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More than 100 people crammed into the second floor of The Tavern in Centennial to cheer President Donald Trump through his election-year State of the Union Address.

It wasn't just a chance to find allies in a blue-tinged state. It was catharsis on the verge of an expected acquittal in Trump's U.S. Senate trial, and the disarray of Democrats' first caucus in Iowa only added to the jubilation.

"We've got a big election coming up. Look at what the competition's doing. The competition's really proving themselves to be kind of nuts," said Kristina Cook, chair of the Denver Republican Party. "We're watching the impeachment debacle, we're watching what's happening in Iowa.

"I think this is our year to really show the American people what being a Republican is all about -- about the hope, about the opportunity."

The reserved room quickly filled to capacity, with frustrated attendees turned away at the stairs. Upstairs, political candidates circulated while attendees traded pins and hats and posed with a cardboard Trump cutout.

"I think there's more at stake this year than there has been in previous years," said Kris Webster, a health care professional from Centennial, before the address. She was most looking forward to hearing from Trump on his health care proposals.

"I have to say that I have felt strongly about presidents we've had in the past, but not nearly as strong as I have about this candidate, and I think it's because of the impact he's having on American," Webster said.

Trumps approval rating is 94 percent among Republicans nationwide. And its climbed to 49 percent overall, its highest level ever in Gallup polling -- the most polarized presidential approval rating in the surveys history.

Trump drew strong applause as he talked about a rebuilt military, renegotiated trade deals, and he laid out his support for paid family leave and "the American worker."

While the address laid out some health care priorities shared by Democrats, the party's attendees drew a cleared line. Trump's warnings of socialized medicine drew boos that morphed into one of several U-S-A chants.

A brief on-camera shot of Sen. Cory Gardner also drew a few excited whispers.

An extended segment on immigration enforcement, in which Trump singled out crimes committed by immigrants, drew some of the strongest applause of the night. "Hancock sucks!" someone shouted, a reference to Mayor Michael Hancock and the city of Denver's policies.

Later in the speech, a riff on gun rights drew uproarious cheers. The president's plan to go to the moon wasn't quite as popular, though it drew applause. And when Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tore up a copy of the speech behind Trump at the end of the address, they fumed.

As they streamed out, attendees said they felt assured of Trump's re-election victory.

"I cried, the whole thing. I thought it was eloquent, beautiful, I thought he killed it," said Jennifer Wallen of Centennial. "I honestly think that Donald Trump is maybe touched by God. He's bringing back America, and he's doing it for all Americans, even though some are resisting."

What they weren't so sure about: Could he ever win Colorado?

Some said it was impossible in a blue-tinged state, but Casper Stockham of Aurora said the state party needed to get organized and reach out to minority voters. The crowd on Tuesday night skewed white and older; Stockham, a candidate to challenge U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, is black.

"It's definitely possible. They're trying, but they're not trying hard enough. They're not going into the inner cities, they're not going into Aurora, and that's a mistake," Stockham said. "Donald Trump doesn't leave any votes on the table, and neither should they."

Read more:
Colorado Republicans Cheered Trump's Immigration And Health Care Lines At State Of The Union Watch Party - Colorado Public Radio

Conservative groups are trying to peddle conspiracy claims of voter fraud to undermine an election that doesnt even involve Republicans.

Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group, put out a report on Monday claiming that Eight Iowa counties have more voter registrations than citizens old enough to register.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who is a pro-voter-ID law conservative, refuted the claim on Twitter and linked to Iowas own numbers debunking Judicial Watchs report.

My office has told this organization, and others who have made similar claims, that their data regarding Iowa is deeply flawed and their false claims erode voter confidence in elections, Pate said in a statement. They should stop this misinformation campaign immediately and quit trying to disenfranchise Iowa voters.

Regardless, Judicial Watchs claim has gone massively viral in the right-wing internet community. The president of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, went viral with his tweet of the report, picking up over 6,000 retweets. Fitton also put out his own statement on Monday night in which he stood by his debunked claims of voter fraud.

But it was right-wing internet personality Charlie Kirk and Fox News host Sean Hannity who ensured that Judicial Watchs disinformation reached peak virality. Hannitys tweet of the report was retweeted almost 2,000 times by his 4.5 million followers, and Kirks tweet of the information without any citation was retweeted over 40,000 times to his 15 million followers.

Judicial Watch has a long track record of pushing incorrect information, including a false voter fraud claim in 2017. The group has also pushed other baseless hoaxes, including one about ISIS setting up a terrorist camp in Mexico and a lie about the Department of Justice organizing protests against George Zimmerman, the man who murdered Trayvon Martin.

But voter fraud is a recurring myth favored by right-wingers, and no amount of tsk-tsking and Pinocchio tests from factcheckers have been able to curb its popularity. Julia Carie Wong, a reporter at the Guardian, pointed out that right-wing disinformation sourced to Judicial Watchs report was traveling much further online than Iowa states efforts to debunk it.

Technology companies are failing to stymie the disinfos spread as well. Natalie Martinez, a researcher at MoveOn, noticed that Facebook was letting Judicial Watch advertise its false report, despite the company claiming to have tighter standards that bar pages from advertising false information.

Link:
Republicans Are Spreading Voter Fraud Disinformation in an Election They're Not Even Running In - Mother Jones

If you want to understand just how morally bankrupt and spineless Trump-era Republican politicians have become, consider this: Not even Howard Baker's protege, WHO IS NOT EVEN RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION, has the guts to vote for witnesses

Im talking, of course, about Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander.

If you expected Alexander to follow in the tradition of Baker, a Tennessee Republican, who as ranking Republican on the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in, chose loyalty to the truth over loyalty to Richard Nixon, youd be wrong.

Its stunning to me that a 79-year-old retiring senator wouldnt choose to exit politics by ensuring that his legacy is a similar profile in courage. But I guess this shows you just how powerful the Trump virus has become.

Whether its obsessing over outing a whistleblower, threatening to call Hunter Biden as a witness, or suggesting that it doesnt matter if Trump committed a quid pro quo, todays Republicans are pathetic, embarrassing, and disappointing.

Alexander was never going to be the future of the GOP. Unfortunately, almost every Republican, save for Mitt Romney, is now on the wrong side of an issue that transcends policy preferences. Mike Lee, Ben Sasse, and James Lankford are now, presumably, on the wrong side of what is a character issue--a moral issue. If courage is the most important virtue, then the fact that I may agree with them on taxes is sort of beside the point.

Let's say Trump loses in 2020... How can I trust or respect these conservatives (whose policy ideas I generally endorse)? I cant. And you cant. And thats whats so disappointing, here.

Some are more disappointing than others.

Take Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a serious conservative who once headed the Club for Growth. Taking a page from others, like Arizonas Martha McSally and Josh Hawley of Missouri, Toomey came out against calling witnesses, saying, We dont need to drag this out any longer.

Im not sure why Toomey wouldnt want more information and evidence. Whats the rush? What does he have to do that is more important?

Im disappointed in Toomey.

Likewise, I was really holding out hope for Tim Scott of South Carolina. Scott, a Republican I once greatly respected, now says that it is impossible not to come to the conclusion that the president is actually innocent of an impeachable offense.

I give up. There is nobody left in the GOP to believe in.

This realization might seem obvious to you, but having hope wasnt always so crazy. Not long ago, there existed, somewhere between the moderate establishment and the crazy fringe, a pocket of thoughtful, young conservatives who mightve led the party into the future..

Remember the Benetton commercial featuring a diverse mix of conservatives like Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, Trey Gowdy, and Scott?

In their infinite wisdom, Republican voters chose to promote a septuagenarian, former Democratic vulgarian named Donald Trump as the partys standard-bearer instead.

Still, there was hope that this remnant of principled conservatives might wait out the Trump eraand even help mitigate its damage. Running for re-election in Florida, Marco Rubio pledged to act as a check and balance on whoever the president is even if it is a president from my own party."

His status as a check on Trump lasted about as long as the Miami Marlins pennant chances. Likewise, Haley was eventually co-opted by Trumpsim, and Gowdy was even briefly tapped to be on Trumps defense team.

And then theres Scott. He never made Rubio-esque promises of independence. Still, for whatever reasonI suspect it's partly based on his likeabilityScott largely managed to avoid getting bogged down in the Trump controversies.

Until now.

His opposition to calling witnesses in the impeachment trial is proof that he, too, has succumbed to the Trump virus, just like his Benetton brothers and sister.

To be clear, Scotts precise stance is that the Senate shouldnt hear from witnesses who didnt testify in the House. But thats an invented theory that is based on no law, rule or even precedent that Im aware of.

Sure, it might have been nice if the House had done more to compel witnesses to testify. But John Bolton, the main witness everyone is talking about, resisted overtures to testify in the House before stunning everyone by announcing that he would comply with a subpoena to testify in the Senate.

If your goal is to find the truth, there is no good reason not to have Bolton testify.

Indeed, the only reason that you would choose not to hear from this relevant and credible witness is you prioritize protecting the president over discovering the truth, cant handle the cognitive dissonance of hearing evidence and then voting against your conscience (and violating your oath), or both.

Neither of these reasons are worthy of respect.

When it comes to the future of the GOP, the worst thing about Trumpism isnt that it initially attracts and promotes the bottom-feeders, but that it also seduces and corrupts the best, like Rubio, Scott, Haley, and Gowdy.

The rest is here:
Impeachment Proves There's No Republican Left to Believe In - The Daily Beast

Two Republicans in heated San Diego City Council races against Democrats are the leading fundraisers among 28 total candidates battling for five open council seats.

Noli Zosa, who is seeking to keep the District 7 seat in Republican hands, and Joe Leventhal, who is trying to succeed Republican-turned-independent Mark Kersey in District 5, have each collected more than $200,000 in campaign contributions.

Only three other council candidates have raised more than $100,000, according to campaign contribution disclosures submitted in recent days.

Democrat Sam Nejabat has raised $161,000 in the District 1 race, Democrat Marni von Wilpert has raised $127,000 in her District 5 battle against Leventhal, and Raul Campillo has raised $125,000 in his race against Zosa in District 7.

Meanwhile, in the race for City Attorney, incumbent Mara Elliott has a commanding lead in donations with more than $300,000. Challenger Cory Briggs has raised $27,000, while challenger Pete Mesich has raised less than $2,000.

With four weeks left until the March 3 primary, Elliott has $169,000 available to spend on her campaign, while Briggs has just over $20,000.

In each city race, the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary will advance to November runoffs.

While raising money is no guarantee of success, candidates with more money can send mailers, buy ads, conduct phone banks, post campaign signs throughout their district and do other things to promote their candidacies.

In the council race for north coastal District 1, business owner Nejabat has raised significantly more than three other Democrats who have split up most of the major endorsements.

Attorney Will Moore has raised $96,000, business owner Joe LaCava has collected $94,000 and firefighter Aaron Brennan has received $65,000.

Each of the four candidates has also loaned his campaign money: Nejabat $100,000, Moore $47,000, Brennan $10,000 and LaCava $4,000.

Nejabat has $165,000 available before the primary, while Moore has $62,000, Brennan has $36,000 and LaCava has $19,000. But independent committees have been established to boost the campaigns of Brennan and LaCava.

Separate committees created by the citys firefighters and police officers labor unions have contributed $8,500 total to Brennan. A committee supporting LaCava has raised $70,000, including $10,000 from the Teamsters union and $35,000 from a nonprofit focused on energy and water issues.

The other four candidates in the District 1 race have raised significantly less money. Technology worker Harid Puentes has raised $31,000, real estate broker Lily Zhou has raised $3,700 and attorney James Rudolph has raised $2,125. Environmental writer Louis Rodolico hasnt reported raising any money.

Every candidate in the District 1 race is a Democrat except Zhou, who is an independent.

In the race for central urban District 3, nonprofit manager Stephen Whitburn leads the pack with $95,000.

He is followed by fellow Democrats city financial analyst Chris Olsen with $58,000, nonprofit manager Adrian Kwiatkowski with $57,000 and political staffer Toni Duran with $53,000.

A fifth candidate, Michelle Nguyen, has raised just over $4,000.

Whitburn has $49,000 in available cash, followed by Duran with $26,000, Kwiatkowski with $22,000, Olson with $18,000 and Nguyen with just under $4,000.

In the race for north inland District 5, Leventhal and von Wilpert, who are both attorneys, lead two other candidates by wide margins. Leventhal leads all council candidates citywide with $216,000.

Technology worker Isaac Wang has raised $15,000 and loaned himself an additional $10,000. Business owner Simon Moghadam has not reported raising any money.

The independent committee established by the firefighters labor union has given $1,050 to von Wilpert.

Leventhal and Moghadam are Republicans. Von Wilpert and Wang are Democrats.

In central eastern District 7, Zosa at $202,000 and Campillo at $125,000 are followed in fundraising by attorney Monty McIntyre with $74,000 and teacher Wendy Wheatcroft with $58,000.

Zosa, a small business owner, leads in cash available to spend with $127,000. Campillo, a deputy city attorney, has $79,000, while Wheatcroft has $17,000 and McIntyre has $13,000.

Zosa is a Republican, while the other three candidates are Democrats.

In central southeastern District 9, political staffer Kelvin Barrios leads in fundraising by a wide margin with $42,000.

He is followed by community college trustee Sean Elo with $14,000, scientist Johnny Lee Dang with $11,000 and nonprofit manager Ross Naismith with $2,000.

Two other candidates in the race -- maritime systems manager Alex Soto and business owner Andrew Gade -- havent reported raising any money. A seventh candidate, business owner Sam Bedwell, hasnt submitted required disclosures.

An independent committee has also been established to support Barrios by Local 89 of the Laborers International Union of North America. The committee has raised $16,000 for him so far.

All of the candidates in the District 9 race are Democrats except Gade, who is an independent.

A new wave of fundraising disclosures is due Feb. 20 in all city of San Diego races.

Link:
Two Republicans in key San Diego council races setting the pace in fundraising - The San Diego Union-Tribune

About an hour ago

In the finale of his third State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump said his administration is making the nation greater than ever before, and about a dozen people attending a watch party in North Huntingdon organized by the Westmoreland County chapter of Young Republicans, agreed.

Among the achievements Trump claimed that received the loudest applause from the group at the Jacktown Ride and Hunt Club were his efforts to rework the foreign trade landscape in favor of the United States and his report of millions of people leaving the welfare and food stamp rolls.

I think hes done a great job, Steve Cleaveland, 45, of North Huntingdon, said of Trump. The economy is doing fantastic. Things are looking really good.

Susanna DeJeet, 62, of Delmont, said she has been a strong supporter of Trump since 2016 and hopes to be a Republican delegate supporting him in this years presidential election.

I liked his policies, and I thought, this is a person who has the spine to bring those policies about, she said. DeJeet said she admires Trumps support for service members and veterans which was on display Tuesday, as Trump paused from his remarks to reunite a military family and to recognize the survivors of others who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror.

DeJeet said she also was impressed by Trumps attendance at the recent March For Life pro-life rally in the nations capitol. I like that he was the first president to go to the pro-life rally, she said.

Alexander Brown, 28 of New Stanton, a Greensburg attorney who is chairman of the Westmoreland Young Republicans chapter, referred to Trumps foreign trade moves as a welcome example of the presidents willingness to go out of the box that many presidents on the Republican side have been put into. Looking out for our manufacturers and the folks in the trades, thats something that our party has not been particularly good at until the last three or four years.

Barton Maser, 66, a veteran who is a Republican committee member in North Huntingdon Ward 1-1, said he supported presidential candidate Ted Cruz in 2016 but has grown to like Trump because, when he says something, he keeps his word. That stance was reflected in his red attire bearing the presidents surname.

Build the wall, Maser shouted later as Trump spoke about his border and immigration policies and stance against sanctuary cities.

Maser said he has reservations about the presidents mode of communication. Some of those tweets, knock it off, he said, expressing regret that some of the presidents tweets have unnecessarily given ammunition to his opponents.

Maser also said he would have preferred if Trump would have waited until the final vote in the presidents impeachment trial scheduled for today was over before he delivered his State of the Union address. Let the air clear, because this is still overhanging him, Maser said.

Cleaveland joined many in the room in regretting the impeachment process began at all. There is no evidence and theres no votes for it, he said. The only reason to put it forward is to have a television show.

Brown said it was the right choice for Trump not to refer to the impeachment trial during his address. Its a good idea to move on from that chapter in our countrys history and instead look forward in an optimistic fashion, he said. I think the president did a very good job of listing his accomplishments in a way that everyone can appreciate.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, [emailprotected] or via Twitter .

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See the rest here:
Westmoreland Republican viewers take heart from State of the Union address - TribLIVE