Unhinged

It's become increasingly clear that there is no one in President Trump's inner circle who can convince him he's dead wrong on a subject. It appears to be some sort of ego defense, one in which he's wholly incapable of admitting error even when discussing the most innocuous, superficial subjects. 

Trump's obsession with taking shots at Georgia elected officials is just the latest instance where he is woefully misguided. 

....Also, quickly check the number of envelopes versus the number of ballots. You may just find that there are many more ballots than there are envelopes. So simple, and so easy to do. Georgia Republicans are angry, all Republicans are angry. Get it done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020

Ed Morrissey at Hot Gas Air punctures Trump's flawed demands.

In the first place, how would any emergency relate to ballot procedures? We set rules in advance for elections precisely to prevent ad-hoc handling of elections. There is no emergency declaration that would touch this process, and the process itself is set by legislation which Kemp has no authority to change. The idea of using “emergency powers” to override statute on elections is absurd on its face, and more reminiscent of banana republics than American governance.

Next, the ballot signatures have already been checked — twice — in this process. Kemp can’t order another signature match against the ballots because the ballots get separated from the signatures when they get counted. We have secret ballots in this country, remember? Once the signatures get checked on intake (after a previous check on the absentee application), the envelopes are separated out. Even if you find a mismatch, you can’t point it to a specific ballot.

The greater issue here is Trump raising doubts about Georgia's electoral system five weeks ahead of the two critical U.S. Senate runoffs taking place in the state, races which will decide the balance of power in the upper chamber. If enough GOP voters are convinced their votes for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler would be undermined, they may not bother to vote at all. And if indeed both Republicans lose, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy resulting in Trump et al continuing to shift the blame to the Georgia Secretary of State for not "STOPPING THE STEAL," or something. 

The Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate and gaining double digit seats in the U.S. House sets the party up nicely for the 2022 midterm elections, especially since there remains dominant GOP representation in state legislatures across the country. As such, the redrawing of Congressional districts in early '22 will be favorable to the party. But the fact Trump his airing his own personal grievances as well as peddling baseless conspiracy theories threatens all that, which would in turn undo unquestionably positive aspects of his legacy. 

Sad!

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