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David Roberts
1. This is an obvious prediction, but I want to get it on record. The GOP just released Trump from any accountability for trying to cheat in the upcoming election. That's one sign of many that they are going to try to rig the election, in a range of illegal & semi-legal ways.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
2. Now, what do we know about the reactionary mind? When it is contemplating or planning some offense, it must convince itself that its opponents are *already doing* whatever the offense is -- so that it has "no choice" but to do it to. Projection. Predictable as clockwork.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
3. Put 1 & 2 together & you get my prediction: starting pretty soon, conservatives are going to start accusing Dems of cheating & election fraud. They might find some half- or quasi-truth to hang it on, but that's not necessary. The bubble can just invent stuff these days.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
4. They are going to start these accusations early & aggressively, which offers two advantages. First, when Dems start pointing out *actual* examples of cheating & election fraud, cons will say they're just doing it in response, trying to wriggle out of something.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
5. And more importantly, putting accusations in the air early means that when their own cheating & fraud are pointed out, the media will cover it as a "both sides are accusing each other of cheating, isn't partisanship terrible" story.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
6. Remember, their case doesn't need to be plausible, any more than Trump's Ukraine defense was plausible. They won't mind looking silly or being "fact-checked" by the MSM. They just need to keep both-sides chaff in the air long enough for them to get away with it.
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David Roberts 18h
Replying to @drvox
7. They don't care if, months or years later, people look back and conclude, "oh, yeah, they were cheating." I mean, it's pretty obvious by now that they stole the 2000 presidential election, but what do they care? They got the power when it mattered.
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David Roberts 17h
Replying to @drvox
8. And if they do win in 2020, they can spend the next 4 years dismantling whatever checks remain on their cheating, so that there will be no more embarrassing revelations. This is likely the last election in which institutions have any power to restrain them.
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David Roberts 17h
Replying to @drvox
9. This election has existential stakes for the current configuration of conservatism. Their demographic is shrinking & their hold on power requires increasingly anti-democratic measures. They will do *anything* to win this one -- more than Dems are prepared for, I suspect.
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David Roberts 17h
Replying to @drvox
10. Anyway, there you have it: watch for a growing wave of stories from the RW swamp that Dems are cheating. It will rise to a crescendo as the election approaches. Dems will be caught flat-footed, the media will fall for it, & it'll probably work. Sigh. </fin>
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1️⃣ day to Iowa 18h
Replying to @drvox
Republicans are literally just going to close polling places in the run up to the election and demand increasingly onerous ID requirements. Even if it's blatantly illegal, they'll tie it up in the courts till after November. People haven't considered how bad things will get.
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1️⃣ day to Iowa 18h
Replying to @drvox
I've been saying for months: The Democratic primary does not matter *at all* if we don't have election security. We're all focused on the shiny object while the groundwork is being laid for a completely bogus general election.
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