NEWS AND OPINION:
“Voters overwhelmingly believe proof of citizenship should be required for voting in American elections, after Congress recently avoided a government shutdown over the issue,” Rasmussen Reports advises.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 68% of likely U.S. voters want Congress to enact a law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in national elections. Just 22% disagree,” the pollsters said.
The survey of 1,114 likely U.S. voters was conducted online Sept. 18-19 and released Friday.
Hola: A Democrat message
The Democratic National Committee — the DNC of course — has launched what it describes as “a wide-reaching ad campaign blanketing battleground states with English and Spanish billboards to highlight the dangers of Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda.”
Those campaign messages will appear in Reno, Nevada, and Atlanta, Phoenix and Philadelphia. They will offer a singular message.
“These billboards will remind Latino voters of the dangers Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda poses to the economic wellbeing of their families, including how his economic agenda would raise taxes and costs on middle-class families by nearly $4,000 a year,” the committee said in a statement.
“From day one, Democrats have made it a priority to reach Latino voters: where they’re at, in their language, and on the issues they care about. The DNC knows that outreach to Latino voters is critical to Democrats’ success and we aren’t taking a single voter for granted,” DNC Hispanic Media Director Marco Frieri warned in a written statement shared with the Beltway.
The veep no-nos
The vice presidential hopefuls have their media moment on Tuesday night, an event which has already got the agitated press even more agitated. In the meantime, Republican contender J.D. Vance and Democrat hopeful Gov. Tim Walz will be on hand for the 90-minute bout — which will feature only two brief breaks for the pair. Those breaks are four minutes long — that’s a mere 240 seconds. Meanwhile, host network CBS has released 15 rules for the two combatants, who will face one another without an audience.
“The Walz-Vance V.P. debate rules are out — and they guarantee chaos,” The New Republic predicted in an analysis released Friday.
Yes, well. We’ll see. In the meantime, here are just a few of those debate no-nos, verbatim from the list provided by CBS:
Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.
No props or prewritten notes will be allowed on stage.
For each question, the candidate who asked the question will get two minutes to answer and the other candidate will get two minutes to respond.
Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during breaks.
CBS News reserves the right to turn off candidate microphones.
Look for more on this event in the next Beltway column.
Trump’s latest
Former President Donald Trump continues to have a way with words as far as his reelection campaign goes. He’ll be returning to Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday — just a month from Election Day. Yes, he is returning to the same venue where a would-be assassin took a shot at him and bloodied his ear. Two fans in the audience were also injured by the gunfire and one was killed.
“I’ll be holding a rally on the very same ground where I came within a quarter of an inch of losing my life,” Mr. Trump says in a new campaign outreach heralding the event.
“In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word. Every time our nation is struck by attack or hardship, we rally, we persevere, and we prevail. When our communities are ravaged by fire, storm, or natural disaster, we pull together and come back stronger,” Mr. Trump noted in his message.
“And after a shooter attacked our democracy and tried to extinguish our movement, I will return to the site, to celebrate a unifying vision for America’s future. In that Butler field on July 13th, I took a bullet for democracy — and on November 5th, I am going to save our democracy,” he advised.
One for the ‘seniors’
“The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging has released the valuable resource ’Fraud Book 2024: Scams to Watch Out For.’ We at 60 Plus and The American Association of Senior Citizens — applaud this effort to inform our seniors about the numerous scams that are being perpetrated on a daily basis targeting our most vulnerable members of society,” advises Saul Anuzis, president of the two aforementioned organizations.
“We particularly want to thank Sen. Mike Braun, Indiana Republican, for his leadership on this important committee and his efforts to make this resource available. Sen. Braun has been a tireless advocate for senior citizens and we recognize and appreciate his efforts over the years. This book is just the latest example of his commitment to protecting and fighting for seniors,” Mr. Anuzis said in a statement.
It’s available. Download the 94-page book for free at this exact address: https://www.aging.senate.gov/download/2024-fraud-book-english — oh, and there is no period at the end of the online address.
Poll du jour
80% of U.S. adults say that being an American is very important to their personal identity.
94% of Republicans, 80% of Democrats and 80% of independents agree.
68% of U.S. adults say their ancestry or heritage is very important to their personal identity.
74% of Republicans, 71% of Democrats and 66% of independents agree.
57% say the state they live in is very important to their personal identity.
66% of Republicans, 63% of Democrats and 52% of independents agree.
52% say their religious affiliation” is very important to their identity.
68% of Republicans, 46% of Democrats and 50% of independents agree.
43% say their political affiliation is very important to their identity.
54% of Republicans, 58% of Democrats and 29% of independents agree.
Source: A Syracuse University/IPSOS poll of 1,029 U.S. adults conducted online Sept. 20-24.
Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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