Laura Clawson

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is suddenly a big fan of the deep state. In a message to Education Department career employees, DeVos noted that most of them would be staying on into a Biden administration, and gave them a charge: “Resist.”

“Let me leave you with this plea: Resist,” DeVos said. “Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what’s right for students. In everything you do, please put students first—always.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is suddenly a big fan of the deep state. In a message to Education Department career employees, DeVos noted that most of them would be staying on into a Biden administration, and gave them a charge: “Resist.”

“Let me leave you with this plea: Resist,” DeVos said. “Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what’s right for students. In everything you do, please put students first—always.

Why is another COVID-19 relief package held up? Rep. Katie Porter wants there to be no doubt: The help Americans need is held up by Republicans, and particularly by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s insistence on giving corporations “get out of jail free” cards for their reckless handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

With the vote of California’s electors, President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win over Donald Trump is formalized. States have been voting throughout the day, but it took California’s 55 votes to bring Biden over the 270 needed to win.

Hawaii’s four electors still have to cast their votes, but Biden’s win is sealed. Not that we should expect a gracious—or any—acknowledgement from Trump.

Unemployment claims just hit their highest level in months, Republicans are still refusing to negotiate a stimulus package that does half what the country needs, and people who have been unemployed for months are increasingly desperate. Only the government can truly help unemployed people, but the National Employment Law Project’s Michele Evermore has three pieces of advice for unemployed workers in the coming weeks. It’s not cheerful news, but it’s worth knowing.

The fight is on to bring President-elect Joe Biden into office with a Democratic Senate majority to add to the Democratic House majority. But if Mitch McConnell controls the Senate and can continue to block legislation at will, no matter how popular it may be … Biden shouldn’t give up. He should keep pushing, and he should make sure voters know about it.

That’s Bryce Covert’s message in The New York Times.

Team Trump had another bad day in court Friday, with losses in Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Whew. That’s a lot.

An effort in Minnesota state courts to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win there? Dismissed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. (The votes were certified Nov. 24, by the way.

Today in things that should in no way be news, but are, Donald Trump said he would leave the White House if (when) the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. Trump took questions from reporters late Thursday afternoon after speaking remotely to military service members.

Asked about leaving the White House, he said “Certainly I will, and you know that.

In addition to having driven so much change in Georgia’s electorate, Stacey Abrams is a romance author. So it’s appropriate that, with two Senate runoffs coming up in the state, one of the most exciting fundraising efforts is coming from a group of romance authors.

We’re heading into Thanksgiving week, and we’re hearing a lot of discussion of how people are—or aren’t—staying safe, from solitary living to plans for large gatherings and everything in between. We also need to be talking about how this holiday season kicks off after 35 straight weeks of a million or more people applying for unemployment insurance, and with Republicans still blocking the aid working people need in the COVID-19 economy.

Democrats face an uphill climb in Georgia’s Senate runoffs, but they are determined. After all, these races determine control of the Senate, and with it, whether President-elect Joe Biden can pass important laws, get his Cabinet confirmed, and get judges confirmed after four years of the Trump-McConnell judicial appointment conveyor belt.

Speculation is flying and some aspirants are campaigning hard for the position of labor secretary. Names being mentioned frequently include Boston Mayor Mary Walsh, Rep. Andy Levin, AFL-CIO economist Bill Spriggs, and Julie Su, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

In North Dakota, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen so far that the state will “allow” asymptomatic, COVID-19-positive healthcare workers to keep working, Gov. Doug Burgum announced this week. Allowed. The lucky ducks.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in South Dakota increased by 26.5% last week, but Gov. Kristi Noem is still rejecting a mask mandate, and her spokesman points to the fact that 34% of the state’s hospital beds remain vacant.

Donald Trump’s extended refusal to accept the results of last week’s election is making other Republicans nervous, but as usual, no one has the nerve to tell him to get over it, even as Trump’s tantrum undermines democracy and national security.

Jon Ossoff has challenged Sen. David Perdue to three live televised debates before their January 5, 2021 runoff election. 

“Our country continues to face great challenges—acute public health and economic crises, persistent economic hardship for working families, unequal justice under the law, deep political divisions, and widespread corruption in our political system,” Ossoff wrote in a letter to Perdue.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current leader in the presidential race, spoke briefly on Wednesday afternoon to call for every vote to be counted—something Donald Trump really, really doesn’t want to happen—and to affirm his confidence that he and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, will win the election.

Joe Biden has won Arizona, a state last won by a Democrat in 1996 and heavily targeted by Democrats for a 2020 flip. Arizona adds 11 electoral votes to Biden’s tally.

Election night is ending without a clear winner in the presidential race—an outcome we’d hoped to avoid, but knew was a strong possibility. The massive increase in mail ballots combined with laws in some states that prevented those mail ballots being processed ahead of time means that some key states are—as predicted—still counting, and may be counting for days.

Arizona’s vote counting has slowed to a crawl.

Joe Biden spoke briefly at a drive-in rally in Delaware shortly before 1 AM ET, offering an optimistic message but one that emphasized that the vote-counting is ongoing and there’s a lot we don’t know. “We feel good about where we are, we really do. I’m here to tell you tonight we believe we’re on track to win this election,” he said.

Stick with us as we continue following the presidential results live, and check in with Daily Kos Elections as they follow the downballot races.

Resources:

The Daily Kos Elections guide to every key presidential swing state in 2020.

The Daily Kos Elections Nov. 3, 2020 poll closing times map.

Wednesday, Nov 4, 2020 · 7:45:41 AM +00:00

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Barbara Morrill

Calling it a night.

Whew. Someone got through to Donald Trump that the constant interruptions and shouting did not work for him in the first presidential debate. Trump lost control a little as the debate wore on—witness when he suddenly, kind of out of nowhere, started yelling that Joe Biden isn’t really from Scranton, Pennsylvania—but this was a major turn-around in debate style. What Trump didn’t have to offer, though, was a turn-around in substance.

Criminal justice reform is on the ballot in communities across the country—but not in a yes/no “do you want to reduce mass incarceration” form. Instead, sheriff and district attorney races carry the possibility of change for the better—or of officeholders who will double down on racial disparities and prosecuting minor drug offenses, cooperate with ICE, and encourage fear over reform.

Donald Trump has made clear that he expects to lose the election but plans to do everything he can to cast doubt on the results, even at the cost of faith in U.S. democracy. That’s an enormous, ongoing piece of bad news that we live with every day. The good news is that Democrats and election integrity organizations and even a few good-faith Republicans aren’t just sitting around waiting for the worst. They’re mobilizing now to be ready with a response.

Debates haven’t gone so well for some of the Republican senators facing tough challenges this year—see Ernst, Joni—and one Republican who isn’t supposed to have a hard time has decided not to give herself the chance to screw up. Mississippi’s Cindy Hyde-Smith is refusing to debate Democrat Mike Espy.

Republicans have been hoping that the combination of Hindu nationalism and relatively high income levels would lure large numbers of Indian-American voters to their side despite an established record of Indian-Americans voting for Democrats. A new poll suggests Republicans are going to be disappointed.

YouGov finds 72% Indian-American support for Joe Biden and just 22% support for Donald Trump. The presence of Sen.

Joe Biden is promising to raise taxes only on families making $400,000 or more each year—the top 1.8% of taxpayers. Here to explain why that will really hit middle-class families is CNBC with the latest contribution to the “why rich people are really barely making it” genre. No, really. Experts say!

“Based on the expenses, a $400,000 household income provides for a relatively middle-class lifestyle,” one personal finance website guy claimed.

Mike Pence sure showed Donald Trump how it’s done during Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate. Pence put on his smug, condescending, holier-than-thou pants and interrupted nonstop. He didn’t yell and spray spittle like Trump. He just calmly, doggedly ignored time limits, ignored moderator Susan Page’s pathetic attempts to hold him to his time, and ignored the question he’d been asked.

The United States has learned how much to trust Donald Trump: Just 12% of people in a new CNN poll say they trust almost all of what the White House is saying about Trump’s health. By contrast, 69% said they trust little of what they’re hearing from the White House.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s longtime association with the religious group People of Praise appears to have gone into the memory hole. People of Praise scrubbed many mentions of Barrett from its website when she was under consideration for the Supreme Court seat that went to Brett Kavanaugh, and has now followed up by removing more mentions of Barrett and her family, the Associated Press reports.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s longtime association with the religious group People of Praise appears to have gone into the memory hole. People of Praise scrubbed many mentions of Barrett from its website when she was under consideration for the Supreme Court seat that went to Brett Kavanaugh, and has now followed up by removing more mentions of Barrett and her family, the Associated Press reports.