Rick Hasen, whom I have immense respect for, says a Dem SuperPac is immoral and may be criminal for putting out an ad, well, I will let him describe it: The 30-second advertisement in question opens with words onscreen: “MAGA PATRIOTS: LISTEN TO OUR PRESIDENT.” It then turns to a series of statements in which Donald Trump disparages the safety and security of voting by mail, claiming fraud and corruption. It ends with the words: “Stand strong with PRESIDENT TRUMP AGAINST MAIL-IN VOTING.” A disclaimer on the bottom explains that the ad was paid for by “Pennsylvania Values,” and was not authorized by any candidate or committee. The advertisement sends a terrible message, and the super PAC’s tactics deserve condemnation. All eligible voters should be encouraged to vote in whatever way is most convenient for them, including mail-in voting. This advertisement is only going to fuel more distrust of voting by mail among Trump supporters by reminding them of his earlier statements, and ramp up further negative polarization between the parties by highlighting the voting wars and engaging in a dirty trick: The message is not coming from “MAGA Patriots,” but from partisans on the left. This may be the rare instance in which I disagree with Rick. I agree that voters should never be discouraged from voting. I also agree that all eligible voters should be encouraged to vote in the way most convenient for them. But we are not operating on a blank slate. Republicans are absolutely ruthless in trying to suppress legal votes with all forms of immoral conduct, most of which should also be illegal except for the fact that they consistently blessed by the Supreme Court. And none of that will change until it starts backfiring on them. I would be all for true measures that made all such appeals to suppress voting illegal and condemned universally. But that is not the world we live in. In that regard, I agree with Kevin Drum when he talks about why Democratic states should gerrymander ruthlessly, even though gerrymandering is morally wrong, from 2018: But here’s the real reason: this is the only thing that will ever get the Supreme Court off its butt to do something about gerrymandering. I’m dead serious here. Conservatives on the Supreme Court aren’t likely to ever address gerrymandering until it’s crystal clear that Democrats can be every bit as ruthless and shady as Republicans. As long as red-state Republicans pass bill after bill screwing Democrats, while blue states like California and New Jersey and New York do nothing, there will always be a majority on the Supreme Court to shrug it off as a “political” question and do nothing.
Trump bashed mail in voting, claimed it to be fraudulent, thinks votes were added against him there, claims it’s why he lost, and has used it to tear down the entire institution of voting and poll integrity. Had he simply accepted the results like a man, this ad never would have happened. Dems need to take the gloves off more with him imo, he has earned it.
Seems like his own words in context. If they were being twisted I'd be with Tampa, but in this case I have no issues.
It will be interesting to see what happens when it becomes clearer soon that irregular voters will be more GOP aligned and staunch voters more Dem oriented. I suppose its not inevitable that it shakes out like that, but the educational shifts point that way. Perhaps the Dems have figured it out sooner than the GOP, or perhaps its the rare case where the GOP is advocating for its principles (of being strictly anti-democratic in this case) instead of self interest in more people voting.
To me this feels like when Dem aligned orgs were pumping up weaker MAGA candidates in primaries rather than more establishment Republicans. Be careful playing with fire.
It falls somewhere between deceitful and unethical. I would not want my name on that work product. Of course its politics and by definition dirty. I’m reminded of when Claude Pepper lost his first run for office because his opponent kept repeating that Claude’s sister was a practicing thespian (it was a more genteel society then). The claim was true enough but the implication untrue…..
It’s a very good point, I think it’s already happening. One of the reasons the Dems have overperformed recently.
Thanks to our Supreme Court no one has to put their name on that product or even tell you who/where the money came from!
I guess one has to assume people will understand it's meant as sarcasm. Given the level of discernment by the average MAGAt, they probably won't get it. Maybe that's a good thing (and the intent of the ad).
The Twitter link describes it as…. “They're using Trump's own words to try to suppress his vote.” Not sure why that’s a problem. I mean, in 2020 and 2022 a lot of us pointed out how stupid it was for the pubs to attack mail in voting and covid rule changes to make voting easier … saying they are suppressing their own vote… might as well amplify their message …
