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]]>Democrats are giddy that Joe Biden was able to read a 20-minute speech from a TelePrompter. Imagine setting the bar that low for the guy you hope to elect president of the United States.
Biden’s speech concluded a four-day dirge, otherwise known as the Democrat National Convention. From every viewpoint, the undertaking was a bust. Ratings for the evening broadcasts ranged from down 27% to down 9% compared to 2016; the best performance came on the night that Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., spoke.
Astonishingly, the last night, when Joe Biden addressed the nation, saw only a 325,000 bump from the preceding evening; in the past three elections, the final night audience surged anywhere from 4.6 to 10.4 million viewers. Uh-oh.
KAY COLES JAMES: FIGHT FOR AMERICA – VOTERS MUST DO THIS TO STOP SOCIALISM AND ANARCHY
Also, the RealClearPolitics average of betting odds shows Biden’s chances drooping every day of the convention; on Aug. 17 he was up by 15.2 points; Sunday pros judged him 12.8 percent more likely to win. At the beginning of the month, he was up by 25.
Who is surprised? Over four evenings, Democrats wallowed in the most depressing rending of garments ever seen on national television.
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When they weren’t berating the nation for being racist, they were accusing President Trump of every sort of villainy, insulting him and by reference the 51% of likely voters who support him.
It’s a darned strange strategy for winning back those swing-state Democrats who came out for Trump in 2016.
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It’s an even weirder way to approach “Uniting America,” which was how Democrats titled their convention.
Rather than celebrating the obvious advances made by black Americans, including the election (twice) of our first African American president and now the first woman of color on a major party ticket, Democrats put combatting racism at the heart of their program
This was a confusing choice, since Democrats presumably have the African American vote locked up. Perhaps it signals concern over recent polling that shows only 47% of Black voters under the age of 30 in swing states planning to vote for Joe Biden; or maybe Democrats think that in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the country places racial concerns above all others.
One view: the Democrats missed their timing. In Gallup’s August poll of which issues Americans consider most important, race ranks below the economy, the coronavirus and “government/poor leadership”; the number of Americans listing “race relations/racism” as the nation’s biggest problem dropped nearly in half between June and August. Those “peaceful protests” over the murder of George Floyd that mushroomed into violent crime sprees in numerous cities may have alienated early supporters.
Who knows what drove the programming decisions? All I know is that the final product had all the bounce and joy of a dumbbell.
Monday the Republicans get their turn at bat; you can bet they’ll come out swinging.
Democrats never once mentioned the violence plaguing our cities. They know they are vulnerable on this issue.
The GOP convention will be – guaranteed – more positive, more upbeat and more fun than the tortured slog-fest we just witnessed.
Republicans will talk about how to move the country forward, a plan that will speak to most Americans. The president and others will highlight the extraordinary gains notched by every strata of our society in the first three years of his presidency: record-low unemployment overall and especially for minorities, women, the disabled and even ex-felons.
Not only was everyone able to get a job, just as recently as six months ago, the data shows that millions were able to quit their employment to climb a rung higher on the ladder of success. That’s the best welfare program in the world, and that’s what Trump delivered.
It wasn’t magic. Tax reforms that allowed our corporations to compete with their global rivals combined with commonsense roll-backs of red tape created a surge in optimism not once seen during the Obama-Biden years.
Before the virus put the country on hold, the economy had added seven million jobs in total and half a million manufacturing jobs, which President Trump promised and Barack Obama derided, saying such a turnaround would require a “magic wand.”
Trump also reset our relationship with China, finally confronting Beijing for its decades-long theft of American technology and its disregard for world trading rules.
It is no wonder that the Chinese are pushing for Biden to win in November. That’s all Americans should need to know about the upcoming election.
We have also made great progress in the Middle East. Instead of a phony deal meant to temporarily slow Iran’s march to a nuclear weapon, Trump has actually cornered that hostile country, bringing Israel and Arab nations together to stand against the region’s most dangerous exporter of terror.
Trump’s White House has also gone to bat for minorities, providing the first-ever permanent funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and passing widely acclaimed criminal justice reform.
Meanwhile, Republicans will lambast Democrat mayors and governors for the destruction of our great cities that is taking place before our eyes. The surging crime in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and elsewhere is happening on their watch and because of their policies.
Democrats never once mentioned the violence plaguing our cities. They know they are vulnerable on this issue.
Biden is ahead nationally, but polls show his lead narrowing in recent weeks, and especially in the all-important swing states.
Trafalgar Group recently published a survey showing Trump and Biden effectively tied in Minnesota, contradicting other polls putting Biden ahead by double digits. Trafalgar explains that “social desirability” bias makes Trump voters nervous about proclaiming their support for the president; their analysts recognized the role of so-called “shy voters” in 2016, and called some races more accurately than their peers.
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Today, Trafalger say there are more “shy Trump voters” than there were four years ago. I don’t doubt it. If you can lose your job (or your neighbor’s friendship) for wearing a MAGA hat, why would you be up front?
We won’t know until November how many of those shy Trump voters there are, but I bet that the Democrat convention upped their numbers.
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]]>As Joe Biden formally becomes the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, convention speakers are making a clear and repeated effort to draw a contrast between Biden and President Trump not just on policy, but on empathy.
Starting with former first lady Michelle Obama on opening night and continuing with former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday, speaker after speaker hammered Trump for remarking that “It is what it is” in regards to the number of people in the United States who have died from the novel coronavirus.
“He has had more than enough time…He is clearly in over his head,” Obama said. “He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
She added: “It is what it is.”
DEMOCRATS FORMALLY NOMINATE JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT IN VIRTUAL ROLL CALL
Obama’s comment hit at the often-used phrase by Trump when asked about the skyrocketing infection and deaths rates from the pathogen by reporters and television show moderators.
Trump first made the “It is what it is” comment during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” when moderator Chris Wallace pressed him on his response to the pandemic. The president followed that comment up by reusing the line in a testy interview with Axios in early August.
“They’re dying it’s true,” Trump said during the interview, which aired on HBO. “It is what it is, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it.”
As of Tuesday evening, there had been more than 5,481,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States with 171,799 deaths related to the disease.
“How did Donald Trump respond? At first he said the virus was under control and would soon disappear,” Clinton said on Tuesday. “When it didn’t, he was on TV every day bragging on what a great job he was doing, while scientists waited to give us vital information. When he didn’t like the expert advice he was given, he ignored it.”
Clinton continued: “Only when COVID exploded in even more states did he encourage people to wear masks. By then many more were dying. When asked about the surge in deaths, he shrugged and said, ‘It is what it is.’ But did it have to be this way? No. COVID hit us much harder than it had to.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.– a frequent target of Trump’s ire – also hit the president on his infamous phrase.
“Millions are jobless, 170,000 Americans have died from COVID,” Schumer said during his convention address. “And Donald Trump says, ‘It is what it is.’ America, Donald Trump has quit on you.”
COLIN POWELL SAYS BIDEN WILL ‘RESTORE AMERICA’S LEADERSHIP’ IN CONVENTION SPEECH
While Wednesday night’s big attraction will be the speech by Biden’s newly declared running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, if the first two nights of the convention are any measure, there looks to be plenty of fodder left for Democrats to lob at Trump as they seek to paint two very different portraits of the current president and Biden.
The Trump campaign reacted to the second night of the Democratic National Convention by arguing that now that Biden is officially the Democratic nominee for president, “his supervisors from the radical left are now formally in charge.”
Biden officially became the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night after an unconventional roll call vote of party delegates conducted virtually from landmarks across the country.
Once he amassed the votes, a camera appeared on Biden in Delaware, where after a brief pause, he celebrated the moment with his wife Jill and bundles of red, white and blue balloons as the family popped streamers. Clapping broke out from Democrats appearing on camera from their living rooms, as the song “Celebration” played.
“Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart,” Biden said. “Thank you. Thank you.”
AOC CALLS OUT ‘RACIAL INJUSTICE, COLONIZATION, MISOGYNY’ IN MINUTE-LONG DNC SPEECH
Former President Barack Obama, his two-time running mate, congratulated Biden in a tweet afterward, saying, “I’m proud of you.”
Instead of the traditional loud, celebratory tally of votes from the floor of the Democratic National Convention, this year thousands of delegates had to stay home because of the coronavirus pandemic. They shared their support for Biden over video feeds from a range of backdrops — farms, beaches, an Amtrak station, an art studio and a fire station — telling personal stories of how a Biden presidency would build back America “better.”
Jill Biden delivered a personal and emotional convention speech on Tuesday night from the hallways of her former classroom, promising that her husband would provide “leadership worthy of our nation” if he’s elected as president in November.
Biden delivered the keynote address during the second night of the Democratic National Convention from Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she taught English from 1991 to 1993, after her husband was formally nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee.
In a speech centered around family and education, Biden recalled the personal losses that her husband experienced in 1972, when his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash, and in 2015, when their son Beau died of brain cancer.
“How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole,” she said. “With love and understanding — and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith. You show up for each other, in big ways and small ones, again and again.”
Fox News’ Marisa Schultz and Megan Henney contributed to this report.
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]]>Some of the Democratic Party’s leading luminaries, as well as Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, are scheduled to speak on the second night of the party’s virtual convention, following a first night capped by a searing indictment of President Trump by former first lady Michelle Obama.
Trump responded Tuesday to Obama’s speech, saying her husband Barack Obama’s tenure was responsible for his 2016 election. He also attacked John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, who spoke to Democrats on Monday. Later Tuesday, Trump plans to touch down in two presidential battleground states, Iowa and Arizona.
Here are some significant developments:
August 18, 2020 at 9:14 AM EDT
17 Democrats to deliver keynote address
Democrats are offering a twist Tuesday on the traditional keynote address at their convention: Instead of a single speaker, they will feature 17 “rising stars,” including 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
“The convention keynote has always been the bellwether for the future of our party and our nation, and when Americans tune in … they’ll find the smart, steady leadership we need to meet this critical moment,” Joe Solmonese, chief executive of the convention, said in a statement.
Others scheduled to appear as part of the keynote address include three Democratic members of Congress — Reps. Colin Allred (Tex.), Brendan Boyle (Penn.) and Conor Lamb (Penn.) — as well as an array of state and local officials.
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 8:59 AM EDT
Trump attacks Kasich after convention speech
Trump on Tuesday attacked John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, who delivered a speech to the Democratic convention on Monday in which he accused the president of pitting Americans against one another.
“John Kasich did a bad job in Ohio, ran for President and was easy to beat, and now went to the other side desperate for relevance,” Trump said in a tweet in which he also called Kasich “another loser!”
“Many of us have been deeply concerned about the current path that we’ve been following for the past four years,” Kasich said in his address. “It’s a path that’s led to division, dysfunction, irresponsibility and growing vitriol between our citizens. Continuing to follow that path will have terrible consequences for America’s soul because we’re being taken down the wrong road by a president who has pitted one against the other.”
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 8:51 AM EDT
Trump lashes out at former DHS official who endorsed Biden
Trump lashed on Tuesday at Miles Taylor, a former senior Trump administration official who on Monday called the president “dangerous” and endorsed Biden.
“Many thousands of people work for our government,” Trump tweeted. “With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real ‘stiff.’ They will take anyone against us!”
Taylor, a longtime Republican who served as chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, explained his support for Biden in a video produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump and in an op-ed published by The Washington Post, in which he said Trump “has governed by whim, political calculation and self-interest.”
“After serving for more than two years in the Department of Homeland Security’s leadership during the Trump administration, I can attest that the country is less secure as a direct result of the president’s actions,” Taylor wrote.
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 8:43 AM EDT
Senate will hold Postal Service hearing with DeJoy on Friday, as mail delay fears grow
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Friday with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on the U.S. Postal Service’s vote-by-mail financial requirements, according to two people familiar with the decision.
It will be DeJoy’s first opportunity to publicly answer lawmakers’ questions about the nation’s embattled mail service, which is experiencing delays as a result of policies DeJoy implemented cutting overtime and eliminating extra trips to ensure on-time mail delivery.
A USPS representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DeJoy and USPS Board of Governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan are also set to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
Clamors from Democrats in both chambers for hearings with DeJoy grew over recent days after Trump said he wanted to withhold funding from the Postal Service to attempt to hobble its ability to process election mail.
The Postal Service is in the process of removing 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines nationwide this month, a process that will eliminate 21.4 million items per hour’s worth of processing capability from the agency’s inventory.
On Thursday and Friday, it began removing public collection boxes in parts of California, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Montana.
The agency said Friday that it would stop mailbox removals, which it said were routine, until after the election. And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that it would also halt sorting-machine removals.
By Jacob Bogage
August 18, 2020 at 8:11 AM EDT
What’s the difference between absentee and mail-in voting?
Trump has repeatedly attacked voting by mail as a less secure method than absentee voting, claiming without evidence that it will lead to rampant fraud and creating confusion about whether there is a difference between those practices.
The bottom line: Some states prefer one term over the other, but both “absentee voting” and “mail-in voting” refer to the method of using the mail to deliver ballots to voters. Regardless of the term used in your state, all ballots delivered to voters by mail are verified before they are counted.
By Michelle Lee
August 18, 2020 at 8:00 AM EDT
Trump responds to lancing criticism from Michelle Obama
Trump responded Tuesday to a searing convention speech by former first lady Michelle Obama, asserting that the performance of her husband, former president Barack Obama, was responsible for his election in 2016 and saying that she delivered an unenthusiastic endorsement of Biden.
“Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama,” Trump tweeted. “Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement.”
Trump went to tout his performance responding to the coronavirus pandemic and his handling of the economy.
“My Administration and I built the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before,” he said. “Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow. Sit back & watch!”
More than 167,000 Americans have died during the pandemic — a figure Trump claims would be significantly higher if not for his actions. Democrats say his administration’s response has led to additional deaths. They also say that Trump inherited a surging economy from President Barack Obama.
In her speech on Monday, Michelle Obama cast Trump as incapable of meeting America’s needs and said Biden would usher in racial justice and ease the coronavirus pandemic.
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 7:39 AM EDT
Trump heading to Iowa and Arizona on Day 2 of the Democratic convention
As Democrats prepare for the second night of their virtual convention, Trump is scheduled to touch down in two more presidential battleground states on Tuesday: Iowa and Arizona.
Trump plans to visit Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for an update on recovery efforts in the wake of a derecho that moved through the state a week ago. From there, he heads to Yuma, Ariz., where he is scheduled to receive an update on border wall construction and deliver remarks on immigration. Trump’s pledge to build a border wall was central to his 2016 campaign.
Tuesday’s planned travel marks the second day in a row that Trump will have visited key states while Democrats hold an unconventional convention amid the pandemic. On Monday, Trump staged events in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In 2016, Trump carried both Iowa and Arizona against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Polling has showed competitive races in both states this year against Biden.
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 7:38 AM EDT
Biden to hold afternoon events with Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Biden has scheduled a pair of virtual events Tuesday featuring celebrities — Tom Hanks and Lin-Manuel Miranda — ahead of Tuesday night’s convention program.
Hanks is headlining a “grassroots” fundraiser with Biden in the afternoon, while Miranda is booked to take part in a “virtual conversation” with Biden, along with the Latino Victory Project.
Biden also plans to speak virtually Tuesday to convention delegations from Pennsylvania and Florida, two presidential battleground states.
By John Wagner
August 18, 2020 at 7:37 AM EDT
Can Jill Biden help Joe beat Trump?
On the chaotic day Joe Biden called Sen. Kamala D. Harris to ask whether she would be his running mate, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s phone rang. As one of four co-chairs on Biden’s vice-presidential selection committee, Garcetti was one of a handful of people privy to that extensive and secretive process. On the other end of the line was someone even more involved in the decision: Biden’s wife of 43 years, Jill Biden.
So central was Jill Biden’s role in the process that the selection committee had presented its initial findings to the Bidens as a pair. With Jill’s input, Joe narrowed the field of more than 20 to the 11 whom he then interviewed one on one. Joe called the other contenders to tell them Harris was his choice, and Jill was the one calling the four selection committee co-chairs to tell them the news.
The extent of Jill Biden’s influence on big decisions in her husband’s campaign to unseat President Trump is both mysterious and not. “It’s a marriage” is her standard line, which is to say, of course they’ve talked about this, they bounce things off each other all the time, and we don’t get to know the details.
By Jada Yuan and Annie Linskey
August 18, 2020 at 7:34 AM EDT
Democratic convention embraces Black Lives Matter
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Democratic Party fully embraced the imagery and themes of the Black Lives Matter movement on its convention’s first night Monday, highlighting family members of Black men who have been killed by police and showing footage of marches through American cities.
At one point, the program was paused so viewers could observe a moment of silence for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police ignited the current racial reckoning.
“When this moment ends, let’s make sure we never stop saying their names,” said Philonise Floyd, one of George Floyd’s brothers, echoing one of the protesters’ slogans.
The demonstrators have urged Americans to remember the names of the victims of police brutality, rather than consigning them to anonymity as has happened so often in the past. Overall, the night’s program reflected a remarkable development in American politics, as a major party sought to associate itself fully with an emerging protest movement.
By Annie Linskey
August 18, 2020 at 7:30 AM EDT
John Kasich is at a fork in the road. But is Ohio?
John Kasich, Ohio’s former Republican governor, spoke last night at the Democratic National Convention, urging Americans to cast aside partisanship and vote for Biden.
Kasich is the most high-profile Republican yet to publicly oppose Trump, arguing the president’s actions have betrayed the party of Lincoln. “Many of us cannot imagine four more years,” he said in pretaped remarks filmed at the intersection of two gravel roads on a grassy field.
But Democratic strategists say Kasich’s Biden bear hug doesn’t mean Ohioans will do the same. Much like the Republican Party, Ohio has undergone a transformation of its own during the past decade. With a population that’s older, whiter, and less educated than the rest of the country, it’s no longer a bellwether state but one expected to vote for Republicans in presidential contests.
By Jacqueline Alemany
August 18, 2020 at 7:30 AM EDT
Michelle Obama’s ‘it is what it is’ becomes the buzziest sound bite on the Internet
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” the former first lady said, looking intently at the camera. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment.”
“He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us,” she continued. Then she said with a sigh: “It is what it is.”
In a matter of moments, those last five words — it is what it is — went from an old platitude to the buzziest sound bite on the Internet, becoming the instant highlight of a speech anchoring the convention’s first night.
By Teo Armus
August 18, 2020 at 7:27 AM EDT
Kamala Harris has been a ‘quintessential big sister’ for Black female leaders for years
Angela D. Alsobrooks first read about Kamala D. Harris in Essence Magazine in 2009, when Alsobrooks was launching an underdog run for state’s attorney in the Maryland suburb where she grew up.
Harris was making history as the first Black woman to serve as district attorney in San Francisco. Alsobrooks (D), who was trying to accomplish the same feat in Prince George’s County, was impressed. But what really wowed her was that Harris was focused on restorative justice, long before the concept took hold among liberal prosecutors.
On the campaign trail, Alsobrooks began talking about how, if elected, she would implement initiatives like “Back on Track,” a program created by Harris that allowed first-time, nonviolent felony drug offenders to join a program that provided education and job training instead of jail time.
By Rachel Chason
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]]>For a party that endured a wide-open presidential primary with more than two-dozen candidates ranging from the left to the middle – and with the wounds of disunity from 2016 still healing – achieving party unity at this week’s Democratic National Convention is a top priority.
And Democrats are intent on making sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
WHO’S SPEAKING AND WHEN AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Four years ago after a divisive primary battle, populist champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. But there was plenty of bad blood at that summer’s Democratic convention. The confab, held in hot and humid Philadelphia, was rocked by progressive protests that were televised live on the national cable news networks. The deep divisions were a contributing factor in Donald Trump’s upset victory over Clinton.
Fast forward four years and once again the left fell short, as progressive standard-bearers Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts were defeated in the primaries by more moderate former Vice President Joe Biden.
But this time around, with a common enemy in the White House, the worst pandemic this country’s faced in a century and a primary process that ended much earlier than four years ago, a repeat performance of the widescale enmity of 2016 could well be avoidable.
In this 2016 file photo, Bernie Sanders supporters are seen protesting outside the Democrats’ convention in Philadelphia. (FNC)
That’s not to say voices on the far left aren’t angry, however, and the virtual convention represents a key test of whether Sanders adherents can be kept in the fold. Plenty of them have vocalized their displeasure toward Biden as the nominee – and with the former vice president’s naming last week of Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.
There was an outcry by some on the left in recent days at the inclusion of moderate Democrat and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who was a 2020 primary contender, and former Ohio governor and 2016 GOP presidential candidate John Kasich as convention speakers — while some well-known progressive voices didn’t make the list. And some Sanders delegates are vowing to vote against a party platform that doesn’t include “Medicare-for-all.”
PROGRESSIVES BLAST DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS OVER CONVENTION SPEAKERS LINEUP
“There are people that are really disappointed in how the primary came out and there are certainly going to be a number of restive elements among Bernie Sanders delegates,” Neil Sroka, communications director for the progressive group Democracy for America, acknowledged.
But Sanders has been given a speaking slot for the convention’s opening night on Monday, meaning he’ll help set the tone for the entire week. And both Sanders and Warren – as well as other major progressive leaders and organizations – are firmly backing Biden and Harris.
Even before he clinched the nomination, Biden started adopting some of Sanders and Warren’s leading progressive policy proposals. And Biden and Sanders teamed up to form task forces that found common ground on key issues. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – a leader of the younger generation of progressives and champion of the Green New Deal – co-chaired the climate change panel.
“The Biden campaign – partly because Biden personally had a close relationship with Sen. Sanders – has done a better job of reaching out to the grassroots base,” said Sroka, a locally elected official in Michigan and 2020 convention delegate who supported Sanders in this year’s nomination race. “They’ve done a better job not throwing their victory in the faces of progressives – I think because they saw how unhelpful that was in 2016.”
Sroka noted that another “difference between 2016 and 2020 is that it wasn’t exactly clear in 2016 that the progressive movement would be the ascendant force in the Democratic Party going forward.”
He said that now “it’s very clear that the future of the Democratic Party is continuing to move in a progressive direction” and added that “Biden has underscored this by calling himself a ‘transitional’ president – that gives progressives much more room to feel like they have a stake in this party.”
TRUMP TO CAMPAIGN IN SWING STATES DURING DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Veteran Democratic consultant and communications strategist Lynda Tran said that a core goal at the convention is “projecting a level of unity across the party at large from the more progressive side of things to the more moderate wing of the party to show that everybody’s in lockstep and everybody’s united.”
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee which backed Warren in the primaries, emphasized that “progressives are inherently energized to vote against Trump.”
His suggested that “if Biden wants to energize progressives to donate and volunteer to get every last person to vote, he will use the convention to shine the spotlight on progressive issues he’s embraced like canceling student debt and expanding Social Security benefits during this pandemic, more corporate accountability, and taxing the rich to pay for things like clean energy jobs.”
There was plenty of discord heading into the Democratic convention four years ago – but fires were further fueled after a collection of compromising Democratic National Committee emails stolen by hackers who were alleged to be Russian intelligence agency operatives were released by Wikileaks on the eve of the confab.
Sroka noted that the challenges Clinton faced heading into the convention were “inflamed by the Wikileaks releases. That was a huge conflagrating factor.”
Another major difference – this year’s convention will be virtual, due to serious concerns of large gatherings of people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Without a packed arena full of delegates and grassroots activists, discord will be harder to achieve. “You kind of need a wildfire to emerge and that can’t really happen when people are as distanced as they are,” Sroka said.
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]]>President Trump said Thursday he is canceling the portion of the Republican National Convention he moved from North Carolina to Florida because of a spat over coronavirus restrictions, saying the surge that blanketed the Sun Belt with infections made it impossible.
“To have a big convention is not the right time. I have to protect the American people,” he said at the White House.
Mr. Trump notified Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of his decision and said he will hold “tele-rallies” instead, while allowing some business to continue in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He said Republican supporters were desperate to be in Florida in late August and “the drawings look absolutely beautiful,” but he decided it wasn’t worth it.
“They said, ‘Sir we can make this work very easily,’” Mr. Trump said, in his retelling of conversations behind closed doors. “I said, ‘There’s nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe.’”
It’s a major turnabout for Mr. Trump, who sparred with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, over social-distancing estrictions that would have made it difficult to hold his grand nomination party the way he wanted.
The president said when he chose Florida, it wasn’t a hotspot. That changed quickly in June and into July.
Typically, the president would make a grand speech as the GOP nominee. Mr. Trump said he will announce more plans in the coming days.
“We didn’t want to take any chances,” Mr. Trump said. “We’ll have a very nice something, we’ll figure it out.”
Even as Mr. Trump scrapped RNC festivities, he made a vocal push to reopen schools across the nation within weeks, citing data that shows children aren’t affected by the virus as much as adults.
He said 99.6% of fatalities of COVID-19 deaths are in adults, not children, and failing to get kids back in the classroom could usher in problems that are worse than the risk from the virus.
Mr. Trump said some districts may have to delay classroom learning for a few weeks, but “they have to open.”
“This isn’t about politics, this is about something very, very important,” Mr. Trump said.
He said he wants Congress to provide over $100 billion to repurpose schools to make them safe amid the pandemic.
Parents and employers widely agree that schools need to reopen to pave the way for normal work activity, though there is disagreement over how safe it is for everyone involved.
Major school districts from California to Georgia have announced they will start the academic year with online instruction instead of reopening classrooms, saying there is too much community spread of the virus.
Mr. Trump said if school districts don’t open, then parents should be allowed to get some of the proposed money from Congress to put their kids in private or charter schools.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while some children and infants have gotten sick from COVID-19, “adults make up most of the known cases to date.”
A recent study from South Korea says children under 10 were roughly half as likely to transmit the disease than adults, though kids aged 10 to 19 do spread it at the same level.
Mr. Trump laid out his plans and demands as the U.S. passed a grim milestone — 4 million known infections since the pandemic began.
The U.S. added the last 1 million of its cases in just over two weeks. Testing is more widespread and finding more infections, though hospitalizations also reached 59,628 at midweek — the highest tally since April 21, when the pandemic was still raging.
Mr. Trump said he is surging resources to hotspots in the South, as the previously hard-hit Northeast becomes “very clean.”
There is some hope to be found, with the percentage of positive tests coming down in key states and signs that a Miami mask mandate paid dividends.
“What we’re seeing is some early evidence that the masks in public rule is working, and we want to make sure that it’s being adopted universally,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told CNN.
Mr. Suarez said the city is down to 20 cases a day, down from 60 a short while ago, so they’re not looking at a shutdown order as they see whether more limited measures pay off.
“We’re being patient and we’re letting those remediation efforts take full effect before making any decisions,” he said.
The coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan, China, in December. It swiftly spread across the globe, killing about 625,000 people.
Mr. Trump stressed that other countries are going through a hard time, too, saying he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and they’re having an especially hard time in Moscow.
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Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel walks with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on the South Lawn of the White House in May. She is describing the August convention as a “convention celebration.”
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Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel walks with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on the South Lawn of the White House in May. She is describing the August convention as a “convention celebration.”
Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Republican Party announced Thursday morning that it is scaling back its upcoming nominating convention and will hold what party chair Ronna McDaniel is calling a “convention celebration” next month in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bowing to the realities of holding a mass gathering in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida, which has seen a spike in new cases, attendance at the convention during its first few days, Aug. 24-26, will be limited to delegates only, which is a little more than 2,500 people.
On the final day of the Republican National Convention, Aug. 27, when President Trump will give his acceptance speech, each of those delegates will be able to have a guest, and alternate delegates will be able to attend. This will bring a total of around 7,000 people, an expected attendance in line with Trump’s one post-pandemic rally in Tulsa, Okla., last month.
The specific location of speeches and other events remains unsettled, with McDaniel listing the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, an indoor facility seating 15,000 people, along with other nearby outdoor facilities as locations that will host different daytime and evening events.
McDaniel also listed health safety measures the party plans to implement. “This plan includes but is not limited to on-site temperature checks, available PPE, aggressive sanitizing protocols, and available COVID-19 testing,” she wrote.
Despite adjusting plans in the midst of the surge in COVID-19 across Florida, McDaniel still criticized North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, saying he decided “to play politics” by insisting on pandemic-related restrictions for the originally planned convention in Charlotte.
Formal convention business, with less than 200 party officials, will take place in Charlotte on Aug. 24.
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