Read on Twitter
A lot of southern states are in play this year in a way they haven’t been before. Concerns about Trump defaming the presidential office, his mishandling of the pandemic and also broader demographic change have all unlocked previous Republican strongholds for Joe Biden.
We’ve been to Texas, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. We’re also going to hit North Carolina before DC. This is what we’ve seen.
Texas could go blue in 2020, if this happens the GOP are effectively locked out of the Oval Office until they win it back. Combined with California and New York, the Democrats would be blessed with a glut of electoral college votes.
The state’s urban centres, like Dallas in this video, are filled with progressive liberals.
Every single person we vox popped either advocated universal healthcare or expressed serious dissatisfaction with the current system. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1321591200189698048
Every single person we vox popped either advocated universal healthcare or expressed serious dissatisfaction with the current system. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1321591200189698048
As you can see, there’s a large number of Hispanic people in the city. This increasing population, combined with suburbanisation, is swinging Texas toward the Democrats. Beto O’Rourke’s efforts to franchise unregistered voters also can’t be overlooked.
The question is...
The question is...
Will these groups outweigh the hardcore conservatives of rural Texas, which is colossal to the point of seeming endless.
They’re people like this - self-described rednecks who love guns, God and willingly travel the country promoting Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1321833140839763968
They’re people like this - self-described rednecks who love guns, God and willingly travel the country promoting Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1321833140839763968
The political battle is obviously more nuanced than this but that’s the top line.
At the border with Mexico people like Danny Perales encapsulate the complexity of the choice voters face. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322215430266769409
At the border with Mexico people like Danny Perales encapsulate the complexity of the choice voters face. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322215430266769409
Danny was a border agent for 30 years, he’s also an avid birder, and totally opposed to The Wall
because he thinks current security is adequate and construction would destroy the natural habitat for his beloved Morelet’s seedeater.
He voted Trump in 2016 and again in 2020...
because he thinks current security is adequate and construction would destroy the natural habitat for his beloved Morelet’s seedeater. He voted Trump in 2016 and again in 2020...
... in spite of all this because of the broader Republican platform with which he aligns.
Georgia has a similar political landscape.
Cities like Atlanta = Democrat
Rural countryside = Republican
Cities like Atlanta = Democrat
Rural countryside = Republican
We met with a group of pole dancers trying to energise black male voters by, you guessed it, ‘poll’ dancing.
While their message is bipartisan, the obvious consequence of this would be a surge in Democrat support and potentially flip the state blue. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322542799720456193
While their message is bipartisan, the obvious consequence of this would be a surge in Democrat support and potentially flip the state blue. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322542799720456193
Not an hour’s drive out of Atlanta and we were with a moonshine drinking, AR-15 shooting alt right militia.
They didn’t really know what to say when we told them where we’d been and showed them the above video. They were impressed by my pole dancing effort.
They didn’t really know what to say when we told them where we’d been and showed them the above video. They were impressed by my pole dancing effort.
Much has been made of groups like this potentially taking to the streets in the event of a contested election result in support of Donald Trump.
I can’t speak for other groups, but my read on these guys was that they prefer playing toy soldiers in the woods to actual action. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1323282151392104448
I can’t speak for other groups, but my read on these guys was that they prefer playing toy soldiers in the woods to actual action. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1323282151392104448
At this point, an aside on the coronavirus pandemic. Most shops require mask wearing and downtown areas are dead quiet.
Not in Atlanta, the pole dancers told us their business had improved. The strip club was booming and people were flying in from across the US to party. https://twitter.com/joe_co_uk/status/1322581485149396992
Not in Atlanta, the pole dancers told us their business had improved. The strip club was booming and people were flying in from across the US to party. https://twitter.com/joe_co_uk/status/1322581485149396992
When lockdown 2 was announced in the UK we pulled over in Macon, a city in Georgia which fully reopened in the summer, to chat to them about their experience.
They were nearly unanimous in saying some degree of normalcy has to resume and avoid shuttering businesses. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322924460291379208
They were nearly unanimous in saying some degree of normalcy has to resume and avoid shuttering businesses. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1322924460291379208
And in Florida people literally do not give a fuck.
We were actually accosted for wearing masks at this Boaters for Trump event in Fort Myers. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1323242694525751298
We were actually accosted for wearing masks at this Boaters for Trump event in Fort Myers. https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1323242694525751298
I’ll update this as we go. Thanks for reading down this far. 
And a much bigger thank you to @JNkappers for being a stone cold killer so far - every day spending more time behind a wheel than in bed and getting most of his shots in focus.
And a much bigger thank you to @JNkappers for being a stone cold killer so far - every day spending more time behind a wheel than in bed and getting most of his shots in focus.
This trip would also have fallen apart on the first day without the support of the @PoliticsJOE_UK team in London - that includes but is not limited to @richcooper @johnadambreslin @frangolinski and @AuroreKaddachi.
Allez allez.
Allez allez.
In Fort Myers, Florida we joined Boaters for Trump.
Supporters claimed their last flotilla was a world record 11,000 boats (no idea on that one).
At a guess there were maybe 1,000 there.
Supporters claimed their last flotilla was a world record 11,000 boats (no idea on that one).
At a guess there were maybe 1,000 there.
It’s events like this that were missed in 2016 by all the Hillary predictions.
They are organised over Facebook all across the US and often go unreported. It’s indicative of a fervent grassroots movement that is very difficult to measure or gauge.
They are organised over Facebook all across the US and often go unreported. It’s indicative of a fervent grassroots movement that is very difficult to measure or gauge.
We’ve not seen any event like this for Biden since we got here - but I think that’s to do with a rational fear of the coronavirus than lack of political hype.
Florida felt like the most down-the-middle state we visited. No obvious demarcations between Trump and Biden supporters. Lawn signs basically alternating.
Trump supporters confident of a landslide, as you’d expect them to be but for me seemed way more even and...
Trump supporters confident of a landslide, as you’d expect them to be but for me seemed way more even and...
... as they say, as goes Florida so goes the nation. Since 1964 whoever has won here has won the White House.
