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Texas’ Unverifiable E-Voting Machines Are Packed In Dem Strongholds

With news that Russia tried to hack into U.S. election systems in the 2016 elections, there have been concerns about the security of U.S. voting infrastructure and especially electronic voting machines. Specifically, there have been reports that some electronic voting machines can be manipulated remotely without leaving a trace. Even more troubling is the fact that such remote manipulation could even result in changing of vote totals on election day. These concerns are not new and have lingered for quite some time, yet even after the Russia experience in the 2016 elections, state election officials have not yet convinced the public(certainly not in Texas) that they can totally prevent such intrusions.


Unlike his counterparts in other states, the Texas Secretary of State has been notoriously unresponsive to questions about the security of Texas voting systems. The WV Secretary of State for example responded to questions from Election Integrity advocate Jennifer Cohn when she sought more information about the state’s newly acquired ES&S machines.

The same desire by Secretaries of State to answer the public’s questions is also evident in other states but for some peculiar reason, there’s a zero desire for public accountability from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. The best the Texas Secretary of State’s office has done to respond to public concerns about election security is the release of this 2/22/2018 YouTube Video of a Texas Senate Hearing on election security. Yours Truly has gone through the video and found the questioning by State Senator Judith Zaffirini(D-Laredo) beginning at 32:15 to be the most interesting.

From the excellent questions by Dem Senator Zaffirini we find out that out of the 254 Texas Counties, 164 use DREs which have no paper trail and that these DREs are predominantly used in large counties. This should send all kinds of alarm bells to the DNC because the large counties in Texas usually contain the large cities(Houston, Dallas, Austin)–ALL MAJOR DEM STRONGHOLDS. In other words, the Texas GOP has packed the unverifiable and easilyhackable DREs in counties where Dems get their most votes.

The DNC owes it to Senate Hopeful Beto O’Rouke and other Dems running in the state to get a DEFINITIVE ANSWER from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office as to exactly which counties are using these DREs and the measures they’ve taken to secure the vote given the fact that the machines don’t have a paper trail.

Better yet the DNC should DEMAND that all Texas voting machines have a paper trail

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Did Russia Funnel Money To TeamTrump Through The NRA?

One of the biggest obstacles for Democrats, especially in the battle for control of State Legislatures has been the powerful gun lobby group National Rifle Association(NRA). Unlike other powerful lobby groups that influence both the Republican and the Democratic Party, the NRA literally has a stranglehold on the Republican party. NRA’s stranglehold on the GOP is so bad, even President Trump recently had to ask GOP Members of Congress not to be “afraid of” the gun lobby group when discussing sensible gun control proposals. Marion Hammer, a powerful NRA lobbyist in Florida for example is so feared by Florida State GOPers, that she’s dubbed “The Real Gov of Florida.” Such is the power the NRA wields over the GOP

https://youtu.be/L6I0zp-lAeo

The troubling news therefore that the FBI is investigating the NRA as a possible vehicle for funnelling Russian money to help Trump in the 2016 elections should be of great concern to Democrats. New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni said on CNN’s Outfront with Erin Burnett that the NRA spent a whopping $30M to help Trump get elected, which is more than they spent the last two Presidential cycles combined. A Russian banker Alexander Torshin who has ties to Putin is an NRA life member and the key suspect in the alleged funnelling scheme. Torshin apparently wanted to create a “back channel” between the Trump Campaign and Russia and one of his associates reportedly told a Trump campaign staffer that “Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump.”(see YouTube video from 14:00 onwards)

Under normal circumstances this would be just another questionable daliance between a powerful U.S. gun lobby group and a foreign financier. However against the backdrop of an ongoing Special Counsel investigation into U.S. election meddling by the Russians, this strange relationship between the NRA and the Putin-allied Russian financier has become a much more serious issue, one that Americans trust Mueller and Co. will get to the bottom of.


It also bears pointing out, as New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni did that Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr, is a major NRA supporter and activist. Trump Jr you’ll remember is already in the middle of a very questionable meeting with Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower. Veselnitskaya has since confessed that she’s an informant for Putin’s Kremlin

Simply put, the NRA-Russia story is a major story that could affect the Dem political fortunes from here on out. According to CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray, the NRA is privately, very concerned about the FBI’s investigation into its ties to the Russian Banker(vid at 14:00). Obviously we Dems have to be patient and allow the feds to conduct their investigation into the NRA but just like Trump used the ongoing Clinton email probe to hamstring her 2016 campaign, there is no reason why the DNC should not pummel NRA-allied GOP candidates over Russian money as we head to Midterms 2018, the perfect target being Sen Ted Cruz

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Dems Must Confront Rebekah Mercer Over Cambridge Analytica

The bombshell revelation yesterday that former Trump Campaign Adviser Steve Bannon instructed Cambridge Analytica to research ways of suppressing the votes of key Dem constituencies should be very alarming to Americans, and Democrats in particular. It is well known that Cambridge Analytica is run in large part by Billionaire heiress & Republican Super Donor Rebekah Mercer, who is very close to President Trump and played a key role in his ascendancy to the Presidency. Both Steve Bannon and current Presidential Adviser Kellyanne Conway got their White House jobs thanks in large part to Rebekah Mercer’s sway with President Trump. You’ll remember that shortly after the release of the best selling book “Fire & Fury” by Michael Wolfe, which contained some very unflattering remarks about Trump that were attributed to Steve Bannon, Rebekah Mercer retaliated by pulling Bannon’s security detail.


It is very clear therefore that Rebekah Mercer, unlike many other GOP donors who supported Trump’s campaign, has remained actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the Trump Administration, including meting out “punishment” when necessary, as we saw with Bannon. News therefore that her outfit Cambridge Analytica may have been engaged in voter suppression schemes targeting core Democratic voters must not be taken lightly.

The DNC must get to the bottom of Cambridge Analytica’s voter suppression schemes. At the minimum, the DNC/Congressional Democrats need to know what exactly Bannon asked Cambridge Analytica to do. Why is that important? Its important because even if it is later found that Bannon’s request never materialized, it may give the public a window into other voter suppression schemes that the GOP is engaged in elsewhere in the country. In other words Bannon’s request may provide a great reference point/lead to anti-voter suppression advocates on the kind of schemes they need to look out for.

Yours Truly has repeatedly stated that Dems must confront the Mercers over Cambridge Analytica and other crooked schemes they are involved with.

The Mercers, like the Koch Brothers are a key part of the GOP Agenda and DNC has to confront them DIRECTLY, not through TV Ads. Bottom line, voter suppression is patently un-American and Dems must treat it as such, beginning with a call to #InvestigateTheMercers!!

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Dems Must Weaponize #TrumpSwamp

One of the biggest promises then candidate Donald Trump made leading up to the 2016 elections was that because he was an outsider, he was the only one capable of taking corruption out of Washington–we all remember the constant “Drain the Swamp” chants at Trump rallies. The reality however has turned out to be the complete opposite. We are only in the second year of the Trump Admin yet Americans are already very alarmed at the shocking levels of government corruption reported in the media. Some are even wondering whether at this level of plunder and pillage, the country can survive 4 years of Trump. Corruption in the Trump Admin has become so prevalent, it has spawned the popular Twitter hashtag #TrumpSwamp.



Americans were initially concerned about Trump's conflicts of interest and violations of the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clause because of the fact that despite promising to do so during the campaign, Trump never fully divested from his vast global business empire upon assuming the presidency.

Concerns about the president's violations of the Emoluments Clause persist to this day and are the subject of several lawsuits. The problem however is that in addition to conflict of interest questions surrounding the president himself, it appears members of his administration are also caught up in all kinds of corrupt schemes. Some of the notable corruption scandals involve EPA Administrator Scott Pruit, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, just to mention but a few.

Message for DNC? Corruption in the Trump Admin has to be a central theme in campaign ads for the various Dems running for office this November. Dems must not only call out these egregious levels of corruption in the Trump Admin but also propose solutions to prevent them from happening again in the future. Even though it is well known that the GOP has its "mandatory voters" on the right and Dems have theirs on the left, there is a huge swath of independent voters who are longing to see these alarming levels of government corruption dealt with. Dems need to win these independent anti-corruption voters.

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Grassroots Dems Infatuated With Sen Kamala Harris

Democrats are looking very strong as we approach the 2018 Midterms thanks in large part to the debacle that is the Trump Admin so naturally, a lot of debate has erupted about what lies ahead for Dems past the 2018 Midterms . Specifically, who will carry the mantle for the Dems in 2020. Seasoned politicos have cautioned that talk about 2020 presidential nominations by Yours Truly and others is way too premature, and rightfully so, but given the current political climate(Trump) it is difficult not to prognosticate about 2020. Simply put, Dems are eager to have one of their own in the White House. Additionally, Dems have a lot of very qualified candidates so why not start vetting them early?



It is very important that whoever the Dems nominate in 2020 be a very strong candidate ready for the inevitable GOP attacks. Equally important, the basis of Yours Truly’s blog, is that the DNC know which candidate Grassroots Dems want, and not just who the Mainstream Media pushes. Yours Truly has conducted a lot of polls (#Dem2020Poll) trying to figure out who Grassroots Dems want on the 2020 ticket. The two most popular candidates are Senator Kamala Harris(D-CA) and Rep Joe Kennedy III(D-MA).

Sen Harris and Rep Kennedy poll exceedingly well but it is clear from the numerous polls that if Dems were to settle on the two, they want Sen Harris to be on top of the ticket. Also very instructive from the numerous iterations of the #Dem2020Poll is that whoever is paired with Rep Joe Kennedy III polls very well whether that be Joe Biden, Rep Adam Schiff etc. It appears therefore from the polls that Grassroots Dems may not be ready to put the young Mass. Rep on top of the 2020 ticket but they certainly want him as somebody’s running mate. Message for the DNC therefore, a Grassroots FYI if you will, is that Rep Kennedy III appears to be the Kingmaker. 

As for Sen Kamala Harris, there are a lot of factors that endear her to Grassroots Dems as gleaned from the various comments on the polls. Her prosecutorial background is a major plus for her especially now when we are dealing with a lawless Trump Admin. She is also considered by many as a fresh face in Washington, which is key for Grassroots Dems. Her strong stance on Criminal Justice Reform is also a big plus for her especially given the fact that she has enlisted GOP Senator Rand Paul in that effort. Her ability to reach across the political aisle and work on issues in a bipartisan way is a rare but much needed quality in today’s Washington. I’d be remiss however if I didn’t add that (yeah it’s shallow) a lot of Grassroots Dems also like Sen Harris and Rep Joe Kennedy III because they are–brace yourselves–cute. This is clearly not their strongest sell but in an increasingly pop culture oriented political climate, its a plus for them

Doing away with the niceties, there are also negatives raised concerning a Kamala Harris 2020 run–some of them quite valid. Yours Truly will address in detail some of the negatives raised as to a Kamala Harris run in a future post. Folks remember Yours Truly is a True Blue Dem and the mission here is to build up our bench not to tear it down. When Yours Truly addresses the Kamala Harris negatives it will be SOLELY for the purpose of giving TeamKamala an opportunity to address the issues long before her possible 2020 run. Remember Dems we’re Stronger Together. We are building each other up not tearing each other down

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GrassrootsDemPolitics

Welcome to GrassrootsDemPolitics, your ultimate source for all insider news about the Democratic Party. This will be your go-to-place for all the info about the Democratic Party that you will not get from the corporate mainstream media. The corporate mainstream media caters to their corporate sponsors. This website cares about only ONE THING–What GRASSROOTS DEMS WANT


At a time of great information overflow(Google, Twitter, 24/7 news etc) it may be hard for Dem decision makers to know what is and what's not. --separate the wheat from the chaff. With elections right around the corner, Dem decision makers will need to know exactly how grassroots Dems think about key issues. As a matter of fact it is this very disconnect between DC Dems and the grassroots that some blame for Hillary Clinton's shocking loss to President Trump. Dems certainly can't afford a repeat of this costly error

Against that backdrop, comes this grassroots website. It bears repeating here that the aim of the author is not to force the hands of Dem decision makers into any particular policy decision, but basically to give them the grassroots Dem view on issues so as to help them make better/more informed decisions--a heads up or FYI if you will

Here at GrassrootsDemPolitics we have what the mainstream media pundits with millions of Twitter followers and endless streams of cash don't have-- WE'VE LITERALLY CORNERED THE MARKET ON THE GRASSROOTS DEM THOUGHT--something the mainstreams wish they had but never will

We will curate grassroots tested issues that Dem decision makers need to know beginning with this one: Grassroots Dems are INFATUATED with Senator Kamala Harris(D-CA)

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