Wednesday News: Too-Close-to-Call “Ohio Special Election Is a Warning to Republicans”; “A Year After Charlottesville, the Alt-Right Movement Frays”; Northam Removes Anti-Pipeline Activist But Not Pipeline Supporters?

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 8.

• Even if they don’t win it, Ohio special election shows that Democrats remain on the march (“Democrats are routinely beating their 2016 performance by double digits, and Ohio shows that the suburbs are trending sharply away from Republicans.”)
• The Ohio Special Election Is a Warning to Republicans (“Troy Balderson appeared to narrowly hold off Democrat Danny O’Connor in a hard-fought House race. But the razor-thin margin in a safely red district offered the GOP little to celebrate.”)
• Trump Takes a Victory Lap as Troy Balderson Limps to Finish Line in Ohio(“This should have been a safe Republican seat. But the Donald somehow sees a ‘big turn for the better.’”)
• Republican Barely Leads in Ohio Special Election, a Gloomy Sign for the GOP
• 5 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Election Results (“Republicans had a brush with trouble in Ohio, where a result had still not been declared in a special election to fill a House vacancy. Elsewhere, an activist sweep on the left failed to materialize.”)
• Republican Holds Thin Lead in Ohio District Trump Won Big (“Mr. Balderson clung to the narrowest of leads over Danny O’Connor, the Democrat. An unknown number of provisional ballots are yet to be counted.”)
• A Nail-Biter in Ohio Is a Democratic Triumph (“The party wildly outperformed expectations, raising hopes for a big November.”)
• Democratic Party’s liberal insurgency hits a wall in Midwest primaries (“Six weeks after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toppled a powerful incumbent in New York, voters turned to establishment candidates over more liberal challengers in almost every closely watched race across several states.” It’s a stupid media narrative about a suppopsed “liberal insurgency,” but whatever sells newspapers or draws “eyeballs” I guess…)
• In Kansas, Another Close Race in G.O.P. Primary for Governor (Kobach for Prison, not for Governor.)
• Winners in Michigan Set Stage for Stark Fight of Ideologies (“Some of the state’s most Trump-like conservatives will square off against two traditional Democrats — and two women — for governor and the Senate.”)
• Trump’s Tariffs Are Changing Trade With China. Here Are 2 Emerging Endgames.(“A stalemate appears the most likely endgame, with new American and Chinese tariffs staying in place for months or even years…A negotiated truce is also possible.”)
• Rick Gates Delivers a Public Lesson on Money Laundering and Political Corruption
• Labor Gets Big Win in Missouri on Right-to-Work Law (We should get rid of it here in Virginia as well. “Right to Work” means “Right to Be Poor” or “Right to Get Screwed by Big Corporations.”)
• The Ultimate Betrayal of Paul Manafort (“When Rick Gates turned against his former boss, he described a parallel ethical universe where lying and cheating were as comfortable as a well-tailored ostrich suit.”)
• Donald Trump digs himself into deeper trouble — and his voters are finally noticing (“Maybe it’s true that no one thing can destroy Trump. But immigration, Russia and trade are hurting him badly”)
• Top Trump Campaign Aides Are Portrayed as Corrupt at Manafort Trial (That’s because they ARE corrupt!)
• The Poem, the Apology and the Furor (The Nation totally f’ed up here.)
• The Trump Regime Allegedly Has a New Grift King (“What Wilbur Ross is accused of suggests Scott Pruitt lacked ambition. Perhaps he deserved the throne all along.”)
• Missouri Voters Overturn Right-To-Work Measure, Rejecting Republican Lawmakers (“Organized labor hopes the win will help stop the spread of the anti-union laws.” We need referenda like this in every state in the country.)
• ‘We Are at the Limit’: Trump’s Tariffs Turn Small Businesses Upside Down (“They lack the wiggle room to absorb cost increases or shift production, and many are re-evaluating plans and strategies”)
• A Year After Charlottesville, the Alt-Right Movement Frays (“A ‘white civil rights rally’ planned for Sunday in Washington is expected to draw a smaller crowd”)
• An Underdog Reformer Just Unseated the Prosecutor Who Handled the Ferguson Police Shooting
• Poll: Majority says race relations have gotten worse under Trump (“Self-identified Democratic voters overwhelmingly say race relations have gotten worse under Trump (82 percent), compared with only 4 percent who say they have gotten better and 9 percent who say they are about the same.”)
• MailChimp confirms that it terminated accounts of Alex Jones and Infowars
• Trump’s commerce secretary reportedly stole $120 million because of course he did (“This is what happens when you don’t divest your assets before public service.”)
• The Gateway Pundit’s Jacob Wohl is now writing for fake news site YourNewsWire (“The Gateway Pundit” is a prime example of how the internet – and specifically giving anyone/everyone the ability to be a “publisher” – can be a really, REALLY bad thing.)
• Coal industry on steady decline under Trump’s leadership (“New government forecast shows ongoing decline in coal’s share of electric generation.” Good riddance to environment-destroying garbage.)
• Richmond resident Rick Gates forced to admit extramarital affair as Manafort’s defense team attacks his credibility
• The whatever-Trump-says party should be freaking out about the deficit (“As the deficit pushes past $1 trillion, the GOP should start thinking about what comes next for fiscal conservatism.”)
• A Year After Deadly Virginia Rally, Wounds Are Still Raw
• Rozell: Playing the Trump card in Virginia (“So, back to our main question: why is Corey Stewart hitching his wagon to a falling star? The short answers: like-mindedness, need for attention, and pursuit of a loyal following.”)
• As Rick Boucher returns to coalfields to stump for Anthony Flaccavento, anti-Boucher signs resurface from 2010 loss (My god, how stupid. In fact, Boucher was very pro-coal-industry, and the Waxman-Markey “cap-and-trade” bill would have HELPED coal. That’s one of the reasons I wasn’t a big fan of it, although I reluctantly supported it because at least it put a price on carbon and did some other good stuff.)
• Editorial: Voters deserve better in 2nd District (“Brown barely qualified to run, and might not have done so without the generous support of Taylor’s campaign team. At least four paid staffers collected signatures for her at the last minute.” Brown should be thrown off the ballot for starters. Then, the special prosecutor should decide whether charges are warranted against Scott Taylor and/or any of his staffers.)
• Rep. Scott Taylor severs ties with campaign consultant; special prosecutor assigned to investigate ballot fraud allegations
• Special prosecutor to probe possible forged signatures tied to Republican congressman’s campaign (“Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) fired his campaign manager after scheme to get 2016 Democratic nominee on ballot as an independent.”)
• Special prosecutor investigating possible election fraud in Rep. Scott Taylor’s race (Wow, the Post finally decides to cover an important story we’ve been covering for days now.)
• More complaints of false names on petitions for Hampton candidate (Not sure why they call Shaun Brown the “Hampton candidate”; she’s actually a VA-02 candidate.)
• Editorial: Virginia must preserve its African American history (Wow, I actually agree with the Republican Times-Disgrace editorial board on something?)
• Environmental groups seek order to stop work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline after court ruling
• Latest action from federal judges puts further pressure on Virginia’s gas pipelines (“On Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit threw out a pair of permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. One permit addressed protections for endangered species; the other allowed the project to tunnel under the federally owned Blue Ridge Parkway. Late last month, the same court revoked a different permit for the separate Mountain Valley Pipeline, one that would have allowed that project to cross a 3.5-mile stretch of the Jefferson National Forest. On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission called a halt to all work on the full, 300-mile length of the Mountain Valley Pipeline until the national forest permit issue is resolved.”)
• Stewart Schwartz column: Transparency matters in the Coliseum deal
• Virginia housing advocates call rent-to-own home contracts a predatory problem
• Tamp down the rising cost of higher education (“Virginia’s high tuition costs are a burden for students and families alike. The General Assembly offers the best path to reform.”)
• Roanoke activist removed from state board for actions at April pipeline protest (“Gov. Ralph Northam removed a Roanoke woman from the Virginia Board of Pharmacy for misconduct in April after state officials were told she used her board identification to gain access to a closed site near the Mountain Valley Pipeline route.” Northam should also remove every single PRO-pipeline person on relevant state boards and regulatory bodies.)
• Editorial: Three observations on the MVP’s work stoppage (“Here’s the real question: Can pipeline opponents drag out the permitting process so long that MVP’s investors decide it’s not worth it, and pull out?”)
• Summery and sweaty today, with another chance of late-day storms