Postcards from the People’s Republic of Portland:

GRAPHIC: With the streets in downtown Portland occupied by BLM & antifa rioters, a man crashed his car. The mob pulled him out & beat him senseless in front of the passenger. He’s bleeding & unconscious. No police. Video by @livesmattershow. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/jjnt5dUeb8

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020

This is the moment immediately before. The mob assaults him and makes him sit in the ground while they search his belongings. When he stands up, they brutally beat him. #PortlandRiots #antifa #BlackLivesMatter Video by @livesmattershow pic.twitter.com/tEzpIz6V9U

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020

Earlier: Rioters stand over the unconscious man’s body after they beat him. They pour water on him and shout in support of Black Lives Matter. Antifa street medics are examining him. He’s not responsive. #PortlandRiots #BlackLiveMatter Video @FromKalen. pic.twitter.com/aI5emSRATI

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020

The man who was filmed kicking this man’s head when he was already on the ground wore a vest that says “SECURITY.” He’s part of the marauding BLM security at the protests in Portland. These are the people protesters want to replace police with. https://t.co/8YtngC61Mb

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020

“We’re just walking down the street. Leave us alone!”

Footage from tonight in Portland showing people from the BLM protest walking around downtown appearing to assault more random white people. #PortlandRiots #BlackLivesMatter Video by @livesmattershow pic.twitter.com/Pmm7jfawDP

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020

In no doubt related news, a new CNN poll shows that the Trump-Biden race has significantly narrowed. Biden is now only four points up on Trump among registered voters. More:

Across 15 battleground states, the survey finds Biden has the backing of 49% of registered voters, while Trump lands at 48%.

The pool of battleground states in this poll includes more that Trump carried in 2016 (10) than were won by Hillary Clinton (5), reflecting the reality that the President’s campaign is more on defense than offense across the states. Taken together, though, they represent a more Republican-leaning playing field than the nation as a whole.

The movement in the poll among voters nationwide since June is concentrated among men (they split about evenly in June, but now 56% back Trump, 40% Biden), those between the ages of 35 and 64 (they tilt toward Trump now, but were Biden-leaning in June) and independents (in June, Biden held a 52% to 41% lead, but now it’s a near even 46% Biden to 45% Trump divide).

That’s a poll among registered voters. An ABC/Washington Post poll of likely voters shows that Biden still has a comfortable lead.Maybe that CNN poll is flukey. I’m inclined to think so. But I also expect this race to tighten considerably.

For the record, insofar as I understand the post office controversy, I think it’s appalling, banana republic stuff that Trump says he’s trying to starve the US Postal Service of money to thwart mail-in balloting. But I have to remind you that most people aren’t afraid of a dysfunctional post office. Ordinary people are scared that under Democratic rule, what we see in Portland is going to become the new normal in many other places. My uncle is a gun aficionado, and went to see his local dealer last week. The dealer told him that his most recent big shipment of ammo sold out completely in 18 minutes. A tiny data point, but, I think, an indicative one. I’ve heard the same anecdotes from friends all over the country.

This is primal stuff. There are people who cannot stand Trump, and think he’s a lousy president, but who, having seen the rioting this summer, and the ongoing antifa travesty of lawlessness that is deep-blue Portland, genuinely fear that Democrats in power will spread this stuff. How? By being afraid to tackle it for fear of seeming bigoted and authoritarian. Bill de Blasio’s mayoral regime in New York has been catastrophic for the city. The Democrats’ fecklessness does not make Trump a good president, but it does, for many people, make him seem like less of a risk than the alternative.

If I were betting, I would still say that Biden wins, because so many factors line up against Trump. But the skyrocketing crime and the rioting in the cities are factors that the Democrats can’t control — and which penetrate deeply into the psyches of voters.

UPDATE: Reader The Jones writes:

Rod, I think your citation of the Washington Post is wrong. I know the headline says “Trump blurts out his true motive on mail-in voting,” but it is not at all proven of what you claimed: “Trump says he’s trying to starve the USPS of money to thwart mail-in voting.”

The fact of the matter is that the USPS is ALREADY starving, and the thing being debated (and wrongly reported) is that there is a request for ADDITIONAL funding to change what it means to vote across the country. I am WILDLY in favor of Trump opposing this plan, and I am WILDLY in favor of using every means necessary to keep from changing what “casting a ballot” means. And I was never a Trump fan, either. Even though mail-in elections are POSSIBLE to conduct in a good fashion, I can’t be convinced that we can do this nationwide in just a few months. That’s ridiculous. For example, I personally moved since the last election, but stayed in the same voting precinct. I didn’t change my registration, because before this fiasco, it never would have mattered. If a ballot goes out unsolicited to my old address, I won’t get it. That’s a freaking scandal!

So here’s the issue: As best we can tell, widely distributed and un-solicited mail-in ballots will help – Democrats and almost ensure electoral gains. (Trump is not lying when he says that you won’t see another Republican elected again. This is just an unvarnished repeat of what is common knowledge in DC.)
– Not radically expanding mail-in-ballots will keep things mostly the same, due to the lack of info we have on how November will play out.
– There are also plenty of good middle-ground alternatives, like making “the pandemic” a way to affirmatively request a mail-in ballot, which is fine with conservatives (and even Trump himself).

But the Democrats are not in favor of any of that stuff. Their demands are “all mail” because they know its advantages, and they call it “Voting Rights” issue. Shame on them. Just look at the “ballot harvesting” issue in 2016, and people as “establishment” as Paul Ryan were calling foul on that. With the pandemic as the excuse, that practice is being proposed to go across the country.

So let’s recognize the real “banana-republic” type of stuff going on here: The democrats are trying to change what it means to vote in a way that helps them in an election. Bravo to Trump for opposing that. He’s not hurting democracy here. He’s defending it. The Democrats aren’t LBJ liberals. They’re Hugo Chavez liberals.

So this never-Trumper is now saying: Bravo Trump! And keep fighting.