Fareed Zakaria: This is why Trump will lose the 2020 election ...

The hidden factors that could produce a surprise Trump victory

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/trump-victory-democrats-election-430013

By almost every measure that political operatives, academics and handicappers use to forecast elections, the likely outcome is that Joe Biden will win the White House.

Yet two weeks before Election Day, the unfolding reality of 2020 is that it’s harder than ever to be sure. And Democrats are scrambling to account for the hidden variables that could still sink their nominee — or what you might call the known unknowns.

Trump Is Trailing So Far in Polls That Hunter Biden 'Scandal' Has Little Impact: GOP Pollster

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-trailing-polls-hunter-biden-little-impact-gop-pollster-1541861

 Republican pollster Frank Luntz thinks former Vice President Joe Biden will win the presidential election on November 3 and it's too late for President Donald Trump to turn things around.

Luntz has criticized the Trump campaign for focusing on Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his alleged financial dealings in Ukraine and China. The veteran Republican consultant thinks most people just don't care.

Rav Moshe Feinstein and need to vote

 

See the uncomfortable question Trump asked Netanyahu

Trump Sycophant Lou Dobbs Attacks Lindsey Graham | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

WSJ Newsroom Found No Joe Biden Role in Hunter Deals After Reviewing Bobulinski's Records

 https://www.newsweek.com/wsj-newsroom-found-no-joe-biden-role-hunter-deals-after-reviewing-bobulinskis-records-1541553

 The Wall Street Journal newsroom has found that texts and emails recently given to the publication by Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, provide no evidence that Joe ever used his political standing as a former vice president to aid Hunter's business dealings in China.

 Following the publication of the opinion article, Wall Street Journal reporters Andrew Duehren and James T. Areddy wrote a news article stating, "The venture—set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign—never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden."

'Mistake' for Trump to focus so much on Hunter Biden allegations, says Mike Huckabee

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mike-huckabee-hunter-biden-trump-mistake

"Yeah, it is a mistake because the average person doesn't understand it, it is too complicated, and, frankly, it doesn't matter to them," Huckabee said in response to "Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade, who asked whether Trump should emphasize the story in the campaign's closing days.

"They care about their health care costs, they care about their taxes, they care about safety and their neighborhood on their block and in their yard. Focus on that and he wins the election by a landslide," Huckabee suggested.

 

Misconceptions about marriage - a wife is not a shtender

 Steipler The Steipler told fathers to look for 3 qualities in a son in law1 intelligence, diligence (hasmoda) and character (midos)One father objected saying there was no need for the third since all talmidei chachomim have midos.The Steipler responded “A wife is not a shtender!” after many years in yeshiva a bachor learns to relate properly to his shtender and gemora but not to a request to take out the garbage or who needs attention d character to put up with a sick wife a sick child to sleep. For that you need good character

Trump maintains bank account in China, says NY Times

 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54625422

 US President Donald Trump has a Chinese bank account and spent years pursuing business projects in the country, the New York Times has reported.

The account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management and paid local taxes between 2013 and 2015.

It was set up "to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia", according to a Trump spokesman.

Mr Trump has been critical of US firms doing business in China and sparked a trade war between the two countries.

The NY Times revealed the account after obtaining Mr Trump's tax records, which included both personal and company financial details.

 

Fearing a loss, GOP senators keep distance from Trump and begin to ponder party's future

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/20/politics/republican-senate-reaction-trump/index.html

 For four years, Republican senators have shrugged off President Donald Trump's constant string of controversies and scandals. They've ignored his Twitter outbursts and endless grievances. And they've avoided confronting him, while voting mostly in lockstep for his agenda and protecting him during his impeachment trial.

But two weeks until Election Day, GOP senators are beginning to come to grips that Trump's reign in Washington could soon come to an end.

Publicly and privately, Republicans are now beginning to distance themselves from the President. And the debate over the post-Trump Republican Party is already taking shape, with some eager to emulate his populist style of America-first, slash-and-burn politics -- and others pushing to return to a more moderate, pro-business message to woo disaffected younger voters and women who have been put off by Trump.

Nearly 350 Prominent Republicans Voting for Joe Biden

 https://www.newsweek.com/nearly-350-prominent-republicans-voting-joe-biden-1540611

 With two weeks until Election Day, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president, joining 347 other prominent Republicans who are voting blue come November 3.

These Republicans have broken party lines to speak out against President Donald Trump and publicly endorse Biden. One of the most notable GOP groups is the Lincoln Project, whose ads have severely attacked the president. The anti-Trump group is led by several high-profile Republicans, including John Weaver, Rick Wilson, George Conway, Reed Galen and Jennifer Horn.

Trump demands Barr investigate Hunter Biden

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/521827-trump-demands-barr-investigate-hunter-biden

President Trump early Tuesday pressured Attorney General William Barr to investigate the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and demanded that information be released before Election Day.

“We have got to get the attorney general to act. He’s got to act and he’s got to act fast," Trump said on “Fox & Friends,” citing a New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Trump called on Barr to “appoint somebody” to handle the matter.

"This is major corruption and this has to be known about before the election,” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks represented an extraordinary effort by the president to push a member of his Cabinet to investigate the family of his political opponent, as he explicitly invoked the election as reason to do so. They came after a group of House Republicans asked Barr to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations about Hunter Biden made in the Post last week.

 

 

Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000

Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails October 19, 2020 We are all individuals who devoted significant por<ons of our lives to na<onal security. Some of us served in senior posi<ons in policy departments and agencies, and some of us served in senior posi<ons in the Intelligence Community. Some of us were poli<cal appointees, and some were career officials. Many of us worked for presidents of both poli<cal par<es. We are all also individuals who see Russia as one of our na<on’s primary adversaries. All of us have an understanding of the wide range of Russian overt and covert ac<vi<es that undermine US na<onal security, with some of us knowing Russian behavior in<mately, as we worked to defend our na<on against it for a career. A few of us worked against Russian informa<on opera<ons in the United States in the last several years. Perhaps most important, each of us believes deeply that American ci8zens should determine the outcome of elec8ons, not foreign governments. All of us agree with the founding fathers’ concern about the damage that foreign interference in our poli8cs can do to our democracy. It is for all these reasons that we write to say that the arrival on the US poli<cal scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his <me serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian informa<on opera<on. We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal aSorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement -- just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this elec8on, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this. There are a number of factors that make us suspicious of Russian involvement. Such an opera<on would be consistent with Russian objec<ves, as outlined publicly and recently by the Intelligence Community, to create poli<cal chaos in the United States and to deepen poli<cal divisions here but also to undermine the candidacy of former Vice President Biden and thereby help the candidacy of President Trump. For the Russians at this point, with Trump down in the polls, there is incen<ve for Moscow to pull out the stops to do anything possible to help Trump win and/or to weaken Biden should he win. A “laptop op” fits the bill, as the publica<on of the emails are clearly designed to discredit Biden. Such an opera<on would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now mul<-year opera<on to interfere in our democracy – the hacking (via cyber opera<ons) and the dumping of accurate informa<on or the distribu<on of inaccurate or misinforma<on. Russia did both of these during the 2016 presiden<al elec<on – judgments shared by the US Intelligence Community, the inves<ga<on into Russian ac<vi<es by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and the en<rety (all Republicans and Democrats) on the current Senate Intelligence CommiSee. Such an opera<on is also consistent with several data points. The Russians, according to media reports and cybersecurity experts, targeted Burisma late last year for cyber collec<on and gained access to its emails. And Ukrainian poli<cian and businessman Adriy Derkach, iden<fied and sanc<oned by the US Treasury Department for being a 10-year Russian agent interfering in the 2020 elec<on, passed purported materials on Burisma and Hunter Biden to Giuliani. Our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue is consistent with two other significant data points as well. According to the Washington Post, ci<ng four sources, “U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that Giuliani was the target of an influence opera<on by Russian intelligence.”In addi<on, media reports say that the FBI has now opened an inves<ga<on into Russian involvement in this case. According to USA Today, “...federal authori<es are inves<ga<ng whether the material supplied to the New York Post by Rudy Giuliani...is part of a smoke bomb of disinforma<on pushed by Russia.” We do not know whether these press reports are accurate, but they do suggest concern within Execu8ve Branch departments and agencies that mirrors ours. It is high 8me that Russia stops interfering in our democracy. Signed by, Jim Clapper Former Director of Na<onal Intelligence Former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Former Director of the Na<onal Geospa<al Intelligence Agency Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Mike Hayden Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency Former Director, Na<onal Security Agency Former Principal Deputy Director of Na<onal Intelligence Leon PaneSa