2016 presidential election

On Sunday evening, John Oliver dedicated the top of his must-see series Last Week Tonight to the ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings—specifically the testimony of John Eastman, Trump’s legal adviser at the time of the insurrection. “Eastman was the one who devised the theory that Mike Pence could single-handedly negate the election results,” explained Oliver, adding, “The idea that a single person could decide the presidency is completely against the ideals of this country, which is why the Constitution starts with ‘We the people’ and not ‘Mike.’” The HBO host proceeded to note that over 100 GOP primary winners in the midterm elections have backed Trump’s false election-fraud claims—most troubling of whom are the secretaries of state, who may be in the position to influence the next presidential election. For example, Jim Marchant , the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Nevada, is a wacko conspiracy theorist who believes “the people of Nevada have not elected … [Read more...] about John Oliver Reveals How the GOP Is Planning to Hijack the 2024 Presidential Election

Donald Trump was not the first presidential candidate to perform notably better on election day than pre-election polling had predicted. Ronald Reagan did it in the 1980 election. So did Bob Dole in 1996. Still, the gap between the 2020 polling and the actual results has caused considerable dismay. Since the election, a lot of people have asked the same question: “What went wrong with the polling?” I’ve been leading the Quinnipiac University Poll for over 25 years. And while a lot of work remains before there is a final diagnosis of this year’s election polls, I don’t think it will show that polling has lost its value. I already see some early indicators of what went right — as well as wrong — this year. In general, public opinion polls have had a good track record over the last 100 years. However, election polls have never been perfect, nor should that be expected. Uncertainty is part of the equation — whether because of the margin of error, who turns out to vote or the number … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: Will 2020 mark the end of election polling as we know it?

House Republicans have geared up for the first public impeachment hearings in the Ukraine scandal, set to take place this week, by having GOP staffers send a memo to lawmakers that outlines the strategy to best defend President Donald Trump. But flaws remain within their arguments, which fail to address some of the damning allegations that Democrats will focus their questions on. The 18-page document details four main points of evidence that Republicans believe "are fatal to the Democrats' allegations" that Trump made an effort to force his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Democrats and 2016 election interference by withholding foreign military aid. "The July 25 call summary—the best evidence of the conversation—shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure." "President Zelensky and President Trump have both said there was no pressure on the call." In his now-infamous call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump said he "would like you to do us a favor, … [Read more...] about House Republicans’ defense strategy for impeachment hearings reveals flaws: Analysis