Wednesday, June 26, 2024

The 2024 Election, Part XIX. The Clerks say "M'eh" edition.

June 6, 2024

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray informed County Clerks that they may not use drop boxes in the upcoming election:


The County Clerks in turn met yesterday and informed Gray, that yes they can:

The topic of drop boxes has figured prominently in far right wing conspiracy theories even though there's no evidence whatsoever that they were involved in corruption in the last U.S. election, and certainly did not in the Wyoming election.  Sec. Gray used 2000 Mules prominently in his campaign, which apparently focuses on them, with that film having been completely discredited.  The conservative company which distributed it recently pulled it and apologized for it.

Apparently, less than 10 Wyoming counties actually use drop boxes, but the clerks en masse rejected Gray's directive.  If he wants to actually enforce his view, he'll have to attempt to get a court order, which risks the embarrassing possibility of losing as well as making people mad that a state official is suing local clerks.  If he doesn't take legal action, however, he'll look politically emasculated.

June 12, 2024

A bunch of states held primaries yesterday.

Nancy Mace held off a Republican challenger in South Carolina.

Trump backed Kelly Armstrong won in North Dakota.

June 14, 2024

And if this election wasn't weird enough:

Cheyenne City Clerk Says Artificial Intelligence Candidate For Mayor Is OK For Election

 June 15, 2024

The Presidential election continues to get increasingly surreal.

Business executives who met with Trump recently, in some instances, came away a bit shocked by what is obvious. CBS reports that some:

“said that [Trump] was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought [and] was all over the map,” 

D'uh.

That's been the case for quite a while, and it's really showing.   Consider this from last week:

I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight and you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery’s underwater, and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there?’ By the way, a lot of shark attacks lately. Do you notice that? A lot of shark … I watched some guys justifying it today: ‘Well, they weren’t really that angry. They bit off the young lady’s leg because of the fact that they were not hungry, but they misunderstood who she was.’ These people are crazy.

Eh?

There's plenty of reason to be concerned that Trump is in some state of mental decline.  These statements are certainly alarming, to say the least.  At this point, moreover, it's being willfully blind to suggest that Joe Biden is mentally impaired and not suggest the same thing about Trump. 

Trump suggested last week that he'd look at replacing the income tax with tariffs.  That would throw the country into a Depression.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, himself no spring chicken, was photographed amongst Trump's Senatorial acolytes last week, and then giving him a birthday cake.  Dr. Barrasso is just that, a physician, and there's no real reason to believe that he's a Trump fan, but that's the case for a lot of those photographed smiling at Trump, all of which is both sad and alarming.

June 17, 2024

A record-low number of Democrats will run for Wyoming’s Legislature this year

June 21, 2024

A Sixth Cent sales tax will be on the ballot in Natrona County.  

June 25, 2024

An article on Hageman's primary challenger in the GOP:

Democrat-turned-Republican challenges Wyoming’s Harriet Hageman for U.S. House seat

Helling has a less than zero chance of unseating Hageman.  What this item really reminded me of, however, is just how old these candidates are.  Helling is an old lawyer.  His bar admission date is 1981, which would make him about 70.  Hageman's is 1989, which I knew which would make her about 61, old by historical standards although apparently arguably middle-aged now.

Barrasso is 71.  Lummis is 69. John Hotz, who is running against Barrasso, has a bar admission date of 1978 which would make him about three years older than Helling.  Seemingly the only younger candidate in the GOP race this primary is Rasner.

This isn't a comment on any of their politics, but rather their age.  Helling is opposed to nuclear power, a very 1970ish view.  With old people, come old views, quite often, even if they're repackaged as new ones.

June 26, 2024

Boebert won the GOP primary in her new district in Colorado.

Democratic member of "the Squad" Jamaal Bowman lost his primary race in New York to moderate Democrat George Latimer.

Related threads:

Is anyone else reminded of the Simpson's?

Last prior edition:

The 2024 Election, Part XVIII. The list.

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