Delaware Liberal

The October 31, 2016 Thread

Delaware Dem

PRESIDENT
FLORIDA–NYT/Siena–TRUMP 46, Clinton 42
FLORIDA–NBC/WSJ/Marist–CLINTON 45, Trump 44
FLORIDA–Gravis–CLINTON 48, Trump 47
COLORADO–CBS News/YouGov–CLINTON 42, Trump 39
ARIZONA–NBC/WSJ/Marist–TRUMP 44, Clinton 42
NORTH CAROLINA–NBC/WSJ/Marist–CLINTON 47, Trump 41
NORTH CAROLINA–Gravis–CLINTON 49, Trump 47
NORTH CAROLINA–CBS News/YouGov–CLINTON 48, Trump 45
PENNSYLVANIA–CBS News/YouGov–CLINTON 48, Trump 40
LOUISIANA–Univ. of New Orleans–TRUMP 49, Trump 35
MAINE–Press Herald/UNH–CLINTON 48, Trump 37
MAINE CD2–Press Herald/UNH–CLINTON 43, Trump 40
MAINE CD1–Press Herald/UNH–CLINTON 54, Trump 34
UTAH-Salt Lake Tribune/Dan Joes–TRUMP 32, McMullin 30, Clinton 24

“Donald Trump initially offered the vice-presidential running-mate slot to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie but then withdrew it, sources said,” the New York Post reports. After lobbying by his family, Trump agreed to name Gov. Mike Pence and broke the news to Christie, saying it would “tear my family apart if I gave you VP.”

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said that FBI Director James Comey “may have violated a federal law when he disclosed, less than two weeks before the presidential election, that his office was pursuing potential new evidence related to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Reid: “I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.”

Politico: “In the hours after FBI Director James Comey threw a wrench into Hillary Clinton’s home-stretch plans, her campaign launched into an uncharacteristic frenzy of activity, quickly trying to turn the development into a base-energizing tool. But in her New York headquarters and her battleground state outposts, the news sent shivers down operatives’ spines, and immediately had them scrambling to gauge the effect on voters they need most…”

“Clinton’s strategists have projected a confident front, shrugging off any possible impact from Friday’s bombshell news and pointing to weeks of strong early voting and persistent polling leads, even as they blast Comey for re-injecting the email issue into the race with his cryptic letter to Congress. Their goal is now to convert Democrats’ anxiety over the FBI chief’s move into a fury and a rallying point for a base that has flirted with overconfidence in recent weeks.”

I think that has been accomplished on its own. Everyone I talked to since Friday is livid at Comey and the GOP. Not down in the dumps like bedwetting Democrats tend to do.

Josh Marshall:

James Comey’s decision to send his letter to Capitol Hill seemed like a bad one from the start. But it did not seem as egregious as it does now because many assumed he was faced with a tough balancing act between informing Congress of significant new evidence and following longstanding DOJ/FBI guidelines about avoiding potential election interference. Even faced with that dilemma he could have provided more information than a terse letter certain to drive wild speculation. But everything we’ve learned over the last 48 hours-plus suggests Comey had no basis to believe there was significant new evidence, indeed no clear reason to think there was anything new at all. At best, Comey combined extremely poor judgment with a decision to place a near absolute priority on protecting himself from criticism over carrying out his professional and ethical obligations.

It is quite telling that even at this late stage of the election, when partisan tempers are naturally running at their fiercest, former career DOJ lawyers, former high level DOJ appointees and legal experts on both sides of the aisle are lining up to say this was not only an extremely poor decision but may even have violated the law. (Note here: President George W. Bush’s top ethics lawyer suggesting Comey may even have broken the law). […]

Harry Reid is now out with extreme criticism of Comey and accusations about FBI findings about Donald Trump and connections with Russia. I noted a few weeks ago that this is what is so damaging when people start violating norms, interfering in elections. It starts to seem rational for others to do it as well. I will suffice it to say that there seem to be at least two investigations on-going into issues related to Donald Trump. Comey has felt no analogous need to proceed with what we might call the extreme transparency he has chosen with the emails probe of Hillary Clinton. Again, he’s driven by fear of Republican criticism and leaks by agents trying to strongarm superiors.

All of this, the initial action and now these reactions are precisely what these rules are meant to avoid. It might be better to say that they are meant to avoid developments in good faith investigations being made public in close proximity to elections. What you have hear looks more like a worst case scenario: rogue agents trying to rehash already concluded investigations or launch still other ones in time to effect an election that is only days away. It is no secret that the the rank-and-file of the FBI leans Republican, much the same can be said about law enforcement generally. There’s no crime in that. But someone in Comey’s position is charged with pursuing justice and the administration of justice free from partisan motivation and in line with the policies and norms that govern such investigations. He’s failed in that completely, even after being warned of the consequences of his actions. His intent, the mix of self-protection or naivete or even bad motive if it exists, is basically irrelevant.

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds Hillary Clinton has a slim three-point lead over Donald Trump one week before Election Day, 42% to 39%, with Gary Johnson at 7% and Jill Stein at 5%. It’s the same exact lead she had in this poll before the Comey Outrage. “In a separate poll conducted before Comey’s disclosure, Clinton was leading by three points in the four-way race… Put simply, there is not yet evidence that the revelations have drastically altered the contours of the election.”

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