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Friends,

Joe Biden won by at least 7 million more votes than Donald Trump, the largest popular vote difference since 1932. Yet a shift of 65,000 votes would have given Trump a victory in the Electoral College and a second term. We don't need to abolish the Electoral College, which would require a constitutional amendment, to ensure that the winner of the popular vote wins the presidency.

If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is joined by states whose electoral votes total at least 270, then those states would award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of who won their particular state, guaranteeing that the winner of the popular vote is elected president. Jurisdictions totaling 196 electoral votes have thus far joined the compact. Michael Tarnoff, the founder of Make Every Vote Matter, wrote this explainer and can be reached by email for more information.

Fight antisemitism by supporting Rev. Raphael Warnock in the January 5 Georgia runoff election. Preeminent Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt set the record straight regarding Warnock, adding that "there is a second side to this story, one that too many people — including many Jews — have ignored or diminished in importance. I find it intriguing if not maddening that many people seem unconcerned about the way in which Senator Loeffler has made common cause with people directly associated with QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy group that peddles — overtly and covertly — conspiracy theories and antisemitism."

Loeffler warmly embraced the endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the anti-Semitic QAnon supporters who was just elected to Congress.

You might think that Trump's defeat would convince Republicans to leave the world of misinformation and alternative reality behind, but the mud they are slinging at Warnock shows that the party once of Lincoln now clings to the hope that it can fool all of the people all of the time. The truth, which I encourage you to share, is that Warnock is an ally in the fight against antisemitism, and Warnock is pro-Israel.

The U.S. needs a new strategy for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A two-state solution remains the best solution for resolving the conflict and ensuring Israel's viability as a Jewish, democratic state. Ilan Goldenberg, Michael Koplow, and Tamara Cofman Wittes explain that Trump "fundamentally undercut the U.S. role in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking by taking a one-sided approach, rejecting core principles that underlay Arab-Israeli peace for decades, and aligning the United States with Israeli far-right policies while freezing out the Palestinians.

"But U.S. policy in the pre-Trump era, under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, also failed to produce lasting peace, and a simple return to those policies will not succeed." The Biden administration would do well to consider these recommendations as it re-calibrates U.S. policy in the region, and you would do well to read their report.

Indeed, Commanders for Israel's Security last week warned against "stealth annexation" and "the slide towards a single state reality between the Jordan and the sea," reiterating that "only separation into two states will prevent the disaster of a single state that is neither Jewish nor democratic nor reflect the spirit of Israel’s Declaration of Independence."

U.S. and Israeli interests are aligned on the need for a two-state solution. The quid pro quos Trump made to broker normalization deals, far from compensating for his missed opportunities regarding Israel and the Palestinians, are bad policy on their own merits.

Why do Republicans hate John Kerry? My theory is that on some reptilian level, Republicans can understand why minorities and those not in the 1% would vote Democratic--no one understands naked self-interest better than Republicans. But it's harder for them to understand why a privileged, wealthy white male would work on behalf of the less fortunate and for the planet.

The latest round of Kerry-bashing revolves around one minute of a 75-minute speech in which Kerry said "if Israel goes down the one state path, it will never have true peace with the rest of the Arab world, and I can say that with certainty. The Arab countries have made clear that they will not make peace with Israel without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Four Arab states not at war with Israel have normalized relations with Israel. Kerry's opponents are having a field day.

There are 22 Arab countries, not four. You'd think the people who demanded recount after recount in the last election might wait to see what other Arab countries do before rendering a verdict. Circumstances have changed in four years. Kerry's critics did not question him at the time for these statements, and if the Arab world does make peace with Israel without a two-state solution, we would do well to remember what John Maynard Keynes said when he was called out for changing his mind: "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"

More important, Kerry can only be wrong if Israel has gone "down the one-state path," and if that's what Kerry's critics think, then the headline writers missed a major story. Kerry's speech is too long to watch, but you should read it. He's still right about everything else, and the part he's being unfairly lambasted on is a peripheral point. His main point was that Israel needs a two-state solution for its own sake, and the points he made four years ago are the points that Commanders for Israel's Security made last week.

This back and forth between Kerry and Rep. John Massie (R-KY) remains a classic.

The deficit is not a problem. Get ready for more hypocrisy from Republicans about the national deficit. Your budget is your values. The same Republicans who gave more than a trillion dollars to the wealthiest Americans will suddenly become penny pinchers when it comes to helping everyone else. The biggest mistake Democrats could make is falling into the trap of conceding that these worries about the deficit make sense in an economy like ours.

Stephanie Kelton explains, and Democrats should explain, that "the only economic constraints currency-issuing states face are inflation and the availability of labor and other material resources in the real economy."

Increasing the deficit is not per se bad, and in some cases, such as our current situation, is what we need. Making policy based on the false premise that the federal government needs to balance its budget the way a household or state government does betrays an astonishing ignorance of basic economics. The American people will suffer the consequences of a severely underfunded COVID relief bill. The importance of the bill under consideration should not be minimized, but it is not nearly enough, and we can afford much more.

Last week's newsletter.

ICYMI. Why we should re-enter the JCPOA (Iran Deal).

Tweet of the Week. Mikel Jollett.

Twitter Thread of the Week.  Old movie stars caricatured in classic cartoons.

Video Clip of the Week. Someone on Biden's team called Republicans the F word.

Political Ad of the Week. Running together with shared values (30 seconds).

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The Fine Print: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more. Intelligent, well-informed people may disagree with me; read opposing views and decide for yourself. A link to an article doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. I take pride in accurately reporting the facts on which I base my opinions. Tell me if you spot any inaccuracies, typos, or other mistakes so that I can correct them in the next newsletter (and give you credit if you want it). Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links. © 2020 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.