Gary on Oct. 29 wrote:
It’s becoming obvious that President Trump’s crowds are getting bigger or they’re staying the same. Whether he’s campaigning in Lansing, MI, Goodyear, AZ or Omaha, NE, the people turn out. During his presidency, President Trump would try to do a rally about every other week. It was common knowledge that there were people that would follow him from place-to-place. That helped inflate the attendance numbers a little.
That isn’t happening anymore. At the start of this week, President Trump made 3 campaign stops in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, he campaigned in Michigan, Wisconsin and Omaha, NE. He made campaign appearences in Bullhead City, AZ
[...] To steal a phrase that former Education Secretary Bill Bennett coined, the crowd at the Biden rally “went on for as far as the arm could stretch.” The statistics from the Trump rallies show that President Trump’s base is expanding. The number of people who weren’t Republicans that attended the rallies exceeded 30,200 people. Both states have large Hispanic populations so it isn’t a stretch to think that 20,000-25,000 of those that weren’t Republicans are Hispanics.
This isn’t a base election. This is a wave election. Specifically, there’s a red wave heading the Democrats’ direction. Happy days will soon be here again.
Strib carries the WaPo Oct. 31 feed describing a Stanford professor's research:
A new study from Stanford University estimates that 18 of Trump’s recent large-scale campaign rallies ultimately resulted in 30,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and probably led to more than 700 deaths among attendees and others infected by them.
The study, released Friday by Stanford economics professor B. Douglas Bernheim and three doctoral students, examined rallies staged by Trump between June 20 and Sept. 30 and looked at the trajectory of cases in the counties in which they were held.
“Our analysis strongly supports the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of COVID-19 transmission at large group gatherings, particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low,” the authors said. “The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death.”
Asked for comment on the study’s findings, the Trump campaign did not address the numbers but pushed back on the notion that the standards for social distancing at its rallies are low.
[...] The Biden campaign seized on the study, saying it is further evidence that Trump is holding “superspreader” events.
“Donald Trump doesn’t even care about the very lives of his strongest supporters,” spokesman Andrew Bates said.
During the closing weeks of the campaign, Trump has touted his ability to draw large crowds and mocked Biden for holding “drive-in” events with far fewer attendees.
Gee. What is reported from the Trump campaign - it is exactly what Gary is publishing. On his own. Touting Trump crowds. Mocking Biden cautions.
There is the saying, "Great minds run in sync," something like that. Look it up.
Sync need not touch greatness, however.
Gary and Trump run parallel stories, and we can leave it there.
Gary on Oct. 31 also wrote:
Minnesota’s two-headed DFL monster, aka Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, stopped President Trump’s mega-MAGA Rochester rally. At least, they tried to limit it. Despite trying to limit the crowd to 250 people, an estimated 25,000 people showed up.
President Trump took aim at Walz and Ellison right from the start of his speech, saying “We’ve been given a very hard time by your so-called leaders. But they’re not very good leaders, as you found out during the riots.” President Trump continued his riff, saying “Keith Ellison and Joe Biden want to imprison you in your homes while letting anarchists, agitators and vandals roam free as they try to destroy your cities and states.”
This message hits home because DFL ‘leaders’ like Tim Walz and Jacob Frey didn’t respond quickly to the riots. The DFL is getting dragged into this prolonged shutdown by Tim Walz, too. It’s time to open Minnesota up. Minnesota’s business owners shouldn’t get treated like children. They’ve earned the right to be treated like adults.
President Trump did the right thing [...]
There’s no doubt in my mind that President Trump will win Minnesota. People stood in the chilling wind to get a glimpse of Air Force One. If they’re willing to do that, they’ll turn out to vote.
There is no indication in any of Gary's posting that he attended any of Trump's rally events, this year in Minnesota. Socially distanced by quite some miles in person; agreeing "atta-boy" in spirit?
Gary embedded a video. FOX. Saying what he wrote. Of all things - - - a cold day in the midwest; jolly people crowding together outdoors in pandemic times; Trump carnival barking.
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North Carolina friend Suzie has a personal tradition of carving a Halloween pumpkin, each intended as timely to the times. On Oct. 31, mid-pandemic, she emailed:
This is my 2020 Halloween pumpkin: it has coronavirus eyes and is wearing a mask:
 |
| It came out a bit better than I expected. |
Pumpkin's hollowed out with nothing inside but the candle. Yet, more brains are in that pumpkin than between the ears of Trump cold outdoor rally goers. Learn the lesson of the masked pumpkin, or get sick and possibly croak [a/k/a Learn the Trump-as-superspreader-event-host lesson from the Stanford prof's data - and stay home like Gary].
_________UPDATE________
So readers know, I am glad Gary is blogging as a way to see what Republican thought is from St. Cloud, Minnesota. He puts time and effort into his writing.
However, I doubt he's made good forecasts. And I question his liking of smarmy FOX broadcasting. Where their cheerleader predictions also could be correct, but likely will not be.
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BE FAIR. COUNT ALL THE VOTES. FIGHT VOTER SUPPRESSION IN ALL ITS FORMS. IN FLORIDA AND WHEREVER ELSE THE REPUBLICANS TRY IT.
ABBOTT IN TEXAS WITH HIS ONE VOTE DROP BOX PER COUNTY BULLSHIT. THE MAN IS SHAMELESS. LET THE PEOPLE FAIRLY DECIDE.