Beltway Insider: Trump/Rallies, Biden Boost, Navalny Poisoned, Jobs, Portland/Protests, COVID Totals, Election

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The last leg of the 2020 Presidential Campaign season is in full swing with backers of President Donald Trump spending the weekend showing support by hosting large scale Trumptilla Boat Parades and bike rallies across the nation.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, which tracked polls of likely or registered voters for the period ending September 06, 2020, increased by 1.5 percentage points to 43.5% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 52.3%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


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Election 2020, according to the website 270towin, which tracks the latest Presidential Poll averages have President Donald Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden by 6.0% percentage points in ten National Polls. With an average of 50.1% of the sample audience indicating they will be casting their vote for Biden, and 42% of the voters sampled indicating they will be casting their vote for Trump.

Based on the state poll projections, the 270towin offers a color coded electoral map which projects, based on current state polls, the expected November vote. The map can be seen here.

Trump, Impeached, Vilified, Counted Out, Depends on Supporters, Rallies

President Trump is accustomed to his current position in the polls. As the underdog, the 2016 election had his opponent Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton ahead in every poll. It was a given that America would finally elect a female president.

The world knows the story by now. Her defeat was as shocking to Americans as it was to the world. Fast forward to 2020. Trump is again the underdog and his 2020 Democratic Presidential challenger Joe Biden has a comfortable lead in ten national polls, with most prognosticators predicting a democratic win.

Trump supporters on the other hand don't leave anything to chance. They don't see the polls, and for some they don't even see the president. They see an America that continues to infringe on their rights. The hardline polices of the Trump Administration are welcome to the right-wing conservatives who feel America is too open, too welcoming, too concerned about appearances.

Trump collects the disenfranchised voters. Those who are faced with cancel culture, who have lost the freedom to voice dissidence out of concern for retribution, those who see the right to protest as becoming an infringement on personal freedoms, safety, and law enforcement.

The Trump supporters are vocal. They have little concern for appearances, the create loud, extreme noise, as bystanders and media scoff at the possibility of a second Trump term. For many of Trump's supporters this is the first time they have a candidate they can back that can actually win and they will turn out in mass to prove to the intellectual elite and democratic establishment who has the power in America.

Granted, round two is an uphill battle and still Trump is accustomed to his underdog status as are the majority of his supporters.


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Trump Flotilla Not Without Tragedy

Trump Flotilla Boat Parade's are expected to continue with upwards of 50,000 boat owners throughout America taking to the rivers, lakes, streams, and waterways of America, decorated with as many pro-Trump banners and flags as they can hold.

The Labor Day weekend has already recorded several water rescues as the conditions including chop from the wake of the passing

"The authorities rescued numerous people from the waters of Lake Travis in Texas on Saturday after at least four boats sank at an event promoted as a Trump Boat Parade, officials said. The Sheriff's Office in Travis County received "multiple" calls of boats in distress starting at 12:15 p.m. local time, a spokeswoman, Kristen Dark, said. Christa Stedman, a spokeswoman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said no injuries had been reported," The New York Times reported.

Boat Parades are scheduled for Washington D.C., San Diego, Oregon, and more expected to be announced.

Biden Boost

Democratic Presidential challenger Joe Biden, who has continued to enjoy a solid lead against the president, is facing more than the customary issues as he moves his nontraditional campaign into the harshest season in any election.

The post-Labor Day swing, which usually translates to breakneck campaigning with multiple stops in swing states, shaking hands, country fairs and kissing babies, are all out due to the coronavirus. The human connection that many politicians depend on to gauge the voter responsiveness in being played out in tweets, views, impressions, and statistical information gathered from online cloud reporting.

Stale, antiseptic and often misleading, the 2020 campaign season has had few headline grabbing moments, except the wild about Trump flotilla parades and those who refuse to go quietly into the pages of a footnoted presidency.

The Biden-Harris ticket, solid, stately politicians restoring decency to the White House, seem almost sedate, unexciting, and anesthetized. Kicking it up a notch, adding some fuel to the fire of desire, through innovative pioneering ways to meet the challenge of little to none in-person campaigning, minimal contact, and no flag waving, giant rallies would reach those who may be on the fence as to whether they will vote or not.

"Democrats in several states said Mr. Biden's team was also weighing how to deploy campaign organizers in the field in the midst of a public-health crisis. One option under discussion is to send canvassers on door-drop assignments, delivering pamphlets but not engaging in extended conversation with voters. Mr. Trump's campaign has been making door-to-door forays for some time, despite the virus," The New York Times reported.


Alexei Navalny, Putin Critic, Airlifted to Germany


Navalny Poisoned

Alexi Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who had been President Vladimir Putin's harshest critic, has been poisoned with the Novichek, a chemical agent developed by Russia, and used as recently as 2018 on a former double agent.

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Berlin has concluded Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, the same substance that Britain said was used against a Russian double agent and his daughter in an attack in England in 2018," Reuters reported.

When asked directly regarding the poisoning of Navalny and Russian involvement he said, "Well, I think we have to look at it very seriously if that's the case, and I think we will. There's nobody been tougher on Russia than I have."

The summer of unrest has reached eastern Russia, and the confirmed poisoned of the harshest Kremlin critic has fueled the people to take to the streets. Although it is doubtful Putin will address the nation or the protests dismissing them as insignificant.

Navalny, a well-known voice of change in the region, represents a Russia of the future and he has paid a high personal price for his critical attacks against Putin, and for daring to challenge the status quo. Putin, many Russian Scholars explain, has set himself up to be president for life and does not tolerate any person challenging his personal goals.

"Nobody inspires such hostility and fear as Navalny," said Nikolai Petrov, a senior research fellow at Chatham House in London and an expert on Kremlin decision-making. This, he added, means there is a very long list of potential enemies who might want him dead, or least incapacitated. "It is like the mafia: Nothing can be done without the approval and guarantee of impunity of the boss," he said. "I am not saying Putin gave a direct order to poison him, but nobody can act unless they are sure that the boss will be happy and won't punish them," The New York Times reported.

Russia and The Coronavirus

The Coronavirus hasn't spared any part of the world from its invisible death grip. Russia, no matter the message from Moscow, has seen its share of cases as well. More than one million cases and nearly 18,000 deaths have been reported to date. The message of social distancing, hand washing, and face coverings appears to go unheeded. Pictures of protesters in eastern Russia, also reveal a secondary truth as some, a sprinkling, of those marching can be seen wearing face masks however the majority are seen without face masks.

Coronavirus Totals

The infection rates of the coronavirus have continued to rise around the world. For the week ending September 6, 2020, coronavirus cases increased globally by 1,907,200 confirmed cases, brings the total of confirmed cases worldwide to 26,927,900, with 880,263 deaths, an increase of 37,532.

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the week ending September 6, 2020, the total confirmed cases rose to 6,276,200 with new confirmed cases rising by 301,300. The coronavirus has claimed 188,597 total deaths, a weekly increase for 5,997 deaths. (Data from The New York Times).

August Jobs Numbers Released

The economy added 1.4million jobs over the month of August bringing the total unemployment numbers to 8.4% and reducing the total number of unemployed Americans to 13.6million according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Several sectors saw a notable rise including government workers hired for the 2020 Census. Unemployment claims have hovered between 800,000 and 1.1million per week for the past three months.

"Just a few months ago, America had an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent—the lowest rate in 50 years—before jumping to a peak of 14.7 percent in April due to devastation wrought by COVID-19. But between April and August, the unemployment rate fell by 6.3 percentage points to 8.4 percent. For perspective, following the Great Recession of 2008-09, it took nearly a decade for the unemployment rate to fall by 6.3 percentage points. President Trump's economy accomplished this in just four months," The Council of Economic Advisors stated in a press release.


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Election: Portland Protests and the Summer of Unrest

Portland, Oregon, for many has often been confused with Seattle, Washington, and descriptions of each seem to be interchangeable, the birthplace of Grunge music, extremely liberal and environmentally friendly, and the home of Microsoft.

While some of those descriptions may be true, in 2020 Portland has become synonymous with a city on the verge of collapse as both Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler face scrutiny over their prolonged wait time in addressing the boiling issues which have taken over the city, transforming it into a national outrage over lawlessness, senseless brutality and a subject both candidates use to address the issue of law enforcement and peaceful protest.

"More than 90 officials from Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties signed a letter to the broader community urging people to exercise free speech without resorting to heated rhetoric and brutality against each other. "The overwhelming majority of our community who have risen to protest for social justice and against racial inequities have done so peacefully," the letter said. "… Unfortunately, there are some individuals who have chosen violence over peaceful protest, violence towards other protesters, violence towards police officers and even an instance of deadly violence experienced recently in downtown Portland," Oregonlive.com reported.

The rage in Portland is not a singular demonstration. Multiple cities around the nation are facing similar protest fueled from the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd. Since that pivotal moment in history, many believing the movement will infringe on their rights have taken up in defense of their right to protest also. The clash of cultures, beliefs, ideals and even the definition of law enforcement in Portland has become a 100-day vigil of violence, murder, death, and lawlessness.

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler, said "I completely support the goals and the aspirations of nonviolent demonstrators who want to see racial justice and equity, who want to see meaningful engagement of the public in police reforms. But unfortunately, the story has shifted and the focus of the conversation has become the question of nightly violence. There's also a legitimate question about police violence and police tactics when it comes to crowd control, crowd management, dispersal tactics and the like. Because this has gone on for 100 hundred nights, Portland has become the central focus nationally on this question of violence at the local level," reported the Oregonlive.com

Portland's violence may become the cauldron in the Presidential campaign focusing on issues including the right to assemble, to petition leaders for change, law enforcement and tactics.

Register to Vote

One vote won't make a difference. Or will it?

The question may not be the most talked about question of the campaign and yet many American citizens are refusing to even consider voting with the impression that the singular vote they cast will not make a difference. Each vote becomes a total of all votes cast, win or lose, exercising the right to vote is part of a free society.

This election will choose the leaders who present the blueprint for the future which bests aligns with each voter's vision.

Check USA.gov for the local election office in all fifty states and US territories. Register to vote today, opt for the mail in ballot, and send it in as soon as possible.

For more information on President Donald Trump www.whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection