Donald Trump’s Threat to Reject Election Results Alarms Scholars

Donald Trump’s Threat to Reject Election Results Alarms Scholars


Summary:

Donald Trump used the high-profile setting of the final presidential debate here Wednesday night to amplify one of the most explosive charges of his candidacy: that if he loses the election, he might consider the results illegitimate because the process is rigged. “I will look at it at the time,” Trump said when asked whether he would accept the results. When debate moderator Chris Wallace pressed him on the issue, he said, “I’ll keep you in suspense.”“If you look at your voter rolls, you will see millions of people who are registered to vote” who shouldn’t be registered, Trump said. He added that not only was there widespread corruption, but that Clinton “should not be allowed to run.” Clinton brought up that when the FBI said there was no case, Trump said the FBI was rigged. When he lost the Iowa caucus, he said that was rigged. When he lost the Wisconsin primary, he said that was rigged, too. When he got sued over fraud for Trump University, the court system was  rigged. However, these elections are governed by states and local governments. Both parties have election watchers to point out and contest irregularities. Voting machines are tested in public with witnesses from both parties watching. There are backstops in place to check election results long after polls have closed.

Questions:

Why does Donald Trump believe the election is "rigged?"

Why are Democratic scholars extremely  offended when Trump refused to say he would accept the election’s outcome? 

In what way is Trump being compared to a other non Democratic leaders?

What message is Trump sending out to people about the election process? Why is this a bad 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/us/politics/video-dnc-trump-rallies.html?ref=politics

Earlier this week before the last presidential debate of this election, Democratic consultants, Creamer and Foval were caught on tape talking about how their organization tries to agitate riots and chaos at Trump rallies and other Republican events. These videos have been viewed by more than eight million people on YouTube, as it a increasingly controversial topic.

The legitimacy of these videos have been thoroughly questioned. The group that produced these videos, Project Veritas, is known to be very conservative. On top of that they are known to have posted questionable videos in the past.

Foval is claiming that the only reason he stated these things was to impress a potential donor. On one hand, Foval claims that his group trained a 68 year old women to create chaos at Trump’s rally in North Carolina, but on the other hand the woman in question claims that she simply attended this rally since it was located close to her home.

If true, these project Hillary, her campaign, and Democrat party in quite a negative light. First the DNC was caught trying to damage Senator Bernie Sanders Presidential bid, and now the Democrat Party is attempting to sabotage numerous Trump events, what is next?

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDc8PVCvfKs

1. For someone who goes into such graphic detail, is it hard to debate that this video is false?
2. Do you think this incident can cost Hillary the election?
3. Are these acceptable tactics in a Democratic election?
4. Do you believe these videos are legitimate because of the questionable reputation of the producers?
5. The article claims that Bush took part in similar actions during the recount in 2000, so does it make it ok if both sides have done it?

Donald Trump Says He Will Accept Election Outcome (‘if I Win’)

Link

Summary: 

On Thursday Trump suggested that the election was rigged against him, stating “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win,”. He claims that he would accept a clear election result, however he established that he "would also reserve [his] right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result". Hillary's running mate, Senator Tim Kaine, argues that the democratic ticket needs “a mandate” this election so that Trump will not be doubtful of the results. Because of Trump's "if I win" statement, it might be possible that Trump is acknowledging defeat.

Questions:

1.  Do you think Trump is Acknowledging defeat?
2. Do you think Trumps claims that the election may be rigged against him are justified?
3. How might Trump's claims affect his outcome in the election?

Donald Trump Proposes Term Limits for Congress

After he unveiled a new ethics plan, Donald Trump added one more potential reform to his wish list: A Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.

“If I’m elected president, I will push for a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Tuesday afternoon, to sustained cheers from the crowd. “Right? They’ve been talking about that for years.”

Trump’s campaign elaborated on the proposal in

 a press release emailed during the speech.

“Decades of failure in Washington, and decades of special interest dealing, must come to an end,” it says. “We have to break the cycle of corruption, and we have to give new voices a chance to go into government service. The time for Congressional term limits has arrived.”

Trump is correct that Republicans have been kicking this idea around for years. It traces back to the “Contract With America” that congressional Republicans proposed in 1994, which included a measure that would have imposed a maximum term of 12 years for both senators and members of the House. The measure failed; it didn’t win two thirds of both the House and Senate required for passage.

Newt Gingrich was House Speaker at the time and pushed for the term limit amendment, and he’s now a close adviser to Trump. Under the Constitution, the president plays no formal role in approving constitutional amendments.

Do you agree with Trump?

Do you think this limit on a term will be positive or negative?

Do you think people would agree with this new idea of trumps? if so why or why not?

US Congress overrides Obama's veto on 9/11 bill

Link to Website

     The US Congress has passed into law a controversial bill that allows family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged backing of the attackers. Both the Senate and House voted  on Wednesday in favor of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, despite warnings from Obama and top Pentagon officials that the move could put American troops and interests at risk.
            The vote was a blow to Obama and to Saudi Arabia - one of the US' oldest allies in the Arab world. Former senator speaks about 9/11 report Obama, who vetoed the measure last week, said in a letter to Senate leaders on Tuesday that other countries could use JASTA to justify similar immunity exceptions to target US policies and activities that they oppose. "If any of these litigants were to win judgments - based on foreign domestic laws as applied by foreign courts - they would begin to look to the assets of the US government held abroad to satisfy those judgments, with potentially serious financial consequences for the United States," Obama said at the time.
Questions
- Do you think this will further worsen United States' relationship with Saudi Arabaia and other Arab countries?
- Do you think this law could have a backlash on the U.S?
- Why does the pentagon believe this law could be consequential?

Trump losing Swing states in polls

Summary: The polls, surveyed after the release of a 2005 recording of Donald Trump talking in a sexually hostile tone about women, show Clinton leading in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump would need to make a comeback and win one of these states, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania, to get more than the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. Trump would also need Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, and every other state Mitt Romney won in 2012. According to the poll, Clinton is ahead of Trump 48% to 39% in a four-way race in Pennsylvania. She also leads trump 42% to 31% and 44% to 37% in Michigan and Wisconsin, respectively. However, Trump leads Clinton 34% to 28% and 42% to 41% in Utah and Ohio, respectively. 
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/13/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-swing-state-polls-2016-election/

Questions:
1. What kind of effect do these polls have on this year's election? Is any candidate more likely to win because of these new polls? Why or why not? 
2. How do you think these new polls effects the Clinton and Trump campaign? Why do you say this? 
3. What kind of polls were taken in order to get this information? Is it trustworthy? Why or why not? 
4. Does Evan McMullin have a chance in the election? 

Voting for Third-party Candidates Can Help Those parties in Next Election

Lesser of two evils: The presidential election is made up of state competitions. In all non-swing states, including Missouri, it's already known which candidate will win. A vote for a third party will not tip the election, and therefore you can vote for anyone you want. Even if you are voting in the most heated of swing states, simply sign up on balancedrebellion.com or burnmyvote.org. These sites let you vote for a third-party candidate without tipping the election.

Wasted vote: Even if your candidate loses, your vote was not wasted. Votes unequivocally help third parties in the next election through ballot access, federal funding and more. They are therefore “invested votes,” not “wasted votes.” Both the Libertarian and Green parties are within reach of these voting milestones in Missouri, as well as nationally.

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The above arguments have nothing to do with the candidate’s qualifications, stances on issues or debate performance. And while I hope you take these into account when voting, the “lesser of two evils” or “wasted vote” arguments hold no merit, and should not be part of your voting decision.

Vote for someone, not against someone, who you want to be president, whether that’s Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, or anyone else. It’s that simple.

- Chris, Seager, St. Louis Post Dispatch 



Questions
Can third parties gain traction and have true influence in future elections?
Do you believe voting third party will have an affect in this election?
Which candidate, Trump or Hillary, will lose more votes to third party candidates?

Trump's Vulgar Conversation

Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005

Summary: A 2005 recording of Donald Trump speaking in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women was released last week. The recording leaked Trump stating “When you’re a star, they let you do it.” Women around the country are offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump and this could have caused him the race. His response was, “I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.” But he also called the revelation “a distraction from the issues we are facing today.” Trump states, “This was locker-room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago and said in a statement, “I apologize if anyone was offended.”

Questions:

1. Do you believe that this scandal is distraction from the issues we are facing today? Explain.
2. Trump states, “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am.” Do you believe these words reflect Trump accurately as a person?
3. Do you think that Trump needs to apologize directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape?
4. How does this compare to the actions of Bill Clinton, who is accused of abusing women, and Hillary Clinton, who is accused of having “bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims?”
5. Do you think this caused Trump to lose his chance in the race for president?

Florida Voter Registration Extended Because of Hurricane Matthew by Gary Fineout

Link to Article: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-extends-floridas-voter-registration-oct-18-42751869
Watch the video too

Summary 
On Wednesday, a District Judge Mark Walker decided to extend the voter registration in Florida for six additional days, to October 18.  Hurricane Matthew has wreaked havoc on the Southeastern US for the past 7-10 days, effecting Florida in particular, so people haven't had that time to go and register.  Originally, the people of Florida asked Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fl.) to extend the deadline, but he declined the request, claiming that people had had plenty of time to register already.  Scott denied accusations that his refusal had anything to do with his support of Trump/Florida being a major swing state.  Judge Walker also noted that he didn't think that Gov. Scott had the authority to use his power to change the deadline, but wasn't positive.  Voting rights groups advocated for the extension, noting that many people registered right before the deadline in 2012.  This whole issue happened because Florida doesn't let voters register online, only in person, and a category 4 hurricane makes that hard to do.

Questions

1. What is the impact of this ruling on the election, seeing that Florida is a swing state?
2. Was the decision to extend the deadline reached through fair methods and not through bargaining?  Why or why not? (Note that the Democrats in Florida were major advocates of extending the deadline, and that their Republican governor opposed it)
3. What should each Presidential candidate do in response to Hurricane Matthew? Will it matter in the overall outcome of the election?
4. Do you agree that voters had already had enough time to register, or do you think that the deadline extension was a good idea?