Trump is horrible and had a horrible week. Susan Anderson and the big Blue Brigade’s GOTV

Michigan Policast for Monday, September 7, 2020   In this episode: Trump is horrible and he had a horrible week Trump v Biden, Peters v James Susan Ferdman-Anderson and the Blue Brigade Political notes Attack...

Michigan Policast for Monday, September 7, 2020

  In this episode:

Trump is horrible and he had a horrible week
Trump v Biden, Peters v James
Susan Ferdman-Anderson and the Blue Brigade
Political notes
Attack ad of the week
Transcript

@ppppolls
@CalvinJohnsonjr
@MHSAA
@ElissaSlotkin
@VoteVets
@JoeBiden
@KamalaHarris

Featured image:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Not a loser or a sucker.  

Jump to:

Segment one: Trump is horrible and he had a horrible week
Segment two: Trump v Biden
Segment three: Susan Ferdman-Anderson and the Blue Brigade
Segment four: Political notes
Segment five: Attack ad of the week
Transcript
Comments

Trump is horrible and he had a horrible week

AG Nessel, SOS Benson Urge Voters Not to Commit Felony by Casting Multiple Ballots in Elections
Trump Encourages People in North Carolina to Vote Twice, Which Is Illegal – The New York Times
Voting Twice? Trump Creates a New Headache for Election Officials
National Conference of State Legislatures | Double Voting
Trump and his allies are using the prospect of a ‘red mirage' election result to prepare a betrayal narrative for November
Deciphering the ‘red mirage,' the ‘blue shift,' and the uncertainty surrounding election results this November
Trump Floats ‘Rigged Election’ As Democrats’ Concerns About Election Day ‘Red Mirage’ Grow
Exclusive: Dem group warns of apparent Trump Election Day landslide
Absentee Ballot Versus Vote-by-Mail? A Guide to Election Terms
Whitmer and Benson: Legislature's inaction risks integrity of November election
Donald Trump Denies “Mini-Strokes,” Changes Story on Walter Reed Visit
Former Melania Trump friend says she is working with multiple prosecutors on inauguration financing
Cohen: Trump Said Hispanics And Black People Were ‘Too Stupid' To Vote For Him
How Has Donald Trump Survived?
Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President
Trump Books Keep Coming, and Readers Can’t Stop Buying – The New York Times
In new book, Michael Cohen calls Trump a ‘cheat' and a ‘liar' who sought help from Russia – The Washington Post
Tinpot Administration Is Apparently ‘Building Dossiers' On Journalists Who Criticize Trump

 

Hawkfish CEO Josh Mendelsohn calls the scenario a “red mirage.” 
'But let me make this perfectly clear: voting twice is illegal, no matter who tells you to do it. The president’s idea is a great idea only for people who are looking to go to jail.' ~ @MIAttyGen @MichSoS https://bit.ly/35f7CrIClick To Tweet
'There’s no reason for voters to test MI's election system, because it has been tested by three successful elections already this year, and every single one of them has proven that it is absolutely safe and secure' ~ @MichSoS @MIAttyGen https://bit.ly/35f7CrIClick To Tweet

 

 

Mr. Trump’s suggestion that people should vote twice is one he has discussed privately with aides in recent weeks amid concerns he is depressing turnout among his supporters by raising alarms about the security of mail-in voting. ~Source

 

Jena Griswold, CO’s Democratic Secretary of State, said, “2020 has been unprecedented in so many ways, but I never imagined that as secretary of state I would have to inform both the president & the U.S. attorney general that it is illegal to vote twice.” https://t.co/67EhROGYpE

— Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) September 4, 2020

 

Great to join @MeetThePress and @chucktodd this morning to discuss our work to prepare for record voter turnout in Michigan this fall & explain how we will work to ensure efficient and accurate election results – even if it takes a few days – in November. https://t.co/DgNxoQpX86

— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) September 6, 2020

Mr. Trump’s repeated statements suggesting that the nation’s elections system is riddled with fraud fit a historical pattern — politicians in the Jim Crow South, for example, spread the myth of widespread voter fraud to encourage tighter restrictions on voting. ~source

 

But the poll also suggested that Mr. Trump’s message was getting through to his base: 88 percent of Biden supporters in six battleground states strongly or somewhat support mail-in voting, while 72 percent of Mr. Trump’s supporters strongly or somewhat oppose it. ~Source

 

 

 
Trump v Biden, Peters v James

Public Policy Poll – September
RCP Polls | Michigan Presidential
RCP Polls | Michigan Senate
Rick Snyder: Why I'm voting for Joe Biden, even as a Republican
Snyder endorses Biden, will work to win over GOP votes for Biden
Exclusive: Biden garners more Republican endorsements, this time from ex-governors – Reuters
Calvin Johnson criticizes Donald Trump's lack of leadership
President Trump's tweets won't save Big Ten football: ‘(Bleep) no'
White House wants to cancel federal agencies’ race-related trainings – The Washington Post
Former Michigan GOP party leader flips sides. How he's working to defeat Trump
My party's plan to curb Whitmer's powers is irresponsible | Opinion
Trump ends ‘critical race theory' training for federal employees, calls it a ‘sickness'
Trump’s push to amplify racism unnerves Republicans who have long enabled him
The Roots of the Parties’ Racial Switch
Snyder endorses Biden for president, calls Trump a ‘bully‘

 

Trump told his gun-toting, camo-wearing “fine people” to terrorize an American citizen. pic.twitter.com/oFUCcPPSQB

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) September 6, 2020

 

 
.@MIGOP #RidinWithBiden - @OneToughNerd, David Trott, Dr Joe Schwarz, fmr @MIChamber counsel Bob LaBrant, @jefftimmer (@ProjectLincoln), fmr @MichiganPress Pres Mike MacLaren, Jim Haveman, Dennis Schornack h/t @ChadLivengood @Crain sDetroitClick To Tweet
'Because of @RealDonaldTrump's inability to lead ... there will be no fall football in #TheBigHouse or tailgating in #EastLansing ... countless small businesses will close their doors or see devastating financial losses.' ~@JoeTate02 @freep https://bit.ly/3lZZPUwClick To Tweet

 

 

In a Sunday morning tweet, Trump said the US Department of Education would investigate whether California schools are using the New York Times' “1619 Project” in public school curriculum https://t.co/XfI0ouQnul

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) September 6, 2020

 

Today, Elizabeth Welch received the nomination from the @MichiganDems. Her name will appear on the MI ballot in the non-partisan section, not captured by straight ticket voting. It’s very important that everyone helps us to spread the word about the importance of this race. #Vote pic.twitter.com/gn2ISlrSoH

— Elizabeth Welch for Michigan Supreme Court (@WelchForJustice) August 30, 2020

 

The former VP's visit next week dovetails with an event today in Michigan, where ex-Lion @calvinjohnsonjr and state Rep. Joe Tate (a former MSU football player) hosted a roundtable and criticized Trump's leadership on numerous fronts (via @cmonarrez) https://t.co/3TcTztg6On

— Dave Boucher (@Dave_Boucher1) September 3, 2020

 

This is our moment to root out systemic racism and ensure justice finally rings out for all in America. pic.twitter.com/mXzAZ9VZfR

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 3, 2020

 

GOP strategist Bob LaBrant came out forcefully Friday as a critic of the Republican effort to eliminate the ability of @GovWhitmer and any future governor to keep Michigan under a state of emergency indefinitely without legislative concurrence. https://t.co/m41SPXwl0Y pic.twitter.com/MLCZyNnSFj

— Gongwer Michigan (@GongwerMichigan) August 24, 2020

 

Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is the latest high-profile Republican to back Biden for president. In a USA Today op-ed, he calls Trump a ‘bully' who ‘lacks a moral compass' & ‘ignores the truth.' He rips the tax cuts, too. He says Biden has strong moral character & empathy

— David Eggert (@DavidEggert00) September 3, 2020

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson and the Blue Brigade

Susan on Facebook
Vote Michigan Rally
Blue Brigade GOTV Rally – all-star participant lineup
2O2O Vote Michigan Virtual Rally (Facebook event)

#TheBlueBrigade is a group of individuals who are committed to getting better government through activation. ~Susan Anderson @MichiganDems #GOTVClick To Tweet
'We've been working toward this massive #GOTV effort all winter and suddenly we couldn't do it. So we figured if we could put together a streaming event, maybe that could help #GOTV' ~Susan Anderson @MichiganDems Click To Tweet
'I myself wouldn't want to open the door to someone with a mask on, or to somebody without a mask on. I think virtual and non contact is the way to go in a pandemic' ~Susan Anderson @MichiganDems #GOTV #TheBlueBrigadeClick To Tweet

 

 

Susan Anderson speaking at Governor Whitmer's Inauguration
Political notes

EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 2020-176 Safe Start Rescission of Executive Orders 2020-160 and 2020-162
State of Michigan | Public Guidance for Contact Sports
EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 2020-175 Safeguards to protect Michigan’s workers from COVID-19 Rescission of Executive Order 2020-161
Michigan high school football fall season reinstated; games begin Sept. 18
Whitmer reopens gyms, giving the green light to high school sports
How the decision was made to bring back high school football in Michigan
Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Coronavirus Updates
More than 175 current, former law enforcement officials endorse Joe Biden, slam Trump as ‘lawless' president
Over 190 law enforcement officials endorse Biden
Extra $300 Michigan unemployment payouts should reach jobless after Labor Day | Bridge Michigan
Feds OK extra $300 a week for Michigan jobless – but it may not last long
Top intelligence office informs congressional committees it'll no longer brief in-person on election security
Dems ratchet up demands for election security briefings
Trump intel chief defends briefings ban, Democrats raise subpoena threat
John James Adds A DeVos To His Campaign Staff
John James Revealed: John James Loyal To Betsy DeVos As She Puts Michigan’s Students, Teachers At Risk
Michigan GOP candidate who downplayed ties to DeVos hires her niece after getting $1M cash infusion

ICYMI: @JohnJamesMI's wife works for @Amway, @BetsyDeVosEd SuperPAC has pumped > $1m into his campaign, James campaign hires Oliva DeVos. John James will be a rubber stamp for Betsy DeVos' dangerous ideologically-driven #EDU policiesClick To Tweet

Under Executive Order 175 and 176, they can reopen at 25% capacity with strict safety protocols, including that attendees must maintain six feet of physical distance and wear masks even while working out. ~Source

Still, despite all of the COVID restrictions, 3 Michigan lawmakers received at least $4,000 each in lobbyist-funded food and drink over the first 7 months of 2020. https://t.co/d5ApvRYHQc

— Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) September 4, 2020

'I talk to LEO here in #Arizona and all across the country: and none of them believe there will be less violence in America if @RealDonaldTrump is re-elected' ~ fmr #AZAG @GrantWoods. #RidinWithBidenClick To Tweet

I joined @chrislhayes last night to say: We’re now 60 days before an election. We should make sure the average voter knows what Russia is trying to do to our democracy. pic.twitter.com/EtMkfCCEkm

— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) September 3, 2020

 

Attack ad of the week

VoteVets
The Lincoln Project
Meidas Touch
Republican Voters Against Trump

 

Runner up: VoteVets – Losing

 

 
Winner: VoteVets – Gold Star

 

 

Reminder that the MI Capitol Commission is meeting 9/14 to vote on a potential ban on weapons in the MI Capitol, which is constitutional & the policy in 29 other Capitol buildings & every courthouse in the state. They have the power to prevent a bloodbath, but not the courage. https://t.co/C4zYEUc4bE

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) September 6, 2020

 

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Transcript

 

Walt Sorg  00:00

The presenting underwriter of the Michigan Policast is Progress Michigan providing a strong, credible voice that holds public officials and government accountable and assist in the promotion of progressive ideas.

 

Dana Nessel  00:12

to intentionally vote, twice, not just in the state of Michigan in any state in the Union, yes, that's illegal. It's both a state felony. It's a four year offense and it's also a federal felony. It's a five year offense.

 

Walt Sorg  00:25

Mr. law in order himself, Donald john Trump urges Americans to attempt voter fraud. And Michigan's Attorney General is one who suggests that could put you in prison. It was part of a very, very bad week politically for Donald Trump. Trump move from one mess to the next while Joe Biden was broadening his coalition with endorsements from law enforcement, more big name Republicans, Nobel laureate scientists and even Megatron. This is the Michigan Policast, we're all about Michigan policy and politics and the national currency impacting our pleasant peninsulas 58 days before they election. I'm Walt Sorg.

 

Christine Barry  01:02

I'm Christine Barry. The governor okay is the reopening of gyms and public swimming pools. Michigan's unemployed getting a short term financial boost this week. Michigan democrats get ready for a unique virtual get out vote spectacular. And to the US Senate race, both candidates say Gary Peters is the underdog although the polling shows a consistent Peters lead.

 

Walt Sorg  01:25

We are less than three weeks away from the start of voting in Michigan. absentee ballots go into the mail on September 24. And despite the advice that we're all getting from the orange menace, voting twice is not a good idea. Attorney General Nessle says anyone who tries it will get caught and they will regret it.

 

Dana Nessel  01:43

It just shows the seeds of confusion in order to make these kinds of statements and worse, really, what it's doing is it's incentivizing people to commit crimes. So you really follow the advice of this president at your own risk. Because you could potentially end up with a felony conviction and doing jail time.

 

Christine Barry  02:05

Well, Trump's recommendation that voters commit a felony by voting twice was just a small part of what's been a really bad week for him. In the last seven days, he has denied that he's had a series of mini strokes that led to the emergency visit to Walter Reed Medical Center. He's had a book released lifting the curtain concealing potential criminal conduct by him and his wife and the $100 million inauguration. We've seen polling numbers nationwide showing he's not making any headway and trying to catch Joe Biden. There have been two other tell all books released one by the New York Times Michael Schmidt, the latest from his longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen describes his criminal co conspirator former client as a cheat a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator and a con man and Walt potentially most damaging Of all a report in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg detailing Trump's utter contempt for the military and in particular those who lost their lives in defense of the nation. Now, Trump vehemently denied that story, but it was backed up by multiple news outlets. Even Fox News confirmed it. Former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm's response was typical of the Firestorm.

 

Jennifer Granholm  03:23

Trump has been scamming us about his so called love for the military for years. Now we have the receipts when he denies I mean just this this past 24 hours. He denies calling john mccain a loser. We have the tape when he says he respects the military. We now have witnesses who are coming forward to show us how he truly thinks but don't look at his words. Look at his actions. I mean, he has called vets suckers and losers. Over time. He doesn't want wounded vets in parades. Nobody wants to see that he won't protect our soldiers from Putin's bounties. He won't even raise the subject with Putin. He blasted top military Generals says a bunch of dopes and babies he attacks the Gold Star Khan family. Obviously he's been attacking McCain. He's abandoned our military allies like the Kurds against the advice of military experts Not to mention his slavish devotion to dictators that we have historically been our enemies like Putin and Kim Jong on. He cuts the stars and stripes but immediately turns around and reinstates it because of the backlash. He's pardoning people who've been convicted war criminals against the generals' advice, he's using the military as props for his political stunts. We could go on and on.

 

Walt Sorg  04:33

She did go on and on. She's kind of pushed off about the whole thing as well. A lot of people. Trump has done so many things over his almost four years as president before that. This is the one that I think may finally stick

 

Christine Barry  04:45

in May, he will always bottom out at that. That base of I mean, he's got to have at least 35 to 40% where they will just not believe it. They just won't believe that he said these things. They'll think it's fake. News and it's the big democrat cabal. And I don't know. So, you know, the thing is, though, for for people like you and me, Walt, I keep thinking he's hit rock bottom with some of these things that he does. And then it's like he digs six feet more. And there's another thing that he says, and this this thing about the troops is, it's almost unbelievable. But I do believe it because it's on brand for Trump, losers and suckers. How they didn't get anything out of it. I mean, that's the way that he approaches the world. Right? What do I get out of this?

 

Walt Sorg  05:36

Yeah, one of the things that was mentioned, I think Rachel Maddow brought it up. In her interview with Mary Trump. The neice was that this came up long before the revelations in the Goldberg article was that Trump had told his kids if they enlisted in the military, he disinherit them. He did not want them to be suckers and losers and join the military. And he was going to back that up with his money. So his attitude As long standing towards military service, his problem with now is calling this fake news. Yeah, a lot of people will still believe it's fake news. But he is the boy who cried wolf. Everything is fake news. Yeah, and after four years of screaming fake news, fake news, fake news, this is so keeping with his character, that it's very easy for the people in the middle that 10% that haven't made up their mind to accept it. And I think this is probably one of those golden rails that you just don't touch politically, just like Social Security and Medicare are two things you just don't want to mess with. You don't want to screw with our military veterans.

 

Christine Barry  06:36

Well, and certainly not the people who've lost their lives. And, you know, you remember when he was campaigning, and he said about john mccain. I like people who didn't get captured. You think that was offensive, but people were like, well, that's just his crappy personality. And, you know, john mccain was alive then and on and on, but then you saw him Skip the cemetery visit and do do a few other things that like Governor Granholm said, you know, just walk away from our allies, that kind of thing. And, and so you're starting to think, Okay, this is a guy who's really not as big on the troops, as he wants to say is as he wants you to think he is. And then you hear this and that might be the final straw. Okay. I have these other examples of things that he said and done that make me believe this.

 

Walt Sorg  07:32

Well, he's also had two generals in his immediate circle, one who came out against him and that was General Mattis, who was the secretary of defense who just rolled out an incredible criticism of him publicly. But also john Kelly, who's at the heart of these latest charges about the disparaging of the troops and Kelly has been sort of word he's got that military ethos you do not speak publicly ill of the chain of command, but he's Defending the chain of command either. So I think it's probably its major major league bed news for Trump couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

 

Walt Sorg  08:08

Public Policy Polling is got a new poll out. It's the the latest numbers from Michigan. And it's a it's a fairly comprehensive poll, they surveyed 897 Michigan voters during August 28 and 2019. So the numbers are fairly current. And the numbers really aren't changing a whole lot. Trump's job performance, his approval rating is upside down. 44 approved 53 disapprove Biden is 5050 basically 4546 or his favorite role unfavorables, which is a lot better than Hillary Clinton was at this point in the campaign, Governor Whitmer's job performance, on the other hand, very popular 55 39.6% undecided and given all of the very controversial things she said to do with COVID-19. That's a pretty remarkable number.

 

Christine Barry  08:58

It really is. It's really impressive and if you look at the not sure on that it's 6%. That's pretty low number. People have decided they either support it or they don't and only 39% have disapproved on her job performance.

 

Walt Sorg  09:12

Yeah, a little reformat a little worrying for Democrats, however, is the matchup for president on the vote. And right now, the poll shows that Biden leading 4844 with another 7% going to other candidates, or undecided at this point. I find that number a little bit too tight, but that's that could be problematic, especially for Gary Peters is probably going to run behind Joe Biden a little bit at least in the election. The however, the numbers for the Senate race show Peters on top 4739, which is where it's been all along.

 

Christine Barry  09:49

And that's about where it has been. And he's, you know, he's been rolling out his ads and I think he's looking pretty good. You know, one thing I'd mentioned though, about the survey Is that it was taken before Donald Trump's really bad week. So I don't know that Joe Biden and Donald Trump would be quite that tight. If it was taken today. We knew it would tighten up after the convention though. We, you know, we knew that Joe Biden wouldn't hold 10 plus points on Donald Trump through the whole season.

 

Walt Sorg  10:19

The other numbers that I found especially interesting and very problematic is that most people, when asked about who they would support for the Michigan Supreme Court, which is a very important election, most people were not sure 76% unsure of the candidates of a leading candidate with 8% was the Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormick, and she has the advantage on the ballot she will appear as Bridget Mary McCormick Justices of the Supreme Court, she'll have that designation and that is almost automatic re election. But once you get past her, it's just all over the place between the other candidates who have no party identification. No labels are running on a nonpartisan ballot. So that's going to require some real effort on the part of both political parties. The Republicans are really going to be pushing Mary Kelly, because she's got a great name. Irish names always work well, when running for judge. And for the Democrats, Elizabeth Welch, the attorney out of Grand Rapids, who is our guest a couple of weeks ago.

 

Christine Barry  11:17

Yeah, she she's at 2%. There, she really needs to …. we've got to move those numbers.

 

Walt Sorg  11:24

Yeah, they're just everybody a 2% 5% 3%. Basically, it was, I don't know, was the answer. And people are probably going to be looking to their friends to their their influence network at the last second to figure out who to vote for what is interesting, though, because we are mostly going to be mailing at our dining room tables instead of the the polls, people will have time to do some research. And a lot of people will probably go online and find out well, Who the hell are these people? I don't know what kind of impact that will have, but at least people will be able to make a little bit more informed vote.

 

Christine Barry  11:57

Yeah, I think the county parties need to start getting They're their voting cards out now or their voting guides, whatever you want to call it, that they, they hand out and they say these are supported candidates, because at this point in Michigan, you should have all of those candidates identified. primaries are over. We've had our endorsements. So at this point, we should be able to sit down and say, okay, you know, shiawassee County Democratic Party endorses these candidates. And however it is you get those out into the hands of your voters. You have to do it much earlier this year than you've had to in the past because people are going to start voting pretty soon.

 

Walt Sorg  12:38

Yep. What's your mailing them, which is going to be the other challenge to a couple other findings in the poll. The link to the full poll on our website, of course. 70% support for mandatory masks for people who are in indoor facilities such as businesses, government buildings and grocery stores 70% support 25% opposed but while 25% is awful loud. Then the governor is getting pretty strong approval on her handling of the pandemic and a majority oppose the idea of taking away her emergency power so she can continue to do her job. The opposition to this petition drive which is led by Mike Shirky, the Senate Majority Leader 53% oppose 36% support and given the strange way Michigan's constitution is set up, even though most of the people don't want this thing. a minority of voters in Michigan can make this happen because they've got a cooperative legislature.

 

Christine Barry  13:32

And again, I think that's why we're seeing all of these people come out and say, Be careful what you sign because you're being lied to about what these these petitions are.

 

Christine Barry  13:44

The Michigan numbers are just the beginning of the good news for Joe Biden over the last few days. Some high profile Michigan republicans are riding with Biden, including former Governor Rick Snyder, former Oakland County congressman David Trott and longtime GOP operative Bob LaBrandt, another former member of Congress, Joe Schwartz had earlier endorsed Biden and former Michigan Republican Party executive director Jeff Timmer is one of the leaders of the anti Trump Lincoln Project.

 

Walt Sorg  14:15

I'm really fascinated by the disconnect between the traditional leaders of the Republican Party, not just in Michigan but nationally, and the rank and file. You would think with all of these Republican leaders, you know, people like john Kay sick and Rick Snyder endorsing Joe Biden, that more Republicans would be following if the polling shows the Donald Trump maintains very, very high approval amongst Republican voters. And I think it's really a sign the Republican Party is no longer a republican party. It is the Trump party.

 

Christine Barry  14:49

Well, I think that this started actually when w was in office and you started to see a lot of people a lot more people identify as libertarian. Rather than republican or independent, rather than Republican, and a lot of the right wing media, including Fox News has convinced Republican voters that they are independents. And so they've sort of embraced this identity other than being part of the Republican Party. And so what I'm getting at here as what you have left is this cesspool of crap. That does support Trump because he gets, you know, he makes them feel that nationalist pride, you know, he, he lets them, he lets them be who they are, which is garbage.

 

Walt Sorg  15:38

You know, in the last couple of weeks, Joe Biden has been rolling out these long lists of very respected people that are endorsing him or not lifelong Democrats, a list of more than 100 Nobel science laureates, the top scientists in the country, a list of I think was 100 and 110 former state Attorneys General on the list and law enforcement people 190 law enforcement officials from around the country. The list goes on and on and on and on. Although I think one of the best lists he may have come out with is appealing to people who don't care about politics, but really are obsessed with football, that a conference call a few days ago, rolling out a couple of NFL alumni to land base the president for effectively destroying the prospect of college football this month in the state of Michigan. And if there's one thing you can do in Michigan to piss people off, let's get rid of Michigan and Michigan State football in the fall. But that's what's happened. What are the people on that call is a former Michigan State football player now a state representative from Detroit, Joe Tate, who also played for a couple of years in the NFL.

 

Joe Tate  16:45

There's certainly no playbook for them impressive in that moment we found ourselves in. But there's also no excuse for the failed leadership we found in the White House. Instead of leading by example, Donald Trump has done Science, ignore experts and live for the sake of his own reelection. Instead of helping our governor and lieutenant governor tackle our public health crisis, Trump has attacked our state leaders, muffle the opinions of experts and undermine social distance safety measures.

 

Walt Sorg  17:19

And to really drive home the point Tate was joined on the conference call by the legendary Megatron former Detroit Lions all pro wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

 

Calvin Johnson  17:29

I'm from the south. I'm from Georgia, you know, everything is football. You know, it's the same up here in Michigan, and even more so now that I have business across the state of Michigan, Lansing, and in Niles, and now's in particular is a small town just like seven eight miles north of South Bend that town like you said it thrives on the commerce from people that travel in and out of Southern Michigan going to Notre Dame games, people that are coming on through Lansing going to left on Michigan State gangs. That's numerous tax dollars that can't be re appropriated to the citizens of the other states. You know, the leadership in Michigan here, Governor Gretchen took it seriously from day one locking things down saving a lot of lives. You can only but wonder what if we had done the same with the federal response? What if, you know, we had a leader by example, that wears masks, you know, that preaches social distancing, and believes in the sign.

 

Walt Sorg  18:25

I think the power of football we'll be talking about a little bit later with the governor's latest executive order, the fact that she's allowing high school football to be played again, even though I think deep down. There's some doubts about whether it's a good idea but the power of football is such that people are willing to take risks there that they won't take elsewhere. And there is a lot of pressure to even get the big 10 going again.

 

Christine Barry  18:47

Well, the I know with the high school football anyway, the high schools are working with the local health departments. So there is some safety there in that the local health department I think if I'm understanding it correctly, the health department's can say, No, you really can't do that. Even if the schools want to

 

Walt Sorg  19:09

give you the kids, you have to wear face masks while they're playing football. Good luck with that.

 

Christine Barry  19:13

there's a lot of rules that they have to follow, not just how they conduct themselves, but in the the cleaning and the disinfecting and sanitizing of all of the equipment and the spaces they're in. And I think it's going to be very difficult. I mean, just the simple things Walt, like don't share a towel. like yeah, it's because we're grown ups. It's gross. But if you're an athlete, you share towels all the time. Yeah. Who's got a towel?

 

Walt Sorg  19:45

Yeah, there's there's a huge financial issue. for college towns. We've talked about it before but for East Lansing, Kalamazoo Mount Pleasant and especially Ann Arbor, you're talking 10s of millions of dollars for the local economy universe. Michigan, I think they're estimating is 100 million dollar hit just to the athletic department. And on top of that all the local businesses in East Lansing Bill Beekman, the athletic director of Michigan State says the university will take about an $80 million hit by not having football. Add to that all of the bars and restaurants and hotels and everything else in East Lansing that aren't going to get business. And it is a massive, massive issue, especially with towns that are really small East Lansing in Ann Arbor exists because of the universities.

 

Christine Barry  20:28

yep. And even the little towns outside of these University towns have businesses that rely on that traffic going through it was kind of like what Calvin Johnson said, you know, it's, you need the transit back and forth between these things that we can't do anymore. And one of the things that I appreciated about how Calvin Johnson spoke was that he spoke as a small businessman. He obviously understands, you know, football in the football economy, but he spoke from the perspective of of needing people to go back and forth. And he didn't endorse Biden. He just talked about the response to the virus and I thought that that was important as well as kind of insulates him from criticism as a Biden supporter.

 

Walt Sorg  21:14

You're talking about the outlying towns with these colleges. I used to travel with the Michigan State football team back in a previous career. And if we went to Notre Dame for a football game, the team would actually stay in Benton Harbor because that was the closest where we could get into hotel rooms. Because the hotels closer to South Bend were booked solid.

 

Christine Barry  21:34

Well, the President is providing one form of leadership that should backfire on him in a time of racial unrest and protests. He is calling for an end to federal programs that promote racial harmony. So what he's done as he just decided to cancel any federal programs that address racial sensitivity, that may say that America has a problem with this systemic racism, in particular, white privilege and critical race theory. Those two things are being targeted in this.

 

Walt Sorg  22:09

Yeah, they're in the memo that went out from the Office of Management and Budget. They call these racial sensitivity trainings, divisive and unAmerican.

 

Christine Barry  22:17

This goes completely against what all of the big companies are doing. You can look at fortune 500, you can look at fortune 100. You know, it's Silicon Valley, all of the big companies or the startups, they're all talking about, okay, how can we heal people? How can we make this better? And they're having listening sessions and they're having consultants come in and saying, help us understand how our black employees can do better in our company help us understand how they're discriminated against. So this president who is supposed to be this businessman is doing something That is totally against what all of the all of corporate America is doing right now. I don't normally follow corporate America as like a moral leader like they're, they provide moral leadership. But certainly in this case, they're doing the right thing over what the President is doing.

 

Walt Sorg  23:18

Currently. This whole thing is the result of a segment on fox news that the President saw, which also tells you about everything you need to know about how he runs the government.

 

Christine Barry  23:30

Well, the age of COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of political campaigns. Traditionally, politics has been a face to face proposition, but that has been turned on its head by the pandemic. Despite the risks. Republicans in Michigan are ramping up the traditional door to door canvassing, while democrats are focused on virtual campaigning. The latter worked well for the national convention, and now is being emulated by a grassroots group called The Blue Brigade, which is putting together a two hour online get out the vote rally, which debuts next Saturday. The organizer behind the event is blue brigade founders, Susan Ferdman-Anderson, who talked with Walt about their All Star event.

 

Walt Sorg  24:13

Susan, first of all, what is the blue brigade? Where did that come about?

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  24:17

The blue brigade is a group of individuals, mostly women, mostly older, but we do have some younger people and some men who are committed to getting better government through activation. So the blue brigade is presented with through different politicians, etc. Opportunities to help out and we've got a pretty good track record. We have helped a lot of people get on the ballot get elected. So that's what we do.

 

Walt Sorg  24:52

In the beginning, the blue brigade spend a lot of time doing person or person campaigning, you were collecting signatures on petitions can Those sorts of things. Obviously, that's not the kind of thing you could do now. So you came up with this 21st century we get out the vote opportunity, something that's ever been done before. Exactly What are you doing?

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  25:11

What we're doing is pulling together a virtual get out the vote rally. And while you're absolutely right, we usually do person to person and this is in lieu of that. This got born in my brain during the lockdown. When I thought, oh my god, we've been working toward this massive, get out the vote effort, all winter trying to get people trying to do it. And but we can't go anywhere. So I figured if we could pull together, people that needed a lot of help people that were in swing districts, people that may be statewide like Gary Peters that need to have their faces out there and put them together into a rally with music that maybe we could sway some people or maybe we could motivate some people to vote

 

Walt Sorg  26:10

is basically put together a two hour event that will be streamed on September 12. And you've put together an all star lineup for this event who's in it.

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  26:21

Gretchen Whitmer, Governor Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel. Senator Gary Peters senator Debbie Stabenow out. Congresswoman Elissa Slatkin, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, congressional candidates Jon Hoadley, Dana Ferguson, Hillary Scholten, and a number of others, including Bridget Mary McCormack, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who's running to retain her seat and candidate for Supreme Court. Elizabeth Welch.

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  26:57

In addition to that, we have 30 state representatives we are trying to flip the house the the State House, so that the governor has somebody to work with, instead of the opposition, even over keeping us safe that she has faced. In addition to that we have at least 10 musicians and the musicians. Most of them have written songs specifically for this get out the vote rally and the quality of the musicians is high. We have everybody from our local wonderful route doctor to Joshua Davis, who was a finalist on the voice to Sonny Wilkinson who is a supreme and wonderful jazz musician. We also have Ben and Jerry, the ice cream guys, Ben and Jerry were big Bernie supporters, and they want everyone to know that they are endorsing what Joe Biden to win. And we have Robert rice, the former labor secretary of Bill Clinton, who has been doing a lot of podcasts and things trying to get people to change what's going on. That's a very good shot that Vice President Biden will be on this, we're very close to getting him that will be about it with him or without him. We've got a wonderful program.

 

Walt Sorg  28:31

One of the things that the media has noticed recently in the rents of articles in the paper had been the different approaches towards campaigning as a result of the pandemic. Republicans are doing a lot of door to door work still, even though some would say that's kind of dangerous in the zero of the virus. And Democrats have focused more and more with the online contact, are you comfortable with the way things are going?

 

28:55

I think so. One of the other things the blue brigade is As we are doing literature drops for various candidates, we're doing phone calling for them and a couple of the candidates are doing what they call safe door to door. Now, I haven't been trained in that. So I'm not sure what that entails. I myself wouldn't want to open the door to someone with a mask on. I also wouldn't want to open up the door to somebody without a mask on. Even though some of the politicians are doing it. I think virtual and non contact is the way to go in a pandemic.

 

Walt Sorg  29:36

As you watch the Democratic National Convention, did you pick up some tips on how to make your event work better?

 

29:44

I thought it looked pretty good and I hope that Marty I am not a technician. I don't know what what I doing in that regard. We have a wonderful technical director named Marty Weaver and I am sure that Marty watched it. He has been watching other virtual train transmissions and I think that we will have a good program. I'm sure he'll do his best

 

Walt Sorg  30:13

for everybody who wants to watch this. First of all, there's no cost to watch it. This is a get out the vote rally. So there is no cost. How can they watch it?

 

30:22

They can go to VoteMichiganRally.com. That's our webpage. That will be a hotlink on that day to the web page. They should also go on the webpage because it will tell you a lot more about the rally than I have just said. I do want to say one more thing about the content of the rally. We have two clerks, a county clerk and a city clerk Barb Byron from Ingram and Chris Swope from Lansing, who are going to talk about the safest way to vote under the circumstance says the website also has links to registering to vote. So this thing is, although we are highlighting 100% Democratic candidates, this is how do you vote get out the vote, by all means do do vote. and here we can help you with that.

 

Walt Sorg  31:21

And your event is just before the absentee ballots go into the mill for the first time.

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  31:27

That is true. It's September 12, which is Saturday at 6pm to 8pm. One other thing about the event is it will be available until November 3. It won't be as exciting as watching it the first time but if somebody misses it, they'll be able to pick it up on YouTube and Facebook. One other place to look or to read if you want to register which will help us a little bit is to go to the Women's March Lansing Facebook page and on that page You have an opportunity to sign up or say interested or not.

 

Walt Sorg  32:05

Coming to a screen at near you on September 12. Susan, thank you so much for joining us.

 

Susan Ferdman-Anderson  32:09

Thank you very much, Walt.

 

Christine Barry  32:28

Yes, the gyms are reopening this week. Governor Whitmer has adjusted her executive orders to allow the reopening of gyms and pools effective on Wednesday. She also relaxed the restrictions on competitive sports. And the Michigan High School Athletic Association immediately announced the return of high school football beginning next week. Now it's up to each school district to decide whether to take part in what will be a shortened season.

 

Walt Sorg  32:53

Well, let me put you on the spot right away. You're on the school board in your community. You're gonna have football,

 

Christine Barry  33:00

The last time that I was informed Actually, we were waiting for our attorneys to get back to our athletic director.

 

Walt Sorg  33:06

Oh, the classic cop out. Yeah, wait until the lawyers talk. I find it interesting. As we mentioned earlier in the pod, the athletes are going to have to wear facemask when they're competing. I can't imagine running cross country or playing basketball or playing football. Wearing a facemask It's hard enough is walking with that extra impediment to your breathing on and it's going to be treated the only thing you don't have to wear a facemask for swimming, which makes a whole lot of sense or for sports. We are socially distance like golf or tennis. But for the upclose context sports which they're actually recommending you don't do, but you can do it if your local school board wants to go ahead and do it. It's going to be it's gonna be an interesting experiment. I think the governor was basically giving into just huge political pressure. She had to give somewhere so she basically handed this one off to people like you with the locals. board.

 

Christine Barry  34:00

Yeah, and I think that's fine because there are different conditions in different counties. And so, you know, she's taking that step in recognizing that the local health department's which have had a lot of control, and have worked a lot with the public schools. Now, go ahead and let them work with the schools to make a decision on this. She doesn't have to control this at the state level.

 

Walt Sorg  34:26

Yeah, and I'm personally excited that the swimming pools are open, because that is my primary form of exercise. Although I'm waiting to see just how the YMCA in my case handles the situation. They cannot open their steam rooms, their saunas or their Jacuzzis, things like that, but the pools themselves can be opened, because you're obviously socially distance. Plus, you're basically immersed in disinfectant.

 

Walt Sorg  34:50

Also in our notes this week mentioned earlier 190. Law enforcement officials from across the nation, including 17 from Michigan have endorsed Joe Biden for president which really blunts the Trump campaigns claimed to be the only campaign opposed to looting and vandalism among the Michigan endorsers former congressman Bart Stupak and Joe Swartz, both of whom were in law enforcement before going to Congress, and Wayne County prosecuting attorney Kim worthy. A second cohort of law enforcement endorsements came in the form of 109 former state attorneys general supporting the Biden candidacy.

 

Christine Barry  35:24

Michigan's unemployed can look forward to a big check in the next few days. The short term $300 a week supplement ordered by President Trump is expected to reach Michigan's unemployed later this week, and the payments will be retroactive to the beginning of August. The bad news is the money is expected to run out this month with workers each receiving a total of 1500 dollars in added federal assistance since March 15. Nearly 22 billion in unemployment benefits have been paid to more than 2.1 million workers.

 

Walt Sorg  35:56

The Trump administration continues to politicize America's interest relevance agencies, the latest effort a decision to withhold or report on Russian efforts to undermine Joe Biden, the Russians, apparently we're going to attack Biden's mental capabilities, something that just happens to parallel a Trump campaign ad. Michigan congressman Elissa Slotkin, who's a CIA veteran, who has provided security briefings for both George W. Bush and Barack Obama went on national television to say enough is enough.

 

Elissa Slotkin  36:26

I'm a CIA officer by training and the first couple of weeks of orientation. They train you on how to identify the politicizing of intelligence. And that's when you write something, it's ready to go. And folks at the top of the chain say, No, we're going to hold it because we don't want that message going out. So it felt like a textbook case of politicizing things and it's it. It is just kind of beyond the pale. It shouldn't be a partisan issue whether our democracy is able to function without foreign influence.

 

Christine Barry  36:59

John James still isn't saying anything about the issues in the US Senate race. But he is saying that he is not beholden to Betsy DeVos. Something that's at the heart of a Gary Peters attack ad. James says it ain't so. But he won't talk about the 1 million or so in contributions he's received from the device political machine in his two campaigns for the US Senate. And there's still no response from the James campaign on news stories that he collected millions and state tax dollars in exchange for a promise of job creation, which he never kept.

 

Walt Sorg  37:33

And that brings us to our political attack ad of the week. The runner up goes to vote vets.org for an ad calling out Donald Trump's record of failing to support the troops.

 

VoteVets Ad  37:43

Donald Trump is panicking. Finding any excuse to show up in military communities. He knows if elections were held today. he'd lose the military vote in a landslide 60% of active duty officers disapprove of his presidency because Donald Trump disrespects those who serve.  He's not a war hero.  I like people that weren't captured, okay. Our troops are in more danger today, because of Donald Trump's betrayal he abandoned our Kurdish allies in Syria playing into Russia's hand. He wouldn't stand up for our troops. When Putin put bounties on their heads in Afghanistan. his weakness emboldened the enemy. Now, Russia is directly engaging US troops slamming into our patrols in Syria, intercepting our bombers and flying their bombers dangerously close to American aerospace. Trump's refusal to defend America's national security is dangerous. his refusal to stand up for our troops is humiliating his threat to deploy active duty troops against American citizens is unconstitutional. So when it comes to the military vote for the next commander in chief, Trump's not leading.  He's losing.

 

Walt Sorg  39:05

Our winner also comes from vote vets it's called gold stars. It was created almost immediately after the Goldberg Erdogan came out in the Atlantic about Donald Trump's attitude towards veterans and especially those who lost their lives defending the country.

 

VoteVets Ad  39:22

My step son was not a loser. My son is not a loser. My son Matthew is not a loser. My step son was not a sucker. Lance Corporal Alexander Scott guardando died in a shop around in 2004. My son surgeon James Anthony Ayub the second gave his life in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2010. Me eco casual Salisbury prefer the solara Emporio elogger the Iraq honorably serving his country. That is something Donald Trump would never know. That's something that Donald Trump will never understand my message to Donald Trump is this You have no right being commander in chief has been not for nothing locate in sacrificial.

 

Walt Sorg  40:13

And although it's not a political layup, but just a statement that was made honorable mention goes to Joe Biden for one of the most heartfelt speeches I've ever heard from the man. His impassioned response to the outrageous Trump comments on service personnel.

 

Joe Biden  40:26

If what is written in the Atlantic is true is disgusting. In affirms what most of us believed to be true. Donald Trump is not fit to do the job of President be the commander in chief. Let me be real clear. When my son was an assistant US attorney and he volunteered to go to Kosovo when the war was going on, as a civilian, he wasn't a sucker. My son volunteered Join the United States military as the Attorney General, went to Iraq for a year, won the bronze star and other commendations. He wasn't a sucker. The servicemen and women he served with, particularly those did not come home were not losers. If these statements are true. The president should humbly apologize to every goldstar mother and father and every Blue Star family that he's denigrated and insulted. Who the heck does he think he is?

 

Christine Barry  41:38

And we're done for this week. For more information on today's subjects, head on over to our website, michiganpolicast.com links, tweets, photos, a few been political ads for your viewing pleasure and a few things that we think you should know about but we didn't mention on the podcast. It's all there.

 

Walt Sorg  41:58

Yeah there can be secrets. It's part of the dark, that dark shadow that's running our operation actually. And flying in on airplanes wearing black suits with backpacks.

 

Walt Sorg  42:08

You can email us at [email protected] or reach out through the Michigan Policast page on Facebook or on Twitter. Have a great time at the gym. We'll be back in a week.

 

Walt Sorg  42:21

The Michigan Policast is a production of Michigan Citizens for a Better Tomorrow.