Group Sues to Block Donald Trump From the Oregon Ballot Free Speech for People argues Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection disqualifies him under the terms of the U.S. Constitution. Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Free Speech for People has filed a lawsuit in the Oregon Supreme Court seeking to block former President Donald J. Trump from Oregon’s 2024 ballot. The group, working with two veteran Oregon trial lawyers who frequently handle election cases, Dan Meek and Jason Kafoury, are making a fairly straightforward argument, which it presented to the state’s top elections official, Secretary of State Lavonne Griffin-Valade, last month: “In the months leading up to the January 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol, and while his supporters were sacking the Capitol, former President Donald J. Trump incited and facilitated an insurrection against the United States,” the group’s letter said. “Mr. Trump has declared his candidacy for president again in 2024. However, under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Mr. Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on any future ballot for federal office based on his engagement in insurrection against the United States.” Griffin-Valade already considered that argument and, after consultation with lawyers at the Oregon Department of Justice, rejected it. Here’s the explanation she gave Nov. 30: “State law treats presidential primary elections differently than other elections where the secretary has the authority to disqualify a candidate,” Griffin-Valade said. “In a presidential primary, voters are not deciding who will hold office or even who will go on the general election ballot. Instead, they are communicating their preference to party delegates who choose a nominee at the party’s nominating convention.” In their complaint, Meek and Kafoury cite Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the disqualification clause, which says no candidate can hold any office who “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” “The United States Constitution makes Donald Trump ineligible to run for or serve in any public office in the country, let alone president,” Kafoury said. “All Oregon voters, including the plaintiffs, have a well-established right to have only eligible candidates on the ballot. Since Secretary of State Griffin-Valade has announced that Trump will be on the primary ballot unless a court orders otherwise, we are seeking a court order preventing Trump from being on the ballot.” Free Speech for People is pursuing the same argument in states across the country. https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/12/...n-ballot/?mc_cid=6e188c5b27&mc_eid=6e4c39d97a
Difficulty is he has not been convicted so I think states would hesitate to punish before conviction. Concentrate energy on getting out the vote for sane candidates.
Just wait until Trump becomes a convicted felon. That will change the equation for a lot of people. Way to go Oregon! A literal traitor should not be allowed on our ballot.
Good news if you read the crisis tabs, Trump is not increasing in popularity while Biden is decreasing. What seems to be happening is folks who had unrealistic expectations of Biden are becoming disillusioned with him at the moment. What is very likely to happen once the general election starts going in full swing is that those folks will fall back into the fold and Biden will look much stronger going into next fall.
I don't know what unrealistic expectations people had of Biden... He's been pretty much what I thought he'd be. But I guess that's why I didn't like him much to begin with. I think Dems just need to make some changes to their platform so they destroy crazy opposition.
Trump's base is going to support him even if he were to take a dump on their shoes (which he does on a daily basis They're just too stupid to notice) but I try to take hope from past history. In the early '90's, George H. W. Bush was coming off the "success" of the First Gulf War and had a huge, seemingly insurmountable lead against all challengers a year ahead of the 1992 election. It was depressing AF. But by the time the election rolled around, Kuwait was yesterday's news and the electorate realized just how badly 12 straight years of Republican administration had trashed this country. Enter Bill Clinton. My point is; a lot can happen in a year and Trump is a master of shooting himself in the foot. Or so I try to tell myself......
Well, if we were coming off of 12 years of Republicans and had a young charismatic "Bill Clinton" running i'd feel much better about Dem chances. Unfortunately, I think Joe Biden is closer to the George HW Bush in your example than Bill Clinton. Far closer. "Hope" in this case is looking likely to get us a crazy Republican.
I don't think Trump will win the nomination. Most conservatives I know cant stand him. All the dems and centrist I know still support Biden. To many in the middle to vote trump President again.
I think there's a lot of people who claim they don't support Biden, but push comes to shove, they'll vote for him (same with Trump, if he's the nominee). I also think the media uses "polls" to drive viewers. "Haley is ahead of Biden by 17 points in all polls". She's just the shiny piece of candy right now, and honestly, who gets polled? Older conservative people by far are polled more than younger progressive people. Plus, 538 proved polls don't mean shit. Especially when the Huge Chavez controlled space laser changes votes for us at the flip of a switch.
Out of curiosity @Phatguysrule who are you suggesting would do better than Biden? Honestly the only Den I think may do better is Andy Bashear.
I'm not convinced the DNC would support anybody who would actually be better than Biden. He is their prototypical candidate. Maybe Gavin Newsom... I think he'd be more likely to win than Biden... But not sure he'd be any better than Biden. He is younger, so he's got that going for him. But until the DNC changes I'm not sure we're going to get much better candidates than that.
