56 min
#228: Election 2020 (and a bit of football) with GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak Sports Krunch w/DKROM
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- Sports
1. Last week, the sports world briefly hit the pause button in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, starting with the NBA. As a result, it was announced that all NBA clubs intend to use their arenas as voting locations for the general election, whether it be for voter registration drives, in-person early voting, and/or having county officials there to collect completed absentee ballots. Given all the issues and red tape with voting by mail (not just USPS), isn’t voting in person at a sports arena one of the best ways of voting imaginable, especially during a pandemic?
2. One of the President’s last remaining hurdles to overcome on the path to reelection is his handling of Covid-19. From a policy perspective, what MUST he do between now and November to prepare the country for the expected uptick of cases in the fall/winter?
3. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s unconscionable murder, we have seen America at its best and at its worst. I personally have witnessed both Biden and Trump voters alike saying we need to significantly address racial biases in our criminal justice system. But we have also seen lawlessness and violence on both the extreme left and right alike. Whether it’s Antifa setting fire to police facilities or armed white supremacists firing guns at innocent bystanders, EVERY American should be equally outraged at the instigators on both sides. And just this week, three innocent demonstrators (two anti-Trump in Kenosha, one pro-Trump in Portland) were killed. This has only heightened my concern that a wave of violence a million times worse than we’re seeing right now could erupt after the election, especially if it’s super close and the outcome is in doubt. What do both Democrats AND Republicans need to do ASAP to ensure that doesn’t happen?
4. Another nightmare scenario that could lead to such violence is the so-called “blue shift” that happened in the Arizona US Senate race in 2018. When we woke up the morning after the election, Martha McSally was leading, but the absentee ballots counted subsequently put Kyrsten Sinema over the top. If a similar scenario happened to Trump, which is possible given the fact that a record number of Americans are expected to vote absentee given the pandemic, it is a virtual guarantee that he will consider the election stolen. Currently, 14 states, including some key battlegrounds, prohibit the processing of these ballots until the morning of the election. However, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has proposed that the state begin processing absentee ballots three weeks before the election (as opposed to the morning of) so they have a better chance of completing the count by election night or the following day at worst. Do you agree with that proposal and if so, should all other battleground states follow?
5. Whoever wins in November will not only have to deal with this once-in-a-century pandemic, but an increasingly dangerous Russia and China, who are hell bent on creating a new world order in their respective totalitarian images. In recent weeks, Vladimir Putin has threatened to deploy armies to Belarus to help Lukashenko retain power and poisoned his chief rival, Alexei Navalny. Xi Jingping has accelerated his crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and more alarming info about his genocidal campaign against the Uighurs in Xinjiang has come to light. And of course, China gravely misled us on the dangers of COVID-19. Putin and Xi are arguably the two most dangerous men in the world right now, and we need to act FAST in order to stop them. What do you think should and can be done in order to do so? Should we grant asylum to some Uighurs and dissidents of both regimes?
6. Thoughts on Steelers
1. Last week, the sports world briefly hit the pause button in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, starting with the NBA. As a result, it was announced that all NBA clubs intend to use their arenas as voting locations for the general election, whether it be for voter registration drives, in-person early voting, and/or having county officials there to collect completed absentee ballots. Given all the issues and red tape with voting by mail (not just USPS), isn’t voting in person at a sports arena one of the best ways of voting imaginable, especially during a pandemic?
2. One of the President’s last remaining hurdles to overcome on the path to reelection is his handling of Covid-19. From a policy perspective, what MUST he do between now and November to prepare the country for the expected uptick of cases in the fall/winter?
3. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s unconscionable murder, we have seen America at its best and at its worst. I personally have witnessed both Biden and Trump voters alike saying we need to significantly address racial biases in our criminal justice system. But we have also seen lawlessness and violence on both the extreme left and right alike. Whether it’s Antifa setting fire to police facilities or armed white supremacists firing guns at innocent bystanders, EVERY American should be equally outraged at the instigators on both sides. And just this week, three innocent demonstrators (two anti-Trump in Kenosha, one pro-Trump in Portland) were killed. This has only heightened my concern that a wave of violence a million times worse than we’re seeing right now could erupt after the election, especially if it’s super close and the outcome is in doubt. What do both Democrats AND Republicans need to do ASAP to ensure that doesn’t happen?
4. Another nightmare scenario that could lead to such violence is the so-called “blue shift” that happened in the Arizona US Senate race in 2018. When we woke up the morning after the election, Martha McSally was leading, but the absentee ballots counted subsequently put Kyrsten Sinema over the top. If a similar scenario happened to Trump, which is possible given the fact that a record number of Americans are expected to vote absentee given the pandemic, it is a virtual guarantee that he will consider the election stolen. Currently, 14 states, including some key battlegrounds, prohibit the processing of these ballots until the morning of the election. However, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has proposed that the state begin processing absentee ballots three weeks before the election (as opposed to the morning of) so they have a better chance of completing the count by election night or the following day at worst. Do you agree with that proposal and if so, should all other battleground states follow?
5. Whoever wins in November will not only have to deal with this once-in-a-century pandemic, but an increasingly dangerous Russia and China, who are hell bent on creating a new world order in their respective totalitarian images. In recent weeks, Vladimir Putin has threatened to deploy armies to Belarus to help Lukashenko retain power and poisoned his chief rival, Alexei Navalny. Xi Jingping has accelerated his crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and more alarming info about his genocidal campaign against the Uighurs in Xinjiang has come to light. And of course, China gravely misled us on the dangers of COVID-19. Putin and Xi are arguably the two most dangerous men in the world right now, and we need to act FAST in order to stop them. What do you think should and can be done in order to do so? Should we grant asylum to some Uighurs and dissidents of both regimes?
6. Thoughts on Steelers
56 min