On today’s BradCast, I’m back after the holiday weekend, but you should tune in anyway! We’re live today from the KPFK/Pacifica Radio studios in Los Angeles, as I try to catch up on stuff we missed over the long weekend, and breaking news today.
Among the stories we cover on today’s program…
* Tightening Presidential polls [PDF] as pollsters change their methodology to move from “registered” to “likely” voters, as Donald Trump has taken a lead or is tied with Hillary Clinton in a couple of national polls and gaining in some swing states. Nonetheless, Clinton maintains her lead in the Electoral College and even remains competitive in a number of “red” states where she is receiving support from some surprising corners.
* North Carolina’s vote suppressing Republican Governor Pat McCrory believes states should have “voting rights”, as opposed to people/voters.
* We’re reminded today, once again, that every vote counts (or, at least, should), as Helen Purcell, the controversial election chief in Maricopa County (Phoenix), appears to have won her Republican Primary by just over a hundred votes out of more than 300,000 cast, after trailing by just a few hundred votes following last week’s state primary in Arizona. The exact percentage flip (she was reportedly losing the day after the election 49.93% to 50.07% against her challenger Aaron Flannery, before defeating him 50.07% to 49.93% as of today, according to Purcell’s optical-scan computers reported on Purcell’s website) reminds us once again of the need to publicly hand-count paper ballots on Election Night. Purcell, Maricopa’s Republican County Recorder since 1988, was roundly criticized for reducing polling locations from more than 200 in 2012 down to 60 during the Presidential Primary in March. Flannery, her challenger last week, has said he cannot afford to mount a challenge to ask for a hand count, but will consider running again in 2020. If the current results hold, Purcell will face Democrat Adrian Fontes in November.
* Then, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest on the growing protests and emergency legal battles by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota against the desecration of sacred sites with the construction of the massive, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved (and EPA-opposed) Dakota Access Pipeline and the bad faith actions of its supporters.
Finally, we take listener calls on all of the above! Enjoy!…
Hello Brad,
I love your program and I learn a lot from listening to you and Desi.
However, on tonight’s cast when you said that the disinterest and disengagement of American citizens was the fault of politicians for not giving them something to vote for I felt strongly enough that you were wrong that I had to write. If each and every person voted at every election, the politicians would be more responsive to our needs and voices. Case in point: if all of the people over the age of 23, who voted for the very first time in the recent primary (for Bernie) had been in the habit of voting in each and every election for which they were eligible to vote, few if any would have been blindsided by registration shenanigans that prevented them from making their voices heard. Also, if each person voted every time, districts like Arizona would not be able to justify closing polling places.
I do not believe for one second that Jill Stein is only at 2%.
Hence why they use the contrived “likely voter” nonsense in order to exclude 75% of every voter that would be voting for her.
I bet if they took a real poll of those under the age of 30 and Independents then she would be getting 30+% of that vote.
They can not allow her into the debate because she would utterly destroy the lying criminal and the buffoon.
#2 Nunyabiz1:
I think if the League of Women Voters still held debates Stein and Johnson might be included, but the LWV had become disgusted with the two major parties throwing their parochial weight around.
But I don’t think Stein would have that high a percentage from millennials and independents.
This ABC NEWS/WASHINGTON POST POLL taken over the weekend has Stein at 8% for likely voters age 40 and under.
This Ipsos Poll Conducted for Reuters taken last week has Stein at 8% among independents (registered voters) and 4% among independents (likely voters).
The third Rock the Vote poll from last month has Jill Stein at 4%.
Lots of polls and poll data:
http://www.realclearpolitics.co...tein-5952.html