The response to the new book, “Fire and Fury,” has not only claimed the political power of Steve Bannon — at least for the moment — but it’s also led to serious questions about President Trump’s mental fitness to do his job. Mike Tackett of the New York Times explores the significance of the book.
Was the creation of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity a serious effort to weed out improper voting by those not qualified to cast ballots? Or was it just a cover for President Trump to make his case that the only reason he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016 was because of the illegal votes cast by millions? Matt Dunlap, the secretary of state of Maine, and Democrat, and a strong skeptic of the commission he had just served on, offers his opinion.
In Ohio, site of a key Senate race this year, the Republicans lost their leading candidate when Josh Mandel withdrew, citing his wife’s illness. Howard Wilkinson of Cincinnati’s WVXU analyzes the race and questions the vulnerability of the Senate seat’s occupant, Democrat Sherrod Brown.
And the recent controversy over a tie-vote in a Virginia state legislative election reminded some of a close election contest three decades ago in Indiana — and how a Democratic-majority in the House controversially decided the issue. Ned Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University and the author of a book about disputed elections, recalls the 1984-85 McCloskey vs. McIntyre battle in Indiana’s “Bloody Eighth” district.
Music used in this podcast:
Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
State of Shock by The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger