Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 9-21-18

White House News Midterms
Joe Biden Attacks Trump's Use Of Power
Washington (CNN) - When Joe Biden addressed the national dinner for the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday night, he found himself at a familiar juncture.
Speaking at the same din- ner three years ago, he was grappling with a decision to make a late entrance in the 2016 presidential race mere months after the passing of his son Beau.
The circumstances are different this time around (it's earlier in the process), but he is still mulling whether a third run for the White House could be the charm as he starts a campaign blitz for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
Biden, who ran failed bids in 1988 and 2008, has publicly said he'll decide about 2020 by January, a time frame that sources close to the former vice president say mirrors his private dis- cussions. But as he travels across the country, including to key presidential battle- ground states, his longtime network of loyal donors and operatives are watching and waiting for signs that he is inching toward a presidential run.
"He certainly feels the
JOE BIDEN
push from people who want him to run, so of course it's there," one Biden adviser said. "But in terms of the nuts and bolts of planning his time and thinking of what he's doing, he's focused on how he can be of most help to the Democratic Party."
Biden took direct aim at President Donald Trump on Saturday night, noting that "forces of intolerance re- main determined to under- mine and roll back the progress you have made."
"Instead of using the full might of the executive branch to secure justice, dignity, and safety for all, the President uses the White House as a lit- eral, literal bully pulpit, cal- lously exerting his power over those who have little or none," he said.
The Fight Over Kavanugh-Ford Testimony Remains A Stalemate
WASHINGTON — Democ- rats and Republicans haven’t budged in the last 24 hours over the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Republicans are demanding that accuser Christine Blasey Ford tes- tify on Monday or that they’ll go ahead with a vote, while Ford’s attorneys are calling for the Senate Judiciary Com- mittee to have additional wit- nesses. And Democrats are supporting that demand.
NBC News: “The lawyer for the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, said Wednesday that the GOP's
‘rush to a hearing is unneces- sary, and contrary to the Com- mittee discovering the truth.’... The statement calling for addi- tional witnesses, which fol- lowed the Tuesday call by Ford's attorneys for an FBI in- vestigation into the allegations, came after Republican law- makers appeared poised Wednesday to push ahead with a confirmation vote on Ka- vanaugh if Ford did not agree to participate in a Mon- day Senate hearing to air the al- legation that he assaulted her while both were in high school.”
Importantly, however, Ford’s lawyers have yet to say she WON’T be testifying on Monday.
While this story remains a stalemate, each side has impor- tant questions to answer. For Republicans, why do they need to do this by Monday? What is one more week? It’s only Sep- tember, and the election is still seven weeks from now. In ad- dition, why no other witnesses?
For Ford and Democrats, if Monday isn’t suitable, don’t they need to provide a reason- able day that is? This limbo can’t go on forever.
Judge Won’t Force Georgia To Use Paper Ballots For Midterms
ATLANTA — A federal judge said forcing Georgia to scrap its electronic voting ma- chines in favor of paper ballots for the upcoming midterm elections is too risky. But she said state elections officials had “buried their heads in the sand” and warned them not to delay in tackling concerns about the security of the machines and its elections system.
U. S. District Judge Amy Totenberg’s Monday ruling means the state won’t have to use paper ballots for this year’s midterm elections, including a high-profile gubernatorial con- test between the state’s top elections official, Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, and Democrat Stacey Abrams, a former state House minority leader who’s trying to become the country’s first black, female governor.
Totenberg said the voting rights advocates who sought the change to paper ballots have demonstrated “the threat of real harms to their constitu- tional interests,” but that she worried about the “massive scrambling” required for a last-
minute change to paper ballots. Early voting starts Oct. 15 for the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
“Ultimately, any chaos or problems that arise in connec- tion with a sudden rollout of a paper ballot system with ac- companying scanning equip- ment may swamp the polls with work and voters — and re- sult in voter frustration and disaffection from the voting process,” she wrote. “There is nothing like bureaucratic con- fusion and long lines to sour a citizen.”
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Elec- tion and Innovation Research, said the judge did the best she could given the circumstances.
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