The New York Times did a piece on Trump’s visit to Florida coupled with some observations about his dropping poll numbers.

The story ends with a comment from Whit Ayres, a strong Republican pollster, who sums it up pretty well for a Republican trying to tell the truth but wandering around it out of pure fear.

“It’s not clear that seeing more of the president is necessarily a help to his campaign.”

What a clever way to say that Trump is his own worst enemy without getting tweeted about.

And then this morning —

You go, Cap’n Capsize, you just go.

Another thought brought to you by Nick Caraway –

The Carraways are a proud Irish family. In the grand Irish tradition we have been Catholic going back generations. In fact, Patrick was my patron saint for confirmation. My wife’s was Brigid. Those are the two patron saints of Ireland. Maybe some things are meant to be. Imagine my surprise when I saw the right to lifers ooze into our church’s mass mailers this past week. I always thought that tax exempt status required you to stay out of politics. I guess I was wrong on that front.

What’s more disturbing is that these pro-life groups are going against what the pope has said when it comes to abortion as it relates to other issues. Abortion isn’t the only issue that Catholics should be voting on. Heck, it isn’t even the only life issue that Catholics should be voting on. Somehow, Joe Biden (a good Irish Catholic himself) understands this. So, let me lay it out there for all of the non-Catholics and non-believers our there.

Life is continuum. It begins at conception and ends at natural death. At every stop in between, that life is due its dignity. Yes, that remains respecting the dignity of the unborn. It also means respecting the dignity of every human being as soon as it is here. That means feeding the poor, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and even sparing the life of those that have done the very worst things in society. It means we don’t send our kids off to fight wars of choice. It means we don’t put kids in cages. It means we welcome refugees as our Lord and savior was once a refugee himself.

If anyone knows anything about Joe Biden, they know if he is not pro-abortion. I don’t know a single person that could be called pro-abortion. Abortion is a grueling choice I’m thankful I don’t have to make. All the pro-choice crowd wants is for government to play no part in making that choice. It should be up to women. It should involve their doctor, their family, and maybe even a person of faith. It shouldn’t involve some old, white guy in Washington or Austin.

Meanwhile, I can’t help but think my Catholic brothers and sisters were duped somewhere along the way. I’m not for abortion. I think it is the wrong choice nine times out of ten. It also isn’t my body. It isn’t the opposition to abortion that’s the problem. It’s the willingness to throw aside other issues that should be more important to us. This isn’t a zero sum game. One candidate in this race checks off the vast majority of issues Catholics hold dear. One candidate has virtually no checks except for one. My choice is clear.

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Several months ago, once all y’all so generously helped pay to get ballot by mail for the small counties you adopted, I stopped begging money from you for other small projects we’ve done before because I didn’t think Texas had a big bear’s butt chance of flipping blue or kicking out a senator.  I wanted you to send your money to someplace it would do some good and it appeared to me that Texas wasn’t that place.

Now I’m not so sure.

First, Cornyn won’t debate and he’s doing everything he can to make nincompoop out of himself.  Little one today. He retweeted this photo of senate Democrats huddling with the caption, “What’s missing here?”

His answer:  “The masks.”  Duh, this was taken during the Kavanaugh hearing, long before there was a virus.  Cute, huh?  Texans are just shaking their head at Cornyn. One Republican acquaintance who is voting for Biden explained to me that she was also going to dump Cornyn.  “Without Trump in the White House, Texas will get nothing. Better we have a friend of Biden in there.”  I approve of that thinking.

The other is that it wasn’t just Harris County who hit the voter jackpot yesterday.  Over over one million Texans voted on the first day of early voting.  The big Texas places that are Blazing Blue – Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and El Paso all broke records.  The only large county missing?  Tarrant, home of Fort Worth, where it’s still red.

So, I’m starting to have doubt about Texas flipping this year.  We might do it.

While I was writing this, Bubba sent me a meme.  I’ll share it with ya —

Glen wants me to tell you that he knew we were headed in the right direction all along.  He claims he sees more polling data than just about anybody in Texas. He and I have a zoom meeting set up for election night so he can say, “I told you so.”

There are two things you cannot buy:  happiness and the government running on time.

“President Trump’s plan to send 33 million Medicare beneficiaries a card that can be used to help pay for as much as $200 in prescription drug costs won’t be completed until after the election.”

The Wall Street Journal explains that it’s costing $20 million in administrative costs just to send out letters explaining that a card is coming.  Trump had hoped seniors would get the letters before the election with his grotesque signature at the bottom.  That’s not gonna happen.

I think most seniors realize that the money is coming from taxes, not Trump’s empty pockets. I also think they ain’t voting for that sumbitch no matter how much he give them.  My Uncle Buck, who just turned 90, told me that Trump is so crooked that when he dies, they’re gonna have to screw him in the ground.

I’ve got a screw driver.

OK, kids, the game plan is now as obvious as my pointy toed cowboy boots on the beach.  The Texas GOP’s voter suppression efforts are now in overdrive, throwing up lawsuit after lawsuit (led by Abbott and Paxton) to stop drive-in voting, and eliminate thousands of mail in ballot drop boxes around the state.  And, this is happening all over the country.  Why, you ask?  Here’s why.

It’s become clear that Republicans have now realized that, even with their usual voter suppression tactics (removing polling locations, strict ID laws, complex and confusing mail-in ballot procedures, shifting times and places for early voting, etc.) are not going to be enough to eek out a win.  Turnout in 2018, and now in 2020 is unprecedented.  There well over 1 million more voter registrations this year than in 2016.  Biden is leading nationally by double digits and in all of the battleground states, though by only a few points in NC and FL.  The normal point shaving that is a trademark Republican tactic won’t be enough.

So, the new tactic?  Attempting to invalidate millions of votes.  It started last June when Trump’s new Postmaster General started sabotaging the Post Office by eliminating overtime, removing hundreds of mail sorting machines from primarily Democratic districts, and issuing ominous warnings to states that the Post Office my not be able to deliver mail-in ballots on time.  It’s now moved to the courts, starting with Abbott’s order to eliminate all but one mail-in ballot dropbox per county.  That order is now winding through the courts with Paxton leading the way.  NOW, Republicans have sued counties that have implemented drive through voting, calling all votes obtained with that method as “illegal”.

So here’s how it’s going to go – because of the huge turnout, Biden has a chance to win Texas by a narrow margin.  That win will be challenged by Republicans claiming that votes delivered to drop boxes and votes through drive in voting locations are “illegal” and therefore invalid.  They will seek to invalidate MILLIONS of votes to keep Texas in the red column for Trump.  Why?  Texas has 38 electoral votes.  If Biden wins Texas, it’s game over for Trump, and that could happen on election night.

That is what Republicans are trying to stop.  Even though I’m eligible to vote by mail, I’m going to drag my happy ass down to a polling location to vote in person.  I’ll do that with a big middle finger to Abbott and the rest of the criminals enabling him.