John Davis Consulting

JUNE 11 UPDATE: New SCOTUS Decision, North Korea, IG’s Report Thursday, Only One Woman Can Destroy Trump

June 11, 2018         Vol. XI, No. 10         4:13 pm

U.S. Supreme Court OK’s conservative Ohio procedure for purging voters  

In another big judicial win for Republican election law reformers, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today, June 11, 2018, that an Ohio policy for purging the state voter registration rolls of those who do not vote over a six-year period does not violate the rights of minorities, poor people and others who more often favor Democratic candidates, as claimed by plaintiffs, including the ACLU.

Per today’s Washington Post, nationally, “about 17.6% of Democrats missed the last three elections, compared to about 10.3% of Republicans.” That’s about 6 million more Democrats than Republicans who did not vote in 2012, 2014 or 2016.

The two key steps in Ohio’s six-year procedure for purging voter rolls are:

• Registered voters who miss voting for two years are sent voter registration confirmation notices and given four additional years to reply.
• If they do not reply or vote during the next four years, they are removed.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court’s swing vote, joined the four conservatives in the 5-4 decision. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that although the Ohio procedure may not be ideal, the only matter before the court was whether it violates federal law. “It does not,” concluded Alito.

POLTICIAL IMPLICATIONS: Increases turnout advantage for GOP in 2018.

Last Monday’s big win for conservatives was the U.S. Supreme Court 7-2 decision in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his Christian convictions. The court stated that the religious beliefs of the baker were not treated with impartiality and neutrality by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in violation of his constitutional rights.

June 11-15: Trump-Kim Historic Summit 9 PM Tonight! IG Report Thursday

At 9 PM tonight, Eastern Standard Time, it will be 9 AM in Singapore, the hour that President Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The stakes could not be higher.

POLTICIAL IMPLICATIONS: If President Trump does succeed in the denuclearization of North Korea during the coming months, his job approval will likely reach 50% by Labor Day, adding great height to his seawall of success in defense against the threat of a Democratic wave in November.

COMING THURSDAY, JUNE 14: DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email probe is due Thursday (President Trump’s birthday).

Last Tuesday, fired former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, sought immunity from prosecution for his testimony before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on how the FBI handled the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. McCabe’s petition for immunity signals that other senior officials at the FBI during the Obama Administration abused positions of authority.

Look for widening probes into Obama Justice Department leaders, including North Carolina’s own Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney General 2015-2017, the first African American woman in that role.

POLITICIAL IMPLICATIONS: This issue has the potential of energizing a GOP red wave, offsetting the highly touted Democratic blue wave. At the very least, the IG report will give President Trump enough Twitter ammunition to discredit Mueller’s investigation throughout the fall elections.

There is only one woman who can bring down the Trump Administration

On Monday, June 4, former President Bill Clinton opened old wounds with his defensive answers to a reporter questions about whether, considering today’s #MeToo movement, he adequately apologized to Monica Lewinski for exploiting her sexually when she was a 21-year-old White House intern.

Bill Clinton’s history of sexual exploitation, including allegations of criminal abuse (rape claimed by Juanita Broaddrick), became the talk of the TV/Radio chattering class, who also renewed questions about Hillary Clinton’s role in enabling her husband to get away with exploiting women.

Clearly, Democrats and had hoped to bring down the Trump Administration with ads about the President’s extramarital affairs with porn stars and Playboy bunnies. Unfortunately, there are too many Democrats like Bill Clinton and Anthony Wiener, along with hundreds of others exposed by the #MeToo movement like Harvey Weinstein, to claim a partisan moral high ground on sexual abuse.

Ironically, the #MeToo movement validated the claims of women who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, despite his history of disrespecting women, because they knew that many Democrats were as bad.

Last Tuesday, June 5, Harvey Weinstein, leading Democrat fundraiser, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault. He has been accused by over 70 women of sexual misconduct.

POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TRUMP’S AFFAIRS: None. There is only one woman who can destroy the Trump presidency over extramarital improprieties: First Lady Melania Trump.

Bottom line: The 2018 midterm elections are coming down to the highly anticipated Democratic wave versus the Trump seawall of successes. The economy/jobs/wages. Government reform/draining the swamp. Trade deals. Military might. North Korean denuclearization and reunification with South Korea. All now building towards a positive referendum on the White House this fall.

Politically, June is on track to become the most consequential month of the midterm election year.

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 John N. Davis

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