Election Stuff: Resuming Regular Order

Well, we're back from the hinterlands, and it's time to resume election watching, both pre and post. I tried to catch stuff as it went by, but I undoubtedly missed some, so that's just water under the bridge. As far as the trip was concerned, nothing of note unless you need to occupy a 5 and a 2 1/2 year old. Slime is a wonderful thing.

At Da Fed, Mark Hemingway discourses on Harvard Law Churns Out Lawyers To Fight Elections In Court Instead Of At The Polls, "Institutions like Harvard are turning out significantly more students with expertise in election law, creating a demand for their expertise and election litigation." The world would be better off if they became baristas. Althouse is on it, "Two programs at Harvard Law show close ties between the school, the Democratic Party, and liberal activist groups with an interest in fighting elections through the judicial system."

"Reporting the launch of the Election Law Clinic in April, Harvard Law Today said participating students will get course credit for working on political campaigns, as well as 'hands-on litigation and advocacy work across a range of election law areas, with an initial focus on redistricting and voter suppression cases. Clinic offerings include federal and state litigation projects, as well as some advocacy opportunities.'... Glenn Reynolds, the libertarian University of Tennessee law professor known for his Instapundit blog, tells RealClearInvestigations that if institutions such as Harvard start turning out significantly more students with expertise in election law, those lawyers will create a demand for their expertise and election litigation. 'That's just how the law works,' he says. The backgrounds of those staffing the putatively nonpartisan Election Law Clinic show a distinct progressive tilt...."

Will Chamberlain at HE, THE PERSECUTION OF JEFFREY CLARK., "The January 6th committee continues its abuse of power." He makes an interesting point you won't see at WaPoo, 

There’s another key point. Not only is the committee using scorched-earth tactics against Clark and other Trump officials, but they are doing so in a completely lawless way and violating their very own charter. The enabling statute of the committee, H. Res. 503, sets out that the committee can only depose witnesses after consulting with the ranking minority member. But—recall that this committee has excluded minority participation from the outset!

The committee has no lawful basis on which to depose anyone.

Back in July, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) selected Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana to serve as the minority members of the committee—and House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) simply refused to seat them. Without a ranking minority member, the committee has no lawful basis on which to depose anyone. It can hold hearings and invite witnesses to voluntarily testify, but its depositions should be seen as unlawful.

Now, you might say, but what about Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger? They are still—somehow—members of the House Republican caucus, and they are on the committee. But here’s the rub: because they were selected by Speaker Pelosi, and not McCarthy, they are not actually part of the “minority” on the committee—they are part of Pelosi’s majority. And indeed, the chairman of the committee seems to understand this fact; that is why Rep. Cheney is the vice-chair of the committee, not the ranking minority member.

Tristan Justice at Da Fed, Democrats’ Jan. 6 Committee Seeks Phone Records Of Private Citizens. "Are you now, or have you ever been a Trump supporter?" At JTN, January 6 House committee looks to change U.S. election law "The (current) law is described as "a very poorly written, ambiguous and confusing statute" by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)." No doubt another attempt to cement in the Democrats. And one of the never-Trumpers at NR chimes right in, Republicans in Congress Should Update the Electoral Count Act Before It’s Too Late, which should be a warning to tread carefully. 

Fox reports the GAO struggles to identify how 20% of federal grants for 2020 voting were spent. Only 20%? Sadly, that's pretty good for government work. 

Georgia Star, Cook Political Report Shifts Eight Governor’s Races Toward GOP. At PJ Media, Rick Moran predicts in A 'Post-Outrage World': Abortion Won't Be the Winning Issue Democrats Think It Will Be. At Haut Hair, Jazz Shaw finds House Dems saying Maybe we should stop talking about Trump all the time. But then you'd have to talk about your policies, and that could be worse! Politico whines Dems plot escape from Biden’s poll woes, "The party's own polling has the president in the red. Lawmakers know they need to get better at selling his agenda to avert midterm disaster." That pig is going to require a lot of lipstick. But not to worry, as WaEx reports Democrats turn to retread candidates ahead of uphill midterm battle. Because nothing says "future" like old, boring candidates. 

“One of the advantages of retread candidates ... is that they already have high name recognition,” Lipson told the Washington Examiner. “That’s what they, in effect, bought and paid for in previous campaigns or elections.”

“The downside of that is that the name recognition may be associated with a negative attitude,” Lipson added.

Georgia Star, again,  Developing: Trump Goads David Perdue to Take on Gov. Kemp in GOP Primary. Althouse reads it in the NYT so you don't need to, "David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and ally of Donald Trump, plans to announce on Monday that he will run in a Republican primary..."

Rick Moran at PJ Media, Half of U.S. States Push Back Against National School Board Letter Suggesting Parents Are Terrorists "According to NRO, “27 state school-board groups have openly dissented from the NSBA’s letter and 17 of those have discontinued membership with the headquarters.” Paul Kengor at Am Spec says Teach MLK, Not CRT, "King would have rejected CRT." And regarding CRT, Noelle Mearing at Am Mind says Not My Kids

And this could fit in almost any category you want, at TNP, Trump Is Right. Mark Milley Is, In Fact, a Fucking Idiot. "The nation's top military officer has a track record of rank stupidity and insubordination."