Why Filipinos need to focus on Georgia run-off

“Voter fraud is almost non-existent. People don't just show up on election day, trying to impersonate other people.”

—Nina Turner

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

SOME Filipinos with relatives and friends intending to avail of the Biden-Harris incoming administration’s “comprehensive immigration reforms” are hoping—and, perhaps, praying—that Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock will win the Georgia senate race run-off election on January 5.

Both Ossoff and Warnock are Democratic challengers respectively against incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

Republicans currently are in control of the U.S. Senate, 50-48, after the November 3 election. 

A win by Ossoff and Warnock will make it 50-50. 

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will sit as the Senate President and Presiding Officer, can break any deadlock in crucial legislative impasse. 

“Sana sila (Ossoff and Warnock) na ang manalo para tuloy-tuloy at walang hadlang ang mga legislative agenda ni (President-elect Joseph) Biden,“ quipped Erlinda, 66, a gynecologist in Cagayan de Oro City, who is now a caregiver in New Haven, Connecticut.

Erlinda’s younger sister, Rhodora, 58, a retired teacher, is looking forward to avail of Mr. Biden’s immigration reforms, one of the centerpiece programs of his candidacy in the recent U.S. Presidential Election.

Rhodora, now a nanny in Bridgeport, Connecticut, left her three children in Cagayan de Oro City in 2005 and overstayed her tourist visa while in Burbank, California. 

 

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Rhodora has been “religiously paying her taxes,” Erlinda said even if her younger sister did not have a social security number (SSN).

As a tax payer, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Rhodora with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), a tax processing number only available for certain nonresident and resident aliens, their spouses, and dependents who cannot get an SSN. 

It is a 9-digit number, beginning with the number "9", formatted like an SSN (NNN-NN-NNNN).

ITIN can be used along with an unexpired passport to open a bank account.

Erlinda, a U.S. citizen, wants Rhodora to avail of the Biden administration’s “amnesty” and vowed to help pay for her sister’s legal fees.

Jason, 46, a nursing assistant at Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall, said Rebecca, 44, his friend and town mate in Dumaguete City in the Philippines, also doesn’t have a legal status but has been working as a  food server in a Filipino restaurant in Hackensack, New Jersey.

“I want to help her. She hasn’t seen her only son in Negros for almost 15 years now. We are also looking forward for a Democrats victory in Georgia so that Biden’s immigration reform agenda will pass smoothly,” said Jason, an active organizer of an LGBT organization in Passaic, New Jersey.  

 

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Armando, 54, of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, has been working “under the table” as a private caregiver and in various home care facilities in Lake Forest, California since 2008. 

A former member of Lion’s Club, he toured the U.S. in 2008 and did not go back to the Philippines.

Armando worked as a chef in a bakeshop in Brooklyn as of February 2020, but lost the job during the lockdown caused by the pandemic. 

“I want to go home before I reach 60,” he vowed. “I hope Biden can help me (with my immigration papers).”

Republicans and Democrats are searching the state of Georgia for new voters, although CBS News exit polling of the general election suggests neither party has much room to grow outside of their bases before the January runoffs. 

Time is short, with little over two weeks before early voting begins. 

One race pits Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler against Democrat Warnock and the other has Republican David Perdue defending his seat against Ossoff.

 

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The runoff elections will determine which party has a majority in the U.S. Senate. 

Democrats need to win both seats to split control of the chamber 50-50. The vice president (Democrat Kamala Harris beginning in January 2021) casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate. 

Republicans only need to win one seat to maintain their majority.

National Republicans frame the fight over Senate control as a fight against socialism in America. 

Democrats say the incoming Biden administration needs a Democratic Senate majority to make progress on immigration, healthcare and pandemic recovery.

Georgia's last Democratic senator, Zell Miller, left office in 2005. Republicans have had a trifecta in the state—holding the governor's office and controlling both chambers of the state legislature—since 2004. 

And Republicans have had a triplex—holding the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state—since 2011.

Georgia's legislature passed a law in the 1960s requiring runoffs for general elections in which no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

The top two finishers in the general election advance to the runoff. Runoff elections are required for all congressional, state executive, and state legislative elections in which a candidate does not receive a majority in the general election.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

Emails I receive from Trump asking money

“People live too much of their lives on email or the Internet or text messages these days. We're losing all of our communication skills.”

—Tracy Morgan

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THREE weeks after the November 3 U.S. Presidential Election, I continued to receive emails from “President Donald Trump” and members of his family, including “Vice President Mike Pence”, asking me to donate funds for the “Election Defense Task Force.”

President Trump has refused to accept defeat and apparently plans to drag his electoral protest all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

Months before the election won by President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., 306-232, the Trump-Pence campaign sent multiple e-mails regularly, asking the recipients to vote for the Trump-Pence tandem and dump the Democratic Party led by Mr. Biden and then Senator and now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Many of the emails contained vitriols and attacks against the Biden-Harris tandem and the entire Democratic Party.      

I am among the recipients of the emails.

Almost everyday after the media networks have called Mr. Biden as the winner in the Electoral College and popularity votes, the Trump campaign emails continued to pour endlessly.  

 

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On November 26, “President Trump” sent this email: “Friend, Despite the Left’s attempts to undermine this Election, I will NEVER stop fighting for YOU.

“My Administration is achieving things no one thought possible - the stock market is up BIG, the coronavirus vaccine is underway and will be completed safely very soon.

“We are accomplishing so much, which is even more reason to step up and DEFEND THE ELECTION! We cannot let the Democrats STEAL this Election from your all-time favorite President. They’ll DESTROY everything we’ve worked so hard for. 

“I’m calling on YOU to FIGHT BACK. We need to bolster our critical Election Defense Fund if we’re going to keep going. We can’t do this without you.

“Please contribute $5 IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and you can increase your impact by 1000%.”

Also on November 26, “Vice President Pence” sent this email: “Friend, Every single LEGAL vote must be counted in this Election.

“Our democracy and freedom is at risk like never before, which is why I’m reaching out to you now with an URGENT request.

“President Trump and I need our STRONGEST supporters, like YOU, to join the Election Defense Task Force. This group will be responsible for DEFENDING the Election from voter fraud, and we really need you to step up to the front lines of this battle.

“What we do TODAY might possibly impact our Election for DECADES to come. Don’t let your Country down.

“Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to join the Election Defense Task Force and to increase your impact by 1000%.”

 

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On November 24, President Trump sent this email:

“Friend, Despite the Left’s attempts to undermine this Election, I will NEVER stop fighting for YOU.

“My Administration is achieving things no one thought possible - the stock market is up BIG, the coronavirus vaccine is underway and will be completed safely very soon.

“We are accomplishing so much, which is even more reason to step up and DEFEND THE ELECTION! We cannot let the Democrats STEAL this Election from your all-time favorite President. They’ll DESTROY everything we’ve worked so hard for. 

“I’m calling on YOU to FIGHT BACK. We need to bolster our critical Election Defense Fund if we’re going to keep going. We can’t do this without you.

“Please contribute $5 IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and you can increase your impact by 1000%.”

From “Lara Trump”, November 23: “Friend, I’ve never seen anything like this before.

“Right now, as you read this email, millions of Americans across the Nation are coming together to show their support for OUR President and his FIGHT to DEFEND the Election.

“It’s clear the American People stand with President Trump - no matter what the Fake News media says - and it’s up to us to take action and SAVE AMERICA from the Left.

“It is time for EVERY PATRIOT, like YOU, to step up and DEMAND that every single LEGAL vote is counted. We cannot allow the Democrats to undermine the Election and try to STEAL the White House.

“The President has legal teams in each critical state that are working around the clock to ensure a fair and transparent Election. All he needs now is YOU.

“Please contribute $5 IMMEDIATELY to stand with President Trump against the Radical Left.”

 

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From “President Trump”, November 24: “Friend, The Fake News media is NEGLECTING to report serious evidence of voting irregularities, but we, the American People, will not be intimidated.

“As usual, the LYING, BIASED media would rather help the Left succeed at all costs instead of doing their jobs as JOURNALISTS to tell the FACTS. It’s pathetic.

“President Trump can’t fight them off alone. He needs his STRONGEST allies, like YOU, to step up and break through the Fake News filter.

“We are going to prove that President Trump won by a landslide and we are going to reclaim the United States of America for the People who voted for freedom.

“Please contribute $5 IMMEDIATELY to DEFEND the Election from the Radical Left and you can increase your impact by 1000%.”

 

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From “Eric Trump”, November 24:

“Friend, Make no mistake, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their allies in the Fake News media are trying to steal this Election. Why else would they fight so hard against signature verification on the ballots? CHECK THE BALLOTS!

“Biden couldn’t get 10 people to a rally and went days without leaving his house, while my father received 11 MILLION more votes THIS YEAR than he did in 2016. We need to make sure every legal vote is counted and that’s why your support is so critical.

“The truth is, we’re pacing behind our Election Defense Fund goal. We need all hands on deck if we’re going to FIGHT BACK AND WIN, which is why I’m reaching out to ask for your help.

“Please contribute $5 IMMEDIATELY to support the Official Election Defense Fund and you can increase your impact by 1000%.”

From “Trump Donor Record”, November 24:

“Friend, Did you see the President’s email?

“We pulled the records of his most LOYAL supporters - the ones who have been there for him no matter what. Unfortunately, your donor record showed up in the BOTTOM 1% of all Trump Supporters.

“President Trump REALLY needs you right now. Why haven’t you stepped up?

“The truth is, we are pacing BEHIND our Election Defense Fund Goal. If we don’t do something quick, we risk LOSING America to BIG GOVERNMENT SOCIALISTS.

“If every supporter took action and contributed TODAY, we’d be back on track and would have what it takes to SAVE AMERICA from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“Please make your FIRST EVER contribution of $10 or more by 11:59 PM TONIGHT to the Official Election Defense Fund and to help President Trump SAVE AMERICA.”

Although I have read some of the these emails, I don’t necessarily agree with all their contents; I haven’t contributed a single dollar or the amount being asked because I am not convinced that the election was rigged as alleged.

I am preserving them for “souvenir” and for record purposes as part of my coverage of the U.S. Presidential Election 2020.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

 

Why some Pinoys didn’t vote

“Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country and this world.”

—Sharon Salzberg

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

NOT all of the qualified 80,000 Filipino-American voters in New York City had cast their votes in the recent U.S. Presidential Election 2020.

Sources from the Confederation of Filipino-American Society for Democracy (CFSD) said about 85 percent of the Filipino population in the East Coast’s Big Apple voted for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the Democratic Party candidates in the Senate and House of Representatives.

About 12 percent reportedly went for President Trump and the Republican Party, while three percent either voted for other candidates or didn’t vote.

Jo Jorgensten of the Libertarian Party and Howie Hawkins of Green Party were penciled to finish second and third, respectively, behind Mr. Biden (Democratic Party) and Mr. Trump (Republican Party).

Other presidential candidates were Gloria La Riva (Socialism and Liberation Party), Rocky De La Fuente (Alliance Party), Don Blankenship (Constitution Party), Brock Pierce (Independent), Kanye West (Birthday Party), Brian Carroll (American Solidarity), and Jade Simmons (Becoming One Nation Party).

 

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“I voted three times in the past: Obama versus McCain; Obama versus Romney; and Trump versus Clinton, but this time, I did not,” revealed Renier Dimasalang (not his real name), 56, who works as a security staff in a Lower Manhattan entertainment studio.

“I felt bad that they (Republicans and Democrats) didn’t push through with the second stimulus package (for Americans who lost their jobs due to pandemic). Binibitin pa kami yun wala hindi naman nila ibinigay bago mag eleksyon (they gave us a false promise).”

Dimasalang said he and his older brother and sister, both medical frontliners in Brooklyn and Queens, respectively, “are Democrats by heart but were so disappointed (that the second stimulus did not arrive).”

The House of Representatives and the Senate failed to pass the second stimulus package before the election, thus President Donald Trump had urged the lawmakers to “go back to the negotiation table” after the election.

 

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Erlinda Sulit (not her real name), 65, of Corona, Queens said she did not vote this year “dahil nabuwisit ako sa mga kasama ko sa bahay (because I was pissed off with my companions in our apartment).”     

Sulit said her husband who died two years ago was a big fan of the Democratic Party. 

“We voted for Hillary (Clinton) in 2016. When my husband, who was a retired teacher (in Bataan, Philippines) died, I lost my interest in politics here in America,” narrated Sulit, a caregiver in Lexington, Manhattan.

“When I transferred to a new apartment, my three companions, all Filipinos, had convinced me to vote for President Trump and they all believed in the conspiracy theory that the Democrats are evil, thieves and perverts.”

Sulit said she pretended she believed them but decided not to vote “in order not to make them feel bad.”

Gerardo Pinto (not his real name), 53,  said he and his wife, a baby-sitter in Park Avenue, Manhattan, failed to vote because they were working.  

“Sayang ang dalawang boto para sana kay Biden pero alam naman namin na mananalo siya,” Pinto said. “Pinayagan naman kami ng mga boss namin na mag absent para bomoto pero we decided to work sayang kasi ang sueldo if we missed one day of work.”

 

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New York City’s Filipino population was the fourth largest Asian ethnic group in New York City, behind Chinese, Indians and Koreans.

Relative to all residents, Filipinos in New York City were more likely to be: working-age adults, better educated, proficient in English, higher income, and living in overcrowded housing.

From 2010 to 2015, according to the Asian American Federation,  the Filipino alone or in combination population in New York City increased by 5 percent from 81,200 to 85,065–a faster growth than the city’s overall 4 percent increase but less than the 13 percent growth of the total Asian population. 

The Filipino population alone population increased by 0.3 percent from 72,156 in 2010 to 72,398 in 2015.

New York City was home to 60 percent of New York State’s Filipino residents. The majority (54 percent) of Filipino New Yorkers lived in Queens. 

The remainder lived mostly in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The share of Filipino population among the five boroughs did not appreciably change from 2010 to 2015. 

The neighborhoods with the largest Filipino populations include Woodside, Elmhurst, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica Estates, and Queens Village in Queens Borough.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

‘I still love President Trump’

“One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are.” 

—Cal Thomas

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

NO one is so saddened and “deeply wounded” emotionally and mentally than Luis Lomuntad, President Donald Trump’s No. 1 supporter in the Filipino community in Elmhurst neighborhood here in Queens, New York City.

GALINEA (left below wearing a mask) tells Lomuntad: “Move on ka na lang pare.”

“Muntik na silang mag suntukan dito kaninang umaga (November 8, Sunday). Hindi nila dapat pinatulan si Luis. Mabait siyang tao at mahal na mahal nia si (President) Trump (They nearly came to blows this morning. They shouldn’t be too harsh on him. He is a good man and he loves President Trump,” reported Joseph “Pinky” Nocum a.k.a. “Mang Pepeng.”

Nocum, 82, a confessed former gunrunner in Guimba, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines before the Martial Law in the 70s, is one of Lomuntad’s two most loyal pals in this predominantly Asian community, a neighborhood in the borough of Queens bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railroad on the west.

The other is “Mang Peter”, 80, who lives in New Jersey.

Lomuntad always spent his “precious” time with Nocum and “Mang Peter” because “they were the only Filipinos who agreed with him (Lomuntad) that President Trump is a good leader,” said Camelo “Jun” Galinea, 64, a Biden supporter. 

Nocum described Lomuntad’s mood as “so depressed and he needs understanding.” 

Nocum said somebody from the Filipino community “chided” Lomuntad, 63, holder of official “Trump 2020 gold card” for refusing to accept President Trump’s defeat to President elect-Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the November 3 U.S. Presidential Election 2020.

 

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“Natural lang na lalaban siya. Hindi nia matanggap na natalo si (President) Trump. He (Lomuntad) believes the president was cheated,” added Nocum, who arrived in New York City in 1971.

Nocum said he learned that “even the dead were allowed to vote in Pennsylvania and other states.”

Nocum who voted for President Trump, confirmed that Lomuntad, the most passionate and probably one of the most loyal supporters of Mr. Trump in the community, was “hurting so much.”

I met Lomuntad at past 8 o’clock in the evening on November 8 and he was fuming mad that “they cheated (referring to the Democrats and Mr. Biden).”

“I am not optimistic that President Trump will win in his protest (against the alleged election fraud),” Lomuntad, an employee of Staten Island Ferry, sobbed. 

“If all the people, including the retired generals associated and loyal to President Trump na pinahiya nila (Democrats) at sinira ang buhay ay hindi nagkamit ng hustisya si President Trump pa kaya?”

Lomuntad confirmed Nocum’s story that he had a heated tiff with a fellow Filipino-American whom he did not identify in the community earlier.

He said, “the Democrats didn’t like President Trump because he drained the swamp. Marami sa kanila mga corrupt.” 

 

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“Sabi kasi nia (the fellow Fil-Am) bakit hindi na lang daw ako mag move on dahil talo na si President Trump. Eh they were the same people who told me not to move on when President Trump was being harassed and persecuted by the Democrats,” teary-eyed Lomuntad gushed. “I still love President Trump. Hirap ako maka move on dahil dinaya nila ang election. Saan ka naman makakita na sa 153,000 votes that were tabulated maski isa walang boto si President Trump puro kay Biden lahat?”

Galinea convinced Lomuntad to “accept the election result and move on.”

Lomuntad turned his back and silently walked away.

There was no evidence that the presidential race was rigged as claimed by Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden clinched the presidency after cornering 290 Electoral College votes and 75,404,182 popular votes as of midnight November 8, while Mr. Trump garnered 214 Electoral College votes and 70,903,094 Electoral College votes.

The number of Electoral College and popular votes for both candidates are expected to increase. Mr. Biden needed only 270 to clinch the victory.

 

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Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris, a former senator from California, were planning their transition effort, including the establishment of a coronavirus task force set to be unveiled November 9.

The moves by the president-elect and vice president-elect come as former President George W. Bush became the latest big name in U.S. politics to congratulate the Democrats on their victory.

President Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly continued to tweet false claims that the election was marked by fraud. 

He spent much of Sunday at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, reportedly marking his 210th day golfing since becoming president.

On November 8 afternoon, Mr. Trump complained about news outlets’ decision November 7 to call the race for Mr. Biden. 

“Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?” Trump tweeted. “We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

 

 

 

Filipinos in New York crowd

“The false pride of perennial celebration, of wearing flag lapel pins while betraying the values that the flag stands for, is like the self-esteem curriculum for toddlers, where everything is praised and no achievement ultimately has meaning.”

—Anne-Marie Slaughter

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I SPOTTED several Filipino-Americans in a large crowd that stormed the Times Square in Manhattan, New York City in the morning until evening on November 7 (Saturday) when major television networks in the United States called Joseph R. Biden Jr.  or “Joe Biden” as the winner in the U.S. Presidential Election 2020 after vaulting into the magic 270 Electoral College votes after bringing home Pennsylvania’s 20 Electoral College votes for a total of 290 Electoral College votes.

Biden was expected to collect 306 Electoral College votes when tabulations from Nevada, Arizona, and even Georgia would be finalized where the President-elect was leading.

New York City, a blue state, was among the cities in the United States that celebrated as soon as Mr. Biden’s win was flashed in the major television networks.

I saw several Filipinos chanting “we did it”, “God bless America”, “we won”, “Biden, Biden, Biden”, “thank God it’s over”, among the crowd as thousands of people poured into Times Square, where waves of cheering crashed through the crowd again and again. 

People shouted “U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” even as “Trump, you’re fired”, another popular chant that echoed through the square.

 

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“Halika kayo doon tayo (Come, let’s go there),” an elderly woman told three other family members, all women, as they buried themselves into a horde of warm bodies gyrating and singing while toting placards and streamers bearing the names of Biden-Harris.

Mr. Biden would be the 46^th President of the most powerful country in the world, while Harris would be the first woman of color of Asian descent to sit as vice president.

There are approximately 21.4 million people of Asian descent living in the United States, according to a 2016 U.S. Census estimate. They come from more than 20 countries and are now the fastest growing major racial or ethnic group in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

I also spotted two more Tagalog-speaking couple who crisscrossed the Square that was allowed to be occupied by the people until six o’clock in the evening before traffic was resumed.

They were members of LGBT and were shouting “Oh my God it’s all over! Masyado tayong pinahirapan ni Trump (Trump made life difficult for us).” They didn’t elaborate.

LGBT rights in the US have evolved over time and vary on a state-by-state basis. 

Sexual acts between persons of the same sex have been legal nationwide in the U.S. since 2003, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence versus Texas. Anti-discrimination laws vary by state.

Several Muslims were also seen in the crowd, some of them didn’t join the dancing and chanting in the middle of the road. 

They loudly and seriously read the Koran in the sidewalks where a few individuals followed and listened to them.

A crowd also assembled near Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to cheer his “downfall”.

One one, wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt, walked along the street with a cardboard sign that read, “You’re fired” while his companion waved an American flag.

 

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Many immigrants, mostly Latinos and young males and females were also in the crowd clad in American flags. Some ladies cried ang hugged each other in between dance and shout.

Gloria Dayupan, 19, a freshman in a Brooklyn college, who moved to New York from Dagupan City in the Philippines two years ago, stood on the sidewalk beaming through her coronavirus face mask. 

Dayupan and her friend Amalyn Suyom, 20, of Anini-y, Antique, had left the dining hall on campus and rushed to Times Square to join in the celebration. 

Dayupan and Suyom said they were proud of the role their parents, all voters, played in seeing to it President Trump would not be reelected.

“We couldn’t vote yet,” gushed Dayupan. “Maybe in 2024.”

The celebration started with a low rumble that sounded like faraway crowd noise coming from a football stadium. 

Then came the loud honking of car horns. Some people dashed out of their apartments and began dancing in the streets, joined by others who banged on pots and pans. One man popped open a bottle of champagne in the middle of a Brooklyn block.

Many New York City neighborhoods erupted in celebration after major news organizations declared that Mr. Biden Jr. had won by a large margin.

The New York Times reported that the response recalled the cheers for essential workers that had broken out in the first months of the pandemic at 7 p.m. every night in the city. 

The celebration lasted for hours, as people poured into the city’s parks and squares to cheer and dance on an unexpectedly warm fall day that seemed to fuel the festive mood.

“I feel like I’ve been holding my breath,” Justin Oakley, 30, a web developer, said, quoted by New York Times, as rejoicing rippled through Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

“We’ve been through so much, the city has been through so much this year, I’ve been to so many protests. But now it’s like, ah, finally, something to celebrate.”

 

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Nearby, a runner screamed, “Oh my God, oh my God, I don’t believe it!,” stopping dead in her tracks as she saw the news come across her phone, reported the New York Times.

“Believe it, believe it!” a cyclist yelled, ringing his bike bell as hundreds of people in the park burst out clapping and hollering, the paper added.

Kevin La Moureaux, 26, a medical student at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, was propping himself up on a light pole on Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, as he shouted “Let’s go!” to the drivers honking their horns, added the paper, which exposed in a controversial but bombastic article that Mr. Trump paid only $750 in income tax in the first year after he was elected in 2016.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo).

 

 

Trump is history

“Regardless of who wins, an election should be a time for optimism and fresh approaches.”

—Gary Johnson

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT appears that former Vice President Joseph Biden will be declared as the 46^thpresident of the United States of America.

This possibility came after he wrested the two prized swing states: Wisconsin (10 Electoral College votes) and Michigan (16 Electoral College votes).

Losing these two battleground states that turned red in 2016 hurt Mr. Trump deeply.

As we went to bed, Biden had a commanding 264 Electoral College votes as against President Donald Trump’s 214 Electoral College votes after Mr. Biden flipped the decisive Arizona (11 Electoral College votes).

The U.S. President Election 2020 will be over if Nevada (6 Electoral College votes), which is expected to submit its results noontime on November 5 (U.S. time), will go for Biden, who will romp off with the magic 270 Electoral College votes.

If Mr. Biden, 77, will win Nevada and was expected to collect another 20 Electoral College votes in Pennsylvania (pending the canvassing of the 2.5 million mail-in votes), he will run away with 290 Electoral College votes, more than enough to clinch the White House.

If Mr. Trump, 74, will win North Carolina (15), Georgina (16), and Pennsylvania (20), they will only give him additional 51 Electoral College votes. Plus his 214 before we went to bed, it’s only 265 Electoral College Votes.

 

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But Pennsylvania was penciled to slip away from Mr. Trump making his chances of being reelected nil.

Thus Mr. Trump wanted governors in the remaining pivotal key battleground states to rev up his attempt to delay Mr. Biden’s possible clinching of the states’ Electoral College votes by filing electoral suits claiming without evidence that the election in these states had been rigged.

The governors, concerned for their political future, were adamant to obey Mr. Trump thus he reportedly deployed some of his lawyers to the disputed battleground states in a hope to collect “evidence” of an unproven fraud.

So far, only Mr. Trump was crying “he was robbed” while most of his Republican allies refused to validate his allegations which were not substantiated.

 

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As expected, Mr. Trump has carried the crucial battleground states of Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Iowa, but Biden has finally bagged Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Some states’ results may not be known for days or even weeks because of the many postal ballots cast in this election compared to the number of votes cast in 2016 when Mr. Trump thumped Hillary Clinton.

More than 100 million Americans voted early or by post, suggesting a record turnout.

In another development, the Democrats’ hopes of gaining control of the Senate were fading after Republicans held on to closely fought seats in South Carolina and Iowa. 

It was reported that control of the Senate may come down to a Georgia special election that will be decided in a run-off in January. 

Three Senate seats have flipped: Democrats ousted Republican incumbents in Colorado and Arizona, while Republicans gained a seat in Alabama.

The Democrats are poised to maintain control of House of Representatives.

 

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‘SAYANG SI TRUMP.’ Norvin Verzosa, 50, a former member of the the Philippine Air Force and one of Mr. Trump’s Filipino-American supporters told this writer yesterday he “grieved” for President Trump’s impending defeat but he wants all Fil-Ams who voted for Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump to unite and move on.

“This is only an election. Whoever is our president, it doesn’t matter as long as we are all united,” said Versoza, who hails from Ilog, Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.

Mr. Trump, he said, has long campaigned on "America First" principles, and has pushed for bringing jobs and manufacturing back to the US.

During his first campaign, Versoza said Mr Trump promised huge tax cuts for working Americans, to lower the corporate tax rate, to shake up the trade status quo and to revive American manufacturing.

On some of those, he has delivered.

“He was a very good leader before the pandemic came,” Verzosa said.

In the last four years, Mr. Trump reportedly rolled back federal regulations on businesses, enacted corporate and income tax cuts and signed executive orders supporting preferences for domestic-made products.

Since January 2017, the US has added more than 480,000 manufacturing jobs, though analysts say growth in the sector is slowing down and Mr Trump's related policies—like tariffs—have not addressed the structural issues at play.

Verzosa said he is willing to support Mr. Biden if he will be officially declared as the new president.

(The author who is now based in New York City is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo)