theguardian--2020-11-01--'A whole lot of hurt': Fauci angers Trump White House with dark Covid outlook

The US is “ in for a whole lot of hurt ” under the coronavirus pandemic , senior public health expert Anthony Fauci said , predicting a winter of 100,000 or more cases a day and a rising death toll .
“ We ’ re in for a whole lot of hurt , ” Fauci told the Washington Post in a hard-hitting interview published on Saturday night , three days out from election day , immediately angering the Trump White House .
“ It ’ s not a good situation .
All the stars are aligned in the wrong place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winter season , with people congregating at home indoors .
You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.
” More than 9.1m cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the US and more than 230,000 people have died .
Daily case counts vary but agree that on Friday the US set a world record for cases in a single day , at between 99,000 and 100,000 .
On Saturday , Johns Hopkins University reported more than 81,000 new cases .
There were 862 deaths , down from more than 1,000 the day before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus himself , continues to campaign for re-election , staging rallies at which Covid mitigation strategies such as mask-wearing and social distancing are not observed and regularly claiming the US is “ rounding the corner ” .
On Friday he made the baseless claim that doctors were rewarded financially if people died of Covid .
His challenger , Joe Biden , who leads most national and battleground state polls , is staging fewer events and observing Covid protocols .
Fauci told the Post Biden was “ taking it seriously from a public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , was “ looking at it from a different perspective … the economy and reopening the country.
” Judd Deere , a White House spokesman , told the Post Trump “ always put the well-being of the American people first ” , and added : “ It ’ s unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr Fauci , a senior member of the president ’ s coronavirus taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump ’ s actions throughout this pandemic , to choose three days before an election to play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clashed with Trump , and recently complained about comments on the administration ’ s response being used out of context in a campaign commercial .
Fauci , 79 and the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 , serving six presidents , is immensely popular with the public and largely seen as safe from being fired .
But the Post also reported that “ at one point during the interview , Fauci said he needed to be careful with his words because he would be blocked from doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that “ as a member of the Task Force , Dr Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy , but he ’ s not done that , instead choosing to criticise the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president ’ s opponent – exactly what the American people have come to expect from the Swamp.
” Public records show Fauci is not registered as a Democrat or a Republican .
“ The Swamp ” is Trump campaign speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ deep state ” bureaucrats and intelligence officials dedicated to thwarting the president and feathering their own nests .
Trump ’ s former campaign manager , Steve Bannon , a key propagator of the deep state theory , has said it is “ for nut cases ” .
Speaking to the Post , Fauci was critical of a controversial outsider brought into the coronavirus taskforce by Trump .
Scott Atlas , a Stanford neuroradiologist and Fox News contributor , favours ending public health restrictions and pursuing “ herd immunity ” .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Fauci said .
“ He ’ s a smart guy who ’ s talking about things that I believe he doesn ’ t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in .
He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out , it doesn ’ t make any sense.
” Fauci also said : “ Right now , the public health aspect of the [ White House ] taskforce has diminished greatly … the last time I spoke to the president was not about any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovering in Walter Reed , he called me up.
” Fauci said he called into meetings but largely avoided the White House because “ of all the infections there ” .
After an event for supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on 26 September , cases proliferated among the Trump family , senior aides and top Republicans .
Last weekend , senior aides to Vice-President Mike Pence were infected .
Fauci also said he approved of controversial remarks last weekend by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows , who said the administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I tip my hat to him for admitting the strategy , ” he said .
“ He is straightforward in telling you what ’ s on his mind .
I commend him for that .
”

The US should prepare for “a whole lot of hurt” under the coronavirus pandemic, senior public health expert Anthony Fauci has said, predicting a winter of 100,000 or more cases a day and a rising death toll.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt,” Fauci told the Washington Post in a hard-hitting interview published on Saturday night, three days out from election day, immediately angering the Trump White House.
“It’s not a good situation. All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
More than 9.1m cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the US and more than 230,000 people have died. Daily case counts vary but agree that on Friday the US set a world record for cases in a single day, between 99,000 and 100,000, as numbers surge in several states, many of them electoral battlegrounds key to control of the White House. On Saturday, Johns Hopkins University reported more than 81,000 new cases. There were 862 deaths, down from more than 1,000 the day before.
Donald Trump, recently recovered from the virus himself, continues to campaign for re-election, staging rallies at which mitigation strategies such as mask-wearing and social distancing are not observed and regularly claiming the US is “rounding the corner”. On Friday he made the baseless claim that doctors are rewarded financially if people die of Covid.
You could not possibly be positioned more poorly Anthony Fauci
His challenger, Joe Biden, who leads most national and battleground state polls, is staging fewer events and observing Covid protocols.
Trump has charged that Biden is “hiding” and regularly mocked his opponent for wearing a mask. On Sunday, campaign adviser Anita Dunn told CNN’s State of the Union that since March, “what Vice-President Biden has done is basically why he’s got in this race, he showed people what a responsible president does and how a responsible president acts.”
Fauci told the Post that Biden was “taking it seriously from a public health perspective”. Trump, he said, was “looking at it from a different perspective … the economy and reopening the country.”
Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, told the Post that Trump “always put the well-being of the American people first”, and added: “It’s unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr Fauci, a senior member of the president’s coronavirus taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics.”
In fact Fauci has often clashed with Trump, and recently complained about comments being used out of context in a campaign commercial.
01:25 What Dr Fauci actually said versus how Trump used clip in campaign ad – video
Fauci, 79, has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, serving six presidents. He is immensely popular with the public and largely seen as safe from being fired. But the Post also reported that “at one point during the interview, Fauci said he needed to be careful with his words because he would be blocked from doing appearances in the future”.
Deere said that “as a member of the Task Force, Dr Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, but he’s not done that, instead choosing to criticise the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent – exactly what the American people have come to expect from the Swamp.”
Public records show Fauci is not registered as a Democrat or a Republican.
“The Swamp” is Trump campaign speak for Washington, supposedly a den of “deep state” bureaucrats and intelligence officials dedicated to thwarting the president and feathering their own nests. Trump’s former campaign manager, Steve Bannon, a key propagator of the deep state theory now indicted for fraud, has said it is “for nut cases”.
Speaking to the Post, Fauci was critical of a controversial outsider brought into the coronavirus taskforce by Trump. Scott Atlas, a Stanford neuroradiologist and Fox News contributor, favours ending public health restrictions and pursuing “herd immunity”.
00:56 Trump falsely tells Michigan rally: 'Our doctors get more money if someone dies of Covid' – video
“I have real problems with that guy,” Fauci said. “He’s a smart guy who’s talking about things that I believe he doesn’t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in. He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out, it doesn’t make any sense.”
On Saturday, Atlas promoted an interview with RT – a Kremlin-controlled TV channel which spreads disinformation. “Lockdowns, facts, frauds,” he tweeted. “If you can’t handle truth, use a mask to cover your eyes and ears.” On Sunday he apologised for the interview, saying he was unaware RT was “a registered foreign agent”.
Fauci also said: “Right now, the public health aspect of the [White House] taskforce has diminished greatly … the last time I spoke to the president was not about any policy. It was when he was recovering in Walter Reed, he called me up.”
Fauci said he called into meetings but largely avoided the White House because “of all the infections there”. After an event for supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on 26 September, cases proliferated among the Trump family, senior aides and top Republicans. Last weekend, senior aides to Vice-President Mike Pence were infected.
Fauci also addressed controversial remarks last weekend by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who said the administration was not going to control the pandemic.
“I tip my hat to him for admitting the strategy,” he said. “He is straightforward in telling you what’s on his mind. I commend him for that.”


theguardian--2020-11-01--'The numbers floored me': hunger in Pennsylvania hits highest level since pandemic's start

Charles Bennicoff hasn ’ t worked since last winter .
He ’ s an experienced landscape gardener but the mom-and-pop business he worked for in Allentown , Pennsylvania , cut its staff after losing most of their contracts during the pandemic .
Bennicoff , 50 , now relies on a food pantry for a few bags of groceries every couple of weeks to supplement the food stamps and social security his mentally ill wife receives .
He still picks up the occasional odd job but doesn ’ t qualify for unemployment benefits because the landscaping job was cash in hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the couple have needed food aid since recovering from drug addiction and homelessness about 20 years ago , and Bennicoff is struggling to stay positive .
“ Covid has taken a toll , emotionally and financially .
There ’ s a thousand people dying every day because of the president ’ s lies , and I can ’ t just shrug that off .
I have tears in my eyes every night , ” said Bennicoff .
Hunger is rising in Pennsylvania , with the demand for food aid at its highest level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to new figures obtained by the Guardian .
Food banks distributed almost 1.17m aid boxes in the first three weeks of October , providing fresh produce and staples like rice , pasta and peanut butter to 2.75m people .
October will almost certainly beat the previous record monthly distribution from July , when 1.38m households received food boxes across the state .
“ These numbers have floored me , ” said Sheila Christopher , executive director of Pennsylvania Food Banks .
“ Demand is going up across the state and the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like this before , it gives me goosebumps.
” And it ’ s not just here : nationwide the demand for aid at food banks and pantries has soared during the pandemic amid unprecedented job losses and the worst unemployment rate in modern times .
A recent census bureau survey found 12 % of American households with children did not have enough food sometimes or often during the previous week – compared with 10 % before the pandemic .
A staggering 54 million people in the US – ostensibly the richest country in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the end of 2020 , according to Feeding America , the national food bank network .
This would represent a 54 % increase since last year , according to food insecurity figures recently released by the Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) .
“ We ’ re already stretched trying to keep up with demand and now we ’ re preparing for an even worse second wave , ” said Katarah Jordan , director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania , which supplies 200 pantries .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lehigh Valley , a metropolitan region comprising three eastern Pennsylvania counties ( Northampton , Carbon and Lehigh ) and one in western New Jersey .
It ’ s the third-most populous area in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , and one where Joe Biden must claw back votes Democrats lost in 2016 in order to win the White House .
In this region , demand for food aid is up 45 % .
Trump , whose path to victory was guaranteed in 2016 after beating Hillary Clinton by just over 44,200 votes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ votes , has held campaign events across the state in recent weeks amid polls that show Biden has a narrow lead .
At a rally in Allentown last Monday , Trump repeated false the claim that the gravity of the pandemic was being exaggerated by his political enemies , including the state ’ s Democratic governor , Tom Wolf .
Last week , the White House claimed that Trump had ended the pandemic despite new cases and deaths spiralling across much of the country .
Almost 230,000 Americans have died so far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worst is yet to come as the country moves into a second wave .
“ You can not believe anything Trump says .
He ’ s put his financial gains above our safety … At the very least , we need a president with a conscience , ” said Bennicoff .
On Tuesday , Bennicoff , his wife and their three children will vote for the first time .
He registered to vote after the veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward revealed that Trump purposefully played down the seriousness of the coronavirus .
Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ecumenical pantry is Kathleen Beatty , 59 , who lost her cleaning job at the start of the pandemic .
Beatty has relied on food aid since the federal unemployment benefit was cut amid a political stalemate in Washington .
“ I don ’ t know what I ’ d do without this help .
I haven ’ t needed a food bank since the 1980s , ” she said .
Beatty qualifies for Medicaid to cover the cost of treating chronic conditions – a benefit which could be cut if the supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as desired by the Republicans .
Still , Beatty wants four more years for Trump .
“ He did a great job putting the wall up , to keep out people who shouldn ’ t be here illegally from taking our money .
He ’ s done a good job on the pandemic , too.
” The numbers tell a different story .
In Pennsylvania , daily coronavirus cases are up 54 % compared with two weeks ago , according to the New York Times database .
The state unemployment rate was 8.1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the national average and twice the pre-pandemic rate , according to Bureau of Labor statistics .
The Covid public health crisis triggered the worst economic crisis in almost a century and exposed the precarious state of millions of working Americans thanks to weak labor rights , eroded government safety nets and low wages .
Low wage workers , especially people of colour , have been the hardest hit .
Janette Ortiz , 30 , moved to Allentown from Puerto Rico in 2015 in search of a better life .
She contracted Covid in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warehouse - not long after becoming pregnant .
Ortiz was briefly hospitalized , but then went back to work .
But she says she was fired a couple of months later after missing a few days due to morning sickness .
Ortiz and her mother were forced to move to a smaller apartment and depend on the monthly food pantry run by the Grace Episcopal church .
Even before the pandemic , half of American adults had either no emergency savings or not enough to cover three months of living expenses , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ index .
“ I hope to find a job after the baby is born … I ’ ll vote on Tuesday because healthcare is very important , ’ said Ortiz .
Her baby is due in three weeks .

Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletter
Charles Bennicoff hasn’t worked since last winter. He’s an experienced landscape gardener but the mom-and-pop business he worked for in Allentown, Pennsylvania, cut its staff after losing most of their contracts during the pandemic.
Bennicoff, 50, now relies on a food pantry for a few bags of groceries every couple of weeks to supplement the food stamps and social security his mentally ill wife receives. He still picks up the occasional odd job but doesn’t qualify for unemployment benefits because the landscaping job was cash in hand.
It’s the first time the couple have needed food aid since recovering from drug addiction and homelessness about 20 years ago, and Bennicoff is struggling to stay positive.
“Covid has taken a toll, emotionally and financially. There’s a thousand people dying every day because of the president’s lies, and I can’t just shrug that off. I have tears in my eyes every night,” said Bennicoff.
Hunger is rising in Pennsylvania, with the demand for food aid at its highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to new figures obtained by the Guardian.
Jeanette Ortiz, left, and her mother, Miriam Morales, pick up food from the Lehigh Valley Second Harvest food pantry in Allentown on Friday. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
Food banks distributed almost 1.17m aid boxes in the first three weeks of October, providing fresh produce and staples like rice, pasta and peanut butter to 2.75 million people. October will almost certainly beat the previous record monthly distribution from July, when 1.38m households received food boxes across the state.
“These numbers have floored me,” said Sheila Christopher, executive director of Pennsylvania Food Banks. “Demand is going up across the state and the country. We’ve never seen anything like this before, it gives me goosebumps.”
And it’s not just here: nationwide the demand for aid at food banks and pantries has soared during the pandemic amid unprecedented job losses and the worst unemployment rate in modern times.
A recent census bureau survey found 12% of American households with children did not have enough food sometimes or often during the previous week – compared with 10% before the pandemic.
A staggering 54 million people in the US – ostensibly the richest country in the world – may have faced hunger by the end of 2020, according to Feeding America, the national food bank network. This would represent a 54% increase since last year, according to food insecurity figures recently released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“We’re already stretched trying to keep up with demand and now we’re preparing for an even worse second wave,” said Katarah Jordan, director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania, which supplies 200 pantries.
Allentown is the biggest city in the Lehigh Valley, a metropolitan region comprising three eastern Pennsylvania counties (Northampton, Carbon and Lehigh) and one in western New Jersey. It’s the third-most populous area in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and one where Joe Biden must claw back votes Democrats lost in 2016 in order to win the White House.
Volunteers prepare food boxes at the Lehigh Valley Second Harvest food pantry on Friday. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
In this region, demand for food aid is up 45%.
Trump, whose path to victory was guaranteed in 2016 after beating Hillary Clinton by just over 44,200 votes to collect Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral college votes, has held campaign events across the state in recent weeks amid polls that show Biden has a narrow lead.
At a rally in Allentown last Monday, Trump repeated the false claim that the gravity of the pandemic is being exaggerated by his political enemies, including the state’s Democratic governor, Tom Wolf.
Last week, the White House claimed that Trump had ended the pandemic despite new cases and deaths rising sharply across much of the country. More than 230,000 Americans have died so far, and public health experts warn that the worst is yet to come as the country moves into a second wave.
“You cannot believe anything Trump says. He’s put his financial gains above our safety … At the very least, we need a president with a conscience,” said Bennicoff.
On Tuesday, Bennicoff, his wife and their three children will vote for the first time. He registered to vote after the veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward revealed that Trump purposefully played down the seriousness of the coronavirus.
Another first-time voter collecting groceries from the Allentown Ecumenical pantry is Kathleen Beatty, 59, who lost her cleaning job at the start of the pandemic.
Kathleen Beatty sits in her car after picking up food from the Allentown Area Ecumenical food bank on Friday. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
Beatty has relied on food aid since the federal unemployment benefit was cut amid a political stalemate in Washington. “I don’t know what I’d do without this help. I haven’t needed a food bank since the 1980s,” she said.
Beatty qualifies for Medicaid to cover the cost of treating chronic conditions – a benefit which could be cut if the supreme court overturns the Affordable Care Act, as desired by the Republicans.
Still, Beatty wants four more years of Trump. “He did a great job putting the wall up, to keep out people who shouldn’t be here illegally from taking our money. He’s done a good job on the pandemic, too.”
The numbers tell a different story. In Pennsylvania, daily coronavirus cases are up 54% compared with two weeks ago, according to the New York Times database. The state unemployment rate was 8.1% in September, slightly higher than the national average and twice the pre-pandemic rate, according to Bureau of Labor statistics.
Coronavirus warnings are posted outside the Allentown Area Ecumenical food bank. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
The Covid public health crisis triggered the worst economic crisis in almost a century and exposed the precarious state of millions of working Americans thanks to weak labor rights, eroded government safety nets and low wages. Low-wage workers, especially people of colour, have been the hardest hit.
Janette Ortiz, 30, moved to Allentown from Puerto Rico in 2015 in search of a better life. She contracted Covid in March while working at a food distribution warehouse - not long after becoming pregnant.
Ortiz was briefly hospitalized, but then went back to work. But she says she was fired a couple of months later after missing a few days due to morning sickness. Ortiz and her mother were forced to move to a smaller apartment and depend on the monthly food pantry run by the Grace Episcopal church.
Even before the pandemic, half of American adults had either no emergency savings or not enough to cover three months of living expenses, according to Bankrate’s 2019 financial security index.
“I hope to find a job after the baby is born … I’ll vote on Tuesday because healthcare is very important,’ said Ortiz. Her baby is due in three weeks.


theguardian--2020-11-01--How a Republican plan to split a Black college campus backfired

She didn ’ t know it at the time , but when Jonezie Cobb first set foot on North Carolina A & T State ’ s 13,000-person campus as a freshman last fall , the university was split in two .
In 2016 , Republican state legislators had drawn a line down Laurel Street , which runs through the middle of campus , effectively dividing the nation ’ s largest historically black university into separate congressional districts .
Walking from the library to the dining hall , Cobb would frequently cross from the state ’ s sixth district over into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans : Mark Walker and Ted Budd .
Cobb , now a sophomore , remembers first learning about the distinct districts from student groups that were organizing calls , protests and even a visit to Walker and Budd ’ s offices in Washington DC .
However , after a court decision late last year , for the first time since 2012 , the university ’ s students will be voting in a general election under the umbrella of a single district .
The newly minted sixth district , which includes all of A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black cities of Winston-Salem and Greensboro , is one of two North Carolina congressional seats likely to flip in favor of Democrats in the election .
In the other – the state ’ s second district – Republican incumbent representative George Holding announced after the 2019 redistricting that he would not be seeking reelection .
Cobb , who is 19 and studying political science , cast her vote on the first day of early voting at a polling station on campus .
The station itself was another fight – last fall , dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county ’ s board of elections meetings to lobby for a voting site at the university , a request that was eventually granted .
These forms of suppression , intentional or not , made voting feel even more important , Cobb said .
“ As African Americans we pride ourselves in voting , because that ’ s what our ancestors fought for , ” she said .
“ It ’ s something that I will never forget.
” More than 37,000 people aged 18-29 have already voted in the sixth district , nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Statewide , of the 3.3m votes cast , 12 % have come from Cobb ’ s age group , up more than a point over 2016 .
Rachel Weber , the North Carolina press secretary for voting advocacy group NextGen America , said she believes the uptick can be explained by young people feeling the effects of the political world on their day-to-day lives more than ever .
“ We have lived through four years of an administration that has attacked the issues near and dear to our hearts , whether it be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Weber said .
“ Politics are closer to young people right now.
” Students at A & T rallying against racially biased districting and maps “ that don ’ t represent us and where we live ” is a prime example of the youth activism and political engagement endemic in the current election , she added .
A & T has a long history of organizing around politics and racial justice : the Greensboro Four – the group of Black activists whose sit-ins in 1960 at a local department store helped further the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the university .
But in the past year , gerrymandering has been added to the list of seemingly evergreen conversation topics on campus that include economic inequality , criminal justice reform and systemic racism , said Derick Smith , a political science lecturer at the university .
“ [ Students ] became personally aware and highly agitated that they were being targeted by this particular suppression method , ” Smith said .
“ They felt like diluting their voice and their vote was criminal.
” The 2016 move to split the campus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remake North Carolina ’ s congressional maps after a US supreme court ruling deemed the previous ones unconstitutionally gerrymandered .
Legislators freely admitted , however , that they would draw the new maps intending to consolidate and water down certain voting blocs , including the state ’ s roughly 1.5 million Black registered voters .
“ We want to make clear that we , to the extent , are going to use political data in drawing this map , it is to gain partisan advantage on the map , ” the Republican legislator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I want that criteria to be clearly stated and understood.
” Those maps were likely “ extreme partisan gerrymanders ” a panel of North Carolina judges found last year , forcing legislators again back to the drawing board .
The current maps were finally approved by judges in December .
Smith said he ’ s already seen impacts from the redistricting .
Congressional candidates have been spotted around campus and in the community , something that rarely happened when the area was a surefire Republican stronghold .
But there is still work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2020 census , the state will have to once again come up with new congressional and legislative districts .
To avoid racism and partisan bias , Smith said , the state should look to models such as California and Colorado , which have shifted the responsibility for district line-drawing from politicians to citizens or independent bodies .
“ The citizens should have a greater role in drawing these maps as they affect their lives , ” Smith said .
“ It shouldn ’ t be a spoils system for the party that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they shouldn ’ t be picking their voters.
” Without any sort of protections in place , A & T is just one of many communities across the US that will continue to not receive fair and equal political representation , he added .
“ There ’ s no way the fate of Black voters should be left up to partisan design , because we ’ re going to lose every time , ” Smith said .

Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletter
She didn’t know it at the time, but when Jonezie Cobb first set foot on North Carolina A&T State’s 13,000-person campus as a freshman last fall, the university was split in two.
In 2016, Republican state legislators had drawn a line down Laurel Street, which runs through the middle of campus, effectively dividing the nation’s largest historically black university into separate congressional districts.
Walking from the library to the dining hall, Cobb would frequently cross from the state’s sixth district over into the 13th, both represented by white Republicans: Mark Walker and Ted Budd.
Cobb, now a sophomore, remembers first learning about the distinct districts from student groups that were organizing calls, protests and even a visit to Walker and Budd’s offices in Washington DC. However, after a court decision late last year, for the first time since 2012, the university’s students will be voting in a general election under the umbrella of a single district.
The newly minted sixth district, which includes all of A&T as well as the largely Black cities of Winston-Salem and Greensboro, is one of two North Carolina congressional seats likely to flip in favor of Democrats in the election. In the other – the state’s second district – Republican incumbent representative George Holding announced after the 2019 redistricting that he would not be seeking reelection.
Cobb, who is 19 and studying political science, cast her vote on the first day of early voting at a polling station on campus. The station itself was another fight – last fall, dozens of A&T students packed the county’s board of elections meetings to lobby for a voting site at the university, a request that was eventually granted.
These forms of suppression, intentional or not, made voting feel even more important, Cobb said.
“As African Americans we pride ourselves in voting, because that’s what our ancestors fought for,” she said. “It’s something that I will never forget.”
More than 37,000 people aged 18-29 have already voted in the sixth district, nearly twice the tally recorded in 2016. Statewide, of the 3.3m votes cast, 12% have come from Cobb’s age group, up more than a point over 2016.
As African Americans we pride ourselves in voting, because that’s what our ancestors fought for Jonezie Cobb
Rachel Weber, the North Carolina press secretary for voting advocacy group NextGen America, said she believes the uptick can be explained by young people feeling the effects of the political world on their day-to-day lives more than ever.
“We have lived through four years of an administration that has attacked the issues near and dear to our hearts, whether it be racial justice or affordable healthcare,” Weber said. “Politics are closer to young people right now.”
Students at A&T rallying against racially biased districting and maps “that don’t represent us and where we live” is a prime example of the youth activism and political engagement endemic in the current election, she added.
A&T has a long history of organizing around politics and racial justice: the Greensboro Four – the group of Black activists whose sit-ins in 1960 at a local department store helped further the civil rights movement – were all students at the university.
But in the past year, gerrymandering has been added to the list of seemingly evergreen conversation topics on campus that include economic inequality, criminal justice reform and systemic racism, said Derick Smith, a political science lecturer at the university.
“[Students] became personally aware and highly agitated that they were being targeted by this particular suppression method,” Smith said. “They felt like diluting their voice and their vote was criminal.”
The 2016 move to split the campus came after Republican legislators were forced to remake North Carolina’s congressional maps after a US supreme court ruling deemed the previous ones unconstitutionally gerrymandered.
An aerial view of the part of North Carolina A&T University that was divided by the boundary line between districts six and 13. Photograph: Charles Mostoller/Reuters
Legislators freely admitted, however, that they would draw the new maps intending to consolidate and water down certain voting blocs, including the state’s roughly 1.5 million Black registered voters.
“We want to make clear that we, to the extent, are going to use political data in drawing this map, it is to gain partisan advantage on the map,” the Republican legislator David Lewis said at the time. “I want that criteria to be clearly stated and understood.”
Those maps were likely “extreme partisan gerrymanders” a panel of North Carolina judges found last year, forcing legislators again back to the drawing board. The current maps were finally approved by judges in December.
Smith said he’s already seen impacts from the redistricting. Congressional candidates have been spotted around campus and in the community, something that rarely happened when the area was a surefire Republican stronghold.
But there is still work to do, he added. Following the 2020 census, the state will have to once again come up with new congressional and legislative districts. To avoid racism and partisan bias, Smith said, the state should look to models such as California and Colorado, which have shifted the responsibility for district line-drawing from politicians to citizens or independent bodies.
“The citizens should have a greater role in drawing these maps as they affect their lives,” Smith said. “It shouldn’t be a spoils system for the party that wins an election – in a Democracy, they shouldn’t be picking their voters.”
Without any sort of protections in place, A&T is just one of many communities across the US that will continue to not receive fair and equal political representation, he added.
“There’s no way the fate of Black voters should be left up to partisan design, because we’re going to lose every time,” Smith said.


theguardian--2020-11-01--Wisconsin battles rapid rise in Covid cases amid partisan disputes over safety

Over the past seven months , as the coronavirus pandemic first pummeled the nation ’ s coastal states then swept toward the country ’ s rural heartland , political battles have often stymied public health efforts to tamp down outbreaks and gain control of a fast-spreading virus .
Perhaps nowhere else are those forces colliding in a more dramatic fashion than in Wisconsin – a state that has been cripplingly unable to reach consensus on how to effectively respond to the outbreaks ravaging its cities and towns .
The nation ’ s dairy state , which continues to shatter its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 infections , and rates of transmission show no signs of slowing .
Over the past two months , Wisconsin saw its seven-day average – currently at 4,000 cases – increase by 400 % .
As of Thursday , Wisconsin cities represented 10 of the top 20 metro areas with the nation ’ s highest per capita Covid rates , according to a New York Times analysis .
Across the state ’ s hospital system , 85 % of hospital beds and 87 % of ICU beds are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health data .
“ We need folks to forget the it-won ’ t-happen to me mentality , ” Wisconsin ’ s Democratic governor Tony Evers said at a press briefing .
“ We need people to stop treating this virus as something that ’ s only happening to other people in other places .
This virus is here , and it ’ s spreading all around us.
” While it took the state seven months to notch its first 100,000 cases , that figure then doubled in just 36 days , said Andrea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s health services department .
“ It ’ s going to get worse before it gets better , ” she said .
Meanwhile , the state ’ s Republican-led legislature alongside allied legal groups have continued to challenge and thwart the Democratic governor ’ s efforts to issue “ safer-at-home ” orders , mask mandates and limit the size of gatherings – creating a sense of whiplash as residents have tried to keep pace with rules that seem to be continuously issued , rescinded and issued again .
As a result , public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to municipalities and individuals , said Patrick Remington , former epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison .
“ The public has been left confused and bewildered .
I ’ m not surprised that people just decide on their own what ’ s good for them .
Unfortunately , people are making choices to engage in high-risk behaviors – decisions that the virus is exploiting.
” Remington attributes skyrocketing Covid rates in Wisconsin to a convergence of factors .
Layered on top of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dropping temperatures have driven residents indoors – sometimes into bars , in keeping with the state ’ s robust tavern culture , where customers often sit elbow to elbow , unmasked , and shout to be heard over loud music .
“ What ’ s happening in Wisconsin is a perfect storm , ” Remington said .
Hoping to recapture the state he narrowly won in 2016 , Donald Trump in recent weeks has made repeated visits to the crucial swing state , hosting packed rallies over the objections of doctors and public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and disrespectful to the sacrifices of frontline medical staff .
Earlier this week , Trump hosted a rally outside La Crosse , on the state ’ s western edge , where he used his pulpit to mock the “ corrupt ” media for its focus on coronavirus infections .
“ You turn on the news : ‘ Covid , Covid ’ You know when they ’ re going to stop talking about it so much ?
4 November , ” Trump said .
Later in the week , Mike Pence stumped in central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ metro area that on Thursday represented the nation ’ s eighth highest outbreak relative to its population , according to the New York Times .
Cases in the Wausau area ballooned after Trump made the same stop in September .
USA Today suggested the jump could be related to last month ’ s event , though there isn ’ t evidence to tie the rise to the event specifically – a link that would be especially difficult to make , given the fact that the volume of cases has far exceeded the county @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We have not been able to effectively contact trace in the past two months or more , ” said Judy Burrows , spokesperson for Marathon County ’ s public health department .
Remington concedes that the rallies themselves pose a risk , but said he ’ s more concerned about the message Trump supporters take away from the fact they ’ re held at all .
“ In the grand scheme of things , the risk of these events themselves pale in comparison to what they represent philosophically – a top-down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Remington .
Katie Rosenberg , Wausau ’ s mayor , said she ’ s been saddened to see the way the pandemic has divided the community between those who have listened to advice from medical experts and those who “ flat out deny ” the guidance and refuse to wear masks or physically distance .
“ Wausau has historically been a pretty purple area , but right now it feels almost as if we have two different worlds .
It ’ s unfortunate that we ’ re approaching public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s where we ’ re at as a country , ” Rosenberg said .
The divisiveness playing out at the state level has spilled over into the way the area has responded to the pandemic , she said , with its conservative-leaning county board pressuring the local health department not to introduce measures that are seen as too radical .
Faced with inaction from a state legislature that Rosenberg said has “ taken the past seven months off , ” the Wausau city council will next week look at issuing a city-wide mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that attempts to enforce it could strain local police resources .
“ I know that there are people here who care about each other as a community , so it ’ s confounding to me that we ’ ve gotten to this place where we ’ ve forgotten our responsibility to keep each other safe , ” she said .

Over the past seven months, as the coronavirus pandemic first pummeled the nation’s coastal states then swept toward the country’s rural heartland, political battles have often stymied public health efforts to tamp down outbreaks and gain control of a fast-spreading virus.
Perhaps nowhere else are those forces colliding in a more dramatic fashion than in Wisconsin – a state that has been cripplingly unable to reach consensus on how to effectively respond to the outbreaks ravaging its cities and towns.
The nation’s dairy state, which continues to shatter its own records for cases, this week surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 infections, and rates of transmission show no signs of slowing. Over the past two months, Wisconsin saw its seven-day average – currently at 4,000 cases – increase by 400%.
As of Thursday, Wisconsin cities represented 10 of the top 20 metro areas with the nation’s highest per capita Covid rates, according to a New York Times analysis. Across the state’s hospital system, 85% of hospital beds and 87% of ICU beds are in use, according to department of health data.
“We need folks to forget the it-won’t-happen to me mentality,” Wisconsin’s Democratic governor Tony Evers said at a press briefing. “We need people to stop treating this virus as something that’s only happening to other people in other places. This virus is here, and it’s spreading all around us.”
The public has been left confused and bewildered. I’m not surprised people just decide on their own what’s good for them Patrick Remington, former epidemiologist for the CDC
While it took the state seven months to notch its first 100,000 cases, that figure then doubled in just 36 days, said Andrea Palm, secretary-designee of the state’s health services department.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she said.
Meanwhile, the state’s Republican-led legislature alongside allied legal groups have continued to challenge and thwart the Democratic governor’s efforts to issue “safer-at-home” orders, mask mandates and limit the size of gatherings – creating a sense of whiplash as residents have tried to keep pace with rules that seem to be continuously issued, rescinded and issued again.
As a result, public safety measures have been largely left up to municipalities and individuals, said Patrick Remington, former epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The public has been left confused and bewildered. I’m not surprised that people just decide on their own what’s good for them. Unfortunately, people are making choices to engage in high-risk behaviors – decisions that the virus is exploiting.”
Remington attributes skyrocketing Covid rates in Wisconsin to a convergence of factors.
Layered on top of a partisan response to safety precautions, dropping temperatures have driven residents indoors – sometimes into bars, in keeping with the state’s robust tavern culture, where customers often sit elbow to elbow, unmasked, and shout to be heard over loud music.
“What’s happening in Wisconsin is a perfect storm,” Remington said.
Hoping to recapture the state he narrowly won in 2016, Donald Trump in recent weeks has made repeated visits to the crucial swing state, hosting packed rallies over the objections of doctors and public officials who described the events as reckless and disrespectful to the sacrifices of frontline medical staff.
Earlier this week, Trump hosted a rally outside La Crosse, on the state’s western edge, where he used his pulpit to mock the “corrupt” media for its focus on coronavirus infections.
“You turn on the news: ‘Covid, Covid’ You know when they’re going to stop talking about it so much? 4 November,” Trump said.
Later in the week, Mike Pence stumped in central Wisconsin, just outside Wausau – the metro area that on Thursday represented the nation’s eighth highest outbreak relative to its population, according to the New York Times.
Cases in the Wausau area ballooned after Trump made the same stop in September. USA Today suggested the jump could be related to last month’s event, though there isn’t evidence to tie the rise to the event specifically – a link that would be especially difficult to make, given the fact that the volume of cases has far exceeded the county’s capacity to conduct contact tracing.
“We have not been able to effectively contact trace in the past two months or more,” said Judy Burrows, spokesperson for Marathon County’s public health department.
Remington concedes that the rallies themselves pose a risk, but said he’s more concerned about the message Trump supporters take away from the fact they’re held at all.
“In the grand scheme of things, the risk of these events themselves pale in comparison to what they represent philosophically – a top-down refusal to comply with public health guidance,” said Remington.
Katie Rosenberg, Wausau’s mayor, said she’s been saddened to see the way the pandemic has divided the community between those who have listened to advice from medical experts and those who “flat out deny” the guidance and refuse to wear masks or physically distance.
“Wausau has historically been a pretty purple area, but right now it feels almost as if we have two different worlds. It’s unfortunate that we’re approaching public health along political lines, but that’s where we’re at as a country,” Rosenberg said.
The divisiveness playing out at the state level has spilled over into the way the area has responded to the pandemic, she said, with its conservative-leaning county board pressuring the local health department not to introduce measures that are seen as too radical.
Faced with inaction from a state legislature that Rosenberg said has “taken the past seven months off,” the Wausau city council will next week look at issuing a city-wide mask order, though she’s concerned that attempts to enforce it could strain local police resources.
“I know that there are people here who care about each other as a community, so it’s confounding to me that we’ve gotten to this place where we’ve forgotten our responsibility to keep each other safe,” she said.


theguardian--2020-11-01--On my travels, I saw a vision of two Americas – but which one will triumph?

A stilt walker dressed as Uncle Sam lumbered between selfies , a lifesize dummy of Donald Trump – complete with bulging eye bags – sat motionless by the roadside , and families , young and old , waved Trump flags as cars tooted their horns in support .
It was a grey autumn Saturday earlier this month at a Republican rally just outside Youngstown , Ohio – a once prosperous city in the heart of America ’ s rustbelt , embedded in a region that flipped to Donald Trump in 2016 .
What started as a casual political gathering , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that encapsulated the stark divisions that underscore this seminal election , and perhaps the state of the country as a whole .
A bashed up red Chevy pickup daubed in handmade “ Dump Trump ” signs pulled up slowly .
And a lone protester , Chuckie Denison , a former factory worker at a local General Motors plant that closed last year , jumped out to berate the assembled crowd .
“ Two-hundred-and-twenty-thousand Americans have died under Trump .
And our jobs have gone.
” he shouted .
“ And all we ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us.
” I ’ d come to Youngstown because Donald Trump had made direct promises to the people living here ; to restore a failing economy and bring back manufacturing jobs after years of decay .
But poverty and jobless rates continue to soar here .
In that crowd of Trump supporters were people who had worked at the same plant as Denison , and others who had lost their jobs during the pandemic .
And yet they still believed Trump would bring stability to their lives .
“ He ’ s probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – dismissing Denison , who had been accosted by a number of the flag wavers .
Within minutes , Denison ’ s signs were ripped from his truck and he was sent away in a whirlwind of abusive language .
I have driven thousands of miles throughout this election season , for our Anywhere But Washington film series , visiting the battleground states of Ohio , Georgia , Texas , Florida and North Carolina .
And it has often felt like reporting in two parallel dimensions , where common ground between two factions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
On one end , a feverish loyalty to the president , where not even the most sensational of scandals have a bearing on political belief .
And where objective facts have given way to disinformation .
On the other what often feels like a greater enthusiasm for removing Trump from office than for the Democrat on the top of the ticket .
But still a constituency that increasingly reflects the diversity of the country itself .
After two months of travel , and with most polls predicting an overwhelming victory for Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will win and whether any sort of victory has the power to reunite this fractured nation .
The passionate public disagreement I saw in Youngstown felt emblematic of a divided country and there are dark forces underpinning much of it .
Donald Trump has weaponized extremist misinformation to bolster his campaign and reverted to pushing conspiracy theories that cast doubt over election integrity , and , most recently , question the ethics of doctors working to save the lives of Covid-19 patients .
He has declined to disavow QAnon , a baseless far-right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the victim of a ‘ deep state ’ plot run by satanic paedophiles tied to the Democratic party .
Instead , he described the movement as being filled with patriotic citizens “ who love America ” .
Recent polling indicates that half of his supporters now believe in the conspiracy movement .
On an intensely humid day in Peach county , central Georgia , I hitched a ride with organizers for Black Voters Matter , a voting rights advocacy group targeting marginalized Black communities in a bid to boost turnout and fight rampant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state for the first time in decades , and turning out voters in low-income minority neighborhoods could be the key to swinging it for the Democrats .
But Fenika Miller , a regional organizer , already faces an uphill task – and pervasive disinformation has made it even harder .
Miller remains upbeat , she registers voters with a smile and seems driven to get those in her community out to the polls .
She blares James Brown ’ s funk classic Say It Loud – I ’ m Black And I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ draw people from their homes .
The enthusiasm for Biden is palpable in many of the neighborhoods we visited .
But one encounter was chilling .
“ Joe Biden , he ’ s trying to legalize paedophiles , ” said one young man as he explained to Miller that he was already registered and voting for Trump .
I ask where he got his information from .
“ Every morning I get on my phone and watch different videos and stuff .
You just put two and two together.
” Miller is coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a daily basis .
“ We ’ re living in dangerous times under a dangerous administration , ” she said .
“ It ’ s intentional misinformation they ’ re putting out specifically targeting young voters and Black voters.
” She hugged the young man and asked him to be careful where he reads his news .
But it was clear his mind was already made up .
He was not the last person I came into contact with expressing belief in QAnon .
Away from the sinister conspiracy movements , my travels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wading through a sea of alternative facts , where flat-out lies and mistruth have become mainstream Republican talking points and often the only way to excuse the president ’ s catastrophic policy failures .
In Texas , which for the first time in generations is now a battleground state after record early voter turnout , I met Rick Barnes , chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party in suburban Dallas .
I asked him if Trump ’ s child separation policy at the southern border had ever given him pause to question the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not a policy that Trump put in place .
That was a policy of the predecessor , ” he replied .
I pointed out this was untrue and that Trump ’ s former attorney general Jeff Sessions had specifically instructed his Justice Department to separate children from their parents as a deterrence , something unprecedented in US history .
“ That ’ s something we ’ d have to agree to disagree on , ” he replied .
In Florida , a critical swing state , I met Malcolm Out Loud , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Anthony Fauci , the country ’ s top infectious disease expert is “ a fraud ” and that the official Covid-19 death toll is inflated .
“ This entire pandemic has been a setup , ” he said .
I pointed out he had no public health background or any expertise to make such a claim .
“ We can agree to disagree , ” he replied , mirroring the refrain from Barnes .
The extreme policy and dark rhetoric of the past four years has punished the most vulnerable in US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of these communities where I found the most fervent faith in Joe Biden and , more pointedly , a vision of America that marked a return to societal norms .
In the southern border city of McAllen , Texas I visited the Ramirez family who have for six generations maintained a small chapel close to the US-Mexico border .
It was once a site on the underground railroad , offering safe haven to escaped slaves .
Dozens of the family ’ s ancestors are buried in its graveyard .
But Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few feet away .
If building goes ahead – the foundations have been laid but not the wall itself – the family chapel will be effectively partitioned from the United States , and the Ramirez family will be forced to go through customs checks to visit their ancestors .
“ We are praying for Joe Biden , because him winning is the only thing that will stop this wall , ” said Silvia Ramirez as she stood at the graveyard , now surrounded by rubble .
Biden has pledged to immediately end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elected , which would most likely save the family ’ s chapel .
Prayer for Biden is ongoing in the battleground state of North Carolina as well .
Here I met a group of traveling evangelical preachers desperate to convince others in their denomination to change their minds .
In 2016 white evangelicals made up over a quarter of voters in the country and 81 % of them voted for Donald Trump .
Many of the pastors on this national bus tour , named Vote Common Good , had themselves been loyal Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his child separation policy along with attempts to ban Muslims from entering the country , inspired a number of them to speak out .
“ This is a diagnostic election that ’ s going to show us who we are , ” said pastor Doug Pagitt , the group ’ s founder .
“ And if the Christian community in this country says : ‘ this [ Trump ] is our guy ’ again , that is an indictment.
” Although opposition to Trump has galvanized a base of moral support for Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a consensus candidate among progressives .
But it is not simply Biden and Trump on the ballot this year , the president ’ s challenger is joined all over the country by a field of Democratic Party candidates that increasingly represent the diversity of America .
2020 sees the largest number of Black women running for Congress and not all of them are full throated Biden backers .
In Texas ’ s 24th congressional district , a stretch of suburban sprawl outside of Dallas , I met Candace Valenzuela , vying to become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A few years ago this district was solid Republican , but now it ’ s a toss-up , a marker of the state ’ s rapidly evolving demographics and many suburban voters ’ deep dislike of Trump .
She is diplomatic when discussing whether a 77-year-old white man is really representative of the change occurring at the grassroots of her party .
“ I don ’ t think any one of us captures the essence of it , ” she says .
“ It ’ s something that ’ s happening in aggregate.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ first time candidate and Black Lives Matter activist , is more direct when describing the presidential candidate she will share a ballot with .
I asked if she thought that Biden ’ s candidacy spoke to younger people of color in America .
“ No , ” she replied .
“ I ’ ll be clear with that one .
“ However , I believe that Joe Biden is overwhelmingly the best choice for the job and I ’ m honored to be on any ticket with anyone who is actually going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think that ’ s what he ’ s going to do.
” Throughout my journey finding authentic , representative politics has been tough – given the nation ’ s monumental divisions .
But Ebony Carter ’ s candidacy , in Georgia ’ s 110th statehouse district outside of Atlanta , another of those run by Republicans for decades , felt like a shining example of how this country might be unified .
She is out every day canvassing in both Democratic and Republican neighborhoods with her mother Deborah , who serves as her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year-old daughter Nairobi , who sleeps in a pram as Ebony tries to convince anyone who will listen to turn up and vote .
She is pushing healthcare reform and better funding for public education .
But most importantly she is pushing to build a grassroots movement from the bottom up , trying to engage those who do not normally participate in the electoral process .
“ Why am I doing this ?
” she said as the sun began to set after a full day of canvassing and Nairobi began to wake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I want to show people that it ’ s possible .
And I ’ m doing it for her .
”

A stilt walker dressed as Uncle Sam lumbered between selfies, a lifesize dummy of Donald Trump – complete with bulging eye bags – sat motionless by the roadside, and families, young and old, waved Trump flags as cars tooted their horns in support.
It was a grey autumn Saturday earlier this month at a Republican rally just outside Youngstown, Ohio – a once prosperous city in the heart of America’s rustbelt, embedded in a region that flipped to Donald Trump in 2016.
What started as a casual political gathering, however, descended into a full-throated confrontation that encapsulated the stark divisions that underscore this seminal election, and perhaps the state of the country as a whole.
A bashed up red Chevy pickup daubed in handmade “Dump Trump” signs pulled up slowly. And a lone protester, Chuckie Denison, a former factory worker at a local General Motors plant that closed last year, jumped out to berate the assembled crowd.
“Two-hundred-and-twenty-thousand Americans have died under Trump. And our jobs have gone.” he shouted. “And all we ask is for somebody to represent all of us.”
I’d come to Youngstown because Donald Trump had made direct promises to the people living here; to restore a failing economy and bring back manufacturing jobs after years of decay. But poverty and jobless rates continue to soar here.
In that crowd of Trump supporters were people who had worked at the same plant as Denison, and others who had lost their jobs during the pandemic. And yet they still believed Trump would bring stability to their lives.
“He’s probably paid,” said one Trump supporter – dismissing Denison, who had been accosted by a number of the flag wavers.
Within minutes, Denison’s signs were ripped from his truck and he was sent away in a whirlwind of abusive language.
I have driven thousands of miles throughout this election season, for our Anywhere But Washington film series, visiting the battleground states of Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Florida and North Carolina. And it has often felt like reporting in two parallel dimensions, where common ground between two factions of the same nation can feel nonexistent.
On one end, a feverish loyalty to the president, where not even the most sensational of scandals have a bearing on political belief. And where objective facts have given way to disinformation. On the other what often feels like a greater enthusiasm for removing Trump from office than for the Democrat on the top of the ticket. But still a constituency that increasingly reflects the diversity of the country itself.
After two months of travel, and with most polls predicting an overwhelming victory for Biden, I’m still unsure who will win and whether any sort of victory has the power to reunite this fractured nation.
The passionate public disagreement I saw in Youngstown felt emblematic of a divided country and there are dark forces underpinning much of it.
Donald Trump has weaponized extremist misinformation to bolster his campaign and reverted to pushing conspiracy theories that cast doubt over election integrity, and, most recently, question the ethics of doctors working to save the lives of Covid-19 patients. He has declined to disavow QAnon, a baseless far-right conspiracy movement, which suggests Trump is the victim of a ‘deep state’ plot run by satanic paedophiles tied to the Democratic party. Instead, he described the movement as being filled with patriotic citizens “who love America”.
Recent polling indicates that half of his supporters now believe in the conspiracy movement.
On an intensely humid day in Peach county, central Georgia, I hitched a ride with organizers for Black Voters Matter, a voting rights advocacy group targeting marginalized Black communities in a bid to boost turnout and fight rampant voter suppression. Georgia is a battleground state for the first time in decades, and turning out voters in low-income minority neighborhoods could be the key to swinging it for the Democrats.
But Fenika Miller, a regional organizer, already faces an uphill task – and pervasive disinformation has made it even harder.
Miller remains upbeat, she registers voters with a smile and seems driven to get those in her community out to the polls. She blares James Brown’s funk classic Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud out of her van to draw people from their homes.
11:08 Civil rights and QAnon candidates: the fight for facts in Georgia - video
The enthusiasm for Biden is palpable in many of the neighborhoods we visited. But one encounter was chilling.
“Joe Biden, he’s trying to legalize paedophiles,” said one young man as he explained to Miller that he was already registered and voting for Trump.
I ask where he got his information from. “Every morning I get on my phone and watch different videos and stuff. You just put two and two together.”
Miller is coming into contact with these dangerous falsehoods on a daily basis.
“We’re living in dangerous times under a dangerous administration,” she said. “It’s intentional misinformation they’re putting out specifically targeting young voters and Black voters.”
She hugged the young man and asked him to be careful where he reads his news. But it was clear his mind was already made up. He was not the last person I came into contact with expressing belief in QAnon.
Away from the sinister conspiracy movements, my travels through the US have often felt like wading through a sea of alternative facts, where flat-out lies and mistruth have become mainstream Republican talking points and often the only way to excuse the president’s catastrophic policy failures.
In Texas, which for the first time in generations is now a battleground state after record early voter turnout, I met Rick Barnes, chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party in suburban Dallas. I asked him if Trump’s child separation policy at the southern border had ever given him pause to question the morality in his party.
Away from the conspiracy movements, my travels have often felt like wading through a sea of alternative facts
“That was not a policy that Trump put in place. That was a policy of the predecessor,” he replied.
I pointed out this was untrue and that Trump’s former attorney general Jeff Sessions had specifically instructed his Justice Department to separate children from their parents as a deterrence, something unprecedented in US history.
“That’s something we’d have to agree to disagree on,” he replied.
In Florida, a critical swing state, I met Malcolm Out Loud, a conservative radio host who argued that Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert is “a fraud” and that the official Covid-19 death toll is inflated.
“This entire pandemic has been a setup,” he said.
I pointed out he had no public health background or any expertise to make such a claim.
“We can agree to disagree,” he replied, mirroring the refrain from Barnes.
13:55 Troubled Florida, divided America: will Donald Trump hold this vital swing state? - video
The extreme policy and dark rhetoric of the past four years has punished the most vulnerable in US society. And it’s in many of these communities where I found the most fervent faith in Joe Biden and, more pointedly, a vision of America that marked a return to societal norms.
In the southern border city of McAllen, Texas I visited the Ramirez family who have for six generations maintained a small chapel close to the US-Mexico border. It was once a site on the underground railroad, offering safe haven to escaped slaves. Dozens of the family’s ancestors are buried in its graveyard. But Donald Trump’s wall is being built just a few feet away.
If building goes ahead – the foundations have been laid but not the wall itself – the family chapel will be effectively partitioned from the United States, and the Ramirez family will be forced to go through customs checks to visit their ancestors.
“We are praying for Joe Biden, because him winning is the only thing that will stop this wall,” said Silvia Ramirez as she stood at the graveyard, now surrounded by rubble.
Biden has pledged to immediately end construction of Trump’s wall if elected, which would most likely save the family’s chapel.
Prayer for Biden is ongoing in the battleground state of North Carolina as well. Here I met a group of traveling evangelical preachers desperate to convince others in their denomination to change their minds. In 2016 white evangelicals made up over a quarter of voters in the country and 81% of them voted for Donald Trump.
Many of the pastors on this national bus tour, named Vote Common Good, had themselves been loyal Republicans until Donald Trump came to office but his child separation policy along with attempts to ban Muslims from entering the country, inspired a number of them to speak out.
“This is a diagnostic election that’s going to show us who we are,” said pastor Doug Pagitt, the group’s founder. “And if the Christian community in this country says: ‘this [Trump] is our guy’ again, that is an indictment.”
10:41 God and the GOP: will conservative evangelicals stay loyal to Trump? – video
Although opposition to Trump has galvanized a base of moral support for Biden, the former vice-president was far from a consensus candidate among progressives.
But it is not simply Biden and Trump on the ballot this year, the president’s challenger is joined all over the country by a field of Democratic Party candidates that increasingly represent the diversity of America.
2020 sees the largest number of Black women running for Congress and not all of them are full throated Biden backers.
In Texas’s 24th congressional district, a stretch of suburban sprawl outside of Dallas, I met Candace Valenzuela, vying to become the first Afro-Latina elected to Congress. A few years ago this district was solid Republican, but now it’s a toss-up, a marker of the state’s rapidly evolving demographics and many suburban voters’ deep dislike of Trump.
She is diplomatic when discussing whether a 77-year-old white man is really representative of the change occurring at the grassroots of her party.
“I don’t think any one of us captures the essence of it,” she says. “It’s something that’s happening in aggregate.”
10:58 Battle for the suburbs: can Joe Biden flip Texas? – video
But Ebony Carter, a 25-year-old first time candidate and Black Lives Matter activist, is more direct when describing the presidential candidate she will share a ballot with.
I asked if she thought that Biden’s candidacy spoke to younger people of color in America.
“No,” she replied. “I’ll be clear with that one.
“However, I believe that Joe Biden is overwhelmingly the best choice for the job and I’m honored to be on any ticket with anyone who is actually going to fight for American lives, and I think that’s what he’s going to do.”
Throughout my journey finding authentic, representative politics has been tough – given the nation’s monumental divisions.
But Ebony Carter’s candidacy, in Georgia’s 110th statehouse district outside of Atlanta, another of those run by Republicans for decades, felt like a shining example of how this country might be unified.
She is out every day canvassing in both Democratic and Republican neighborhoods with her mother Deborah, who serves as her unofficial campaign manager, and her one year-old daughter Nairobi, who sleeps in a pram as Ebony tries to convince anyone who will listen to turn up and vote. She is pushing healthcare reform and better funding for public education.
But most importantly she is pushing to build a grassroots movement from the bottom up, trying to engage those who do not normally participate in the electoral process.
“Why am I doing this?” she said as the sun began to set after a full day of canvassing and Nairobi began to wake up. “Because somebody has to. I want to show people that it’s possible. And I’m doing it for her.”


theguardian--2020-11-01--'Crossroads of the climate crisis': swing state Arizona grapples with deadly heat

Even now , Ivan Moore can ’ t think why his father didn ’ t didn ’ t tell anyone that the air conditioning in their house was busted .
“ I honestly don ’ t know what was going through his mind , ” he said .
That week three years ago , temperatures in Phoenix , Arizona were forecasted to top 115F ( 46C ) .
Moore , his wife and two children went to the mountains for a camping trip , and his dad Gene , stayed behind .
A few days later , Gene died .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ air .
“ He ’ d opened a window but it was too hot , ” Moore said .
“ My dad ’ s heart basically gave out on him.
” Phoenix – America ’ s hottest city – is getting hotter and hotter , and Moore ’ s father is one of the hundreds of Arizonans who have succumbed to the desert heat in recent years .
In August this year , Maricopa county , which encompasses Phoenix , recorded 1,000 Covid-19 deaths .
That same month , the county was investigating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ summer , temperatures here stayed above 90F ( 32C ) , even at night , for 28 days straight , with the scorching weather in July and August breaking records .
It was so hot and dry that towering saguaro cactuses that dot the landscape began to topple over and die .
At the same time , wildfires across the western US this year cast a foreboding orange glow over the region and clouded Phoenix communities , already breathing some of the highest concentrations of toxic pollution in the nation , with even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the desert , in the heat , ” Moore said .
“ But I think about what it ’ s going to be like in another five years , in 10 years.
” The thought has been weighing on him – and many other Arizonans – as they cast their ballots ahead of next week ’ s elections .
Even amid a global pandemic , and the economic catastrophe it has triggered , polls find that Americans increasingly cite the climate emergency as a major concern .
That ’ s especially true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis is already having deadly effects .
Once a stronghold of western conservatism , Maricopa county has been slowly undergoing a political transformation – and has become one of the fiercely contested election battlegrounds in the nation .
Asked to choose between a Democratic presidential candidate , Joe Biden , who recognizes global heating as an emergency , and a Republican , Donald Trump , who has called it a “ hoax ” , a growing number of voters in the Valley of the Sun say they are seeking leadership that will address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an increasingly precarious future .
“ We are a desert community , ” said Laura Jimena Dent , the executive director of the Arizona-based environmental justice non-profit Chispa .
“ We are literally at the crossroads of the climate crisis.
” Since 1865 , the temperatures in Maricopa have risen by nearly 2C .
And since the 1950s , the water level in the region ’ s well has dropped by 125ft .
Even in a politically divided swing state , that ’ s hard for anyone to ignore .
A recent survey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agree ” or “ strongly agree ” that the federal government “ needs to do more to combat climate change ” .
Even after the coronavirus pandemic hit this year , when researchers at Yale university conducted an annual survey of voters across the country , climate change went up on a list of voter priorities .
“ You see that reflected in how much political leaders – especially Democrats – have been talking about climate change this election , ” said Anthony Leiserowitz , an expert on public opinion of climate change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ranked climate change as their second most important issue out of 30 , moderate Democrats rank it 8th , and moderate Republicans rank it somewhere in the middle .
But in the US , and in Maricopa county , most voters agree climate change is happening , and they want lawmakers to do something about it .
“ For the first time in American history , climate change has reached the very top echelons of voting issues , ” Leiserowitz said .
Indeed , just a few weeks ago , Americans heard Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the climate crisis at a presidential debate in 20 years .
While Trump flatly refused to acknowledge that climate change was fueling wildfires across the west , Biden touted a $ 2tn plan to invest in green infrastructure , emphasizing the “ millions of good-paying jobs ” that his climate proposals could create .
Responding to the wildfires ripping across California in a speech earlier this summer , Biden also cast the climate crisis as a threat to the safety and security of America ’ s suburbs , flipping an attack the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to voters in regions like Maricopa – a sprawling suburban oasis in the desert .
“ If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House , why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze ?
” he asked .
Similarly , in a heated debate between the state ’ s US Senate candidates , the incumbent Republican Martha McSally , who serves on the Senate energy and natural resources committee and is a close ally of the president , acknowledged “ the climate is changing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach ” to addressing it .
Meanwhile , the Democrat Mark Kelly , a former astronaut , mused about how fragile the planet looks from low-Earth orbit .
“ There is no planet B , ” he said .
“ We have to do a better job taking care of this planet.
” The stark contrast between the parties ’ stances can help explain why voters in Maricopa have been increasingly repelled by the Republicans , said Josh Ulibarri , a Democratic pollster based in Phoenix .
Conservatives here have been slowly leaving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extreme and rightwing .
“ Climate is part of that , ” Ulibarri said .
Fifteen years ago , Arizona was one of the first states to develop a climate action plan , and climate change – at least in this region – was a bipartisan issue .
John McCain , the state ’ s late senior senator , was one of the few Republican lawmakers in Washington DC to support climate change legislation .
But as national and local politics became more polarized , Republican politicians moved right .
As a result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have moved away from Republicans because they don ’ t believe in science ” , Ulibarri said.Many independents recoiled , as well .
Moore falls in that category .
“ Normally I go through , and I don ’ t care if candidates are Republicans or Democrats – I do my research on whose viewpoints I agree with , ” he said .
“ But right now , the GOP – not Republicans but the party itself – has gone too far , too far right .
They ’ ve been ridiculous with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the party needs a reset.
” Among other things , “ we need our leaders figuring out : how do we live in a world that ’ s going to get even hotter ?
” he added .
This year , he picked Democrats up and down the ballot .
Ultimately , Republicans ’ resistance to acknowledging and addressing climate change will hurt them politically , said Jeff Flake , a former Arizona senator .
“ I do think over time it really makes it difficult to attract , particularly , the younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and whoever else , when we don ’ t have rational policies on climate change , ” said Flake , a Republican who has been critical of Trump ’ s politics .
With so much else going on , he said that while he doesn ’ t see climate change playing a big role in this election , he imagines it will be hard to ignore in future ones .
Like many areas of the country , in Maricopa , poor neighborhoods and neighborhoods where Latino and Black families live are worst affected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air .
Across the US , young voters and Latino voters are especially likely to prioritize climate action , polling shows .
“ Latinos are more convinced climate change is real and that it ’ s human caused , more worried about it , and more supportive of action than any other voting bloc , ” said Leiserowitz of Yale .
In Maricopa , where about one third of the county ’ s 4.5 million residents identify as Latino , environmental justice activists are at the forefront of efforts to galvanize voters to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focus is on getting young people , Latino people , people of color across our state who have traditionally been less engaged in the political process , ” Dent said .
“ We are making calls , we are sending mail and digital ads , text messages and handwritten postcards.
” Translating concern about climate change into votes has proved challenging in the past , but as the region grows hotter , and more polluted , “ we ’ re building the political power ” , she said .
The county earned an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American Lung Association .
The cars and trucks that congest the city ’ s sprawling highways have made Phoenix the seventh-most ozone-polluted metropolitan area in the country .
Here , the heat speeds up production of the toxic ozone particles , which can damage the lungs and lead to serious , even deadly respiratory issues .
“ For a decade , we in our communities have been raising our voices about these issues , ” said Blanca Abarca , 54 , a community activist .
Abarca lives in a largely Latino neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industrial dump the EPA has found is leeching “ low levels ” of toxic compounds and heavy metals including arsenic , barium , mercury , and nickel .
She , her husband and their teenage daughter have MacGyvered their whole house to cope with the heat .
They rely on a swamp cooler , ventilators on their roof and ceiling , and the trees they planted all around their house .
They ’ ve got an AC unit - but they hardly use it .
The high electricity bills could send them into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can vote to do it for the community – to elect leaders who are going to better this great country , and for the future of our children , ” she said while on a break from gardening at Spaces of Opportunity , a community farm in south Phoenix where she and many others in the neighborhood come for a respite from heat .
To be clear , she added , that is not how she would characterize the current president .
Her efforts – and those of other progressive Latino activists – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters have been casting ballots in record numbers in recent years , helping elect Democratic lawmakers in local and statewide elections .
In 2019 , the Democrat Kate Gallego was elected mayor of Phoenix – in part thanks to a wave of young , progressive Latino voters .
Gallego has a bachelor ’ s degree in environmental science .
“ I grew up with asthma .
And as you spend time wheezing by the track , it gives you an opportunity to reflect on air quality , ” she said .
Since taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better public transportation infrastructure to reduce the number of vehicles on the road .
She ’ s also overseeing the development of a network of “ cool corridors ” – to ensure that no resident is more than five minutes from water and shade .
In another sign of progress , Arizona utility regulators this week approved a plan to transition to 100 % carbon-free energy sources – such as solar and nuclear energy – by 2050 .
Two Republicans on the utilities board voted with a Democrat to get the measure passed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just have to take climate change very seriously ” , Gallego said .
“ And , you know , I have a father who fancies himself a political consultant , ” she added .
“ And he told me if I can just do something about the summer heat , I will definitely be re-elected .
”

Maanvi Singh and Lauren Gambino in Phoenix, Arizona

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Even now, Ivan Moore can’t think why his father didn’t didn’t tell anyone that the air conditioning in their house was busted. “I honestly don’t know what was going through his mind,” he said.
That week three years ago, temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona were forecasted to top 115F (46C). Moore, his wife and two children went to the mountains for a camping trip, and his dad Gene, stayed behind. A few days later, Gene died.
The air conditioning had been blowing hot air. “He’d opened a window but it was too hot,” Moore said. “My dad’s heart basically gave out on him.”
Phoenix – America’s hottest city – is getting hotter and hotter, and Moore’s father is one of the hundreds of Arizonans who have succumbed to the desert heat in recent years.
Gene Moore is one of hundreds of Arizonans who have succumbed to heat in recent years. Photograph: Courtesy of Ivan Moore
In August this year, Maricopa county, which encompasses Phoenix, recorded 1,000 Covid-19 deaths. That same month, the county was investigating more than 260 heat-related deaths.
This summer, temperatures here stayed above 90F (32C), even at night, for 28 days straight, with the scorching weather in July and August breaking records. It was so hot and dry that towering saguaro cactuses that dot the landscape began to topple over and die.
At the same time, wildfires across the western US this year cast a foreboding orange glow over the region and clouded Phoenix communities, already breathing some of the highest concentrations of toxic pollution in the nation, with even more smoke.
“I grew up in the desert, in the heat,” Moore said. “But I think about what it’s going to be like in another five years, in 10 years.”
The thought has been weighing on him – and many other Arizonans – as they cast their ballots ahead of next week’s elections. Even amid a global pandemic, and the economic catastrophe it has triggered, polls find that Americans increasingly cite the climate emergency as a major concern. That’s especially true in regions like Maricopa, where the crisis is already having deadly effects.
Once a stronghold of western conservatism, Maricopa county has been slowly undergoing a political transformation – and has become one of the fiercely contested election battlegrounds in the nation.
Asked to choose between a Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who recognizes global heating as an emergency, and a Republican, Donald Trump, who has called it a “hoax”, a growing number of voters in the Valley of the Sun say they are seeking leadership that will address climate and help their desert home survive an increasingly precarious future.
Smog and heat obscure the view of downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
‘The crossroads of the climate crisis’
“We are a desert community,” said Laura Jimena Dent, the executive director of the Arizona-based environmental justice non-profit Chispa. “We are literally at the crossroads of the climate crisis.”
Since 1865, the temperatures in Maricopa have risen by nearly 2C. And since the 1950s, the water level in the region’s well has dropped by 125ft. Even in a politically divided swing state, that’s hard for anyone to ignore. A recent survey found that nearly three-quarters of Arizonans “agree” or “strongly agree” that the federal government “needs to do more to combat climate change”.
Even after the coronavirus pandemic hit this year, when researchers at Yale university conducted an annual survey of voters across the country, climate change went up on a list of voter priorities.
For the first time in American history, climate change has reached the very top echelons of voting issues Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale University
“You see that reflected in how much political leaders – especially Democrats – have been talking about climate change this election,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, an expert on public opinion of climate change at Yale University.
Whereas liberal Democrats ranked climate change as their second most important issue out of 30, moderate Democrats rank it 8th, and moderate Republicans rank it somewhere in the middle.
But in the US, and in Maricopa county, most voters agree climate change is happening, and they want lawmakers to do something about it.
“For the first time in American history, climate change has reached the very top echelons of voting issues,” Leiserowitz said.
Indeed, just a few weeks ago, Americans heard Trump and Biden respond to the first question about the climate crisis at a presidential debate in 20 years. While Trump flatly refused to acknowledge that climate change was fueling wildfires across the west, Biden touted a $2tn plan to invest in green infrastructure, emphasizing the “millions of good-paying jobs” that his climate proposals could create.
A saguaro cactus appears dry and dying in the Verado community in Buckeye, Arizona. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
Responding to the wildfires ripping across California in a speech earlier this summer, Biden also cast the climate crisis as a threat to the safety and security of America’s suburbs, flipping an attack the president has leveled against him to appeal to voters in regions like Maricopa – a sprawling suburban oasis in the desert.
“If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze?” he asked.
Similarly, in a heated debate between the state’s US Senate candidates, the incumbent Republican Martha McSally, who serves on the Senate energy and natural resources committee and is a close ally of the president, acknowledged “the climate is changing”, but derided any “heavy-handed approach” to addressing it.
Meanwhile, the Democrat Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, mused about how fragile the planet looks from low-Earth orbit. “There is no planet B,” he said. “We have to do a better job taking care of this planet.”
The stark contrast between the parties’ stances can help explain why voters in Maricopa have been increasingly repelled by the Republicans, said Josh Ulibarri, a Democratic pollster based in Phoenix.
Conservatives here have been slowly leaving a Republican party that has grown increasingly extreme and rightwing. “Climate is part of that,” Ulibarri said.
Fifteen years ago, Arizona was one of the first states to develop a climate action plan, and climate change – at least in this region – was a bipartisan issue. John McCain, the state’s late senior senator, was one of the few Republican lawmakers in Washington DC to support climate change legislation. But as national and local politics became more polarized, Republican politicians moved right.
As a result, “college-educated voters and women voters have moved away from Republicans because they don’t believe in science”, Ulibarri said.Many independents recoiled, as well.
Moore falls in that category. “Normally I go through, and I don’t care if candidates are Republicans or Democrats – I do my research on whose viewpoints I agree with,” he said. “But right now, the GOP – not Republicans but the party itself – has gone too far, too far right. They’ve been ridiculous with the choices they’re making – the party needs a reset.”
Among other things, “we need our leaders figuring out: how do we live in a world that’s going to get even hotter?” he added. This year, he picked Democrats up and down the ballot.
Ultimately, Republicans’ resistance to acknowledging and addressing climate change will hurt them politically, said Jeff Flake, a former Arizona senator. “I do think over time it really makes it difficult to attract, particularly, the younger generation, millennials, Gen Xers, and whoever else, when we don’t have rational policies on climate change,” said Flake, a Republican who has been critical of Trump’s politics.
With so much else going on, he said that while he doesn’t see climate change playing a big role in this election, he imagines it will be hard to ignore in future ones.
An artificial tree blocks a window in the Edison-Eastlake neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. There is minimal shade in the neighborhood. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
‘We’re building the political power’
Like many areas of the country, in Maricopa, poor neighborhoods and neighborhoods where Latino and Black families live are worst affected by both the heat and the bad air. Across the US, young voters and Latino voters are especially likely to prioritize climate action, polling shows.
“Latinos are more convinced climate change is real and that it’s human caused, more worried about it, and more supportive of action than any other voting bloc,” said Leiserowitz of Yale.
In Maricopa, where about one third of the county’s 4.5 million residents identify as Latino, environmental justice activists are at the forefront of efforts to galvanize voters to elect environmentally minded candidates.
“Our focus is on getting young people, Latino people, people of color across our state who have traditionally been less engaged in the political process,” Dent said. “We are making calls, we are sending mail and digital ads, text messages and handwritten postcards.”
Translating concern about climate change into votes has proved challenging in the past, but as the region grows hotter, and more polluted, “we’re building the political power”, she said.
The county earned an “F” rating this year from the American Lung Association. The cars and trucks that congest the city’s sprawling highways have made Phoenix the seventh-most ozone-polluted metropolitan area in the country. Here, the heat speeds up production of the toxic ozone particles, which can damage the lungs and lead to serious, even deadly respiratory issues.
“For a decade, we in our communities have been raising our voices about these issues,” said Blanca Abarca, 54, a community activist.
Abarca lives in a largely Latino neighborhood in south Phoenix located downwind of an industrial dump the EPA has found is leeching “low levels” of toxic compounds and heavy metals including arsenic, barium, mercury, and nickel. She, her husband and their teenage daughter have MacGyvered their whole house to cope with the heat.
They rely on a swamp cooler, ventilators on their roof and ceiling, and the trees they planted all around their house. They’ve got an AC unit - but they hardly use it. The high electricity bills could send them into debt.
“I tell people who can vote to do it for the community – to elect leaders who are going to better this great country, and for the future of our children,” she said while on a break from gardening at Spaces of Opportunity, a community farm in south Phoenix where she and many others in the neighborhood come for a respite from heat.
To be clear, she added, that is not how she would characterize the current president.
Spaces of Opportunity is a community farm in South Phoenix where many in the neighborhood find respite from the heat. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
Her efforts – and those of other progressive Latino activists – have been paying off. Young Latino voters have been casting ballots in record numbers in recent years, helping elect Democratic lawmakers in local and statewide elections.
In 2019, the Democrat Kate Gallego was elected mayor of Phoenix – in part thanks to a wave of young, progressive Latino voters. Gallego has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science.
“I grew up with asthma. And as you spend time wheezing by the track, it gives you an opportunity to reflect on air quality,” she said. Since taking office, Gallego has focused on developing better public transportation infrastructure to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. She’s also overseeing the development of a network of “cool corridors” – to ensure that no resident is more than five minutes from water and shade.
In another sign of progress, Arizona utility regulators this week approved a plan to transition to 100% carbon-free energy sources – such as solar and nuclear energy – by 2050. Two Republicans on the utilities board voted with a Democrat to get the measure passed.
In the desert, “we just have to take climate change very seriously”, Gallego said.
“And, you know, I have a father who fancies himself a political consultant,” she added. “And he told me if I can just do something about the summer heat, I will definitely be re-elected.”