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October 23, 2020 
WEEK IN REVIEW
With reports of voters waiting in long lines across the country, Americans  should feel a sense of pride. People made a plan and they are voting. They are exercising their most fundamental right of our democracy, despite the threats from Trump and the obstacles in many states.

In 2019, nearly 30 states introduced at least 87 bills to make it harder to vote. Florida even passed a law which was essentially a poll tax, that required felons to pay all outstanding fines in order to vote. The law was directly aimed at disenfranchising Black voters.

Mike Bloomberg donated $16 million from his political group to help pay off the ex-felons' debts. Nearly 70,000 new voters were registered in Florida as a result.

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the ACLU has filed 20 lawsuits and counting to ensure every eligible voter can vote by mail.

Voting by mail has been successful. Early voting numbers are shattering records. As of Thursday, 50 million people have voted early. Some estimates say that as many as 100 million American voters could vote early. We could also have the highest percentage of eligible voters actually cast their ballot since 1908.

Another encouraging sign about early voting is that one in five votes have come from someone who did not cast a ballot four years ago in the same state.

States are still enacting voter suppression laws, which ultimately get litigated in the courts -- courts that are packed with Trump's appointees. 

More than half of registered voters surveyed in a YouGov poll Oct. 1-2 said they expect to see "an increase in violence as a result of the election." Another YouGov poll found that almost half of voters disagree with the idea that the election "is likely to be fair and honest."

With Joe Biden in the White House and a Democratic Senate, we can finally get voting rights protections passed and restore Americans' trust in our voting process.

As President, Joe has pledged to work enact the John Lewis Voting Rights Act as one of his first items on his agenda. "The battle for the soul for America has many fronts; the right to vote is the most fundamental," he said.

In the coming days, continue to encourage everyone you know to vote in any way they can. Early voting does not mean the election is over. 

Let's not take anything for granted. Let's keep working until the polls close to make sure we elect Joe so he can begin his important work.

(Those who encounter or witness voter intimidation are encouraged to call the Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), or the U.S. Department of Justice voting rights  hotline at 1-800-253-3931)


UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENTS
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ISRAEL
Amid Middle East Peace Deals, Israel and the U.S. Reassert Commitment to Israel's 'Qualitative Military Edge'

The United States' commitment to Israel's "qualitative military edge" is longstanding and baked into the countries' relationship, and into US law. But the Pentagon's proposed sale of advanced combat aircraft to the United Arab Emirates has stirred concerns among supporters of Israel that that commitment could be at risk. So it was significant that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Mike Esper, the US secretary of defense, on Thursday reasserted the United States' commitment to maintaining Israel's edge in a declaration signed jointly Thursday in Washington, D.C. 
Continued Reading

ANTI-SEMITISM & BDS
The Challenge of Documenting White Nationalism 

Today marks the U.S. release of White Noise, The Atlantic's first feature documentary. The result of a multiyear reporting effort by the director Daniel Lombroso, White Noise explores the rise of the racist right in the United States. The film is an up-close look at a fractured but still-influential movement, and a study of how extremist views, including anti-semitism, have infiltrated mainstream political discourse. 
Continued Reading

CHOICE
 
What Happens to Abortion If Roe V Wade Is Overturned?
 
Many fear that Amy Coney Barrett's appointment could lead to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S., being overturned.  The women who will be hit the hardest are those who already struggle to get abortion care. Namely, low-income people in states with already-restrictive abortion legislation.
Continued Reading

SEPARATION
Trump Delivered on Supreme Court Promise, but His Pandemic Response Cost Him Support Among Christians
 
On Sept. 26, evangelical leaders sat in the rows behind Barrett's family. Catholic leaders from the University of Notre Dame, where Barrett teaches, filled more seats. Other attendees included members of conservative advocacy groups that grew out of the Moral Majority movement initiated by evangelicals. Instead of showcasing what Trump delivered for conservatives of faith, the Rose Garden gathering was a snapshot of his crumbling support among swing Christian voters. 
Continued Reading


BEYOND THE CORE
Gun Groups Sue to Stop Michigan's Open Carry Ban at Polling Places

Advocates disgruntled by a recent ban on the open carry of firearms near polling locations have sued in Michigan's Court of Claims to stop it. The lawsuit filed Thursday by Michigan Open Carry, Michigan Gun Owners and Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners argues that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's order banning open carry near polling places conflicts with state law, conflates open carry with voter intimidation and "is conjured without any legal basis or authorization under Michigan law."
Continued Reading
POLITICAL BYTE
Trump And Biden Had A Real Debate, And 4 Other Takeaways

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for their second and final debate as tens of millions of Americans have already voted. A deeply divided country begins its final sprint to Election Day amid the coronavirus pandemic, and it's unclear how many voters have yet to make up their minds. Here are five takeaways from the debate in Nashville, Tenn., a much different - and far more civil - night than the last encounter.
Continued Reading

BIDEN ROUNDUP
VIDEO: President Barack Obama Speech at Drive-In Rally in Pennsylvania | Joe Biden for President



USA TODAY: Elect Joe Biden. Reject Donald Trump.
 
Four years ago, the Editorial Board broke with tradition and took sides in the presidential race for the first time since USA TODAY was founded in 1982. We urged readers not to vote for Donald Trump, calling the Republican nominee unfit for office because he lacked the "temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents." We stopped short, however, of an outright endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. This year, the Editorial Board unanimously supports the election of Joe Biden, who offers a shaken nation a harbor of calm and competence. 
Continued Reading

FYI
The Only Single Mom In Congress Wants You To Know Childcare Will Be Key To America's Recovery
 
Katie Porter is the only single mom with small children in Congress - and she wants people to understand that childcare will be key to America's recovery from the recession caused by the pandemic. Porter isn't surprised that a wave of women, after trying their best over the last seven months, exited the workforce this fall. Of the 1.1 million workers who dropped out of the labor force in September, about 80% were women, and this is bad for our recovery from this economic crisis, the lawmaker said
Continued Reading

The Last Word
"Learning to live with it (COVID)? Come on. People are dying with it, Mr. President."

- Joe Biden
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