Will Democratic Voters Crawl Over Broken Glass to Turn Trump Out?
Three developments on Monday offered a glimpse into the political road ahead in 2020.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders warmly endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden via livestream video just five days after ending his campaign for president. For the first time in 16 years, it’s likely there will be no drama ahead of the Democratic convention, now postponed until August.
President Donald Trump gave his scariest press conference yet, starting off with a propaganda style video and ending two hours and twenty minutes later. The three major networks didn’t cover the daily coronavirus briefing, which is a good thing since the entire event was about the Dear Leader’s hurt feelings.
A Republican scheme to proceed with the Wisconsin primary despite the advice of healthcare professionals backfired, with Democratic turnout unseating an incumbent conservative State Supreme Court Justice by nine points.
Today, former President Obama is endorsing Joe Biden.
The New York Times had an insider’s view of the former president’s role in the primary campaign, which largely consisted of making himself available to any candidate who called him. It should be noted that, while Obama professed neutrality, the coterie of counselors from his White House days favored Biden.
In the end, Mr. Sanders concluded that negotiating a détente through the former president would ease the blow of his withdrawal on his base. Whether Mr. Obama’s involvement will ultimately draw Sanders voters to support Mr. Biden’s candidacy remains an open question, and some supporters, including Mr. Sanders's own campaign press secretary, say they won’t.
In late March, Mr. Obama reached out to Mr. Sanders. The two men would talk at least three more times, with the former president reassuring Mr. Sanders that he had already accomplished much of what he had set out to do, moving the party — and Mr. Biden — substantially to the left, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions.
But, the people said, he mostly listened to Mr. Sanders, who was in a reflective mood, speaking candidly about his post-campaign plans and feelings about the race, the kind of conversation the two men had never had before.
https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1250098705174315008?s=20
Following Monday’s meltdown in front of the media, it’s hard to imagine what the President will come up with to try and dominate today’s news cycle.
But rest assured, some kind of shitshow is coming, probably having to do over Trump’s assertion that he has complete authority of governors in regards to the crisis.
Really? Has he read the end of the book?
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1250075668282576898?s=20
***.
Monday’s event at the White House was so cringe-worthy it could be described as performance art.
Four CNN banners will suffice in recapping the event:
Angry Trump Turns Briefing Into Propaganda Session
Trump Refuses to Acknowledge Any Mistakes
Trump Uses Task Force Briefing to Try and Rewrite History on Coronavirus Response
Trump Melts Down in Angry Response to Reports He Ignored Virus Warnings
What triggered the Dear Leader was a New York Times story with six bylines, including quotes from sources willing to be identified, and a treasure trove of emails. The following excerpt lays out the basic thrust of the story:
Throughout January, as Mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action.
The president, though, was slow to absorb the scale of the risk and to act accordingly, focusing instead on controlling the message, protecting gains in the economy and batting away warnings from senior officials. It was a problem, he said, that had come out of nowhere and could not have been foreseen.
Even after Mr. Trump took his first concrete action at the end of January — limiting travel from China — public health often had to compete with economic and political considerations in internal debates, slowing the path toward belated decisions to seek more money from Congress, obtain necessary supplies, address shortfalls in testing and ultimately move to keep much of the nation at home.
This, according to Trump, was fake news.
It’s also worth pointing out that, at no time in the press conference did the president take a moment to reflect on the lives that have been stolen as a result of the epidemic.
***
Take a moment to reflect on the significance of the Wisconsin vote where liberal Jill Karofsky defeated conservative incumbent justice Dan Kelly. (Three other GOP-anointed judges also lost.)
This wasn’t a photo finish. Check out this bit of analysis from Daily Kos:
As of just before 10 am Eastern, Karofsky’s lead has grown to almost 11 points, 55.2-44.7. The closest parallel I can draw is to the congressional seats in California that flipped as absentee ballots came in, turning what was an already clear nationwide Democratic victory into a 41-seat landslide. In other words—Karofsky is winning in a slow-motion rout.
Looks like Robin Vos and Co.’s ham-handed attempt to tamp down turnout has blown up spectacularly. All they may have done was awaken a sleeping bear. And that doesn’t portend well for Trump in November. If Wisconsinites are willing to walk on broken glass for a Supreme Court race, imagine what would happen in a higher-turnout presidential year. After all, if Wisconsin reverts to form, we’ve almost certainly flipped Michigan and Pennsylvania as well—and if that happens, say hello to President Joe Biden.
Once again, we have proof that when Democrats turn out, they win—and big.
For all the complaining by establishment Democrats about Senator Bernie Sanders not conceding prior to April 7, his decision to continue his campaign undoubtedly played a role in driving up turnout. And that’s a good thing.
The 2020 general election campaign season will be much different than past efforts.
https://twitter.com/stonecold2050/status/1249936801436852224?s=20
Gone will be the big rallies. I think Trump’s mastery of the boob tube will be hard to counteract with mass media focused campaigns. It’s going to take some imaginative efforts to turn out the vote.
Getting back to a “new” normal is a winning concept. There will be a major effort to frame public perception of re-opening the country as simply back to the “old’ normal.
But this doesn’t have to be: (Via James Wells @ Daily Kos)
In a remarkable essay “Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting” author Julio Vincent Gambuto describes how we’re likely to face a vast onslaught from commercial and political forces to go forth in a great rush into the world, and most importantly to spend.
Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television and media content to make you feel comfortable again. …. The need for comfort will be real, and it will be strong. And every brand in America will come to your rescue, dear consumer, to help take away that darkness and get life back to the way it was before the crisis.
But Gambuto provides us another way of thinking about the future. From the deepest crisis, opportunity.
What the crisis has given us is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see ourselves and our country in the plainest of views. At no other time, ever in our lives, have we gotten the opportunity to see what would happen if the world simply stopped. Here it is. We’re in it. ….
And because it is rarer than rare, it has brought to light all of the beautiful and painful truths of how we live. ….
From one citizen to another, I beg of you: Take a deep breath, ignore the deafening noise, and think deeply about what you want to put back into your life. This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred (yes, sacred) opportunity to get rid of the bullshit and to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly proud.
***
Overall support for the social distancing measures in place throughout much of the country is very high, despite GOP efforts to undermine it.
It’s likely we’ll see a continuing effort by the right to “own the libs” via blatant disregard for health protocols. The virus, if stories from Singapore and other places that have loosened restrictions are to be believed, will not go away until a vaccine happens.
It's safe to think that Florida, which has decided that professional wrestling is an "essential" service, will be the testing ground for this concept.
https://twitter.com/KevinCate/status/1249802856003260416?s=20
I suggest that tying local efforts of significance to the larger questions facing the country is a strategy worth considering. It creates lanes for Democrats of differing persuasions to get engaged in positive ways.
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