thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--As COVID-19 Continues, Classroom Learning Gaps Between Haves And Have-Nots Are Getting Wider

As soon as schools reopened in September , it was apparent that the gaps in her son ’ s classroom between the haves and the have-nots had grown , says parent Amina Scott .
Scott suspects that some kids had access to enrichment programs and hands-on help during the many months that schools and summer camps were shut down , and some , like her third-grade son , had not .
After months away from school , some of his classmates seemed to have mysteriously advanced , easily reciting concepts he says they were never taught .
In the early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upset , questioning where his classmates could have learned such material .
He used to indulge his mom ’ s questions about what he was learning and how his day was , but he soon stopped wanting to talk about school , telling Scott that he had finished his homework even when he had skipped questions .
“ He feels behind and it ’ s affecting his confidence .
I could tell he was avoiding talking about it , ” said Scott , a 29-year-old single mother who works full time at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consulting gigs .
“ To me it ’ s scary , it worries me but also I feel sad .
I don ’ t know what to do about it.
” Scott believes other kids in her son ’ s class spent the spring and summer getting extra tutoring and virtual enrichment , overseen by their parents .
Education researchers have been studying how much learning loss is taking place as a result of school shutdowns and remote school .
The latest numbers from NWEA , an education research group , says that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grade has lost 5 to 10 percentile points in math , but remained on track for reading .
Overall , these numbers proved better than earlier , more dire projections , but questions still remain about how vulnerable student groups specifically are faring .
Scott , like many parents , has struggled since March to balance her career with supervising her son ’ s schooling .
On days of remote learning , she sits next to him , making sure he doesn ’ t turn off his mic or camera , in between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She doesn ’ t have time to check over his work like she normally would .
She ’ s staying afloat , but just barely .
“ My head is going to explode soon , ” she said .
She wonders if other families in her son ’ s class have faced the same struggles , speculating that in two-parent households , one might have the luxury of helping their child with homework or providing extra tutoring .
She recalled running into a parent of Yasin ’ s classmates one day while running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enrolled her child in enrichment activities conducted via Zoom , and spent all day going over material with him .
Scott suspects there were more children with such opportunities and that other parents had more time to help supervise or tutor .
By the time school started , it felt like Yasin was trying to catch up to a moving train .
Some of the ways in which groups of affluent parents have been using their wealth for educational advantage during the pandemic have been well-documented .
Many private schools , in some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have seen increased enrollment numbers .
Other families have turned to “ pandemic pods , ” which bring teachers into students ’ homes to work with small groups of pupils of varying sizes and at varying costs .
These disparities might be especially stark in a program like METCO , which buses a small number of Boston ’ s students of color to attend school in the rich suburbs .
By enrolling in the program , parents like Scott hope that high-quality instruction and ample classroom resources can help to even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic has only further exposed the artifice that school alone has the ability to close achievement gaps .
Resources and money will always play a role .
Newton Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment .
But the district ’ s back-to-school plan , posted online , emphasizes the need for equity , especially for children in the METCO program , noting that students of color are more likely to have had someone close to them who suffered severely or even died from COVID-19 .
These students are also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-profile instances of racism this past summer , which set off months of protests around the country .
Teachers have been participating in professional development around these issues , anti-racist practices and culturally responsive teaching , the district says .
Some of the disparities between METCO and non-METCO children have also made life more difficult for single mother Trenyca Schneider .
Three of Schneider ’ s four children attend school in the Boston suburb of Brookline through METCO .
Her kids are now back in school on a hybrid schedule , but at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the school supplies they needed for remote learning at home ― much of which had previously been provided for them at school .
“ You have teachers saying , ‘ Ask your parent for help if you don ’ t understand the work , ’ but what if the parent is not available ?
” said Schneider , who works two jobs , as a human resources generalist Monday through Friday and as a patient ethics coordinator at a hospital on the weekend .
“ It ’ s too much for me , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losing it as I go day by day.
” In October , she reached out to her son ’ s teacher to explain that she felt like every other student was further ahead on their multiplication tables .
The teacher told her about extra tutoring being offered in the district .
This tutoring , in the past offered in person after school , had bumped up against the METCO bus schedule , says Scott , ultimately precluding her son from participating .
This year , the sessions are virtual .
Scott immediately signed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s been helping .
She also attempted to enroll her son in extra tutoring at Kumon and Sylvan Learning , but neither option worked out .
She felt like Sylvan was dragging out the virtual sessions for money , and when she brought her son to a Kumon center for an in-person assessment , they seemed uninterested in serving a child who was already behind .
She cried in the car on the way home .

As soon as schools reopened in September, it was apparent that the gaps in her son’s classroom between the haves and the have-nots had grown, says parent Amina Scott. Scott suspects that some kids had access to enrichment programs and hands-on help during the many months that schools and summer camps were shut down, and some, like her third-grade son, had not.
Scott’s son, Yasin, attends a public school in the affluent suburb of Newton, just outside Boston. He is bused from their home in the Roxbury neighborhood to the suburbs through a voluntary desegregation program called METCO. Yasin has always been at grade level or even ahead of his classmates, especially excelling in reading, says Scott. But this year, while attending in-person classes two times a week on a hybrid schedule, the dynamic shifted.
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After months away from school, some of his classmates seemed to have mysteriously advanced, easily reciting concepts he says they were never taught. In the early weeks of class, Yasin came home upset, questioning where his classmates could have learned such material. He used to indulge his mom’s questions about what he was learning and how his day was, but he soon stopped wanting to talk about school, telling Scott that he had finished his homework even when he had skipped questions.
“He feels behind and it’s affecting his confidence. I could tell he was avoiding talking about it,” said Scott, a 29-year-old single mother who works full time at a nonprofit in addition to holding down two consulting gigs. “To me it’s scary, it worries me but also I feel sad. I don’t know what to do about it.” Scott believes other kids in her son’s class spent the spring and summer getting extra tutoring and virtual enrichment, overseen by their parents.
Education researchers have been studying how much learning loss is taking place as a result of school shutdowns and remote school. The latest numbers from NWEA, an education research group, says that the average student in third through eighth grade has lost 5 to 10 percentile points in math, but remained on track for reading. Overall, these numbers proved better than earlier, more dire projections, but questions still remain about how vulnerable student groups specifically are faring.
Fewer of the students in groups more likely to be negatively impacted by COVID-19 participated in the research, and early indicators suggest that Black and Hispanic students in upper elementary grades may have experienced small declines in reading scores not shared by other groups. Researchers cautioned that it’s too early to draw firm conclusions.
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Scott, as a middle-class mother in a sea of richer families, says she has already seen disparities widen in her son’s classroom.
Scott greets Yasin as he gets off the bus after school on Nov. 24. Kayana Szymczak for HuffPost
Scott, like many parents, has struggled since March to balance her career with supervising her son’s schooling. On days of remote learning, she sits next to him, making sure he doesn’t turn off his mic or camera, in between returning emails and calling into meetings. She doesn’t have time to check over his work like she normally would. She’s staying afloat, but just barely. “My head is going to explode soon,” she said. She wonders if other families in her son’s class have faced the same struggles, speculating that in two-parent households, one might have the luxury of helping their child with homework or providing extra tutoring.
During a normal summer, Scott would send Yasin to camps focusing on academic enrichment, but those were closed this summer. In lieu of camp, he was supervised by a 15-year-old cousin. Instead of learning new science concepts, he came home with new knowledge of TikTok dances. “It was like a kid babysitting a kid,” Scott said.
She recalled running into a parent of Yasin’s classmates one day while running errands. The parent said she had enrolled her child in enrichment activities conducted via Zoom, and spent all day going over material with him. Scott suspects there were more children with such opportunities and that other parents had more time to help supervise or tutor. By the time school started, it felt like Yasin was trying to catch up to a moving train.
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Some of the ways in which groups of affluent parents have been using their wealth for educational advantage during the pandemic have been well-documented. Many private schools, in some areas more likely to open in-person education, have seen increased enrollment numbers. Other families have turned to “pandemic pods,” which bring teachers into students’ homes to work with small groups of pupils of varying sizes and at varying costs.
But there’s little research on how often families are taking advantage of increased tutoring or other supplemental services, says Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a research analysis organization. Anecdotally, she has heard of tutoring companies with growing enrollment numbers.
“It’s the way things have always worked. Advantaged families find a way, so this should not be news to us,” Lake said. “But the stakes are so much higher now for kids who don’t have access to those resources. It’s not just about supplemental enrichment, it’s about core learning, that’s what’s really worrisome.”
These disparities might be especially stark in a program like METCO, which buses a small number of Boston’s students of color to attend school in the rich suburbs. By enrolling in the program, parents like Scott hope that high-quality instruction and ample classroom resources can help to even the playing field for their kids. But the pandemic has only further exposed the artifice that school alone has the ability to close achievement gaps. Resources and money will always play a role.
Newton Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment. But the district’s back-to-school plan, posted online, emphasizes the need for equity, especially for children in the METCO program, noting that students of color are more likely to have had someone close to them who suffered severely or even died from COVID-19. These students are also more likely to have been affected by high-profile instances of racism this past summer, which set off months of protests around the country. Teachers have been participating in professional development around these issues, anti-racist practices and culturally responsive teaching, the district says.
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Some of the disparities between METCO and non-METCO children have also made life more difficult for single mother Trenyca Schneider. Three of Schneider’s four children attend school in the Boston suburb of Brookline through METCO. Her kids are now back in school on a hybrid schedule, but at first she struggled to get her children the school supplies they needed for remote learning at home ― much of which had previously been provided for them at school.
The new supplies, like headphones, strained Schneider’s budget. It didn’t seem to occur to district leaders, Schneider speculates, that not every family had money to spare.
“I think the district was insensitive about supplies because it’s used to catering to high-income families,” she said, while noting that overall, she has found teachers, district leaders and METCO coordinators incredibly supportive during a challenging time. “METCO has done a wondrous job making sure we had computers,” she said. Brookline’s school district did not respond to a request for comment.
“You have teachers saying, ‘Ask your parent for help if you don’t understand the work,’ but what if the parent is not available?” said Schneider, who works two jobs, as a human resources generalist Monday through Friday and as a patient ethics coordinator at a hospital on the weekend. “It’s too much for me, and I feel like I’m losing it as I go day by day.”
Colin Stokes, director of communications, outreach and engagement for METCO, said that the program’s central office has been working to fill some of these gaps “through grants, partnerships, and volunteers; for things like tutoring, enrichment, technology, and food distribution.”
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Scott waits for her son's bus to arrive outside of the Roxbury YMCA on Nov. 24. Kayana Szymczak for HuffPost
In the Newton district, where Scott’s son attends school, elementary-age students have been attending class in person two days a week for half-days. While most children return home and finish the day online, because of their increased commute time, METCO students remain in the school building to finish classes, with volunteer teachers supervising. At first, Scott said it seemed like “a big recess session,” but after she and other parents complained, it improved.
But the longer the pandemic continues, the more Scott worries about the long-term impact of the past few months, and the more she has raced to try and make up for lost time for her son.
In October, she reached out to her son’s teacher to explain that she felt like every other student was further ahead on their multiplication tables. The teacher told her about extra tutoring being offered in the district. This tutoring, in the past offered in person after school, had bumped up against the METCO bus schedule, says Scott, ultimately precluding her son from participating. This year, the sessions are virtual. Scott immediately signed up her son, and she says it’s been helping.
She also attempted to enroll her son in extra tutoring at Kumon and Sylvan Learning, but neither option worked out. She felt like Sylvan was dragging out the virtual sessions for money, and when she brought her son to a Kumon center for an in-person assessment, they seemed uninterested in serving a child who was already behind. She cried in the car on the way home.
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At home, Scott has been having Yasin complete as many multiplication problems as he can in a minute before he’s allowed to watch television or get other screen time. The amount of screen time he gets is dependent on how many problems he gets right. Little by little he’s improving.
“If I’m not on top of it, if I don’t get the tutoring or the extra help, if I can’t stay on top of where he’s struggling, I think it’s going to be really detrimental,” Scott said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Trump’s Cruel And Unusual Parting Gift: A Spree Of Federal Executions

Prisons are known hot spots for the virus as they ’ re often crowded , have poor ventilation , and are filled with aging , medically vulnerable individuals .
At the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute , Indiana , where federal executions are carried out , at least 188 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and three have died .
And yet these executions — which bring together dozens of correctional staff and witnesses , many of whom have traveled from out of state — are still being carried out , despite the danger of spreading the virus .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ than five hours at the prison complex awaiting Hall ’ s execution , housed in a small , windowless room with other witnesses .
When it was time for Hall to be put to death , Nur entered the chamber to administer the last rites , reciting a prayer from the Quran .
He stood close to the two executioners , both of whom were unmasked .
Less than a week later , Nur tested positive for the coronavirus .
He believes that he contracted the virus at the prison , as he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
The decision by the U.S. government to move full steam ahead with federal executions in the face of a raging pandemic has attracted scant attention , despite the fact that it is dramatically out of step with state prison practices and opposed by a growing number of law enforcement officials and advocates for incarcerated individuals .
Critics argue that continuing to carry out federal executions endangers the health of inmates , employees and visitors to FCC Terre Haute , as well those who live in the surrounding community .
At the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severely compromising the ability of death row prisoners to prepare comprehensive clemency petitions before their execution dates .
“ Right now , nobody but the federal government is carrying out executions , ” said Robert Dunham , executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center .
“ Most states have recognized that there is no urgent penological need to carry out an execution during the worst pandemic in a century , when , if the execution is lawful , it can be carried out safely once the pandemic is under control.
” A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inmates at FCC Terre Haute asks the U.S. government to delay the scheduled executions until the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed .
It argues that the executions are putting the incarcerated population at significant risk of serious illness or even death without a good reason .
As the complaint details , each execution is expected to draw around 200 people who will intermingle at or near the prison , eat at local restaurants , and sleep at local hotels .
Nearly a hundred Bureau of Prisons staff are typically brought to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from other prisons , which may or may not be experiencing coronavirus outbreaks .
Media representatives and demonstrators are also likely to gather for each event .
“ People are getting sick and dying because of them , ” she said in a statement .
“ Lawyers , spiritual advisors , reporters , and people from around the country will put their lives at risk to attend these federal executions .
But the people who live in Vigo County and the people incarcerated at Terre Haute prison have no say in the risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ According to an affidavit by Joe Goldenson , a doctor with 33 years of experience in correctional settings , the numbers of COVID-19 infections at FCC Terre Haute increased after executions resumed this summer .
He warned that the Bureau of Prisons had not adopted appropriate measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus , noting that the prison complex was still using an out-of-date visitor screening form first issued in March .
“ It is my professional opinion that inmates at FCC Terre Haute are at a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conducting executions at the facility , ” he wrote .
“ The same is true of staff members at FCC Terre Haute and their families and members of the broader Terre Haute community , all of which groups would likely have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than they would if the executions were postponed , with the attendant risk of serious illness and death for some number of the members of those groups.
” Yusuf Ahmed Nur , who administered last rites for Orlando Hall , is not the only person to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs of a death row inmate .
The two lead attorneys for Lisa Montgomery , the only woman on federal death row , both became sick with coronavirus after visiting with her at a prison in Texas .
Her execution was initially scheduled for Dec. 8 but has been postponed until Jan. 12 to give her attorneys more time to prepare her clemency application .
She is currently incarcerated in a women ’ s medical prison in Texas , but is expected to be transferred to FCC Terre Haute , an all-male prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday , a bipartisan group of nearly 100 criminal justice leaders issued a statement calling for an immediate halt to federal executions and urging Trump to commute the sentences of the five people scheduled to be executed before Biden ’ s inauguration .
Carrying out executions during a pandemic and in the waning days of Trump ’ s presidency will undermine trust in the criminal justice system , they warned .

When Yusuf Ahmed Nur, a professor at Indiana University, was asked to administer last rites to federal death row inmate Orlando Hall last month, he knew that there was a chance he would contract the coronavirus.
Prisons are known hot spots for the virus as they’re often crowded, have poor ventilation, and are filled with aging, medically vulnerable individuals. At the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal executions are carried out, at least 188 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and three have died. And yet these executions — which bring together dozens of correctional staff and witnesses, many of whom have traveled from out of state — are still being carried out, despite the danger of spreading the virus.
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“I knew it was going to be a big risk,” Nur told HuffPost. “But I felt like it was worth the sacrifice.”
On Nov. 19, Nur spent more than five hours at the prison complex awaiting Hall’s execution, housed in a small, windowless room with other witnesses. When it was time for Hall to be put to death, Nur entered the chamber to administer the last rites, reciting a prayer from the Quran. He stood close to the two executioners, both of whom were unmasked. Less than a week later, Nur tested positive for the coronavirus. He believes that he contracted the virus at the prison, as he was strictly isolating from others at the time.
The decision by the U.S. government to move full steam ahead with federal executions in the face of a raging pandemic has attracted scant attention, despite the fact that it is dramatically out of step with state prison practices and opposed by a growing number of law enforcement officials and advocates for incarcerated individuals.
Since coronavirus lockdowns began in mid-March, executions by state governments have essentially come to a halt because of the health risks involved. Only two people on state death rows have been executed, Walter Barton in Missouri on May 19 and Billy Wardlow in Texas on July 8.
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In contrast, the federal government has executed eight people, with five more people scheduled to die before President Donald Trump leaves office. Brandon Bernard is set to be executed on Dec. 10, Alfred Bourgeois on Dec. 11, Lisa Montgomery on Jan. 12, Cory Johnson on Jan. 14 and Dustin Higgs on Jan. 15.
Since it reinstated capital punishment at the federal level this summer, the Trump administration has killed more death row prisoners than the U.S. government has done in the last five decades combined.
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to end the practice.
View of a sign outside the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex where death row inmates await execution. Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Getty
Critics argue that continuing to carry out federal executions endangers the health of inmates, employees and visitors to FCC Terre Haute, as well those who live in the surrounding community. At the same time, the pandemic is also severely compromising the ability of death row prisoners to prepare comprehensive clemency petitions before their execution dates.
“Right now, nobody but the federal government is carrying out executions,” said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “Most states have recognized that there is no urgent penological need to carry out an execution during the worst pandemic in a century, when, if the execution is lawful, it can be carried out safely once the pandemic is under control.”
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FCC Terre Haute is located in Vigo County, where coronavirus cases are spiking. On Nov. 14, Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) issued an executive order to restrict public gatherings after hospitalizations in the state hit an all-time high.
A lawsuit filed last week on behalf of inmates at FCC Terre Haute asks the U.S. government to delay the scheduled executions until the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. It argues that the executions are putting the incarcerated population at significant risk of serious illness or even death without a good reason.
As the complaint details, each execution is expected to draw around 200 people who will intermingle at or near the prison, eat at local restaurants, and sleep at local hotels. Nearly a hundred Bureau of Prisons staff are typically brought to Terre Haute to assist with the execution from other prisons, which may or may not be experiencing coronavirus outbreaks. Media representatives and demonstrators are also likely to gather for each event.
“The pandemic poses more of a risk with federal executions than state executions, because you are bringing in people from across the country,” Dunham said. “You have more of an opportunity to infect people.”
Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, which has also been litigating issues related to COVID and capital punishment, called the executions obvious superspreader events.
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“People are getting sick and dying because of them,” she said in a statement. “Lawyers, spiritual advisors, reporters, and people from around the country will put their lives at risk to attend these federal executions. But the people who live in Vigo County and the people incarcerated at Terre Haute prison have no say in the risk they’ll be exposed to.”
According to an affidavit by Joe Goldenson, a doctor with 33 years of experience in correctional settings, the numbers of COVID-19 infections at FCC Terre Haute increased after executions resumed this summer. He warned that the Bureau of Prisons had not adopted appropriate measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus, noting that the prison complex was still using an out-of-date visitor screening form first issued in March.
“It is my professional opinion that inmates at FCC Terre Haute are at a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 as a result of the nature of conducting executions at the facility,” he wrote. “The same is true of staff members at FCC Terre Haute and their families and members of the broader Terre Haute community, all of which groups would likely have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than they would if the executions were postponed, with the attendant risk of serious illness and death for some number of the members of those groups.”
Yusuf Ahmed Nur, who served as a spiritual adviser to death row inmate Orlando Hall, contracted COVID-19 after administering last rites. Photo was taken by Liliana Segura, who covered Hall's execution for The Intercept. Liliana Segura/The Intercept
Yusuf Ahmed Nur, who administered last rites for Orlando Hall, is not the only person to have contracted coronavirus while attending to the needs of a death row inmate. The two lead attorneys for Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, both became sick with coronavirus after visiting with her at a prison in Texas.
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Montgomery, who is mentally ill, was sentenced to death for murdering a pregnant woman in 2004 and kidnapping her baby. She is a victim of severe childhood abuse, including incest and sex trafficking, according to her lawyers and family members.
Her execution was initially scheduled for Dec. 8 but has been postponed until Jan. 12 to give her attorneys more time to prepare her clemency application. She is currently incarcerated in a women’s medical prison in Texas, but is expected to be transferred to FCC Terre Haute, an all-male prison, in the coming weeks.
Many in the criminal justice community are also speaking out about the public health implications of federal executions and pleading for a reprieve.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of nearly 100 criminal justice leaders issued a statement calling for an immediate halt to federal executions and urging Trump to commute the sentences of the five people scheduled to be executed before Biden’s inauguration. Carrying out executions during a pandemic and in the waning days of Trump’s presidency will undermine trust in the criminal justice system, they warned.
“At a time when the country is struggling through a deadly pandemic, spending scarce resources to carry out federal executions and forcing defense lawyers to risk their lives to defend clients on death row is simply unthinkable,” the letter states.
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For Nur, who contracted a mild case of COVID-19 after attending Hall’s execution, the illness was nothing compared to the trauma he experienced watching a man be killed by the state right in front of him.
“It just hits you, it hits you in the face and it’s terrible,” he said.
Still, he is planning on returning to FCC Terre Haute to serve as spiritual counsel for Dustin Higgs, another death row inmate, who is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 15, five days before Biden’s inauguration.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Elected To Run House Democrats' Campaign Arm

Maloney takes over for Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos , who chaired the party campaign arm during the 2020 election .
Bustos presided over a disappointing performance for Democrats , who saw their majority in the chamber shrink when Democrats expected it to grow .
After her own bruising battle to hold on to her House seat , Bustos opted not to run for a second term as DCCC chair .
Maloney will now have to steer Democrats through another potentially perilous election , where they could easily lose their House majority .
Democrats will hold a roughly six-seat advantage over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the president ’ s party usually loses lawmakers in midterm elections ― on average by more than 30 seats .
Maloney will also have to navigate the difficult process of redistricting , where Republicans could redraw lines cutting out Democratic districts in certain states .
On top of losing seats in Congress , Democrats also lost a number of state legislative chambers and at least one governorship , and the conclusion of the decennial Census means new maps .
Democrats could be starting the 2022 midterms at an immediate disadvantage if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a first order of business , however , Maloney will have to oversee a deeper look into the DCCC ’ s polling operation .
A number of Democrats were falsely led to believe they were in much better shape than the electoral reality of the situation .
Maloney led a similar effort after the 2016 election to better understand how the polling missed Trump ’ s presidential win , as well as some unexpected results in the House .
Maloney will also have to start recruiting top-tier talent for Democrats to put up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they were able to win more than 40 seats in the 2018 midterms because of the attractive candidates they recruited to run against Republicans .
Maloney will have his work cut out for him trying to get strong Democratic candidates to put themselves up in red and purple districts during a time when there could be a backlash to a Joe Biden presidency .
Maloney is no stranger to tough districts .
He actually represents a district with a Partisan Voting Index score of R+1 , and his experience in his own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the edge against Cárdenas , who represented an extremely safe D+29 district .
But Maloney is also stepping into a party riven with public feuds between moderate Democrats in swing districts and their left-wing counterparts in deep blue enclaves .
He has signaled that he plans to thread the needle between the two factions , conceding that left-wing members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have a point when they criticize the strength of the party ’ s digital programs .
( Maloney ’ s own record is not flawless : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s win , he nabbed third place in the Democratic race for New York attorney general . )
Maloney , a Wall Street-friendly centrist , has said he would reevaluate DCCC policies of blacklisting vendors that worked with Democratic primary challengers .
The blacklist , put in place by Bustos in March 2019 , was a polarizing force within the DCCC , which found the policy difficult to enforce as unscrupulous vendors used shell companies to disguise their activities .
Progressives maintain the blacklist ended up backfiring on Democrats , fostering a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the path for the ouster of three more incumbents in the 2020 cycle while depriving the DCCC of the largest possible talent pool .
Maloney “ seems to be doing a pretty good job listening to progressive concerns about the DCCC , ” said a senior aide to a House progressive , who spoke on condition of anonymity .
“ It ’ s very positive that he wants to get rid of the consultant blacklist.
” Maloney , who has nonwhite children , has also assured Black and Latino members of the House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DCCC ’ s commitment to recruiting and protecting members of color , as well as hiring diverse staff for the campaign arm .
Bustos had faced criticism for a dearth of Black and Latino senior staffers at DCCC headquarters in Washington .
Cárdenas , who would have been the most senior Latino in Democratic leadership , was plagued by accusations that he drugged and fondled a minor in 2007 while he served on the Los Angeles City Council .
The woman making those accusations eventually dropped her lawsuit in 2019 , and Cárdenas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were categorically false .
Cárdenas ran on the argument that Democrats needed to adapt their strategies to attract Latino voters , after a number of disappointing showings in Florida , Texas and California may have cost Democrats seats .
But Maloney ’ s appeal to moderates and his experience running in a tough district seemed to win the day ― as well as his support among a number of Latino members .

House Democrats elected Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.) the new chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday. Yara Nardi/Getty Images
WASHINGTON ― House Democrats on Thursday elected Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) to serve as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with Maloney beating out Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) to head the House Democrats’ campaign arm for the 2022 cycle.
Maloney takes over for Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, who chaired the party campaign arm during the 2020 election. Bustos presided over a disappointing performance for Democrats, who saw their majority in the chamber shrink when Democrats expected it to grow. After her own bruising battle to hold on to her House seat, Bustos opted not to run for a second term as DCCC chair.
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Maloney will now have to steer Democrats through another potentially perilous election, where they could easily lose their House majority. Democrats will hold a roughly six-seat advantage over Republicans come the new Congress in January, and the president’s party usually loses lawmakers in midterm elections ― on average by more than 30 seats.
But Maloney won by stressing his belief that Democrats could grow their majority in the 2022 cycle.
“We’re going to break that curse. And we’re going to win seats. Write it down,” Maloney told Roll Call recently.
Maloney will also have to navigate the difficult process of redistricting, where Republicans could redraw lines cutting out Democratic districts in certain states. On top of losing seats in Congress, Democrats also lost a number of state legislative chambers and at least one governorship, and the conclusion of the decennial Census means new maps. Democrats could be starting the 2022 midterms at an immediate disadvantage if Republicans draw themselves favorable maps.
As a first order of business, however, Maloney will have to oversee a deeper look into the DCCC’s polling operation. A number of Democrats were falsely led to believe they were in much better shape than the electoral reality of the situation. Maloney led a similar effort after the 2016 election to better understand how the polling missed Trump’s presidential win, as well as some unexpected results in the House.
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Maloney will also have to start recruiting top-tier talent for Democrats to put up against vulnerable Republicans. Democrats have long said they were able to win more than 40 seats in the 2018 midterms because of the attractive candidates they recruited to run against Republicans. Maloney will have his work cut out for him trying to get strong Democratic candidates to put themselves up in red and purple districts during a time when there could be a backlash to a Joe Biden presidency.
Maloney is no stranger to tough districts. He actually represents a district with a Partisan Voting Index score of R+1, and his experience in his own Republican-leaning seat may have helped push him over the edge against Cárdenas, who represented an extremely safe D+29 district.
Maloney, who is openly gay, was first elected to represent New York’s Hudson Valley in the House in 2012. Despite Donald Trump’s victory in the exurban and rural district in 2016, Maloney was reelected.
But Maloney is also stepping into a party riven with public feuds between moderate Democrats in swing districts and their left-wing counterparts in deep blue enclaves. He has signaled that he plans to thread the needle between the two factions, conceding that left-wing members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have a point when they criticize the strength of the party’s digital programs. (Maloney’s own record is not flawless: In 2018, the year of Ocasio-Cortez’s win, he nabbed third place in the Democratic race for New York attorney general.)
Maloney, a Wall Street-friendly centrist, has said he would reevaluate DCCC policies of blacklisting vendors that worked with Democratic primary challengers. The blacklist, put in place by Bustos in March 2019, was a polarizing force within the DCCC, which found the policy difficult to enforce as unscrupulous vendors used shell companies to disguise their activities. Progressives maintain the blacklist ended up backfiring on Democrats, fostering a campaign ecosystem on the left that eased the path for the ouster of three more incumbents in the 2020 cycle while depriving the DCCC of the largest possible talent pool.
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Maloney “seems to be doing a pretty good job listening to progressive concerns about the DCCC,” said a senior aide to a House progressive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It’s very positive that he wants to get rid of the consultant blacklist.”
Maloney, who has nonwhite children, has also assured Black and Latino members of the House Democratic Caucus that he will improve the DCCC’s commitment to recruiting and protecting members of color, as well as hiring diverse staff for the campaign arm. Bustos had faced criticism for a dearth of Black and Latino senior staffers at DCCC headquarters in Washington.
Cárdenas, who would have been the most senior Latino in Democratic leadership, was plagued by accusations that he drugged and fondled a minor in 2007 while he served on the Los Angeles City Council. The woman making those accusations eventually dropped her lawsuit in 2019, and Cárdenas has maintained all along that the accusations were categorically false.
Cárdenas ran on the argument that Democrats needed to adapt their strategies to attract Latino voters, after a number of disappointing showings in Florida, Texas and California may have cost Democrats seats. But Maloney’s appeal to moderates and his experience running in a tough district seemed to win the day ― as well as his support among a number of Latino members.
“I’m supporting Sean Patrick Maloney because he has the depth of experience to remake the DCCC, and he’s personally committed to me that he will make the Latino vote a priority,” Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) told CNN.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Biden Says He'll Ask Americans To Wear Masks For At Least 100 Days To Fight COVID-19

President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that intends to ramp up coronavirus restrictions on a national scale once he enters the White House next month , including asking everyone to wear face coverings for at least 100 days .
“ Just 100 days to mask , not forever .
100 days .
And I think we ’ ll see a significant reduction , ” Biden , speaking alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in their first joint interview , told CNN ’ s Jake Tapper .
Biden added that he ’ ll be “ happy ” to get a COVID-19 vaccine once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s top infectious disease expert , says it ’ s safe to do so .
Ensuring that an effective vaccine is made available and the public have confidence in it will be critical to battling the virus , Biden said .
Biden told Tapper that he ’ s asked Fauci to serve as his chief medical adviser and a member of his COVID-19 response team .
Fauci has emerged this year as one of the most trusted voices on the coronavirus and one of the few members of President Donald Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ willing to challenge the president ’ s misinformation about the disease .
“ I asked him to stay on the exact same role he ’ s had for the past several presidents , and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and be part of the COVID team , ” Biden said of Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases .
Fauci has reportedly agreed to advise Biden on the pandemic , telling CNN ’ s Jim Acosta that he spoke personally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday .
Doctor Fauci will be staying on in his current role and advise incoming President Biden on the pandemic , he told me .
Fauci says he spoke to Biden about it personally today .
During the phone call Biden said he would appreciate it if Fauci stayed on to continue fighting the virus .
— Jim Acosta ( @ Acosta ) December 3 , 2020 As the number of COVID-19 cases , hospitalizations and deaths hit record levels in the U.S. this week , Fauci has warned that the country “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” through the holiday season .
“ We don ’ t want to frighten people , but that ’ s just the reality .
We said that these things would happen as we got into the cold weather and as we began traveling , and they ’ ve happened , ” he said on ABC ’ s “ This Week .
”

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President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that intends to ramp up coronavirus restrictions on a national scale once he enters the White House next month, including asking everyone to wear face coverings for at least 100 days.
“Just 100 days to mask, not forever. 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction,” Biden, speaking alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in their first joint interview, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
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Biden added that he’ll be “happy” to get a COVID-19 vaccine once Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, says it’s safe to do so. Ensuring that an effective vaccine is made available and the public have confidence in it will be critical to battling the virus, Biden said.
Biden told Tapper that he’s asked Fauci to serve as his chief medical adviser and a member of his COVID-19 response team. Fauci has emerged this year as one of the most trusted voices on the coronavirus and one of the few members of President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 task force who’s been willing to challenge the president’s misinformation about the disease.
“I asked him to stay on the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and be part of the COVID team,” Biden said of Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci has reportedly agreed to advise Biden on the pandemic, telling CNN’s Jim Acosta that he spoke personally to the president-elect about the role on Thursday.
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Doctor Fauci will be staying on in his current role and advise incoming President Biden on the pandemic, he told me. Fauci says he spoke to Biden about it personally today. During the phone call Biden said he would appreciate it if Fauci stayed on to continue fighting the virus. — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 3, 2020
As the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths hit record levels in the U.S. this week, Fauci has warned that the country “may see a surge upon a surge” through the holiday season.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Georgia Investigating Florida Lawyer Accused Of Illegal Vote Registration

MARIETTA , Ga. ( AP ) — Election officials are investigating the actions of a Florida lawyer who they say tried to register to vote in a high-stakes runoff in Georgia that will decide control of the U.S. Senate .
They say he was also captured on video urging other Floridians to do the same .
Moving to Georgia just to vote — with no intention of staying in the state afterward — can amount to a felony , Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday announcing the investigation .
The lawyer went online and attempted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his brother in Hiram , Georgia , said Deidre Holden , the elections supervisor in Paulding County , Georgia .
The system put his registration in a pending status because he didn ’ t provide a Georgia driver ’ s license number or other proof of address .
“ This is not about Republican or Democrat — this is about doing what ’ s right , ” Holden told The Associated Press on Thursday .
“ Everybody ’ s always screaming , ‘ The elections are fraudulent.
’ No , we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We can ’ t send this message that just because we ’ re mad that our candidate didn ’ t win , we can go out and throw an election .
It just breaks my heart to see that our country has come to this.
” The Florida lawyer told WSB-TV that he was joking when he was captured on video speaking about the plan during a Nov. 7 political rally in the Sunshine State .
He denied any wrongdoing .
Raffensperger has repeatedly said there was no evidence of widespread voter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holden said she ’ s interested in learning whether any other out-of-state residents tried to register in Georgia after being encouraged to do so at the Florida rally .

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MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Election officials are investigating the actions of a Florida lawyer who they say tried to register to vote in a high-stakes runoff in Georgia that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. They say he was also captured on video urging other Floridians to do the same.
Moving to Georgia just to vote — with no intention of staying in the state afterward — can amount to a felony, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday announcing the investigation.
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The lawyer went online and attempted to register to vote using the address of his brother in Hiram, Georgia, said Deidre Holden, the elections supervisor in Paulding County, Georgia. The system put his registration in a pending status because he didn’t provide a Georgia driver’s license number or other proof of address.
“This is not about Republican or Democrat — this is about doing what’s right,” Holden told The Associated Press on Thursday. “Everybody’s always screaming, ‘The elections are fraudulent.’ No, we’re trying to do our job.
“We can’t send this message that just because we’re mad that our candidate didn’t win, we can go out and throw an election. It just breaks my heart to see that our country has come to this.”
The Florida lawyer told WSB-TV that he was joking when he was captured on video speaking about the plan during a Nov. 7 political rally in the Sunshine State. He denied any wrongdoing.
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Raffensperger has repeatedly said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the November election.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--‘Trump Remains The Leader’: President Brings In $207 Million After Election Day

President Donald Trump raised $ 207.5 million in conjunction with the Republican National Committee in the weeks after Election Day , a mammoth figure that underscores his grip on the GOP even after he lost to President-elect Joe Biden by at least 7 million votes .
“ These tremendous fundraising numbers show President Trump remains the leader and source of energy for the Republican Party , and that his supporters are dedicated to fighting for the rightful , legal outcome of the 2020 general election , ” Bill Stepien , his 2020 campaign manager , said in a statement .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump campaign , are even greater than estimations published earlier this week by media outlets .
The president ’ s campaign has been sending a barrage of misleading fundraising emails and text messages to supporters , urging them to donate while claiming the money would largely be used to challenge the results of the 2020 election .
Trump and his surrogates have continued to spread lies and misinformation about the race even after it became clear that Biden had won , filing a bevy of legal challenges in key battleground states in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The president has ultimately lost every legal challenge , and all six battleground states he targeted have now certified their vote counts and declared Biden the winner .
Yet Trump has refused to concede and has been urging his supporters to send more money .
The fine print behind those donation appeals , however , says that most of the money ― the first 75 % of small-dollar donations ― will go toward his new political action committee , Save America .
The remaining 25 % will go to the RNC ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give more than $ 5,000 before their money would go to the recount fund .
Regardless , the fundraising figures are huge .
Top Republicans have continued to cheer on Trump and his hold on the party remains strong even as GOP leaders begin to court other possible presidential contenders for the 2024 election .
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that the monetary haul would help the party ’ s efforts next month in Georgia , where the state ’ s two Senate seats ― and control of the chamber for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in runoff elections .
“ The American people know what ’ s at stake .
Thanks to our incredible supporters , we ’ ve been fighting tooth and nail to uphold election integrity across the country and defend our Senate Republicans in Georgia , ” McDaniel said in a statement .
“ The work we are doing today is critical to ensuring a better tomorrow for all Americans .
”

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President Donald Trump raised $207.5 million in conjunction with the Republican National Committee in the weeks after Election Day, a mammoth figure that underscores his grip on the GOP even after he lost to President-elect Joe Biden by at least 7 million votes.
“These tremendous fundraising numbers show President Trump remains the leader and source of energy for the Republican Party, and that his supporters are dedicated to fighting for the rightful, legal outcome of the 2020 general election,” Bill Stepien, his 2020 campaign manager, said in a statement.
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The new figures, released Thursday by the Trump campaign, are even greater than estimations published earlier this week by media outlets.
The president’s campaign has been sending a barrage of misleading fundraising emails and text messages to supporters, urging them to donate while claiming the money would largely be used to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
Trump and his surrogates have continued to spread lies and misinformation about the race even after it became clear that Biden had won, filing a bevy of legal challenges in key battleground states in an attempt to overturn those results. The president has ultimately lost every legal challenge, and all six battleground states he targeted have now certified their vote counts and declared Biden the winner.
Yet Trump has refused to concede and has been urging his supporters to send more money. The fine print behind those donation appeals, however, says that most of the money ― the first 75% of small-dollar donations ― will go toward his new political action committee, Save America. The remaining 25% will go to the RNC’s operating expenses. Donors would have to give more than $5,000 before their money would go to the recount fund.
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Regardless, the fundraising figures are huge. Top Republicans have continued to cheer on Trump and his hold on the party remains strong even as GOP leaders begin to court other possible presidential contenders for the 2024 election.
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that the monetary haul would help the party’s efforts next month in Georgia, where the state’s two Senate seats ― and control of the chamber for the next two years ― will be decided in runoff elections.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Hispanic Lawmakers Voice Their Disappointment Over Biden Cabinet Picks So Far

J. Scott Applewhite/ASSOCIATED PRESS Rep. Ben Ray Luján ( D-N.M. ) told Biden 's transition team that the Hispanic Caucus was concerned over leaks that said New Mexico Gov .
Michelle Lujan Grisham had turned down a Cabinet post offer .
The call was part of the rockiest period for Biden ’ s transition so far , with Black , Asian American and Latino lawmakers pressuring them for further representation while progressives prepared to unleash new waves of criticism at any moment .
Although most of Biden ’ s early picks for key Cabinet slots have been met with praise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the remaining positions is the subject of intense lobbying both behind the scenes and publicly .
Gonzalez was one of a host of lawmakers of color voicing concerns about the diversity of Biden ’ s team in recent weeks , especially after Biden announced his intent to nominate Janet Yellen for treasury secretary and Anthony Blinken for secretary of state , filling two of the so-called “ big four ” slots in the Cabinet .
Yellen and Blinken are white .
Latino groups and lawmakers were pleased earlier this week when reports indicated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Rep. Luján and is a former chairwoman of the caucus ― was the front-runner to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services .
On Wednesday , that possibility blew up , with a source close to the transition telling reporters Lujan Grisham was no longer a front-runner for HHS and had turned down an offer to become interior secretary .
The Interior Department offer baffled people who knew Lujan Grisham , for both policy and political reasons .
Lujan Grisham was a former state health secretary in New Mexico @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public lands and energy issues the Interior Department focuses on .
Also , three other prominent New Mexico Democrats ― Sens .
Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich , along with Rep. Deb Haaland ― had expressed interest in the interior post , making it difficult for Lujan Grisham to accept without angering other Democrats in the Land of Enchantment .
On Thursday , Lujan Grisham took over as chair of the Democratic Governors Association for 2021 .
The timing was coincidental : The organization ’ s winter meeting is taking place , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
A Democrat with knowledge of the situation said she could still take a job in Biden ’ s Cabinet .
Biden ’ s team has messaged heavily on diversity during the transition , emphasizing historic “ firsts ” in his Cabinet and for the White House staff .
But Biden has to also balance these wide-ranging constituencies with his long career as a public official and the many public servants who have worked under him over the years .
“ The Democratic Party has no shortage of incredibly talented people ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weigh in all these different categories , ” said Chris Jennings , a former health policy adviser in the Obama administration who served on Biden ’ s policy task forces this summer .
“ Equity and diversity issues , experience at a federal or state level , private and public sectors , public health and mandatory health .
There are so many different kinds of services.
” “ President-elect Biden is building a diverse administration that looks like America , starting with the first woman of South Asian descent and first Black woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a transition spokesperson said .
“ His campaign and transition have succeeded in this effort .
He has announced historic and diverse White House appointments and Cabinet nominees to this point , and his success in finding diverse voices to develop and implement his policy vision to tackle our nation ’ s toughest challenges will be clear when our full slate of appointees and nominees is complete.
” Clyburn and other Black lawmakers have pushed for Rep. Marcia Fudge ( D-Ohio ) to serve as agriculture secretary .
That push has been joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as both an attractive alternative to former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp , an avowed centrist , and as a way to shift the Agriculture Department ’ s priorities from white , corporate and wealthy farmers to underserved family farmers and those on food stamps .

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) told Biden's transition team that the Hispanic Caucus was concerned over leaks that said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had turned down a Cabinet post offer. J. Scott Applewhite/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Some Hispanic members of Congress are becoming increasingly testy about what they see as a lack of Latino representation in President-elect Joe Biden’s list of Cabinet and White House nominees, especially after the apparent snubbing of the nation’s only Latina governor for a key post.
During a call between transition leaders and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Thursday, Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) confronted incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain and other officials about leaks from Biden’s transition indicating New Mexico Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham had turned down an offer to be secretary of the Department of the Interior.
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Klain, appearing on the call with transition co-chairs Ted Kaufman and Jeff Zients, apologized for the leaks, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the call.
The call was part of the rockiest period for Biden’s transition so far, with Black, Asian American and Latino lawmakers pressuring them for further representation while progressives prepared to unleash new waves of criticism at any moment. Although most of Biden’s early picks for key Cabinet slots have been met with praise across the ideological spectrum, competition for the remaining positions is the subject of intense lobbying both behind the scenes and publicly.
“Everybody’s eager to see a Cabinet that reflects America. It would be a huge missed opportunity and disappointment if President Biden failed us in that regard,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) said in an interview with HuffPost on Monday.
Gonzalez was one of a host of lawmakers of color voicing concerns about the diversity of Biden’s team in recent weeks, especially after Biden announced his intent to nominate Janet Yellen for treasury secretary and Anthony Blinken for secretary of state, filling two of the so-called “big four” slots in the Cabinet. Yellen and Blinken are white.
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Biden’s team nominated Cuban American lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security, a pick the Hispanic Caucus publicly praised.
Latino groups and lawmakers were pleased earlier this week when reports indicated Lujan Grisham ― who is not related to Rep. Luján and is a former chairwoman of the caucus ― was the front-runner to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. On Wednesday, that possibility blew up, with a source close to the transition telling reporters Lujan Grisham was no longer a front-runner for HHS and had turned down an offer to become interior secretary.
The Interior Department offer baffled people who knew Lujan Grisham, for both policy and political reasons. Lujan Grisham was a former state health secretary in New Mexico but had comparatively little experience with the public lands and energy issues the Interior Department focuses on. Also, three other prominent New Mexico Democrats ― Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with Rep. Deb Haaland ― had expressed interest in the interior post, making it difficult for Lujan Grisham to accept without angering other Democrats in the Land of Enchantment.
On Thursday, Lujan Grisham took over as chair of the Democratic Governors Association for 2021. The timing was coincidental: The organization’s winter meeting is taking place, and Lujan Grisham was selected as chair-elect last year. A Democrat with knowledge of the situation said she could still take a job in Biden’s Cabinet.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was rumored as a top contender for the Department of Health and Human Services. Morgan Lee/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The Hispanic Caucus has sent the Biden team two letters this week urging them to name Hispanic leaders to top administration posts, including Lujan Grisham for HHS and either Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez or California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Justice, noting either would be a “historic appointment.”
Biden’s team has messaged heavily on diversity during the transition, emphasizing historic “firsts” in his Cabinet and for the White House staff. But Biden has to also balance these wide-ranging constituencies with his long career as a public official and the many public servants who have worked under him over the years.
“The Democratic Party has no shortage of incredibly talented people; it’s what you decide to weigh in all these different categories,” said Chris Jennings, a former health policy adviser in the Obama administration who served on Biden’s policy task forces this summer. “Equity and diversity issues, experience at a federal or state level, private and public sectors, public health and mandatory health. There are so many different kinds of services.”
Finding a balance is, at times, proving difficult for the former vice president.
Last week, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a close Biden ally whose endorsement helped Biden win a crucial landslide in the South Carolina primary, said the transition team hadn’t done enough to select more Black leaders for top positions.
“I want to see where the process leads to, what it produces, but so far it’s not good,” he said in an interview with The Hill.
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Biden’s team has tapped three Black leaders for top roles: Wally Adeyemo, a Nigerian American economist who has been tapped as deputy treasury secretary; Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, named as a top White House adviser; and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was named to be the nominee as ambassador to the United Nations.
“President-elect Biden is building a diverse administration that looks like America, starting with the first woman of South Asian descent and first Black woman to serve as vice president-elect,” a transition spokesperson said. “His campaign and transition have succeeded in this effort. He has announced historic and diverse White House appointments and Cabinet nominees to this point, and his success in finding diverse voices to develop and implement his policy vision to tackle our nation’s toughest challenges will be clear when our full slate of appointees and nominees is complete.”
Even within the Latino community, there are divides. Though lawmakers were pleased with the Cuban-born Mayorkas’s selection, Gonzalez and other Latinos said they were hoping for additional representation for Mexican Americans, who make up three-fifths of the nation’s Latino population.
Gonzalez pointed to Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas), an early Biden endorser who represents a district on the U.S.-Mexico border, as a potential U.S. trade representative; and said Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), a physician, could also fit in the administration. Other Democrats said to expect a push for National Education Association head Lily Eskelsen García for secretary of education.
The battles over representation are also intersecting with the ongoing ideological fights within the Democratic Party, with both moderates and progressives working to present diverse picks to help Biden fill out his Cabinet.
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Joe Biden talks to Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) at a primary night election rally after winning the South Carolina primary, where Clyburn was considered an important political asset. Clyburn wants to see more Black nominees put forward by Biden's transition team. Gerald Herbert/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Clyburn and other Black lawmakers have pushed for Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to serve as agriculture secretary. That push has been joined by liberal groups, who see Fudge as both an attractive alternative to former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, an avowed centrist, and as a way to shift the Agriculture Department’s priorities from white, corporate and wealthy farmers to underserved family farmers and those on food stamps.
Some progressive groups have also considered forming an alliance with Hispanic lawmakers to push Becerra for U.S. attorney general, seeing him as preferable to former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick or former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
But progressive operatives warned it would be difficult to unite the Democratic Party’s left wing around a single attorney general candidate, considering the breadth of the position’s responsibilities and splits among groups focused on the economy, criminal justice and other issues.
Others remain wary of the Biden campaign using a diversity push as cover to add establishment or corporate voices into his administration.
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“It’s not enough for us to just have Black representation that is only uplifting corporate power or non-progressive ideas,” said Arisha Hatch, the vice president of campaigns at the progressive group Color of Change. “There are plenty of people to pick from that are people of color, that are Black people, who are both progressive and center racial justice.”
There are political reasons for Biden to fulfill the wishes of the lawmakers asking for more diversity. Biden himself has directly credited Black voters with providing the votes leading him to victory in both the primary and general elections, while a spike in Asian American turnout provided a crucial boost to his victory in Georgia. At the same time, Trump’s success in winning over Latino voters has Gonzalez and other lawmakers warning that Biden needs to deliver.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Rudy Giuliani Falsely Claims Georgia Election Is Proven Fraud In All-Caps Tweet

Sure , we believe you .
I think at this point we 're supposed to humor crazy people , right @ @ @ @ @ n't wake up a sleepwalker ?
I get them both confused .
pic.twitter.com/nCnRCT7O02

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thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--How Much Do Identities Like Gender Matter To Voters? Depends On The Voter.

In the weeks following a presidential election , political analysis often turns into playing with blocs , segmenting the electorate into the women ’ s vote , the Latino vote , the youth vote and so on .
This is , of course , an inherent oversimplification : Every voter has multiple , overlapping demographic and political identities .
Some female voters , for instance , feel a strong sense of kinship with other women , while others consider gender basically irrelevant .
And often , there are marked partisan differences in which facets of identity voters find to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful uniting factor .
Among voters who identify with one of the parties , 53 % said they share a lot of common interests and concerns with others in their party .
That ’ s more than 20 percentage points higher than the share who expressed similar feelings about any of six other groupings ― gender , age , race , religion , location and finances ― included in the survey .
Democrats and Republicans were about equally likely to express a sense of partisan kinship .
Democratic female voters were the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grouping : 45 % said they shared a lot of common interests and concerns based on gender .
Just 23 % of Republican female voters , and fewer than one-third of male voters in either party , said the same .
Women , as a whole , have edged toward the Democratic Party in recent years ― which suggests one reason that female Republicans might not be as likely to see other women as kindred spirits .
Female Democrats and Republicans , political scientist Samara Klar wrote in 2018 , “ do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means to be a woman ” ― meaning that , rather than stoking a bipartisan consensus around gender , talking about gender issues can actually exacerbate the mistrust between the women in the opposing party .
That year , the discrepancy was particularly visible in reactions to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh .
As we noted at the time , many Democratic women personally identified with Christine Blasey Ford , the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault .
Ford ’ s experience , one woman polled said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every woman experiences throughout their entire lives.
” But women across the aisle largely didn ’ t share those sentiments , instead emphasizing other aspects of their identity .
Kavanaugh “ is a Christian man and a conservative , ” one female Trump voter noted at the time .
“ I am a Christian and conservative too.
” Gender isn ’ t the only factor to interplay with political identity this way .
As the HuffPost/YouGov survey shows , there are similar partisan divides when voters are asked about the kinship they feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or their financial situations .
About one-third of voters say they share a lot of common interests and concerns with others who have the same religious beliefs .
Among Protestant voters , that number rises to 53 % , and among those who are self-identified born-again Christians , it ’ s 61 % .
But that sense of identity isn ’ t equally distributed along partisan lines .
Nearly three-quarters of Protestant GOP voters say they have common cause with others who share their faith , while fewer than half of their Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Democratic voters say they share common ground with people who have about the same amount of money as they do , while just 18 % of Republican voters say the same ― a gap that persists regardless of income level .
Voters ’ feelings of commonality along other lines don ’ t necessarily show the same political divides .
Republicans and Democrats were about equally likely , for instance , to say they share interests and concerns with others in their age group .
Yet demographic factors have “ increasingly become intertwined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York Times ’ Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui wrote two years ago , and are increasingly sorted along political lines .
That may leave members of each party with fewer other commonalities to bridge that divide .
Use the widget below to further explore the results of the HuffPost/YouGov survey , using the menu at the top to select survey questions and the buttons at the bottom to filter the data by subgroups : Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some but not all potential survey errors .
YouGov ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ error , which rests on a specific set of statistical assumptions about the selected sample rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling .
If these assumptions are wrong , the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate .

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In the weeks following a presidential election, political analysis often turns into playing with blocs, segmenting the electorate into the women’s vote, the Latino vote, the youth vote and so on. This is, of course, an inherent oversimplification: Every voter has multiple, overlapping demographic and political identities.
Those identities, as a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds, matter much more to some people than they do to others.
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Some female voters, for instance, feel a strong sense of kinship with other women, while others consider gender basically irrelevant. And often, there are marked partisan differences in which facets of identity voters find to be most important.
Partisanship itself is a powerful uniting factor. Among voters who identify with one of the parties, 53% said they share a lot of common interests and concerns with others in their party. That’s more than 20 percentage points higher than the share who expressed similar feelings about any of six other groupings ― gender, age, race, religion, location and finances ― included in the survey. Democrats and Republicans were about equally likely to express a sense of partisan kinship.
Overall, 36% of female voters and one-quarter of male voters said they share a lot of common interests and concerns with others of the same gender.
Democratic female voters were the most likely to see gender as a meaningful grouping: 45% said they shared a lot of common interests and concerns based on gender. Just 23% of Republican female voters, and fewer than one-third of male voters in either party, said the same.
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Results of a HuffPost/YouGov survey on common interests and identity. Ariel Edwards-Levy/HuffPost
Women, as a whole, have edged toward the Democratic Party in recent years ― which suggests one reason that female Republicans might not be as likely to see other women as kindred spirits.
Female Democrats and Republicans, political scientist Samara Klar wrote in 2018, “do not hold a common understanding of what it means to be a woman” ― meaning that, rather than stoking a bipartisan consensus around gender, talking about gender issues can actually exacerbate the mistrust between the women in the opposing party. That year, the discrepancy was particularly visible in reactions to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
As we noted at the time, many Democratic women personally identified with Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Ford’s experience, one woman polled said, “is an amplified version of what every woman experiences throughout their entire lives.” But women across the aisle largely didn’t share those sentiments, instead emphasizing other aspects of their identity. Kavanaugh “is a Christian man and a conservative,” one female Trump voter noted at the time. “I am a Christian and conservative too.”
Gender isn’t the only factor to interplay with political identity this way. As the HuffPost/YouGov survey shows, there are similar partisan divides when voters are asked about the kinship they feel with others who share their religious beliefs or their financial situations.
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About one-third of voters say they share a lot of common interests and concerns with others who have the same religious beliefs. Among Protestant voters, that number rises to 53%, and among those who are self-identified born-again Christians, it’s 61%. But that sense of identity isn’t equally distributed along partisan lines. Nearly three-quarters of Protestant GOP voters say they have common cause with others who share their faith, while fewer than half of their Democratic counterparts say the same.
Thirty-five percent of Democratic voters say they share common ground with people who have about the same amount of money as they do, while just 18% of Republican voters say the same ― a gap that persists regardless of income level.
Voters’ feelings of commonality along other lines don’t necessarily show the same political divides. Republicans and Democrats were about equally likely, for instance, to say they share interests and concerns with others in their age group.
Yet demographic factors have “increasingly become intertwined with politics,” as The New York Times’ Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui wrote two years ago, and are increasingly sorted along political lines. That may leave members of each party with fewer other commonalities to bridge that divide.
Use the widget below to further explore the results of the HuffPost/YouGov survey, using the menu at the top to select survey questions and the buttons at the bottom to filter the data by subgroups:
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The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted Nov. 11-14 among U.S. registered voters, using a sample selected from YouGov’s opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the population.
HuffPost has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov’s nationally representative opinion polling. More details on the polls’ methodology are available here.
Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some but not all potential survey errors. YouGov’s reports include a model-based margin of error, which rests on a specific set of statistical assumptions about the selected sample rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling. If these assumptions are wrong, the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Arecibo Observatory's Dramatic Collapse Captured In Drone Footage

The U.S. National Science Foundation released dramatic footage Thursday of the Arecibo Observatory ’ s collapse in Puerto Rico earlier this week .
The footage , captured both from the ground and via drone , shows support cables failing at the top of one of three towers , sending the 900-ton receiver platform plummeting more than 400 feet onto the reflector dish below .
No injuries resulted from the collapse , which , while unplanned , was a known possibility after two cables snapped in August and November .
The NSF evacuated staff after the second cable snapped on Nov. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the cable that failed in November , setting up Arecibo ’ s ultimate demise , dates all the way back to the telescope ’ s construction in 1963 .
In its 57 years of operation , the observatory survived hurricanes , tropical humidity and several earthquakes , and proved invaluable as a tool for scientific discovery and research .
The University of Central Florida , which manages the observatory , is working with the NSF to salvage the facility ’ s remaining scientific and educational infrastructure .
But a full rebuild will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Congress making the funds available .
“ With regards to replacement , NSF has a very well defined process for funding and constructing large scale infrastructure — including telescopes , ” Ralph Gaume , director of NSF ’ s division of astronomical sciences , said in a press conference Thursday .
“ It ’ s a multi-year process that involves congressional appropriations , and the assessment and needs of the scientific community .
So it ’ s very early for us to comment on the replacement .
”

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The U.S. National Science Foundation released dramatic footage Thursday of the Arecibo Observatory’s collapse in Puerto Rico earlier this week.
The footage, captured both from the ground and via drone, shows support cables failing at the top of one of three towers, sending the 900-ton receiver platform plummeting more than 400 feet onto the reflector dish below.
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No injuries resulted from the collapse, which, while unplanned, was a known possibility after two cables snapped in August and November. The NSF evacuated staff after the second cable snapped on Nov. 6.
According to the journal Nature, the cable that failed in November, setting up Arecibo’s ultimate demise, dates all the way back to the telescope’s construction in 1963.
In its 57 years of operation, the observatory survived hurricanes, tropical humidity and several earthquakes, and proved invaluable as a tool for scientific discovery and research.
The University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory, is working with the NSF to salvage the facility’s remaining scientific and educational infrastructure. But a full rebuild will be a yearslong process that depends first on Congress making the funds available.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Mary Trump: Here's Why My Uncle Won't Run For President Again In 2024

Mary Trump said the notion that her uncle , President Donald Trump , might run for a second term in 2024 is “ preposterous.
” “ I think that this , initially , was probably an idea that was floated to him in order to assuage his wounded ego after he so decisively lost to President [ -elect ] Biden , ” she said during an appearance on ABC ’ s “ The View.
” “ And I think it ’ s something he clings to as a way to maintain his relevance , which I suggested earlier is going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At a White House holiday event Tuesday , the president floated the idea of running again in the next presidential election , telling the crowd : “ We ’ re trying to do another four years .
Otherwise , I ’ ll see you in four years.
” It ’ s been a month since the election , but Trump still hasn ’ t conceded to Democrat Joe Biden , who won 306 electoral votes to Trump ’ s 232 .
Trump ’ s legal team is fighting fruitlessly to overturn the results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ stolen election ” narrative rife with conspiracy theories .
Mary Trump , who authored a book about her uncle , “ Too Much And Never Enough : How My Family Created The World ’ s Most Dangerous Man , ” said there are several reasons she believes the president won ’ t run again .
“ One of them ... is that he may be facing some serious charges at the state level , plus there are some lawsuits that he will have to grapple with , ” she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his financial exposure .
So I don ’ t see that happening.
” The New York Times obtained copies of Donald Trump ’ s tax returns in September , revealing several converging financial threats , including hundreds of millions in personally guaranteed debt coming due in the next four years .

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Mary Trump said the notion that her uncle, President Donald Trump, might run for a second term in 2024 is “preposterous.”
“I think that this, initially, was probably an idea that was floated to him in order to assuage his wounded ego after he so decisively lost to President[-elect] Biden,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
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“And I think it’s something he clings to as a way to maintain his relevance, which I suggested earlier is going to wane precipitously after the inauguration.”
At a White House holiday event Tuesday, the president floated the idea of running again in the next presidential election, telling the crowd: “We’re trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”
It’s been a month since the election, but Trump still hasn’t conceded to Democrat Joe Biden, who won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Trump’s legal team is fighting fruitlessly to overturn the results in several battleground states using a baseless “stolen election” narrative rife with conspiracy theories.
Mary Trump, who authored a book about her uncle, “Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” said there are several reasons she believes the president won’t run again.
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“One of them ... is that he may be facing some serious charges at the state level, plus there are some lawsuits that he will have to grapple with,” she said. “And, of course, there is his financial exposure. So I don’t see that happening.”
The New York Times obtained copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns in September, revealing several converging financial threats, including hundreds of millions in personally guaranteed debt coming due in the next four years.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Watch First Responders Rescue Frightened Dog Stranded On A Chunk Of Ice

A dog in North Dakota barely escaped what could have been a tragic fate .
Lola , a chocolate Labrador retriever , was rescued from the icy Sheyenne River near Fargo around 9 a.m. Wednesday , Fargo ’ s KVRR-TV reported .
A woman who was not the dog ’ s owner happened to see Lola stranded in the river and called authorities , according to a Facebook post by the Cass County Sheriff ’ s Office .
Two volunteer firefighters from the West Fargo Rural Fire Department , clad in cold-water suits , jumped into the river , retrieved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 feet through the frigid water to shore .
She was placed in a deputy ’ s squad vehicle to warm up after the frosty rescue , according to radio station KFGO .
Authorities called a phone number on Lola ’ s collar and reunited her with her owner , Cass County sheriff ’ s Deputy Craig Keller told KVRR .
The owner wasn ’ t identified .
“ The owner was quite grateful , ” Keller said .
“ The dog seemed to be happy to be back with its owner as @ @ @

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A dog in North Dakota barely escaped what could have been a tragic fate.
Lola, a chocolate Labrador retriever, was rescued from the icy Sheyenne River near Fargo around 9 a.m. Wednesday, Fargo’s KVRR-TV reported.
A woman who was not the dog’s owner happened to see Lola stranded in the river and called authorities, according to a Facebook post by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
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Two volunteer firefighters from the West Fargo Rural Fire Department, clad in cold-water suits, jumped into the river, retrieved Lola and carried her about 20 to 30 feet through the frigid water to shore. She was placed in a deputy’s squad vehicle to warm up after the frosty rescue, according to radio station KFGO.
Authorities called a phone number on Lola’s collar and reunited her with her owner, Cass County sheriff’s Deputy Craig Keller told KVRR. The owner wasn’t identified.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Phallus Sculpture Mysteriously Pops Up In Bavarian Mountains

BERLIN ( AP ) — Just days after a large phallus sculpture mysteriously disappeared from a Bavarian mountainside , a similar wooden carving has appeared in its place , German news agency dpa reported Thursday .
The saga began several years ago , when a 2-meter-tall ( almost 7-foot ) tall sculpture appeared on the 1,738-meter ( 5,702-foot ) high Gruenten mountain in southern Germany .
It quickly became a selfie magnet for hikers and even featured on Google Maps , where it was described as a “ cultural monument.
” The sculpture toppled over several weeks ago , only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it vanished entirely , with only a pile of sawdust left behind .
Even as local police probe the disappearance , the tale took a further twist Thursday with the discovery that a new , slightly larger carving of male genitalia had appeared at the site , propped up with wooden beams .
A wooden phallus sculpture about two meters high stands on the Gruenten mountain , Rettneberg , Germany , Thursday , Dec. 3 , 2020 .
After the mysterious disappearance of the wooden penis , unknown persons have now created a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gruenten in the Allgaeuer Alps , there is again a new phallus sculpture , supported by several beams .

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BERLIN (AP) — Just days after a large phallus sculpture mysteriously disappeared from a Bavarian mountainside, a similar wooden carving has appeared in its place, German news agency dpa reported Thursday.
The saga began several years ago, when a 2-meter-tall (almost 7-foot) tall sculpture appeared on the 1,738-meter (5,702-foot) high Gruenten mountain in southern Germany.
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It quickly became a selfie magnet for hikers and even featured on Google Maps, where it was described as a “cultural monument.”
The sculpture toppled over several weeks ago, only to be erected again. Last weekend it vanished entirely, with only a pile of sawdust left behind.
Even as local police probe the disappearance, the tale took a further twist Thursday with the discovery that a new, slightly larger carving of male genitalia had appeared at the site, propped up with wooden beams.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-03--Tiger At Carole Baskin's Big Cat Sanctuary Nearly Tears Off Volunteer's Arm

The volunteer , identified as Candy Couser , was attempting to feed Kimba the tiger and reached into the animal ’ s cage to unclip a door , according to WTSP-TV in Tampa Bay , Florida .
Baskin told BuzzFeed that Kimba “ grabbed [ Couser ’ s ] arm and nearly tore it off at the shoulder.
” At the time of the attack , Kimba was locked in a section of the cage where he usually was not fed .
Baskin said the clipped door is supposed to be the “ universal signal NOT to open a gate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Couser said she “ just wasn ’ t thinking when she reached in to unclip it , ” Baskin told BuzzFeed .
She added : “ It is against our protocols for anyone to stick any part of their body into a cage with a cat in it.
” Couser , who has worked at the sanctuary for five years , was pulled to safety by other sanctuary staffers who packed her limb in ice in hopes of saving it .
Couser was still conscious when she was taken to the hospital and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kimba tiger to come to any harm for this mistake , ” Baskin told BuzzFeed .
Information on Couser ’ s condition was not released .
Kimba will be placed in quarantine for the next 30 days .
The animal was “ just acting normal due to the presence of food and the opportunity , ” Baskin told the Orlando Sentinel .

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The volunteer, identified as Candy Couser, was attempting to feed Kimba the tiger and reached into the animal’s cage to unclip a door, according to WTSP-TV in Tampa Bay, Florida.
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Baskin told BuzzFeed that Kimba “grabbed [Couser’s] arm and nearly tore it off at the shoulder.”
At the time of the attack, Kimba was locked in a section of the cage where he usually was not fed. Baskin said the clipped door is supposed to be the “universal signal NOT to open a gate without the coordinator coming to assist.”
Couser said she “just wasn’t thinking when she reached in to unclip it,” Baskin told BuzzFeed. She added: “It is against our protocols for anyone to stick any part of their body into a cage with a cat in it.”
Couser, who has worked at the sanctuary for five years, was pulled to safety by other sanctuary staffers who packed her limb in ice in hopes of saving it.
Emergency crews arrived within 20 minutes and rushed Couser to a local hospital for treatment.
Couser was still conscious when she was taken to the hospital and “insisted that she did not want Kimba tiger to come to any harm for this mistake,” Baskin told BuzzFeed.
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Information on Couser’s condition was not released. Kimba will be placed in quarantine for the next 30 days.