The Donald Chronicles: Trumpless Minus 19

The countdown continues.  Nineteen days to Trumplessness.

Trump's appearance at the Smith dinner (Sad!) and his first speeches the next day are chronicled in this WPost story.  Later he went after Michelle Obama, the most popular political figure in America, and as usual distorted something innocent she said into his alternate universe political controversy.  He seems to be doing everything he can to make sure he loses.

It wasn't bad enough that at that white-tie dinner he humiliated himself in front of the people he most envies and from whom he most craves acceptance.  It turns out that a lot of voters saw him on cable TV--he was, as he always wishes to be, a ratings hit.  Yuge.

Meanwhile people are voting.  Early voting is showing a large advantage from Democrats, especially in key battleground states--and women.

Speaking of women, Trump's "nasty woman" comment during the debate that became one of those Internet things, has been translated into a t-shirt to benefit Planned Parenthood.

On the voter suppression front, there was the attack on the Internet that some speculate may be a Russian dry run for election day.  Apparently some states foolishly permit voting through the Internet.

A homegrown technique continues--in the guise of investigating fraud, state and local government sanctioned attacks on the registration process.  The largest known effort, in Indiana, devolved this week into farce, and a particularly ugly new one emerged in a California county adjacent to mine, targeting Hmong immigrants.

While the Republican party in Texas ostensibly wants to enforce the state's voter ID law with poll watchers with a distorted knowledge of that law, a new wrinkle emerged from within the alt.right cesspool.  Apparently attempting to avoid rules governing poll watchers, a Trump associate says he organizing volunteers to conduct "exit polls" at select precincts, and you can guess how they were selected.  It's a devilish plan, and even has people debating the accuracy of exit polls.  But it's pretty clearly voter intimidation in nerd clothing.  The NYTimes has a recent history of the GOP using charges of voter fraud as a political weapon.

Trump's colossal error in refusing to say he would abide by election results comports with his authoritarian, conspiracy-theory and general sour grapes patterns of statements but it may also be a failure to understand just what he was saying.  Since the debate he's suggested he reserves the right to contest results in close contests, and he of course has that right.  Alt.right apologists point to Al Gore asking for a Florida recount (within Florida election law.)  That's only reminded journalists and Dems of how Republicans manipulated that Florida election and the recount--with the necessary aid of the political Supreme Court.  All of that is explained by Jonathan Chiat.

Finally, the WPost remembers the adventures of Fred and Donald Trump in Washington forty years ago.  Can't be that long.  The weekly I edited, Washington Newsworks, covered Donald's proposal for the DC convention center then.  Our reporter, Tom Redburn, attended Trump's presentation and was noticeably skeptical.  Tom went on to a distinguished career reporting for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

On the other hand, we didn't have the story of Fred Trump's arrest.  Why not? I want to know.  Tom?  Jeff?  Let's go up to Columbia Station and figure it out.