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OCTOBER 29,  2022

Geez, this is awful.  He's the president, and listen to him.  From Fox:

Conservatives on Twitter ripped into President Joe Biden’s latest gaffe from Friday night, in which he claimed that Democrats campaigned in "54 states" in 2018 to defend Obamacare.

During his Friday evening remarks at the "Pennsylvania Democratic Party Reception," Biden touted his party’s success in protecting the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled during former President Donald Trump’s term.

Trump had campaigned on replacing Obamacare, though as Biden claimed Friday, Democrats campaigned hard in 2018 to prevent that from happening. In his speech, he warned that the GOP will go after their health care if they gain the congressional majority.

Two-thirds of the way through his address, Biden said, "And, of course, they’re going try for their 499th time, or whatever the number is — they’re still determined to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. And, by the way, if they do, that means — not a joke, everybody."

Then he made his latest viral statement. He said, "That’s why we defeated it in 2018 when they tried to do it. We went to 54 states."

He added, "The reason is people didn’t realize that the only reason anybody who has a pre-existing condition can get health care is because of that Affordable Care Act," and warned that "these protections will be gone as well if Republicans get their way."

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Co., blasted Biden for the apparent gaffe, tweeting, "Joe Biden now says there are 54 states. I guess if you count the states of denial, confusion, delusion and disaster that his Regime has caused he just might be on to something."

RealClearPolitics president Tom Bevan mocked Biden and former President Obama – who once claimed there were "57 states" in a speech – in his tweet, stating, "Looks like we've lost 3 states since 2008!"

Actor and Hollywood conservative Rob Schneider tweeted, "Biden says there are 54 states in America. Next speech he will explain the 81 million votes…"

COMMENT:  Maybe sometimes we'll laugh, but this isn't funny.  We've concentrated recently on the cognitive abilities of a Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania.  Yes, that's important, but the president is vastly more important.  He has his hand on the nuclear trigger.  He may have to make life-or-death decisions in the middle of the night.  He may have to ask precise questions of military advisers, and become confused in the process.

This is just not acceptable except, apparently, in the Democratic Party.  We need a national, bipartisan, high-level medical panel to screen every candidate for the presidency and vice presidency.  Donald Trump took a cognitive test while in the White House, and passed it.  It should be a requirement by law. 

We don't have royalty in America.  The president is chief of state.  We routinely examine a presidential candidate's tax returns.  How about his brain?

October 29, 2022       Permalink

A CALL TO ACTION IN EDUCATION BY MIKE BLOOMBERG:  My own sense is that education will grow into the most potent national issue, and that both school choice and standards may well be the decisive issues of the 2024 election.  From Bloomberg: 

The crisis in US K-12 public education continues to deepen, and decisions by many colleges and universities to abandon SAT and ACT scores are making it worse. Instead of demanding more accountability from high schools, colleges are expecting less.

In the latest dismal signs for students, scores on the ACT college entrance exam have fallen to the lowest level in 30 years, while fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (often called the nation’s report card) show devastating declines. Taken together, these results underscore the urgency of K-12 interventions and the necessity of reinstating testing standards for college applicants.

It’s true that remote learning during the pandemic was disastrous for students of all ages. But systemic declines in student performance began before the onset of the pandemic.

Average ACT scores have declined every year since 2018, while the share of students failing to meet college readiness standards in any of its four subject areas — English, math, reading and science — has increased by 7 percentage points. With the exception of Asian students, teens of every race perform worse now than they did five years ago.

Someone should look into why Asian kids do so well.  But it won't be the mainstream media, which has always seen Asian accomplishment as something polite leftists don't discuss.

For 2022 high school grads, the average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of a maximum of 36, the first time since 1991 that the overall score dropped below 20. Only 22% of students met college readiness benchmarks in each of the four subject areas. The share of test takers who met none of the benchmarks rose to 42% from 38% in the past year.

In elementary and middle school, too, declines in student performance began before the pandemic — and are now deepening. This year’s NAEP scores show that students in fourth and eighth grades suffered the largest declines ever recorded in math. Only about one-quarter of eighth-graders scored at a proficiency level in math, down from one-third three years ago. The decline in reading scores, while not as dramatic, was no less troubling.

The fact is: The US public school system is failing to prepare most students for college and careers, and the problem is getting worse. Yet colleges and universities are pretending not to notice. Since 2020, the number of schools that have stopped requiring applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores has nearly doubled to more than 1,800, including many of the country’s most selective colleges. As a result, fewer students are bothering to sit for the exams at all. Since 2018, the number of seniors taking the ACT has dropped by nearly 30%, even as overall college applications increased.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's excellent.  I'm struck by the fact that it was written by Mike Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City.  I've wondered whether Bloomberg, who tried to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and failed, will re-enter politics in another way, possibly by forming a third party.  If the Democrats do poorly a week from Tuesday, I'd imagine he'd think about it.  This piece on education could be his first step back into action.

October 29, 2022       Permalink

OCTOBER 28,  2022

Didn't see anything today that changed the general direction of the political campaigns.  The numbers continue to show slow, but decisive, Republican gains...although one must remember that the election will be decided by those who vote, not those who answer polls.  I expect to see the get-out-the-vote campaigns to start with full fury this coming week.

There is a steadiness to the Republican campaigns that is admirable.  The party has done a solid job of planning, and directing funds to campaigns that need them. 

This week we'll see a true political spectacle in New York.  Governor Ron deSantis of Florida will be here to campaign for Congressman Lee Zeldin, who's running for governor against the incumbent Kathy Hochul, the former lieutenant governor who became governor when Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign over scandals.  Watch this week's event carefully.  Governor deSantis is a favorite for the Republican nomination for president, should Trump not run...or even if he does.  A recent poll reported that most Americans want neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump to run again. 

If deSantis runs, and gets the nomination, Lee Zeldin would fit well in the second spot.  He would be seen as a giant killer, defeating an incumbent Dem governor in a very blue state.  Look, you never know.  It can all come true.  So we'll get to see two stars campaigning together.  Take notes for the future.

By contrast, the Dems are saving their big and little guns for Pennsylvania.  Former President Obama will be in the state, along with current semi-President Biden and Vice President in her dreams Kamala Harris.  They will try to save the Senate campaign of John Fetterman, who is slipping in his race against Dr. Mehmet Oz.  I'll be willing to bet that the GOP campaigners draw bigger crowds than the Dem partisans. 

And watch for some last-minute surprise.  The Dems will stop at nothing, which is what they have to offer.  I wouldn't be shocked if there were an attempt this week to indict Donald Trump.

October 28, 2022       Permalink 

ANOTHER GROUP MOVES RIGHT:  We've seen a great deal about the dramatic movement right of our Hispanic communities.  There are also others on the same path, although maybe not to the same degree.  American blacks, understandably frustrated by their lack of progress under the Democrats, are taking a careful look rightward.  This could be devastating to the Democratic Party.  From Newsweek:

Election day is two weeks away, and the Left is freaking out about losses among minority voters such as Blacks, once a reliable base of support. The signs of the freakout are everywhere, but especially in the desperate, wacky, and downright insulting tactics they are currently employing to lure, nudge, and shame Blacks into voting for liberal candidates.

Let's start with the insulting. MSNBC host Tiffany Cross slammed the Republican National Committee's slate of "diverse" Republican congressional candidates, saying "faces of color do not always equate to voices of color." She then tokenized minority Republicans, including those currently serving in Congress such as Senators Ted Cruz, Tim Scott, and Marco Rubio, and Representatives Byron Donalds, Mayra Flores, Nicole Malliotakis, Burgess Owens, and others, adding that they are "the political equivalent of 'some of my best friends are Black.'"

Liberal elites often dismiss conservative minority candidates to avoid real debate. Hosts like Cross, elected officials, and political pundits don't want minority voters to know that there are good reasons to consider non-liberal candidates, especially those of the same race. It undercuts the narrative that Democrats are the party of inclusivity. Increasingly, the criticism that Republicans don't reach out to communities of color is proving as false as the belief that conservative values don't resonate with minorities.

Now, to the desperate. The stakes are high in this midterm election. The Right enjoys enthusiasm from reliable Republican voters, but also interest from newly disaffected liberal voters who are angry about the draconian pandemic mandates that destroyed livelihoods, as well as the radical race and gender ideology infiltrating schools and inflation. And the Left is fighting apathy among minorities.

Depressed Black turnout could destroy Democrats' path to victory in closely-contested gubernatorial and Senate races such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Although Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden won urban areas, President Trump did better in both cycles in cities like Philadelphia.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  If the trend continues, expect to hear talk of a third party,one that could fill the gap on the center left being created by the current Democratic Party, which has gone to the elitist nuts.

October 28, 2022       Permalink