Ain’t democracy grand? Messy, unpredictable, maddening, sure. But also grand. And we’ve got a lot of it to talk about on today’s BradCast. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
ARIZONA PRIMARY RESULTS
Republicans were turning on fellow Republicans during Congressional and local primaries in the Grand Canyon State on Tuesday. We know, however, there was absolutely no fraud or tabulation error anywhere in the state, because perennial election denier and loser, Kari Lake, actually won her primary for U.S. Senate. She’ll run against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in November for the seat vacated by rightwing former Dem Kyrsten Sinema.
In Maricopa County, where 60% of AZ votes are cast, far-right Republicans sadly took down a bunch of not-crazy Republican officials, including the County’s very good elections chief, County Recorder Stephen Richer, along with several other not-insane Republicans on the Maricopa Board of Supervisors. Their crime: telling the truth about the fact that Trump lost the County in 2020. All of that, on the other hand, may give Democrats, many of whom ran uncontested on Tuesday, a chance to turn the County even bluer this November.
Also sadly, Republican former Sec. of State and (real) election reform champion Ken Bennett was unseated in the state Senate by Trump loyalist, election denier loon and 2022’s failed GOP Sec. of State nominee Mark Finchem in a rather red district. (See my interview with Bennett on his very good, bipartisan, election transparency bill last year on this program right here.) Nonetheless, Dems now have a very real chance of flipping both chambers of the AZ State Legislature this fall.
VENEZUELA ELECTION STANDOFF
President Nicolas Maduro‘s National Election Council is still claiming that Maduro won Sunday’s Presidential election. The broadly supported opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez is still claiming that Maduro lost — in a landslide. But Maduro has so far refused to release actual election results from tens of thousands of polling places, so it’s impossible to know who actually won.
We don’t have a political dog in this hunt, other than in favor of democracy and the notion that the candidate who received the most votes should be declared the winner of the election. Now, the Carter Center, which was allowed to observe the election, the U.S. Government (longtime Maduro opponents) and Presidents Luiz Inà¡cio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gustavo Petro of Colombia (both allies of the Venezuelan President) are all demanding that Maduro transparently release all polling place election results. They are all correct to do so.
KAMALA V. TRUMP
Finally, as Democratic Party delegates prepare to officially certify their new nominee without any challengers this weekend, and as more new polling finds Kamala Harris surging against Donald Trump both nationally and in swing states, we take some time once again today to try and make sense of the state of this extraordinary race.
We’re joined today by two longtime old school bloggers and podcasters, our friends ‘DRIFTGLASS’ of his eponymously named blog, and his wife FRANCES LANGUM, also known as BlueGal, who serves as Associate Editor at the Crooks & Liars blog. They both produce and co-host The Professional Left Podcast each week from their home in “Flyover Country, Illinois.”
And they’ve both got lots of smart insight today, as we discuss….
- The remarkable emergence of Harris at the top of the Dem ticket just 10 days ago.
- The surprising unity behind her by rarely united Democrats. (Fran: “I think there is a permanent state of PTSD among Democrats after 2016. It’s why we’ve won every election since then.”)
- Where, if anywhere, Harris may diverge on policy from Biden.
- Trump’s crash and burn during his appearance today at the National Assoc. of Black Journalists conference. (Driftglass: “I really do appreciate Donald Trump giving [Harris] a boost today by going to Chicago and absolutely crapping the bed. It was delightful.”)
- What Trump really meant when he told Christians they wouldn’t need to vote again in four years.
- What Trump really meant when he said Russia and China will “walk all over” Harris, though he didn’t want to say “as to why, but a lot of people understand it.”
- Why Trump appears to be trying to wriggle out of debating Harris.
- Who might be Harris’ Veep selection, and does it matter in the slightest?
All of that and much more — including words from Drifty’s “Crazy Uncle Liberty” and Fran’s insistence that the Trump Campaign is now desperate because they are all but broke — on today’s BradCast!…
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