So we have another poll showing that Donald Trump’s disapproval rating is about 60 percent. And here’s another bit of news: His supporters don’t care. The president’s approval ratings, while not great, have been remarkably stable, hovering around 40-45%. And yes, Barack Obama was re-elected with similar approval ratings. After a series of what the Democrat-media convoluted calls bad news for the Trump White House, and nothing has changed, which makes you think this poll will have any significant impact on his base. It won’t. Democrats hate him, and true Republicans love him. But that doesn’t mean Democrats are using these disapproval ratings to fuel hopes that they’ll not only take the House this year, but also statewide elections, where they’ve done poorly since Obama was elected. New York Times excellent Democrats are hopeful State-level victories possible in July, thanks to anti-Trump anger:
The polarizing president is electrifying the opposition party ahead of its first byelections, raising the party’s hopes of reclaiming governorships, enacting major state-level policy changes and shifting legislative lines in its favor for the next decade.
It’s a scenario both political parties have faced before, most recently in 2010, when out-of-power Republicans used the Tea Party wave against the Obama administration to win landslide victories across the country.
[…]
In a series of interviews, Republican and Democratic governors said the backlash against Mr. Trump had mobilized liberal and many moderate voters, leading to a significant difference in intensity between the two parties. Mr. Trump has sought to close that political deficit for his party, tapping into the fierce loyalty of the Republican base in the remaining months of the election, while Democrats are working to keep their base focused on channeling their anger into the midterms.
[…]
Gubernatorial strategist Corey Platt laid out a map of 18 Republican-held states that Democrats could potentially sweep, including five significant Midwestern battleground states and traditionally conservative states like Tennessee and Georgia.
[…]
Still, Mr. Trump remains wildly popular within the Republican Party, to the point that even candidates in purple states are wary of distancing themselves from him too much. And the president’s enduring bond with rank-and-file conservatives could make him a key ally for Republicans in red states like South Carolina and Oklahoma, where Democrats are trying to break through.
Republicans also still have significant structural advantages: the economy is growing in many states where they hold sway, Mr. Haslam’s political committee has $87.5 million to spend in midterm elections, and in state legislative elections, Republicans are protected by district boundaries.
But there is another list of state offices that are just as significant: attorney general. The lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state are the trio that maintain a fit field of candidates. The state level is the pool where modern talent for higher federal offices is found. In the case of attorney general, whose races are often underestimated, the Republican dominance at the state level is evident in the war chests for these contests: $21 million collected for 2018with $8.6 million in cash. Democrats have raised just $1.9 million. The GOP controls 28 attorney general’s offices. In Ohio, Michigan and Nevada — three key swing states this cycle up and down the ballot, Democrats appear to be finding candidates, although they are not really primed for prime time. This summer has been, well, a pretty bad cycle for their slate here.
In Michigan, we have a Democratic candidate for attorney general, Dana Nessel, remember her? That was her pitch to voters in 2017:
“When choosing a new Michigan attorney general, ask yourself: Who can you most trust not to show you his penis in professional situations?
“Is this the candidate who doesn’t have a penis?
“I would say yes.”
This comes in featherlight of the Me Too moment, when dozens of bad men have been exposed for their bad behavior. It’s crude — like this exchange between a GOP stalker and a Nessel supporter last month. The stalker is adept at taking abuse from this unstable woman, ignoring her while continuing to do his job — a standard method in opposition research [WARNING: some graphic language]:
In May Nessel I participated in a fundraiserwhere she took a rather dismissive stance when referring to former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned amid scandal after multiple allegations of domestic violence.
“I have to adjust my speech a little bit because I’ve been saying for a long time that I want to be like New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, so I think I should stop saying that,” she said.
Yes, that’s class.
In Nevada, Aaron Ford, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, has paid his taxes — and owes a lot (via Las Vegas Journal-Review):
The Democratic candidate in the race for Nevada’s top attorney has a history of having trouble paying his taxes on time, public records show.
The IRS has filed three liens against Aaron Ford, the Democratic candidate for attorney general and current state Senate majority leader, for more than $185,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties from 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, according to Clark County records.
The first motion to secure the property was filed in October 2013 and indicated unpaid taxes of $14,754.34 for 2010 and $70,005.28 for 2011. The second motion was filed against Ford in April 2014 for $41,896.43 for unpaid taxes for 2012, and the third in December 2014 for $58,685.07 for tax year 2013.
According to IRS notices filed with this district, the federal government in early 2016 released three bonds imposed on Ford.
In Ohio, Steve Dettelbach was hit with a complaint after he held a fundraiser for his race for attorney general, drawing a chance to meet with former Attorney General Eric Holder. The only problem: Organizing a political lottery is illegal.
A Cincinnati man filed an election complaint Friday against Democratic candidate Steve Dettelbach, alleging the candidate broke state law by holding a lottery offering a chance to meet former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Mark Miller, a civic activist, claims that Dettelbach’s fundraiser was actually an “illegal event.” Miller filed the complaint with the facilitate of Finney Law Firm, which has represented Republicans in previous legal disputes.
At church picnics, school fundraisers and charity auctions, Ohioans will be entered to win items ranging from all-expenses-paid vacations to sports goodie baskets.
But is Democrat Steve Dettelbach offering a chance to meet with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder? That could be a problem. Ohio law largely prohibits political campaigns from conducting raffles.
“I would urge him not to hold a lottery because it’s probably illegal,” Hamilton County District Attorney Joe Deters, a Republican, told The Enquirer. Conducting an illegal lottery is a felony under Ohio law.
The Ohio Republican Party had some fun with this:
After the news came out that @SteveDettelbach was organizing an illegal lottery to meet Eric “Fast and Furious” Holder, the fundraiser page was mysteriously shut down…https://t.co/3s3USPOqrY photo:twitter.com/5qSVt7kRZA
— Ohio Republicans (@ohiogop) July 26, 2018
For many, these races are not newsworthy. They are not exhilarating. They do not make the news often. But that does not make them less critical. Where do you think the legal action against Obama’s economically devastating Clean Power Plan, Obamacare and DACA is rooted? On the left, The Trump Foundation is in the crosshairs thanks to the New York Attorney General. Most recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a huge victory over the IRS on Obamacare taxes, recovering hundreds of millions of dollars:
Attorney General Ken Paxton today praised a U.S. District Court decision ordering the Internal Revenue Service to refund Texas and five other states more than $839 million because of an unlawful Obamacare tax on state Medicaid programs. Of that total, Texas is slated to receive a refund of $304,730,608.
“Obamacare is unconstitutional, quite simply,” said Attorney General Paxton. “We all know the federal government cannot tax the states, and we are proud to return this illegally collected money to the people of Texas.”
These races matter.
