Election Day 2020 News: “Polls Open With Almost 100 Million Votes Cast”; “Vote as if our way of life depends on it. It does.”; “Trump can declare whatever he wants, but it doesn’t make it so”; “Dominion announces 500 MW of solar project proposals in Virginia”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, Election Day 2020. Polls are now open in Virginia – go vote if you haven’t done so already, and definitely do NOT mail back any outstanding mail ballots at this point…bring them in person to your voting location, instead.

• As the U.S. votes, the world watches with anxiety and hope
• Vienna Shooting Live Updates: Terrorist Attack in Austria Leaves 2 Dead and at Least 15 Wounded
• Exclusive: Tired of Trump, Deutsche Bank wants out but sees no good options – sources
• Top Trump adviser bluntly contradicts president on covid-19 threat, urging all-out response
• Donald Trump’s 2020 Superspreader Campaign: A Diary
• As Election Day Arrives, Trump Shifts Between Combativeness and Grievance
• Trump spokesman Jason Miller paints dubious picture of Election Night
• Trump Has No Free-and-Fair Path to Re-election
• November Surprise: Fewer Ballots Rejected by Election Officials
• How Trump and Barr’s October Surprise Went Bust
• Trump’s suburban crash drags House GOP down with him (“There are very few urban and suburban districts where Trump is not polling deeply below his 2016 vote share. And some Republicans have started to sound the alarm that the House will not truly be in play until they can figure out how to compete in rapidly diversifying areas full of well-educated and affluent constituencies.”)
• Americans Face Stark Choice as Last Day of Election 2020 Dawns
• Polls Open With Almost 100 Million Votes Cast: Election Update
• Undeterred by Pandemic, Americans Prepare to Deliver Verdict on Trump
• We can defeat Trump’s lies and lawlessness. We have to vote.
• The Day Is Here, and Climate Change Is on the Ballot (On this existential issue ALONE, everyone needs to vote for Democrats as if they’re lives depended on it. Because their lives DO depend on it!)
• The Most Consequential Election of Our Lives Is Finally Here
• What to Watch on Election Day in 10 Swing States
• President Trump tells advisers that he fears prosecution if he loses the election: report (“Trump fears not only the state and local investigations already underway but also possible new federal probes”)
• Trump’s final campaign pitch is a false warning of ‘cheating’ in Pennsylvania (Basically, if Trump’s lips are moving, he is LYING.)
• Florida And Ohio: Biden Has The Edge Over Trump, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Nationally, Biden Maintains A Strong Lead
• Biden narrowly leads Trump in six swing states before Election Day, poll shows
• Final NBC/Marist state polls show close races in Pennsylvania and Arizona (“In Pennsylvania, which Trump won four years ago, Biden is ahead by 5 points among likely voters, 51 percent to 46 percent”)
• So Far, Trump’s “Army” of Poll Watchers Looks More Like a Small Platoon
• Trump signals chaotic stretch after election (That’s totally unacceptable.)
• The million-dollar question on the election’s eve: Who is left to vote?
• Early voting numbers are truly astounding
• This Is Joe Biden When No One Is Watching (“When my son was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016, Biden didn’t have to call. But he did, three times, because he is everything he says he is.”)
• The work of the Never Trumpers is just beginning
• When each state’s polls close and how many electoral votes they have
• Finally, a Chance for Women to Defeat Trump
• The Election Is a Morality Play in Which Biden Must Defeat Not Only Trump but Trumpism
• Defeating Trump is only the first step in our national recovery
• How Trump Could Attempt a Coup (“The Biden team is preparing for the worst. Here are three possible scenarios.” These all seem very unlikely, and it’s f’ed-up that we’re even having to discuss them, but…might as well be prepared, I guess.)
• ‘Our Democracy as We Know It Is at Stake.’ (“The Trump-Biden matchup has ramifications far beyond those of an ordinary presidential election.”)
• How Joe Biden can signal the return of a dignified presidency
• US election: Trump predicts ‘great win’ at last rally as Biden tells him to ‘pack his bags’ (“President dismisses polls showing he is behind as Lady Gaga stumps for Biden, telling people to ‘go out and vote’”)
• Trump can declare whatever he wants, but it doesn’t make it so
• In a Hot Election, the Cool-Headed Associated Press Takes Center Stage
• Biden’s Favored In Our Final Presidential Forecast, But It’s A Fine Line Between A Landslide And A Nail-Biter
• Final Forecast: Democrats Are Clear Favorites To Maintain Control Of The House
• Final Forecast: Democrats Have A 3-In-4 Chance Of Flipping The Senate
• Vote as if our way of life depends on it. It does.
• The Memo: Tense and fractured nation braces for Election Day
• Republicans publicly silent, privately disgusted by Trump’s election threats (“Their response is shocking but unsurprising.” Pathetic.)
• If you can’t think of anything worse than the other side winning, imagine this (Eric Holder and Michael Mukasey: “This should not require saying, but we feel compelled to say it: Political leaders should not stoke or condone violence.”)
• The Sidekick’s Final Ride: Pence Makes One More Push for Trump (Pence is one of the most pathetic bootlickers I’ve ever seen in my life.)
• Seven big things Biden got right (“Biden upended conventional wisdom.”)
• When Do Polls Close? An Hour-by-Hour Guide
• Michael Steele, former RNC chairman: ‘Donald Trump is the biggest block to the American Dream’ (And Trumpism.)
• From East to West On Election Eve, Climate Change—and its Encroaching Peril—Are On Americans’ Minds (“In Utah, it’s air pollution; Missouri, it’s extreme weather; in California, it’s sea level rise. And the planet’s future, voters say, hangs in the balance.”)
• Social media has met the enemy, and it’s us
• Those Rats Won’t F*ck Themselves, But One Republican Judge Has Refused to Do It
• Texas Republicans appeal after judge rejects bid to toss 127,000 drive-thru ballots
• Federal judge allows Texas’s Harris County to count ballots cast via drive-through voting
• If Democrats win, the GOP will lurch even farther to the right (That’s basically all Republicans seem to know how to do anymore; a far cry from the Republican Party that used to have folks like Lowell Weicker, Jacob Javits, Gerald Ford, John Chaffee, Dwight Eisenwhoer, etc, etc.)
• Biden Campaign Video: “What to Expect on Election Night with Jen O’Malley Dillon and Bob Bauer”
• Biden Got It Right: The 2020 Race Is About the Soul of the Nation (“Will American voters beat back the Trump virus?” Trumpism is deadly, no doubt.)
• GOP senator runs blatantly antisemitic ad against his Jewish challenger
• Can Biden Regain Lost Ground With Latinos?
• What Jaime Harrison Built (“Win or lose, Lindsey Graham’s challenger hopes he’s proven Democrats can succeed in the South.” Incredibly impressive campaign.)
• Long a Republican Stronghold, Arizona Edges Toward Flipping Blue (“Republicans warn their state could become the next California. Democrats think that sounds pretty good.”)
• Three state legislative battles could swing zero-carbon energy plans
• Johnny Depp loses libel case tied to Amber Heard in win for domestic violence victims
• In split vote, Arizona regulators take major step towards 100% carbon-free mandate for utilities
• Fox is playing a key role in Trump’s plan to steal the election (Fox is toxic, very very damaging to our country.)
• Bail For Kyle Rittenhouse, Accused Kenosha Shooter, Set At $2 Million (“Rittenhouse faces up to life in prison if convicted.”)
• Former VP candidate Sen. Tim Kaine weighs in on Georgia’s rare battleground state status
• Final (?) Virginia Presidential/U.S. Senate Poll of 2020: Joe Biden +11 pts. (54%-43%); Sen. Mark Warner +15 pts. (57%-42%)
• Audio: Mark Warner’s Bluegrass Theme Song From 2001 and Ben Tribbett’s “Fact Check” (Hint: Yes, Warner Really Was “Ready to Lead Our Commonwealth!”)
• Tight Congressional Races Draw Voters’ Attention in Virginia
• U.S. Justice Department to send staff to monitor polling places in 18 states, including Virginia
• Judge William Webster – Republican, Former CIA and FBI Director – Endorses Dr. Cameron Webb for Congress in VA05
• Spanberger-Freitas: A look at one of the closest congressional races in the nation
• Video: In New “History Makers” Ad Running in Virginia, Billie Jean King Urges Viewers To Join 90 Million Americans And Make A Plan To Vote
• Nick Freitas’ Closing Message: More Lies About His Health Care Record
• Leading Up to 11/3, Republicans Gade, Freitas, Taylor Doing Events with Extremist Who Said “It’s those who are naive and unprepared that end up raped”
• Washington region heads into tense presidential election with boarded-up businesses and last-minute worries
• Editorial: At long last, Election Day (“Virginians who have yet to cast ballot should make exercising their civic duty a priority and vote today.”)
• What you need to know about voting in Virginia
• Portraits From A Pandemic: How One Senior Helped Mail-In Ballot Efforts From Her Virginia Retirement Home
• Enviro Groups File Stay Motion in 4th Circuit for Fish and Wildlife Service’s “Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline”
• Dominion announces 500 MW of solar project proposals in Virginia (“As part of the company’s recent Integrated Resource Plan — which looks to add 16 GW of solar by 2035, Dominion has submitted to state regulators a nine-project proposal that will bring nearly 500 MW of solar to the state.” Crank it up!)
• Agency declines to stop work on Mountain Valley Pipeline, foes again turn to court
• Monday (11/2) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,026 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 183,418), +27 Hospitalizations (to 12,674), +3 Deaths (to 3,658)
• HD29 Special Election Democratic Nominee Irina Khanin’s “Final Pitch for Tomorrow’s Election”: “Let’s make progress. Let’s solve our problems together.”
• Virginia Localities Take Precautions to Protect Voters, Workers
• Doesn’t Richmond Have a Gun Ban? ‘Trump Train’ Incident Highlights Enforcement Challenges
• Last-day voters head to Fredericksburg-area polls, but thousands have already cast ballots
• Some Richmond stores are boarded up to prepare for potential violence on Election Day and beyond
• Richmond Public Schools to begin decision-making process on returning students, teachers to classrooms
• Kanye West is still on the ballot in Caroline County, despite a court ruling to remove him
• CASEY: Pessimists, optimists make Roanoke County election predictions
• Some Arlington students to return to schools, but many will wait until next year (“Schools in Arlington, Virginia, will proceed with bringing students with disabilities back to classrooms starting Wednesday but will delay the return of students in second-grade and below until the end of the year.”)
• Manassas Election: Mayor, City Council, House Races On Ballot
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunny, breezy and trending warmer with really nice days ahead