Podcast 541

Podcast 541. Electoral College Yoga. Get ready to twist your brain into pretzel like shapes as I talk about the electoral college, polls, and what the benchmarks for Election 2016 are so far. I’ll do another benchmark in about a month and one just before the election in late October, or early November. There are a lot of caveats on polling data. While most media people and their viewers seem to want to talk about national presidential preference polls, the proof of the pudding is in the state by state polls. The United States does not elect its presidents with a national vote. In fact, a presidential election is fifty state elections. Voters are selecting a slate of electors, chosen and voting generally according to state law and state party rules. So when you hear one candidate is ‘ahead’ over another in a national poll it really doesn’t mean anything. In 2008 and again in 2012 Republicans in particular were so hopeful based on national preference polls that if you said McCain or Mitt Romney wasn’t going to win, you were ‘raining on the parade’. But, if you looked closely at state polls in those election cycles, the outcome was not a surprise. State polls have their own problems; Smaller sample size, different polling methodologies, and in some states they are no polls until just before the election. While its not advisable to compare different polls of different sources and methodologies, we do it all the time. We’re looking for trends primarily. Currently while Donald J. Trump leads Hillary Clinton in a national presidential preference poll, the state polls tell a completely different story. It’s not a good story for republicans. The case isn’t closed. Trump still has time, but time is fleeting. I don’t support any candidate. I’m not working for any candidate. I’m not going to tell you how to vote. I’m also not going to spin the polling data to make you think something can happen, or is going to happen. If you want the straight talk on what’s going on, the Bob Davis Podcasts is the place to check back for these benchmark state-by-state analyses as we progress to Election Day 2016. Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Podcast 534-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-38

Podcast 534-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-38. Posting this week’s radio show, with new content, from Rapid City, South Dakota. The radio show produced in Wall, South Dakota just outside the famous Wall Drug…which is actually pretty cool. In Podcast 534-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-38, a number of topics covered during this week’s podcast with new content added. For one thing, the rumors that somehow the republicans will ‘Dump Trump’ persist. It’s more than pure comedy when people who supported the Republican establishment’s embrace of Trump with full throated enthusiasm are scrambling to distance themselves from the Republican Candidate after his comments regarding the parents of a muslim American Serviceman who was killed in action. Add to that the fact that more and more people are suddenly interested in the political process, and are sending me emails and asking me, “Who should I vote for?”, or “What’s going on”? I share my answer with listeners in this podcast, although some of you won’t like the response. Once again, we have an over stimulated population well informed on the political gossip, but poorly informed on issues; the issues that we’re actually picking a president to deal with. This doesn’t even include congressional elections. With republicans defending some pretty competitive senate races, the potential for Donald Trump’s candidacy to cause a loss of control of the Senate for the GOP, could be devastating. Remember, Trump was ‘the one who can win’, and ‘the one who can take the fight to Hillary’. Has anyone thought about the prospect of Donald Trump as president with a democrat senate? The man who has pledged to ‘spend more that Hillary’ on government stimulus? This prospect, or even worse, the specter of Trump losing the presidency and republican control of the senate has apparently just dawned on the very establishment leaders that so lovingly embraced the New York Developer as their presidential nominee just a few short weeks ago. Only time will tell what the outcome of this election will be, but it could be death knell of the republican party. The republican establishment has already killed the so called conservative movement. In the final segment of this week’s show we come to local elections. Specifically, a local election in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, challenging the current speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Kurt Daudt. An Elk River man is alleging that a local tea party chapter and its associated political action groups has violated Minnesota State Election Law. (Editor’s Note: I am working to validate the allegations made by Matt Stevens of Elk River. In this effort I have already uncovered some discrepancies in the citations of evidence, and some questions as to whether Stevens fully understands how the Tea Party Alliance and its associated PACS are constituted. This is material when considering whether they have violated state campaign laws. Moreover, Stevens has refused any further comment or interviews ‘until the primary’, adding fuel to the suggestion by some that this was nothing more than a dirty trick to derail the campaign against the Speaker. Those involved in the Tea Party and its PACS refuse to comment until after the primary. By law, the State of Minnesota can’t even reveal whether a complaint has actually been filed.) From here it’s on to Sturgis for the big motorcycle rally, and my favorite town in South Dakota; Deadwood. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Podcast 527

RNC Dies At Cleveland? Day One of the Republican National Convention. While the mainstream media covers the convention from inside, The Bob Davis Podcasts is on the streets outside Quicken Arena. Some insiders would agree with the headline; RNC Dies At Cleveland. Some are actually saying that a rules fight that resulted in a few walkouts signals the end of the grassroots movement in republican politics, and certainly the end of something once known as a ‘principled’ conservative. While pundits point to a platform they say is the most conservative in history they ignore rule changes that give the RNC complete control over future conventions. The takeaway? No more Ron Paul insurgencies and no more Ted Cruz and evangelist grassroots movements. While the chance always existed for the Republican Establishment to join forces with the grassroots movements to ‘Dump Trump’, instead the establishment joined forces with the Trump campaign. In the end, the grassroots are out. Permanently. As some republicans – including various state party officials – cracked under the pressure of hard ball politics, it’s the same old story with republicans. Why rock the boat? Why make a spectacle of yourself and your state for the media? While there’s talk of a walkout, with each passing moment, the majority of the GOP, passive to the core, will go along to get along. Some see this outcome as necessary to unify the party for victory. Others see it as the death of the grassroots movement in republican politics, and the republican party. Outside the exclusion zone around the convention venue, delegates and politicos taking a break mixed with Cleveland’s downtown workers, and street people milling around bars and restaurants. It was a street fair featuring network TV studios and bloviating rather than kielbasa. Hit the streets with the Bob Davis Podcasts, starting with a woman who lives on the streets giving her analysis of the political situation, moving onto a protest, plus Blaze Correspondent Mike Opelka and more. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating and Hydrus Performance.