

Researchers examined rallies held between June 20 and Sept. 22, 2020, only three of which were held indoors.

[Salerno]

^ To be fair:

Quote

The study was based on a statistical model and not actual investigations of coronavirus cases.

The paper, which did not cite disease experts among its authors, has not been peer-reviewed.

 

[Jeffr2]

3 minutes ago, Salerno said:

^ To be fair:

 

As a medical expert stated.  If you are in close proximity of 100 people, there's a 99% change at least one person there has the disease.  Stay in that grouping for over an hour, and many will get the virus.  That's a fact.  Especially since those at these rallies don't wear masks and yell a lot. ????

 

Another study.  Not perfect, but not bad:

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/29/health/covid-trump-rallies-counties-cases/index.html

A CNN investigation of 17 Trump campaign rallies finds that 14 of the host counties -- 82% of them -- had an increased rate of new Covid-19 cases one month after the rally.

The 17 rallies occurred between August 17 and September 26. CNN evaluated the rate of new daily cases per 100,000 residents at four weeks before the rally, on the rally date, and four weeks after the rally at the county level and at the state level.

[mr mr]

can you imagine if the don actually wins ? o man the entertainment it will provide will be glorious. a few posters on here will look rather silly. 

[Jeffr2]

1 minute ago, mr mr said:

can you imagine if the don actually wins ? o man the entertainment it will provide will be glorious. a few posters on here will look rather silly. 

Why would they look silly?  Sad times when supposedly smart people want a liar and criminal for their leader. 

[placeholder]

2 minutes ago, mr mr said:

can you imagine if the don actually wins ? o man the entertainment it will provide will be glorious. a few posters on here will look rather silly. 

And on the off chance that he loses? Will not a few of his supporters also look silly? Maybe even including you?

[mr mr]

3 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And on the off chance that he loses? Will not a few of his supporters also look silly? Maybe even including you?

i don't do politics my friend. you can play the left vs right game all you want. 

 

and absolutely trump supporters will look rather silly if he loses. 

[mr mr]

6 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Why would they look silly?  Sad times when supposedly smart people want a liar and criminal for their leader. 

why will they look silly ? hahahah you kidder you.

[Tug]

I’m not in the least surprised by the surge in early voting it’s a direct result of Donalds attempts at suppressing the vote and the attempts at stealing the election (the post office fiasco packing the  courts and solicitation of foreign interference)to name but a few and not to mention his epic blunder with the pandemic 

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, mr mr said:

i don't do politics my friend. you can play the left vs right game all you want. 

 

and absolutely trump supporters will look rather silly if he loses. 

And yet in your original post you chose only to cite how some would like if Trump wins. This post is a kissing cousin to I-don't-support-Trump-but...

[Jeffr2]

13 minutes ago, mr mr said:

why will they look silly ? hahahah you kidder you.

The only reason any voter would look silly is if they voted for the current liar and great divider of our nation.  If the US is to heal, Trump has to go.  In the infamous words of General Kelly, who guaranteed knows Trump better than anyone on this forum:

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/521507-john-kelly-called-trump-the-most-flawed-person-hes-ever-met-report

 

Former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, has said that President Trump “is the most flawed person” he’s ever known, CNN reported.

 

"The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life," Kelly has told friends, the outlet reported.

[mr mr]

7 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And yet in your original post you chose only to cite how some would like if Trump wins. This post is a kissing cousin to I-don't-support-Trump-but...

that's some mighty fine conclusions you have drawn there. don't let me stop you.

 

where did i say anyone would like it. you are putting words into my mouth. i said the entertainment value for some will be glorious. i don't really like much of the politics that goes on here but please don't tell me that it is not entertaining.the gong show that is the don and america have become a laughing stock. dems thinking voting joe biden in will help that image ? good grief. 

 

ill reiterate again. i do not follow politics. left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy. 

 

remember to get out there and vote. 

 

 

 

 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

 

22 minutes ago, mr mr said:

that's some mighty fine conclusions you have drawn there. don't let me stop you.

 

where did i say anyone would like it. you are putting words into my mouth. i said the entertainment value for some will be glorious. i don't really like much of the politics that goes on here but please don't tell me that it is not entertaining.the gong show that is the don and america have become a laughing stock. dems thinking voting joe biden in will help that image ? good grief. 

 

ill reiterate again. i do not follow politics. left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy. 

 

remember to get out there and vote. 

 

 

 

 

I think  it's a bit lazy to say that voting left or right does not result in real differences.  Sure - many rich will stay rich and poor stay poor. But the difference in the policies in healthcare, taxes, minimum wages, international relations, treatment of despotic leaders, climate change outcomes etc will be starkly different and lead to real differences in people's lives.

 

[placeholder]

11 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

 

I think  your thinking is lazy and lacking in subtlety if you think there is little difference between the parties in this election. Sure - many rich will stay rich and poor stay poor. But the difference in the policies in healthcare, taxes, minimum wages, international relations, treatment of despotic leaders, climate change outcomes etc will be starkly different and lead to real differences in people's lives.

 

 

20 minutes ago, mr mr said:

that's some mighty fine conclusions you have drawn there. don't let me stop you.

 

where did i say anyone would like it. you are putting words into my mouth. i said the entertainment value for some will be glorious. i don't really like much of the politics that goes on here but please don't tell me that it is not entertaining.the gong show that is the don and america have become a laughing stock. dems thinking voting joe biden in will help that image ? good grief. 

 

ill reiterate again. i do not follow politics. left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy. 

 

remember to get out there and vote. 

 

 

 

 

Oh, so now it's image that's important and not substance? Anyway, as a massive Pew Poll shows, positivity of the rest of the world's opinion of American declined precipitously under Donald Trump. He is less highly regarded than even Xi of China. I believe that the only 2 nations polled that were exceptions to this were Israel and Russia.

[J Town]

43 minutes ago, mr mr said:

can you imagine if the don actually wins ? o man the entertainment it will provide will be glorious. a few posters on here will look rather silly. 

And this is the problem. The collective "we" can no longer debate in a civil manner, and I place blame on both sides. Both 45 and Biden have literally thousands of attorneys to be unleashed at the sound of the bell indicating that voting has ended. Historically, the wider the economic divide the wider the political divide, and this is proving true today. Countries are looking on with horror, aghast to see the US swirling down the toilet toward just another banana state status.

 

It's painfully obvious 45 is not the choice of the majority of Americans. He has never polled higher than the mid-forties his entire time in office. If he does win this election, it will be due to apathy and/or cheating.

 

I have spoken.

[placeholder]

29 minutes ago, mr mr said:

that's some mighty fine conclusions you have drawn there. don't let me stop you.

 

where did i say anyone would like it. you are putting words into my mouth. i said the entertainment value for some will be glorious. i don't really like much of the politics that goes on here but please don't tell me that it is not entertaining.the gong show that is the don and america have become a laughing stock. dems thinking voting joe biden in will help that image ? good grief. 

 

ill reiterate again. i do not follow politics. left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy. 

 

remember to get out there and vote. 

 

 

 

 

So voting does make a difference? Why? After all, "left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy." 

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

there’s nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back this democracy,

Trump wasn't democratically elected?

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, mr mr said:

can you imagine if the don actually wins ? o man the entertainment it will provide will be glorious. a few posters on here will look rather silly. 

Many Americans probably had that mindset in 2016, Trump as a change agent. Now they have seen what his changes have visited upon them, possibly second thoughts.

As voting is not compulsory in the USA, the record early turnout does not bode well for one of the contestants.

[mr mr]

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

So voting does make a difference? Why? After all, "left vs right is simply fodder used by rich people to keep poor suckers busy." 

sarcasm. 

 

[placeholder]

6 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Trump wasn't democratically elected?

To be truly democratic would mean that them what gets the most votes wins. As Trump supporters are fond of pointing out the USA is a repunlic not a democracy.

[mr mr]

34 minutes ago, J Town said:

If he does win this election, it will be due to apathy and/or cheating.

 

and here in lies part of the big issue this time. neither side believes the other. you cheat. no you cheat. no way we are the clean team. no way we are the best. 

 

the wheels on the bus go round and round. 

[Lacessit]

6 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Trump wasn't democratically elected?

He won the Electoral Colleges, he lost the popular vote. Non-Americans are quite bemused by a voting system that allows that to happen.

Democracy is derived from the Greek demokratia, meaning rule by the people.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, mr mr said:

sarcasm. 

 

Hard to tell with you given your previous posts.

[stevenl]

1 minute ago, placeholder said:

Hard to tell with you given your previous posts.

He's just hedging his bets.

[mr mr]

11 minutes ago, stevenl said:

He's just hedging his bets.

if i had to chose i would be independent or libertarian ? can't stand the smugness of liberals and republicans believe in some far out stuff. 

[BangkokReady]

11 minutes ago, placeholder said:

To be truly democratic would mean that them what gets the most votes wins.

Right, but the United States of America is a union of states.  Each state has the candidate with the most votes winning, they then effectively have one vote per state.

 

No one would agree for their country to be part of a union of states if they weren't allowed the same voting rights as much larger states.

[BangkokReady]

13 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Non-Americans are quite bemused by a voting system that allows that to happen.

As a union of states, it makes perfect sense to me that each state should have equal power in electing the ruler of the union.  Otherwise a small state would have much less say than a larger one.

 

It seems perfectly democratic to me.

[mr mr]

14 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Hard to tell with you given your previous posts.

a lot of my posts with awesome funny names for trump are deleted. you never really get to see those. 

[Jeffr2]

47 minutes ago, J Town said:

And this is the problem. The collective "we" can no longer debate in a civil manner, and I place blame on both sides. Both 45 and Biden have literally thousands of attorneys to be unleashed at the sound of the bell indicating that voting has ended. Historically, the wider the economic divide the wider the political divide, and this is proving true today. Countries are looking on with horror, aghast to see the US swirling down the toilet toward just another banana state status.

 

It's painfully obvious 45 is not the choice of the majority of Americans. He has never polled higher than the mid-forties his entire time in office. If he does win this election, it will be due to apathy and/or cheating.

 

I have spoken.

I place the blame on the right.  Look at the far right media outlets.  All they do is bash liberals, dems, <deleted>, snowflakes, etc, etc, etc.  We're starting to see that from the left now, but IMHO, it started from the right.  Which now, is primarily a collection of religious nuts, gun rights nuts, and racists.  Mostly white people who don't want to see people of color take over "their" country.  Look at the bashing Obama got from the right.  Purely racist.

 

If Trump does win, it will be because so many now live in echo chambers.  I've seen this with my close friends.  CNN, WAPO, the NY Times...all fake news.  Which isn't true and that BS was started by Trump so he could discredit their accurate news reports.  He even admitted this to a reporter a few years ago.  Makes sense.

 

America is divided.  It started before Obama, but accelerated with election.  And Trump has only fanned the flames.  America needs to deal with racism.  It's a big part of what's tearing the country apart.

 

I have spoken. ????