RUTHFULLY YOURS

Two-term Montana Democratic senator Jon Tester has joined a chorus of red-state Democrats with a newfound affinity for Trump voters after continually voting with the Democratic caucus against the president’s agenda.

In his quest for re-election in a state that President Trump carried by 21 points, Tester has released a new campaign ad “highlighting the 13 pieces of legislation he’s co-sponsored that the president signed into law,” as James Hohman at washingtonpost.com reports.

The new ad features “[v]eterans, a cop, a firefighter and an elderly couple” counting off “the bills and resolutions,” with Tester declaring that “Washington’s a mess, but that’s not stopping me from getting bills to help Montana signed into law by President Trump.”

But Hohman also notes that, while Tester’s 13 bills include naming “a mountain peak” and amending “the U.S. Flag Code,” “Tester has stuck with the Democrats on the major issues”:

He opposed the tax cuts on the rationale that they blow up the national debt by more than $1 trillion and fought efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act because Montana benefits from Medicaid expansion.

Tester and other red-state Democrats are attempting to cozy up to Trump voters, but their records show they vote in lockstep with the Democratic caucus against the president’s priorities. A review of Senator Tester’s votes on big-ticket Republican bills and nominees in Trump’s first year is instructive.

Tuesday’s Texas primaries were supposed to show “rising Democratic enthusiasm,” in the words of National Public Radio’s Jessica Taylor, following reports that more Democrats were participating in early voting than Republicans in the state’s 15 most populous counties. “Such a swell in a bulwark red state could be an even more ominous sign for Republicans nationally,” Ms. Taylor wrote.

She was not alone. The New York Times’s Nate Cohn suggested that “surging Democratic tallies” in early voting may be “a sign that Texas may emerge as a fairly competitive state in the mid-term elections.” Vox’s Tara Golshan wrote that Democrats hope to “make Texas blue—or at the very least, purple” and that “a massive surge in voter enthusiasm is giving them hope.”

But with all the votes tallied, it turned out to be a case of “never mind,” as Gilda Radner, playing Emily Litella, used to say on “Saturday Night Live.”

Not only did more Texas Republicans (804,581) vote early than Democrats (565,355), but more Republicans than Democrats turned out Election Day. There were 1,543,674 total votes in the Republican primary—the GOP’s highest midterm total ever—compared with 1,037,779 in the Democratic primary. This gap of nearly 506,000 is less than the GOP’s margin in the 2014 and 2010 primaries (roughly 783,000 and 804,000, respectively), but still comparatively healthy.

Fearful that the highly touted “blue wave” of Democratic wins in the fall midterm elections won’t be powerful enough to sink Republican control of Congress, anxious anti-Trump pundits are already looking for excuses. And, spoiler alert—it’s the Russians.

In a weekend New York Times column that is a peek into the paranoid mind of a Trump-hater (“many choose to believe he is in the White House because Vladimir Putin tricked the United States into making him its leader,”) Charles Savage agonizes over what will happen if Republicans aren’t vanquished in November. After blaming partisan gerrymandering for a congressional election map where only seven Republican districts are now in serious jeopardy of flipping to the Democrats, Savage pivots to the Russians: “But a significant Democratic wave may not materialize,” he warned. “Inevitably, many eyes would turn to Russia. It appears to still be covertly spreading disinformation and amplifying tensions on American social media. Another poll-defying election night surprise, like 2016’s, would further fuel suspicions of unseen manipulation.”

If the Russians’ crafty mind-control, social-media sorcery prevails again in 2018, Savage predicts disastrous consequences: “Disappointed Trump opponents will be primed to believe the worst: that Russia rigged two elections in a row for Republicans. And if their anticipatory catharsis and faith in the democratic process evaporates, the anger could seek a different outlet—in turn risking a backlash from Trump supporters and a downward spiral.”

Translation: If you think Democrats were mad about not getting their way in 2016, you ain’t seen nothing yet. I shudder to think what the hats will look like.

Premature Scapegoating
Trump is also culpable, according to Savage, for “minimizing [Russian interference] in a way that seems to preclude focusing on protecting the country from future threats.” (Never mind that the timeline of the Russian election-interference indictment announced last month by the Justice department occurred during the Obama administration.)

Elect Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania By Lloyd Marcus

It is a huge mistake to think special elections do not concern you or are unimportant. Every race Republicans lose emboldens leftists obsessed with stopping Trump from making America great again.

Please contact friends and family in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional district and tell them all patriots must get out the vote for Rick Saccone, conservative/Republican on Tuesday, March 13th. This is serious business, folks. If Leftists can flip this seat in Trump country, they will be energized to spread their bogus narrative that Americans regret voting for Trump. This strengthens Democrats’ chances of winning other congressional seats; making evil Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House.

If the Democrats win back the House, the first order of business will be to impeach Trump. Therefore, you see why Saccone winning in Pennsylvania is crucially important; a powerful left hook to the jaw of the Democrats’ treasonous anti-Trump and anti-America movement.

Folks, I don’t know about you, but I am tired of witnessing leftists purposely orchestrating the moral, cultural and economic decline of our once great country. Before Trump, elected officials have been pretty impotent in halting the leftist march to undermine America’s greatness.

In only one year, Trump has given us renewed hope for America by implementing 64% of his campaign promises. Trump has our economy booming. Tyrannical government regulations which strangle businesses and family lives have been slashed by Trump. Illegal immigration has plummeted. ISIS is on the run!

It appears that the hysteria ginned up by Democrats and their media allies against Donald Trump is having its intended effect. It has terrified Democratic voters to the point that a blue tide threatens to overwhelm the GOP this November.

Early voting in Texas in advance of the Tuesday Democratic primary offers an ominous peek at what could be in store for the GOP in the mid term elections.

Dallas Morning News:

According to the Texas secretary of state’s website — which tracks only the 15 counties with the most registered voters — 161,607 people voted in the Democratic primary in 2014 during the first 10 days of early voting. This year, 310,275 people voted in the Democratic primary in the same span — a 92 percent increase. Polls closed Friday at 7 p.m., with Election Day on Tuesday.

On the GOP side, 273,293 people had voted in the Republican primary as of Thursday. That’s still an 18 percent increase from 2014, when 231,530 voted in the Republican primary during the first 10 days of early voting.

Democrats may hold a 36,982 vote lead, but that doesn’t mean all of those voters are Democrats. Since Texas has semi-open primaries, voters can choose which party’s primary to vote in. (There is a caveat to choosing: In a runoff, voters must stick with the same party.)

Political experts attribute much of Texas’ increased voter turnout as a reaction to the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, as well as the state’s eight open congressional seats.

NeverTrumpers may not be numerous or influential in the Republican Party but they do have a flair for attracting media attention. Receiving much less coverage but perhaps more consequential is the rising revolt against a leader of the other major party in American politics.

Arizona is an interesting case study. The Hill reports on a prominent NeverTrumper in the GOP who chose not to seek re-election and is bound to receive ample press coverage in the months ahead:

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent critic of President Trump who recently announced his retirement, will visit New Hampshire next month, WMUR reported on Tuesday.

Flake’s appearance in the state, which holds the nation’s first presidential primary, will likely stoke speculation about a possible White House bid.

He will appear at the annual “Politics and Eggs” event, organized by the New England Council and Saint Anselm College, which typically hosts prospective presidential candidates leading up to presidential primary seasons. Trump spoke at the event in January of 2014, before he declared his candidacy.

Mr. Flake’s planned departure from the Senate has inspired Rep. Martha McSally, currently representing Arizona’s second congressional district in the U.S. House, to seek election to his seat. Meanwhile, six Democrats vying to succeed Rep. McSally in the House recently gathered in Sahuarita, just south of Tucson.

The Democratic candidates include a former member of the U.S. House, Ann Kirkpatrick. As you might expect, all the Democratic contenders have significant policy differences with President Trump, but the event also revealed differences with another senior official in Washington.

The Tuscon Sentinel reports that “the candidates were asked to raise their hands if they supported Nancy Pelosi to again serve as the Speaker of the House. Not one of the candidates, including Kirkpatrick raised their hands.” The local non-profit news outlet adds:

Kirkpatrick’s staff later clarified that she would remain a support [sic] of Pelosi’s, saying that she had misunderstood how to respond to the question with a raised hand.

Based on an account in the Washington Examiner, many in the audience could have done without the clarification. The paper has posted a video of the event supplied by a Republican political action committee. According to the Examiner:

In a video captured by America Rising last week, the candidates on the panel participated in a “lightning round” where they were asked to raise their hands if they would support Pelosi’s bid for speaker of the House.

“Now, it is time for a lightning round,” the moderator said. “Will you support Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House?”

None of the candidates on the panel raised their hand, and the crowd responded with cheers and applause. CONTINUE AT SITE

Rep. Dan Lipinski is one of the rarest species of Democrat in Congress. He is a pro-choice, anti-Obamacare, pro-Israel politician whose 3rd Illinois District may finally be prepared to retire him.

That district was represented for 22 years by his father, legendary Chicago Alderman Bill Lipinski. The elder Lipinski was a reliable vote for the Cook County machine — an organization that could shake the money tree in Washington because of the powerful politicians they sent there to do their bidding.

The power of the machine may have waned over the years, but the Lipinski dynasty has endured. The 3rd District, once a bastion of Chicago working-class Reagan Democrats, has changed over the years to where it is now a more liberal, more affluent, mostly suburban enclave. The demographic change — including a huge increase in Hispanic voters — may spell the doom of one of the last “conservative” Democrats in Congress.

Lipinski is out of touch with the far-left liberal establishment and is being attacked by radicals intent on kicking him out of Congress. Whoever wins the Democratic primary on March 20 is certain to be the winner in the general election, since the only GOP name on the ballot is going to be Art Jones, a proud neo-Nazi. Lipinski’s main primary challenger is Marie Newman, a liberal activist who claims kinship with NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the Service Workers International Union (SEIU).