theguardian--2020-03-15--America has no real public health system – coronavirus has a clear run | Robert Reich

Dr Anthony S Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and just about the only official in the Trump administration trusted to tell the truth about the coronavirus , said last Thursday : “ The system does not , is not really geared to what we need right now … It is a failing , let ’ s admit it.
” While we ’ re at it , let ’ s admit something more basic .
The system would be failing even under a halfway competent president .
The dirty little secret , which will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that there is no real public health system in the United States .
The ad hoc response fashioned late Friday by House Democrats and the White House may help a bit , although it ’ s skimpy , as I ’ ll explain .
As the coronavirus outbreak in the US follows the same grim exponential growth path first displayed in Wuhan , China , before herculean measures were put in place to slow its spread there , America is waking up to the fact that it has almost no public capacity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health system , we have a private for-profit system for individuals lucky enough to afford it and a rickety social insurance system for people fortunate enough to have a full-time job .
At their best , both systems respond to the needs of individuals rather than the needs of the public as a whole .
In America , the word “ public ” – as in public health , public education or public welfare – means a sum total of individual needs , not the common good .
Contrast this with America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reserve concerns itself with the health of financial markets as a whole .
Late last week the Fed made $ 1.5tn available to banks , at the slightest hint of difficulties making trades .
No one batted an eye .
When it comes to the health of the nation as a whole , money like this isn ’ t available .
And there are no institutions analogous to the Fed with responsibility for overseeing and managing the public ’ s health – able to whip out a giant checkbook at a moment ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than financial , devastation .
Even if a test for the Covid-19 virus had been developed and approved in time , no institutions are in place to administer it to tens of millions of Americans free of charge .
Local and state health departments are already bare bones , having lost nearly a quarter of their workforce since 2008 , according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials .
Healthcare in America is delivered mainly by private for-profit corporations which , unlike financial institutions , are not required to maintain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the nation ’ s supply of ventilators isn ’ t nearly large enough to care for projected numbers of critically ill coronavirus victims unable to breathe for themselves .
Its 45,000 intensive care unit beds fall woefully short of the 2.9 million likely to be needed .
The Fed can close banks to quarantine financial crises but the US can ’ t close workplaces because the nation ’ s social insurance system depends on people going to work .
Almost 30 % of American workers have no paid sick leave from their employers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earning less than $ 10.49 an hour .
Vast numbers of self-employed workers can not afford sick leave .
Friday ’ s deal between House Democrats and the White House won ’ t have much effect because it exempts large employers and offers waivers to smaller ones .
Most jobless Americans don ’ t qualify for unemployment insurance because they haven ’ t worked long enough in a steady job and the ad-hoc deal doesn ’ t alter this .
Meanwhile , more than 30 million Americans have no health insurance .
Eligibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public assistance is now linked to having or actively looking for work .
It ’ s hard to close public schools because most working parents can not afford childcare .
Many poor children rely on school lunches for their only square meal a day .
In Los Angeles , about 80 % of students qualify for free or reduced lunches and just under 20,000 are homeless at some point during the school year .
There is no public health system in the US , in short , because the richest nation in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public as a whole , apart from national defense .
Ad-hoc remedies such as House Democrats and the White House fashioned on Friday are better than nothing , but they don ’ t come close to filling this void .
• None Robert Reich , a former US secretary of labor , is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism : For the Many , Not the Few and The Common Good .
His next book , The System : Who Rigged It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be out in March .
He is a columnist for Guardian US

Dr Anthony S Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and just about the only official in the Trump administration trusted to tell the truth about the coronavirus, said last Thursday: “The system does not, is not really geared to what we need right now … It is a failing, let’s admit it.”
While we’re at it, let’s admit something more basic. The system would be failing even under a halfway competent president. The dirty little secret, which will soon become apparent to all, is that there is no real public health system in the United States.
The ad hoc response fashioned late Friday by House Democrats and the White House may help a bit, although it’s skimpy, as I’ll explain.
As the coronavirus outbreak in the US follows the same grim exponential growth path first displayed in Wuhan, China, before herculean measures were put in place to slow its spread there, America is waking up to the fact that it has almost no public capacity to deal with it.
n America, the word 'public' means a sum total of individual needs, not the common good
Instead of a public health system, we have a private for-profit system for individuals lucky enough to afford it and a rickety social insurance system for people fortunate enough to have a full-time job.
At their best, both systems respond to the needs of individuals rather than the needs of the public as a whole. In America, the word “public” – as in public health, public education or public welfare – means a sum total of individual needs, not the common good.
Contrast this with America’s financial system. The Federal Reserve concerns itself with the health of financial markets as a whole. Late last week the Fed made $1.5tn available to banks, at the slightest hint of difficulties making trades. No one batted an eye.
When it comes to the health of the nation as a whole, money like this isn’t available. And there are no institutions analogous to the Fed with responsibility for overseeing and managing the public’s health – able to whip out a giant checkbook at a moment’s notice to prevent human, rather than financial, devastation.
Even if a test for the Covid-19 virus had been developed and approved in time, no institutions are in place to administer it to tens of millions of Americans free of charge. Local and state health departments are already bare bones, having lost nearly a quarter of their workforce since 2008, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
Healthcare in America is delivered mainly by private for-profit corporations which, unlike financial institutions, are not required to maintain reserve capacity. As a result, the nation’s supply of ventilators isn’t nearly large enough to care for projected numbers of critically ill coronavirus victims unable to breathe for themselves. Its 45,000 intensive care unit beds fall woefully short of the 2.9 million likely to be needed.
The Fed can close banks to quarantine financial crises but the US can’t close workplaces because the nation’s social insurance system depends on people going to work.
Almost 30% of American workers have no paid sick leave from their employers, including 70% of low-income workers earning less than $10.49 an hour. Vast numbers of self-employed workers cannot afford sick leave. Friday’s deal between House Democrats and the White House won’t have much effect because it exempts large employers and offers waivers to smaller ones.
Most jobless Americans don’t qualify for unemployment insurance because they haven’t worked long enough in a steady job and the ad-hoc deal doesn’t alter this. Meanwhile, more than 30 million Americans have no health insurance. Eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps and other public assistance is now linked to having or actively looking for work.
It’s hard to close public schools because most working parents cannot afford childcare. Many poor children rely on school lunches for their only square meal a day. In Los Angeles, about 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunches and just under 20,000 are homeless at some point during the school year.
There is no public health system in the US, in short, because the richest nation in the world has no capacity to protect the public as a whole, apart from national defense. Ad-hoc remedies such as House Democrats and the White House fashioned on Friday are better than nothing, but they don’t come close to filling this void.


theguardian--2020-03-15--How Trump's election has fueled a diverse new generation of politicians

It ’ s a gorgeous June evening in 2018 in Washington DC .
It ’ s easy to imagine senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand competing 12 months from now on debate stages across Iowa .
But tonight they are tossing beanbags before a cheering young crowd fueled by a pale rosé and piles of guacamole .
It ’ s a celebratory fundraiser for Run for Something , the brainchild of the millennial activists Amanda Litman and Ross Morales Rocketto , which is teaching hundreds of first-time millennial candidates how to get elected to state legislatures , county commissions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them are women or candidates of color ; many of them are running in places like Montana , Oklahoma and Arkansas , states in which Democrats have either surrendered or gone plain extinct .
“ We ’ re here because people facing incredible odds and insurmountable obstacles kept fighting and kept resisting , ” Booker tells me , “ and figured out what they could do to make a difference.
” And we ’ re here because Litman turned anguish into action , channeling her devastation after working seven-day weeks to elect Hillary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from spectator to participant , but lacking any clue where to begin .
But as Litman took stock while the pain of Clinton ’ s bitter defeat slowly dulled , she realized that what progressive politics needed most was a rebuilt pipeline of young candidates at the state and local level .
Republican focus on down-ballot candidates had provided the GOP not just complete control of Washington , but a modern record number of governors and 70 % of all state legislative chambers .
“ When I talk to old white male donors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve thought about running for Congress , ’ ” she says , rolling her eyes .
“ I ’ m like , ‘ Of course you have.
’ You know who hasn ’ t ?
The young Latina who should.
” Litman quickly conquered the highest summits of electoral politics .
She held a historic title : Hillary ’ s email director .
No , not those emails .
Litman directed all the campaign ’ s email fundraising efforts and communications .
She raised $ 330m – that ’ s almost a third @ @ @ @ @ @ @ donation at a time .
The campaign haunted her dreams , and destroyed her health : kidney infections , an ever-present migraine hum .
She ’ d wake most nights in a cold sweat and reach for her phone to track fundraising numbers .
Did I mention that she loved it ?
It was everything she ’ d dreamt about , ever since The West Wing turned her into such a politics-obsessed teenage nerd that she cut class to trail Clinton , Barack Obama and John Edwards across Virginia during the 2008 Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The next day , she sat in the third row for Clinton ’ s concession speech , eyes red , barely having slept at all , wearing a campaign sweatshirt she wouldn ’ t remove .
Then a Facebook message arrived from a college classmate she hadn ’ t heard from for years , now a teacher in Chicago .
“ She was pissed , ” Litman says .
“ She says , ‘ If Trump can be president , why can ’ t I run for city council ?
’ ” If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change , then run for office , thousands of other people would have the same desire .
They also wouldn ’ t know the first steps , and probably wouldn ’ t have a Facebook friend with Hillary ’ s number in her contacts .
“ There was no infrastructure for this kind of candidate recruitment .
None .
There was nobody doing it .
If we ’ re able to do this right , ” Litman says , eyes aglow , “ it ’ s sort of a shadow national party with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cool !
” Two years after the most devastating night of Litman ’ s life , election night 2018 looked completely different thanks to Run for Something and related efforts by dynamic young activists , almost all women , some completely new to politics , who upended their lives and left high-paying jobs to rebuild the progressive bench from the ground up .
More than 200 Run for Something candidates won state legislative seats , some capturing red-state seats that had been in Republican hands for longer than the young candidates had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all 2018 Democratic state house gains , all for just $ 2.1m , and not much more than the average budget for one US House race .
While Run for Something helped funnel enthusiastic candidates into electoral politics , groups like Flippable , Sister District and Forward Majority provided another approach .
They focused their efforts on reclaiming the state legislative chambers most crucial for the 2021 redistricting .
They targeted blue and purple states which had been under complete GOP control since 2010 , such as Michigan , Pennsylvania , Florida @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states with changing demographics , like Texas and Arizona ; and competitive states including Washington and Colorado , where a small number of Democratic gains would be enough to create a blue trifecta .
Together , they channeled dollars and volunteers toward these small local races with massive national impact .
Republican strategists and donors had long ago unlocked the importance of these elections and built the party ’ s national power one state legislative chamber at a time .
Republicans captured more than 700 state legislative seats in the 2010 Tea Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with redistricting , tilting the playing field an even rubier red .
In all , Republicans gained more than 1,000 state legislative seats during the Obama years , and used those majorities to enact measures making it more difficult to register to vote or cast a ballot in twenty-five states , further disadvantaging Democrats and consolidating GOP power .
“ Democrats had an entire cycle of losing , ” says Vicky Hausman , the co-founder of Forward Majority .
Democrats contested more than 5,300 of the 6,066 state legislative seats up for election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than a decade .
In one year , they won back almost 450 of the seats that had washed away over the previous decade .
It came bottom-up , as Run for Something , Sister District and Forward Majority delivered energy , candidates and strategic smarts to races that the party ignored .
They helped win majorities in the Colorado and New York senate , and eroded GOP majorities in Pennsylvania and Arizona .
They cracked a Republican supermajority in North Carolina and significantly improved their party ’ s position in Florida @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yardage with one election to go before the next redistricting .
“ We ’ re just citizens who have been activated .
If our majority – our three-million-person majority – was engaged in state politics , everything is different , ” says Rita Bosworth , the co-founder of Sister District , which started with a Facebook conversation and now has 30,000 nationwide volunteers organized through sixty-five active teams on the ground .
They focused on thirty-two legislative elections – and won sixteen of them – in nine states where Democrats might flip a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ majorities .
Her three co-founders – political director Gabrielle Goldstein , partnerships and engagement director Lala Wu and programs and communication director Lyzz Schwegler – came together largely through a secret Facebook group of liberal lawyers established after the 2016 election .
By spring , Bosworth , Goldstein and Wu had abandoned successful law careers to save democracy full-time .
On election night 2016 , tearful in Columbus , Ohio , Flippable ’ s Catharine Vaughan found herself coming to a similar conclusion .
She had taken a leave from McKinsey and Co @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Hillary campaign and spend months on a host family ’ s sofa .
When the campaign ended with whiskey and tears , Vaughan planned to head back to consulting and the Bay Area .
Over farewell margaritas , the team tried to unpack what had gone wrong and what might come next .
The conversation turned to gerrymandering .
Ohio is enough of a competitive , bellwether state that they ’ d all put their lives on hold , thinking the state ’ s electoral votes could decide the presidential election .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state legislature .
Vaughan had spent several years working with the Gates Foundation and others on health problems in east Africa that were completely preventable if the right resources landed in the right places .
People in politics are really good at understanding who has power and how to build a web of relationships , Vaughan says , but less skilled at building and judging effective organizations .
“ How do you help them see that maybe the way they ’ re giving their money could be optimized ?
” Forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ background ; as a partner at the global strategy firm Dalberg , where she led the Americas team and the global health practice , she worked on bringing business-school analysis and smart-data analytics to philanthropy .
Rural governments in sub-Saharan Africa lacked the money they needed , for example , to buy and deliver bed nets to citizens before the rainy mosquito season .
“ There are these unsexy barriers that really impact people ’ s lives , ” she tells me .
“ We can ’ t fix the whole thing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analytics on specific problems that are fixable.
” Turned out , one of those problems was democracy right here at home .
Litman believes Democrats need to compete – and win – everywhere .
She ’ s after candidates rooted in a community who are committed to getting out there and talking to people .
She calls it her “ fuck yeah ” test .
Back on that Washington DC , rooftop , a third US senator and potential Democratic nominee , Elizabeth Warren , slides out of the Run for Something bash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is the future , ” she tells me quietly , holding her arms open wide before the room .
Indeed , if the forty-sixth president of the United States was pitching beanbags that night ( or sneaking out early ) , it hardly seems a stretch to suggest that the forty-ninth or fiftieth might have been there as well , along with future senators and governors and state representatives , all inspired to run , and shown how to do it , by a new generation of activists who reinvented the party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elders – down ballot , where it matters most .
Excerpted from “ UNRIGGED : How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy “ by David Daley .
Published by Liveright , a division of W.W. Norton .
Copyright 2020 David Daley , all rights reserved .
Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher .

It’s a gorgeous June evening in 2018 in Washington DC. It’s easy to imagine senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand competing 12 months from now on debate stages across Iowa. But tonight they are tossing beanbags before a cheering young crowd fueled by a pale rosé and piles of guacamole.
It’s a celebratory fundraiser for Run for Something, the brainchild of the millennial activists Amanda Litman and Ross Morales Rocketto, which is teaching hundreds of first-time millennial candidates how to get elected to state legislatures, county commissions, school boards and judgeships. Most of them are women or candidates of color; many of them are running in places like Montana, Oklahoma and Arkansas, states in which Democrats have either surrendered or gone plain extinct.
“We’re here because people facing incredible odds and insurmountable obstacles kept fighting and kept resisting,” Booker tells me, “and figured out what they could do to make a difference.”
And we’re here because Litman turned anguish into action, channeling her devastation after working seven-day weeks to elect Hillary Clinton toward helping others determined to go from spectator to participant, but lacking any clue where to begin. But as Litman took stock while the pain of Clinton’s bitter defeat slowly dulled, she realized that what progressive politics needed most was a rebuilt pipeline of young candidates at the state and local level. Republican focus on down-ballot candidates had provided the GOP not just complete control of Washington, but a modern record number of governors and 70% of all state legislative chambers.
“When I talk to old white male donors, they say, ‘I’ve thought about running for Congress,’” she says, rolling her eyes. “I’m like, ‘Of course you have.’ You know who hasn’t? The young Latina who should.”
Litman quickly conquered the highest summits of electoral politics. She held a historic title: Hillary’s email director. No, not those emails. Litman directed all the campaign’s email fundraising efforts and communications. She raised $330m – that’s almost a third of a billion dollars – one small donation at a time. The campaign haunted her dreams, and destroyed her health: kidney infections, an ever-present migraine hum. She’d wake most nights in a cold sweat and reach for her phone to track fundraising numbers. Did I mention that she loved it? It was everything she’d dreamt about, ever since The West Wing turned her into such a politics-obsessed teenage nerd that she cut class to trail Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards across Virginia during the 2008 Democratic primary.
Election night was crushing. The next day, she sat in the third row for Clinton’s concession speech, eyes red, barely having slept at all, wearing a campaign sweatshirt she wouldn’t remove. Then a Facebook message arrived from a college classmate she hadn’t heard from for years, now a teacher in Chicago. “She was pissed,” Litman says. “She says, ‘If Trump can be president, why can’t I run for city council?’”
Hillary Clinton gives her concession speech in November 2016. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
If her old friend wanted to march for change, then run for office, thousands of other people would have the same desire. They also wouldn’t know the first steps, and probably wouldn’t have a Facebook friend with Hillary’s number in her contacts. “There was no infrastructure for this kind of candidate recruitment. None. There was nobody doing it. If we’re able to do this right,” Litman says, eyes aglow, “it’s sort of a shadow national party with a very explicit focus. Could be cool!”
Two years after the most devastating night of Litman’s life, election night 2018 looked completely different thanks to Run for Something and related efforts by dynamic young activists, almost all women, some completely new to politics, who upended their lives and left high-paying jobs to rebuild the progressive bench from the ground up. More than 200 Run for Something candidates won state legislative seats, some capturing red-state seats that had been in Republican hands for longer than the young candidates had been alive. That’s 10% of all 2018 Democratic state house gains, all for just $2.1m, and not much more than the average budget for one US House race.
While Run for Something helped funnel enthusiastic candidates into electoral politics, groups like Flippable, Sister District and Forward Majority provided another approach. They focused their efforts on reclaiming the state legislative chambers most crucial for the 2021 redistricting. They targeted blue and purple states which had been under complete GOP control since 2010, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina; red states with changing demographics, like Texas and Arizona; and competitive states including Washington and Colorado, where a small number of Democratic gains would be enough to create a blue trifecta.
Together, they channeled dollars and volunteers toward these small local races with massive national impact. Republican strategists and donors had long ago unlocked the importance of these elections and built the party’s national power one state legislative chamber at a time. Republicans captured more than 700 state legislative seats in the 2010 Tea Party wave, then locked in those gains with redistricting, tilting the playing field an even rubier red. In all, Republicans gained more than 1,000 state legislative seats during the Obama years, and used those majorities to enact measures making it more difficult to register to vote or cast a ballot in twenty-five states, further disadvantaging Democrats and consolidating GOP power.
“Democrats had an entire cycle of losing,” says Vicky Hausman, the co-founder of Forward Majority.
Democrats contested more than 5,300 of the 6,066 state legislative seats up for election in 2018, the highest percentage in more than a decade. In one year, they won back almost 450 of the seats that had washed away over the previous decade. It came bottom-up, as Run for Something, Sister District and Forward Majority delivered energy, candidates and strategic smarts to races that the party ignored. They helped win majorities in the Colorado and New York senate, and eroded GOP majorities in Pennsylvania and Arizona. They cracked a Republican supermajority in North Carolina and significantly improved their party’s position in Florida, Michigan and Texas, gaining important yardage with one election to go before the next redistricting.
If our majority – our three-million-person majority – was engaged in state politics, everything is different Rita Bosworth
“We’re just citizens who have been activated. If our majority – our three-million-person majority – was engaged in state politics, everything is different,” says Rita Bosworth, the co-founder of Sister District, which started with a Facebook conversation and now has 30,000 nationwide volunteers organized through sixty-five active teams on the ground. They focused on thirty-two legislative elections – and won sixteen of them – in nine states where Democrats might flip a chamber or make inroads into gerrymandered GOP majorities.
Her three co-founders – political director Gabrielle Goldstein, partnerships and engagement director Lala Wu and programs and communication director Lyzz Schwegler – came together largely through a secret Facebook group of liberal lawyers established after the 2016 election. By spring, Bosworth, Goldstein and Wu had abandoned successful law careers to save democracy full-time.
On election night 2016, tearful in Columbus, Ohio, Flippable’s Catharine Vaughan found herself coming to a similar conclusion. She had taken a leave from McKinsey and Co and left San Francisco to work for the Hillary campaign and spend months on a host family’s sofa. When the campaign ended with whiskey and tears, Vaughan planned to head back to consulting and the Bay Area. Over farewell margaritas, the team tried to unpack what had gone wrong and what might come next. The conversation turned to gerrymandering. Ohio is enough of a competitive, bellwether state that they’d all put their lives on hold, thinking the state’s electoral votes could decide the presidential election. But Republicans still held a two-to-one edge in the state legislature.
Hundreds of thousands march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women’s March in Washington in 2017. Photograph: Bryan Woolston/Reuters
Vaughan had spent several years working with the Gates Foundation and others on health problems in east Africa that were completely preventable if the right resources landed in the right places. People in politics are really good at understanding who has power and how to build a web of relationships, Vaughan says, but less skilled at building and judging effective organizations. “How do you help them see that maybe the way they’re giving their money could be optimized?”
Forward Majority’s Hausman had a similar background; as a partner at the global strategy firm Dalberg, where she led the Americas team and the global health practice, she worked on bringing business-school analysis and smart-data analytics to philanthropy. Rural governments in sub-Saharan Africa lacked the money they needed, for example, to buy and deliver bed nets to citizens before the rainy mosquito season. “There are these unsexy barriers that really impact people’s lives,” she tells me. “We can’t fix the whole thing, but we can use business strategy and analytics on specific problems that are fixable.” Turned out, one of those problems was democracy right here at home.
Litman believes Democrats need to compete – and win – everywhere. She’s after candidates rooted in a community who are committed to getting out there and talking to people. She calls it her “fuck yeah” test.
Back on that Washington DC, rooftop, a third US senator and potential Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Warren, slides out of the Run for Something bash before the cornhole battle commences. “This is the future,” she tells me quietly, holding her arms open wide before the room. Indeed, if the forty-sixth president of the United States was pitching beanbags that night (or sneaking out early), it hardly seems a stretch to suggest that the forty-ninth or fiftieth might have been there as well, along with future senators and governors and state representatives, all inspired to run, and shown how to do it, by a new generation of activists who reinvented the party where it had been neglected by their elders – down ballot, where it matters most.
Excerpted from “UNRIGGED: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy“ by David Daley. Published by Liveright, a division of W.W. Norton. Copyright 2020 David Daley, all rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher.


theguardian--2020-03-15--'We love him': Biden's hometown of Scranton highlights his earthy appeal

The Scranton store where a young Joe Biden used to buy his candy is still in operation today , a stone ’ s throw from the wood-slatted house where the presidential candidate grew up .
It ’ s called Hank ’ s Hoagies now , in honor of the idiosyncratic Pennsylvania term for a sandwich on a long bread roll , and almost 70 years since Biden left Scranton , his presence lives on – in the form of a lifesize cardboard cut out lurking behind the store ’ s front door .
“ We love him , ” Tom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said by way of explanation .
“ He ’ s a great guy .
I think he ’ d be a great president.
” Biden ’ s dream of becoming president had looked to be over at the end of February .
The 77-year-old had lost , by some distance , the first three states of the Democratic primary , was running out of money , and had sagged badly in the polls .
Yet Biden won South Carolina , the fourth state to vote , on 6 March with a surprisingly strong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what came next .
Biden won 10 out of the next 14 states , on Super Tuesday picking up more delegates than anyone else .
On the less super , but still delegate-heavy , Tuesday that followed , Biden won four out of six states and established a delegate lead that looks unassailable .
Speaking after his first big win , Biden seemed as surprised as anyone , and not just because an anti-dairy protester had rushed him on the stage .
“ They don ’ t call it Super Tuesday for nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles .
“ To those who ’ ve [ been ] knocked down , counted out , left behind , this is your campaign , ” he said .
“ Just a few days ago the press and the pundits had declared the campaign dead.
” Biden wasn ’ t exaggerating .
The influential , and frequently accurate , US polling site FiveThirtyEight had given Biden just a one in 12 chance of winning the nomination outright .
Bernie Sanders was considered the most likely nominee – but not any more .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a contested convention , where neither Biden nor Sanders have enough delegates to win the nomination , to whom Biden will pick as his running mate and what a Biden-Trump election will look like .
Meanwhile , the ashes of Sanders ’ campaign are being sifted through to work out what went wrong .
Super Tuesday not only handed back Biden the frontrunner status he held for much of 2019 – it handed him a big pot of money , too .
His campaign said it had raked in $ 22m in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colossal amount considering it took Biden three months to raise $ 23.2m at the end of 2019 .
Biden ’ s surge has little to do with Pennsylvania , which only votes on 28 April , and much more to do with his strong support among African Americans in the south .
Nevertheless , Biden ’ s perceived earthy nature , which his Scranton childhood symbolizes , is a big selling point for voters hoping he could win back midwest states from Donald Trump in November .
“ He ’ s an honest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respect , which we seem to be lacking a little bit in our leadership now , ” Owens said .
“ He ’ s down to earth .
I think he ’ d be a great president.
” Biden is never shy of leaning into his Scranton background , having visited the city frequently while campaigning for Barack Obama , and Owens said Biden ’ s place of birth was visible in his persona .
“ There ’ s a lot of blue collar people here .
We talk a lot here .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to maybe go on a little too much – that would be from living around here , ” Owens said .
It is , in part , Biden ’ s talking that has been a major weakness .
He turned in a series of lackluster debate performances through the end of 2019 and into 2020 , sometimes stumbling over his words and at times looking like a relic of a bygone era .
In the past three weeks alone , Biden has mistakenly claimed : “ Tomorrow is Super Thursday ” , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 125 million people had been shot dead in the US since 2007 – the actual figure is less than 500,000 – and launched into an expletive-laced row with an auto-worker about “ AR-14 ” guns , when a years-long debate has actually taken place over the appropriateness of AR-15 weapons .
Donald Trump picked up on Biden ’ s gaffes when the president himself appeared in Scranton in the days after Super Tuesday .
Appearing at the Scranton Cultural Center – on the street where Biden grew up – Trump didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s hometown .
Instead , Trump – who has faced much scrutiny over his own mental acuity – attacked Joe Biden ’ s cognitive abilities , listing Biden ’ s repeated gaffes and suggesting there is “ something going on ” with the former vice-president .
Biden didn ’ t respond to Trump , who wasn ’ t appearing in Pennsylvania by accident .
Scranton , a town of 77,000 nestled in the rolling hills of north-eastern Pennsylvania ’ s Wyoming Valley , is firmly a part of America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and cities stretching nearly a thousand miles from Wisconsin in the west all the way through Pennsylvania in the east .
The communities in the rust belt suffered more than most from de-industrialization , as coalmines , steel plants and car factories closed , and some areas still suffer from chronic unemployment .
Scranton was once home to the coal industry , and the city and region boomed in the 1930s and 40s , but the decline was just as swift .
As the US turned to oil and gas for its energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden and his family moved to Delaware in 1953 after his father struggled to find work in Pennsylvania .
The future vice-president became a US senator for the state in 1973 .
Trump swept into communities like Scranton in 2016 , wooing disenchanted working-class voters who had previously voted for Democrats with his hazy promise to Make America Great Again .
He won Pennsylvania by 48.2 % to Hillary Clinton ’ s 47.5 % , and he narrowly triumphed in Michigan , Wisconsin and Ohio , too .
In 2020 , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key part of his case to be the Democratic nominee .
If he is chosen , it could prove crucial in recapturing those states and the White House .
Biden ’ s case for being the nominee is based , in part , around his ability to win in the midwest , and he will point to his convincing win in Michigan on Tuesday as supporting evidence .
That success in the rust belt was a long time in the making , and came after a concerted effort to make people aware of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two weeks at the end of 2019 Biden was still pumping out shamelessly Scranton-specific advertisements , including “ Scranton Values ” and “ A Kid from Scranton ” .
In those ads , as in person , Biden looks good for his 77 years .
Straight-backed and easily 6ft tall , he looks little different from the decade-old cardboard version of him at Hanks , which apparently is a popular gift .
“ I have the same cardboard cut-out .
I got it for my mom , ” said Ailish Renton , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likes him .
She also likes the way he looks , ” Renton , 22 , said of her mother .
“ She says he ’ s very handsome .
And that she would kiss him.
” Unfortunately for Biden , few young people share Renton ’ s mother ’ s enthusiasm .
Sanders won 61 % of voters under 30 on Super Tuesday , compared with Biden ’ s 17 % , and also handily beat Biden in the 30-44-year category .
Last week , on less-super Tuesday , Sanders won more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in both Michigan and Missouri .
Ironically , given Biden ’ s experience is cited by his supporters as a positive that could help him navigate government , it is his longevity that frequently turns off young voters .
During his years in the Senate Biden voted for the Iraq war and opposed bussing African American children to predominantly white , better performing , schools , and he supports moderate policies that are anathema to the 18-29 crowd .
On Wednesday Sanders said he was staying in the race , and his fervent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troubling Biden .
Younger people , who already make up a relatively small slice of the electorate , are turning out in lower numbers than in 2016 , when Sanders ran Hillary Clinton close , however , and it would take something unprecedented for Sanders to change that in the next few weeks .
If Biden can overcome his young people problem , and perhaps even if he can ’ t , then he will probably be the Democratic candidate for president .
Win the election , and given his frequent visits to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will experience a visit by a president at some point .
Given his affinity with his hometown , however , it ’ s likely that even if Biden loses , he will always be welcome in Scranton .
Particularly by one young woman ’ s mother .

The Scranton store where a young Joe Biden used to buy his candy is still in operation today, a stone’s throw from the wood-slatted house where the presidential candidate grew up.
It’s called Hank’s Hoagies now, in honor of the idiosyncratic Pennsylvania term for a sandwich on a long bread roll, and almost 70 years since Biden left Scranton, his presence lives on – in the form of a lifesize cardboard cut out lurking behind the store’s front door.
“We love him,” Tom Owens, the owner of Hanks, said by way of explanation. “He’s a great guy. I think he’d be a great president.”
Biden’s dream of becoming president had looked to be over at the end of February. The 77-year-old had lost, by some distance, the first three states of the Democratic primary, was running out of money, and had sagged badly in the polls.
Yet Biden won South Carolina, the fourth state to vote, on 6 March with a surprisingly strong showing. Even so, few predicted what came next.
Biden won 10 out of the next 14 states, on Super Tuesday picking up more delegates than anyone else. On the less super, but still delegate-heavy, Tuesday that followed, Biden won four out of six states and established a delegate lead that looks unassailable.
Speaking after his first big win, Biden seemed as surprised as anyone, and not just because an anti-dairy protester had rushed him on the stage.
Scranton, Pennsylvania: Biden’s hometown. Photograph: Mark Makela/Reuters
“They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing!” Biden told his supporters in Los Angeles.
“To those who’ve [been] knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” he said. “Just a few days ago the press and the pundits had declared the campaign dead.”
Biden wasn’t exaggerating. The influential, and frequently accurate, US polling site FiveThirtyEight had given Biden just a one in 12 chance of winning the nomination outright. Bernie Sanders was considered the most likely nominee – but not any more.
Media coverage has shifted from talk of a contested convention, where neither Biden nor Sanders have enough delegates to win the nomination, to whom Biden will pick as his running mate and what a Biden-Trump election will look like. Meanwhile, the ashes of Sanders’ campaign are being sifted through to work out what went wrong.
Super Tuesday not only handed back Biden the frontrunner status he held for much of 2019 – it handed him a big pot of money, too. His campaign said it had raked in $22m in the five days following that vote, a colossal amount considering it took Biden three months to raise $23.2m at the end of 2019.
Biden’s surge has little to do with Pennsylvania, which only votes on 28 April, and much more to do with his strong support among African Americans in the south. Nevertheless, Biden’s perceived earthy nature, which his Scranton childhood symbolizes, is a big selling point for voters hoping he could win back midwest states from Donald Trump in November.
“He’s an honest guy, the kind of guy you respect, which we seem to be lacking a little bit in our leadership now,” Owens said. “He’s down to earth. I think he’d be a great president.”
Biden is never shy of leaning into his Scranton background, having visited the city frequently while campaigning for Barack Obama, and Owens said Biden’s place of birth was visible in his persona.
“There’s a lot of blue collar people here. We talk a lot here. We know he has a tendency sometimes to maybe go on a little too much – that would be from living around here,” Owens said.
It is, in part, Biden’s talking that has been a major weakness. He turned in a series of lackluster debate performances through the end of 2019 and into 2020, sometimes stumbling over his words and at times looking like a relic of a bygone era.
In the past three weeks alone, Biden has mistakenly claimed: “Tomorrow is Super Thursday”, on the day before Super Tuesday; stated 125 million people had been shot dead in the US since 2007 – the actual figure is less than 500,000 – and launched into an expletive-laced row with an auto-worker about “AR-14” guns, when a years-long debate has actually taken place over the appropriateness of AR-15 weapons.
Donald Trump picked up on Biden’s gaffes when the president himself appeared in Scranton in the days after Super Tuesday. Appearing at the Scranton Cultural Center – on the street where Biden grew up – Trump didn’t hold back just because he was in Biden’s hometown.
Instead, Trump – who has faced much scrutiny over his own mental acuity – attacked Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, listing Biden’s repeated gaffes and suggesting there is “something going on” with the former vice-president.
Biden didn’t respond to Trump, who wasn’t appearing in Pennsylvania by accident. Scranton, a town of 77,000 nestled in the rolling hills of north-eastern Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley, is firmly a part of America’s rust belt – a band of towns and cities stretching nearly a thousand miles from Wisconsin in the west all the way through Pennsylvania in the east.
The communities in the rust belt suffered more than most from de-industrialization, as coalmines, steel plants and car factories closed, and some areas still suffer from chronic unemployment. Scranton was once home to the coal industry, and the city and region boomed in the 1930s and 40s, but the decline was just as swift. As the US turned to oil and gas for its energy, mines closed and jobs were lost.
Biden and his family moved to Delaware in 1953 after his father struggled to find work in Pennsylvania. The future vice-president became a US senator for the state in 1973.
Joe Biden gets a hug from a supporter after he laid out his economic policy plan at the Scranton Cultural Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Rick Loomis/Getty Images
Trump swept into communities like Scranton in 2016, wooing disenchanted working-class voters who had previously voted for Democrats with his hazy promise to Make America Great Again. He won Pennsylvania by 48.2% to Hillary Clinton’s 47.5%, and he narrowly triumphed in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, too.
In 2020, that means Biden’s background is a key part of his case to be the Democratic nominee. If he is chosen, it could prove crucial in recapturing those states and the White House. Biden’s case for being the nominee is based, in part, around his ability to win in the midwest, and he will point to his convincing win in Michigan on Tuesday as supporting evidence.
That success in the rust belt was a long time in the making, and came after a concerted effort to make people aware of his upbringing: in the space of two weeks at the end of 2019 Biden was still pumping out shamelessly Scranton-specific advertisements, including “Scranton Values” and “A Kid from Scranton”.
In those ads, as in person, Biden looks good for his 77 years. Straight-backed and easily 6ft tall, he looks little different from the decade-old cardboard version of him at Hanks, which apparently is a popular gift.
“I have the same cardboard cut-out. I got it for my mom,” said Ailish Renton, who was buying a sandwich.
“She likes him. She also likes the way he looks,” Renton, 22, said of her mother. “She says he’s very handsome. And that she would kiss him.”
Unfortunately for Biden, few young people share Renton’s mother’s enthusiasm. Sanders won 61% of voters under 30 on Super Tuesday, compared with Biden’s 17%, and also handily beat Biden in the 30-44-year category. Last week, on less-super Tuesday, Sanders won more than 70% of voters under 30 in both Michigan and Missouri.
Ironically, given Biden’s experience is cited by his supporters as a positive that could help him navigate government, it is his longevity that frequently turns off young voters. During his years in the Senate Biden voted for the Iraq war and opposed bussing African American children to predominantly white, better performing, schools, and he supports moderate policies that are anathema to the 18-29 crowd.
On Wednesday Sanders said he was staying in the race, and his fervent youth support may be the only thing troubling Biden. Younger people, who already make up a relatively small slice of the electorate, are turning out in lower numbers than in 2016, when Sanders ran Hillary Clinton close, however, and it would take something unprecedented for Sanders to change that in the next few weeks.
If Biden can overcome his young people problem, and perhaps even if he can’t, then he will probably be the Democratic candidate for president. Win the election, and given his frequent visits to Scranton, it is likely the town will experience a visit by a president at some point.
Given his affinity with his hometown, however, it’s likely that even if Biden loses, he will always be welcome in Scranton.
Particularly by one young woman’s mother.


theguardian--2020-03-15--How Bernie Sanders went from frontrunner to the last-chance saloon

Bernie Sanders had just dominated the Nevada caucuses , after strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire , when the Vermont senator thundered on stage at the Cowboy Dance Hall in San Antonio to declare victory before a crowd of thousands .
His speech that night was hardly different from the hundreds of speeches he had made before – and all the speeches he would make after .
But he looked different .
Famously irascible , Sanders smiled deeply and laughed easily .
The future of his political revolution was as bright and clear as the big Texas sky .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t wan na get them nervous , ” the 78-year-old democratic socialist boasted , dropping his voice as if sharing a secret with the thousands of supporters waving placards with his name .
“ We are gon na win the Democratic primary in Texas.
” But the next 10 days would wipe away every trace of that optimism .
Sanders not only lost Texas but a string of other contests that stripped him of his briefly held status as frontrunner , returning him to a more familiar role : long-shot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frank but defiant remarks on Wednesday , Sanders acknowledged that he was “ losing ” to Joe Biden after a stunning reversal of fortune .
Biden , snatched only days before from the jaws of defeat , had just racked up four more victories , including in Michigan , a state that revived Sanders ’ presidential bid four years ago and where he had pinned his hopes of a comeback .
Later that evening , Sanders folded himself into an armchair on the set of NBC ’ s The Tonight Show in New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to build an unprecedented “ multi-generational , multi-racial coalition ” of young people and working-class voters that would “ sweep this country ” and transform American politics .
“ You can not beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics , ” he told supporters in Vermont on Super Tuesday .
But that night , voters in 10 of the 14 states with primary contests chose a candidate who represents a return to the pre-Trump years .
It was Biden , not Sanders , who expanded the Democratic electorate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boosting turnout among African Americans .
Sanders ’ commanding support among Latinos helped him notch two consequential victories in Nevada and California .
But his appeal among young people , liberal and politically independent voters was not enough to realize the revolution he envisioned .
“ Bernie Sanders ’ challenge always in the race was to expand his support , ” said Mark Longabaugh , a lead strategist on Sanders ’ 2016 team who split with the campaign early last year .
“ And he just never found a way electorally to attract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the critical 10 days between his victory in Nevada and Super Tuesday , Sanders continued to rail against old foes – the Democratic establishment and the “ corporate media ” – instead of reaching out to the members of a party he hoped to lead .
In a 60 Minutes interview the day after the caucuses , Sanders told host Anderson Cooper that he didn ’ t have an estimate for the total cost of his sweeping economic agenda .
In the same interview , he reiterated past remarks that were complimentary of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communist government , sparking backlash among Democrats in the battleground state of Florida .
“ One of Bernie ’ s strengths is his consistency – he ’ s been delivering the same message to some degree since the 70s , ” Longabaugh said .
“ But it also inhibited him in the sense that it limited his potential for growth.
” Sanders ’ ascent set off panic among party officials and leaders .
Battleground-district Democrats warned Sanders would hurt their chances of re-election , while members of the Democratic National Committee plotted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convention shy of the delegates needed to win the nomination outright .
“ From the beginning , we knew this was going to be the fight of our lives , ” said Jennifer Epps-Addison , president of the Center for Popular Democracy , which endorsed Sanders .
“ We ’ re taking on not only the corporate elite of this party but the billionaire class , the pharmaceutical industry , the prison industrial complex , Wall Street , the insurance companies.
” Even so , the rapid alignment behind Biden , first by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of voters , caught the campaign off guard .
In a matter of days , the field shrank from seven top contenders to just two .
Nearly all backed Biden , with the notable exception of Elizabeth Warren , who has yet to endorse anyone .
“ In candor , the consolidation of candidates behind Biden happened sooner than anyone expected ” said congressman Ro Khanna , one of Sanders ’ national co-chairs .
“ There was simply not enough time to build more broadly.
” Bernie Sanders entered the primary with more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His name recognition was sky high , he had an enviable list of small-dollar donors , an unshakable base of support and the experience of having just run a presidential campaign .
Little changed from 2016 , not the message nor the mission , not even the campaign logo .
It would be a “ class-conscious ” campaign for people who felt left out of the political process .
“ He represents the people who have been written off for much of their lives , ” Khanna said .
“ For the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been heard , who feel marginalized , who feel the system hasn ’ t been working for them , he is their voice.
” A heart attack in October nearly derailed his campaign .
With Warren on the march and Sanders slumping , his candidacy appeared to be in freefall .
But his supporters rallied to his side .
A strong debate performance and a coveted endorsement from congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paved the way for a remarkable comeback .
It was a clarifying moment .
Sanders used the experience to connect more deeply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ halls and on social media , the campaign elevated the economic struggles of people who couldn ’ t afford medical treatment of prescription drugs .
It was the foundation of the campaign ethos , “ Not me , us.
” But political reality set in after voting began .
Despite his success in the initial early voting states , in a fractured field Sanders struggled to retain the support he garnered four years ago .
After the centrist vote coalesced behind Biden , he was losing contests he won in 2016 , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force than he is today .
Democrats ’ overriding priority in 2020 was to defeat Trump .
And on that front , Sanders was losing to Biden .
“ I can not tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who have said – and I quote – ‘ I like what your campaign stands for , ” Sanders said soberly from his hometown of Burlington last week .
“ ‘ I agree with what your campaign stands for .
But I ’ m going to vote for Joe Biden because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to defeat Donald Trump.
” Black voters have decided the Democratic nominee in every primary election since 1992 .
And this year , as in 2016 , African Americans have overwhelmingly chosen Sanders ’ rival .
In South Carolina , black voters propelled Biden ’ s triumph there and set in motion a turnaround that greatly narrowed Sanders ’ path to the nomination .
Supporters believe that Sanders ’ efforts to make inroads in the black community over the past four years were obscured by Biden ’ s longstanding relationships with African American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama ’ s loyal lieutenant .
Ahead of last week ’ s contests , Sanders ’ campaign released an ad that featured Obama praising the senator and saying emphatically “ Feel the Bern !
” But it did not yield the results he hoped .
“ There ’ s a fundamental disconnect if folks still don ’ t feel like he ’ s the one who they can put their faith in after four years , ” said Cliff Albright , a co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund .
Ahead of the Michigan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Rev Jesse Jackson , in what those close to him said was a deeply meaningful moment .
In 1988 , Jackson became the first black presidential candidate to win millions of votes on a similar platform of universal healthcare , a federal jobs guarantee and taxing the rich .
Sanders , then the mayor of Burlington , was one of the few white public officials to endorse him .
“ The ideas resonate with black folks , ” Albright said .
“ Medicare for All , free college , debt forgiveness , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black folks are far closer to Bernie than to Biden .
So it ’ s not the ideas .
It ’ s this issue of electability.
” Sanders now faces a legacy-defining decision : does he stay in a race that is becoming increasingly difficult for him to win or does he bow out now to begin the delicate process of unifying the party ?
Larry Cohen , a longtime Sanders confidant and chairman of his political non-profit , Our Revolution , acknowledged that Sanders faces long odds but urged him to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been fluid and unpredictable , Cohen noted , and even if Biden does become the nominee , every additional delegate Sanders accumulates in the primary will be “ critical to negotiations over the rules and party platform ” at the convention in Milwaukee .
“ If he drops out now , those ideas are left with the delegates that he ’ s won , ” Cohen said .
“ They ’ re the voice for these issues.
” Complicating Sanders ’ path forward is a new challenge : running for president in midst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus outbreak has forced Sanders to abandon the stadium-size rallies that are a feature of his campaign .
“ This coronavirus has obviously impacted our ability to communicate with people in the traditional way and that ’ s hurting us , ” he told reporters during a brief press conference in Burlington , where he has spent his time since cancelling an election night rally in Cleveland amid concerns about the virus .
The senator has signaled in recent days that he is unlikely to battle Biden to the bitter end .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues he still intends to confront Biden over , and that he has the leverage to push him .
On Sunday he will appear at the next presidential debate , a long-sought one-on-one with Biden .
At a press conference , Sanders previewed a litany of policy questions that he planned to press Biden on : “ Joe , what are you gon na do ?
” he would ask on issues from income inequality to student loan debt .
When Sanders launched his campaign in February 2019 , he was asked what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ re gon na win , ” Sanders replied , with the blunt assurance that thrills so many of his supporters .
By his own admission , he is falling short of that goal .
Though many supporters aren ’ t ready to see Sanders depart the race just yet , there is also the sense that Sanders has already accomplished more than he could have imagined in his nearly 50-year political career .
Michael Kazin , a historian and co-editor of Dissent magazine , said Sanders has already achieved what many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has fundamentally shifted the ideology of the Democratic party on everything from healthcare and climate change to raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich .
Sanders , Kazin said , was probably the “ most leftwing candidate ” to make it this far in American political history .
That a 78-year-old democratic socialist has come within striking distance of the nomination is an “ astounding success ” in its own right , marveled Bill Press , a progressive talkshow host who helped launch Sanders 2016 campaign from the living room of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real sense , ” he said , “ Bernie has already won the primary .
”

Bernie Sanders had just dominated the Nevada caucuses, after strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, when the Vermont senator thundered on stage at the Cowboy Dance Hall in San Antonio to declare victory before a crowd of thousands.
His speech that night was hardly different from the hundreds of speeches he had made before – and all the speeches he would make after. But he looked different. Famously irascible, Sanders smiled deeply and laughed easily. The future of his political revolution was as bright and clear as the big Texas sky.
“Don’t tell anybody. I don’t wanna get them nervous,” the 78-year-old democratic socialist boasted, dropping his voice as if sharing a secret. “We are gonna win the Democratic primary in Texas.”
But the next 10 days would wipe away every trace of that optimism. Sanders not only lost Texas but a string of other contests that stripped him of his briefly held status as frontrunner, returning him to a more familiar role: long-shot insurgent chasing the establishment favorite.
In frank but defiant remarks on Wednesday, Sanders acknowledged that he was “losing” to Joe Biden after a stunning reversal of fortune. Biden, snatched only days before from the jaws of defeat, had just racked up four more victories, including in Michigan, a state that revived Sanders’ presidential bid four years ago and where he had pinned his hopes of a comeback.
Later that evening, Sanders folded himself into an armchair on the set of NBC’s The Tonight Show in New York City.
“How you feeling?” host Jimmy Fallon asked gingerly.
“I’m feeling good,” Sanders sighed. “Could feel better.”
Bernie Sanders had promised to build an unprecedented “multi-generational, multi-racial coalition” of young people and working-class voters that would “sweep this country” and transform American politics.
“You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics,” he told supporters at a Super Tuesday rally in Vermont, where he had expected a celebration.
But that night, voters in 10 of the 14 states holding primary contests disagreed, choosing instead a candidate who represents a return to the pre-Trump years. It was Biden, not Sanders, who expanded the Democratic electorate, bringing in non-voters and suburban voters while boosting turnout among African Americans.
Sanders’ commanding support among Latinos helped him notch two consequential victories in Nevada and California. But his appeal among young people, liberals and politically independent voters was not enough to realize the revolution he envisioned.
02:36 Bernie Sanders: six key policies from his 2020 presidential campaign – video report
“Bernie Sanders’ challenge always in the race was to expand his support,” said Mark Longabaugh, a lead strategist on Sanders’ 2016 team who split with the campaign early last year. “And he just never found a way electorally to attract voters outside of his coalition.”
In the critical days between his victory in Nevada and Super Tuesday, Sanders continued to rail against old foes – the Democratic establishment and the “corporate media” – instead of reaching out to the members of the party he hoped to lead.
In a 60 Minutes interview the day after the caucuses, Sanders told the host Anderson Cooper that he didn’t have an estimate for the total cost of his sweeping economic agenda. In the same interview, he reiterated past remarks that were complimentary of certain aspects of Fidel Castro’s communist government, sparking backlash among Democrats in the battleground state of Florida.
“One of Bernie’s strengths is his consistency – he’s been delivering the same message to some degree since the 70s,” Longabaugh said. “But it also inhibited him in the sense that it limited his potential for growth.”
Sanders said many people had told him they agreed with his policies but thought that Joe Biden was better placed to beat Donald Trump. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Sanders’ ascent set off panic among party officials and leaders. Swing-district Democrats warned Sanders would hurt their chances of re-election, while members of the Democratic National Committee plotted to stop him if he arrived at the convention shy of the delegates needed to win the nomination outright.
“From the beginning, we knew this was going to be the fight of our lives,” said Jennifer Epps-Addison, the president of the Center for Popular Democracy, which endorsed Sanders. “We’re taking on not only the corporate elite of this party but the billionaire class, the pharmaceutical industry, the prison industrial complex, Wall Street, the insurance companies.”
Even so, the rapid alignment behind Biden, first by his former rivals and then by millions of voters, caught the campaign off guard. In a matter of days, the field shrank from seven top contenders to just two.
Moderates, once paralyzed over which candidate to support, suddenly rallied behind the former vice-president. On the eve of Super Tuesday, Biden won the endorsements of three former opponents and more followed in a dramatic show of force that his team compared to the Avengers assembling. Notably, Elizabeth Warren, Sanders’ closest ideological ally, has not yet backed anyone.
“In candor, the consolidation of candidates behind Biden happened sooner than anyone expected ” said the congressman Ro Khanna, one of Sanders’ national co-chairs. “There was simply not enough time to build more broadly.”
Bernie Sanders entered the primary with more built-in advantages than any of his rivals. His name recognition was sky high, he had an enviable list of small-dollar donors, an unshakable base of support and the experience of having just run a presidential campaign. Little changed from 2016, not the message nor the mission, not even the “Bernie” logo. It would be a “class-conscious” campaign for people who felt left out of the political process.
“He represents the people who have been written off for much of their lives,” Khanna said. “For the people who feel they haven’t been heard, who feel marginalized, who feel the system hasn’t been working for them, he is their voice.”
A heart attack in October nearly derailed his presidential bid. With Warren on the march and Sanders slumping, his candidacy appeared to be in freefall. But his loyal troops rallied to his side. A strong debate performance and a coveted endorsement from the congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paved the way for a remarkable comeback.
It proved to be a clarifying moment for the campaign. Sanders used the experience to connect more deeply with his supporters. At intimate town halls and on social media, his team elevated the economic struggles of people who couldn’t afford medical treatment or prescription drugs. It was the foundation of the campaign ethos, “Not me, us.”
But political reality set in after voting began. Despite his successes in the first three contests, Sanders struggled in a fractured field to retain the support he garnered four years ago. After the centrist vote coalesced behind Biden, he lost state he had won in 2016, when he was far less of a political force than he is today.
Democrats’ overriding priority in 2020 was to defeat Trump. And on that front, Sanders was losing to Biden.
“I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who have said – and I quote – ‘I like what your campaign stands for,” Sanders said soberly from his hometown of Burlington last week. “‘I agree with what your campaign stands for. But I’m going to vote for Joe Biden because I think Joe is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump.”
Black voters have decided the Democratic nominee in every primary election since 1992. And this year, as in 2016, African Americans overwhelmingly chose Sanders’ opponent. In South Carolina, black voters propelled Biden’s triumph and set in motion a turnaround that greatly narrowed the senator’s path to the nomination.
Supporters believe that Sanders’ effort to make inroads with black voters over the past four years was obscured by Biden’s longstanding ties to African American communities and his eight years as Barack Obama’s loyal lieutenant. After being walloped in the south on Super Tuesday, Sanders’ campaign released an ad that featured Obama praising the senator and saying emphatically “Feel the Bern!” But it did not yield the results he hoped.
“There’s a fundamental disconnect if folks still don’t feel like he’s the one who they can put their faith in after four years,” said Cliff Albright, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund.
Sanders visits custodian Davonta Bynes, from left, principal DaRhonda Evans-Stewart and social worker Kim Little outside a polling location in Detroit. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP
Ahead of the Michigan primary, Sanders earned the endorsement of the Rev Jesse Jackson, in what those close to him said was a deeply meaningful moment. In 1988, Jackson became the first black presidential candidate to win millions of votes on a similar platform of universal healthcare, a federal jobs guarantee and taxing the rich. Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, was one of the few white public officials to endorse him.
“The ideas resonate with black folks,” Albright said. “Medicare for All, free college, debt forgiveness, criminal justice reform, on those issues black folks are far closer to Bernie than to Biden. So it’s not the ideas. It’s this issue of electability.”
Sanders now faces a legacy-defining decision: does he stay in a race that has become increasingly difficult for him to win or does he bow out now to begin the delicate process of unifying the party?
Many supporters are not ready to see Sanders exit. Larry Cohen, a longtime Sanders confidant and chairman of his political non-profit, Our Revolution, acknowledged the senator faces long odds but urged him to keep competing. Every delegate Sanders accumulates in the primary, he argued, will be “critical to negotiations over the rules and party platform” at the convention in Milwaukee this summer.
“If he drops out now, those ideas are left with the delegates that he’s won,” Cohen said. “They’re the voice for these issues.”
Further complicating the course ahead is a new challenge: running for president in midst of a global health emergency. The coronavirus outbreak has forced Sanders to abandon the stadium-size rallies that are a feature of his campaign.
“This coronavirus has obviously impacted our ability to communicate with people in the traditional way and that’s hurting us,” he told reporters during a brief press conference in Burlington, where he has spent his time since cancelling an election night rally in Cleveland last week amid concerns about the virus.
Yet the senator has signaled in recent days that he is unlikely to battle Biden to the bitter end. But he also made clear that there are issues on which he still intends to confront his opponent – and on which has the leverage to do so.
On Sunday Sanders will appear at the next presidential debate, a long-sought one-on-one with Biden. At a press conference, he previewed a litany of policy questions that he planned to press Biden on: “Joe, what are you gonna do?” he intends to ask on issues from income inequality to student loan debt.
When Sanders launched his campaign in February 2019, he was asked what would be different this time. “We’re gonna win,” Sanders replied, with the blunt assurance that thrills so many of his supporters.
By his own admission, he is falling short of that goal. As Sanders fights for the future of his candidacy, there is also the sense that he has already accomplished more than he could have imagined in his nearly 50-year political career.
Sanders speaks during a rally in St Louis, Missouri, last week. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Michael Kazin, a historian and co-editor of Dissent magazine, said Sanders has already achieved what many nominees and presidents never do: he has fundamentally shifted the ideology of the Democratic party on everything from healthcare and climate change to raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich. Sanders, Kazin said, was likely the “most leftwing candidate” to make it this far in American political history.
That a 78-year-old democratic socialist has come within striking distance of the nomination is an “astounding success” in its own right, marveled Bill Press, a progressive talkshow host who helped launch Sanders 2016 campaign from the living room of his Washington home.
“In a very real sense,” he said, “Bernie has already won the primary.”


theguardian--2020-03-15--Coronavirus: airlines face meltdown as global travel bans multiply

The international travel industry faces a widespread shutdown over coronavirus fears after airlines announced new flight reductions and more countries introduced travel bans and isolation requirements .
Travel businesses were hit with multiple doses of bad news on Saturday and Sunday , with the US expanding its Europe travel ban to include the UK and Ireland , a number of South American countries bringing in flight restrictions and Australia joining New Zealand in requiring all people entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days .
American Airlines , the second biggest in the world , said on Saturday that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly all long-haul international flights from Monday , amid reduced demand and travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak .
The cruise industry also suffered another setback when two ships were placed in quarantine in Chile after an elderly British man aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus , the health ministry announced on Saturday .
The US government said on Saturday that it would “ immediately ” begin working on ways to help the coronavirus-hit aviation and cruise industries as they scramble to stem losses and protect jobs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ accelerated by the latest extension of the US ban on incoming travel , with US vice-president Mike Pence announcing at the White House on Saturday that British and Irish travellers would also be barred from entering the US for 30 days .
At the same press conference , Donald Trump revealed that he had taken a test for the virus , with the White House later revealing that he had proved negative .
In Spain , the wife of prime minister Pedro Sánchez has tested positive as her husband formally declared a state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is now the fourth-worst affected country in the world after it recorded more deaths to take the total to 196 .
Sánchez said the country would be placed in lockdown for two weeks and ordered people to stay at home unless they had to buy food or medicine or go to work or hospital .
The outbreak also worsened in the UK on Saturday with the total of deaths nearly doubling from 11 to 21 amid continued controversy about whether the government ’ s policy aimed at creating “ herd immunity ” from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Around the world , varying measures of control continued to be imposed on populations from the Philippines , where the capital Manila was in the process of being sealed off , to Argentina where flights from countries badly hit by the virus have been halted .
The prospect of a shattering blow for the airline industry was foreshadowed by the Australian prime minister , Scott Morrison , as he announced that all international passenger arrivals from midnight Sunday would be legally required to self-isolate for 14 days .
The flights would dry up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said , and set up serious concerns for the country ’ s $ 3.5bn cruise industry by adding that passenger ships from foreign ports would be banned for an initial 30 days .
Even before the new curbs were announced , the chief executive of British Airways told staff that the airline was in a “ fight for survival ” .
US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government would “ immediately ” start working with Congress to support the afflicted industries .
The US restrictions on travel to the UK and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pence said .
Most non-US citizens who have been in those countries within the last 14 days will be barred from entering America .
The restrictions do not bar flights to and from the US , and Americans and permanent residents can still travel .
As the curbs were revealed , United and Delta airlines said they would start cutting flights to the UK and Southwest , one of the few US airlines still flying a full schedule , said it was “ seriously considering ” cutting flights .
United said it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Denver starting Monday .
The airline expects to fly three daily flights to London and one daily flight to Dublin through the end of April .
United said it would give a credit for the value of the ticket for any customer whose international travel is disrupted by more than six hours because of schedule changes resulting from government restrictions .
Customers who do not use the credit for 12 months will get a refund .
Between 16 March and 6 May , American will reduce its international capacity by 75 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement , adding that the changes will result in the airline parking nearly its entire widebody fleet .
The airline also anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20 % on a year-over-year basis .
Domestic capacity for the month of May will be reduced by 30 % , the company added .
The US Chamber of Commerce on Friday called on the government to “ turn next to a package to assist impacted employers ... No business should go bankrupt because of a temporary loss in revenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Europe , the situation for the sector was increasingly dire .
• None Norwegian Air , which has built up large debts to establish itself as a low-cost transatlantic operator , said on Saturday that it had “ weeks not months ” to avert collapse .
• None KLM , the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM , plans to slash up to 2,000 jobs , cut working hours by one-third for its entire staff and ask for government support .
• None German flagship carrier Lufthansa said on Friday it was considering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ None In Bolivia , a ban on direct flights to and from Europe went into effect on Saturday .
Travellers from China , South Korea , Italy and Spain are also banned from entry .
• None Panama banned flights from Asia , one day after blocking flights from Europe .
Chile , meanwhile , has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus , the health ministry announced Saturday .
The 85-year-old man , who is reportedly in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city of Coyhaique , showed symptoms of the virus after getting off the Silver Explorer ship in the far southern port of Caleta Tortel , 2,400 kilometres ( 1,500 miles ) from Santiago .
The other ship , the Azmara Pursuit was currently near the port of Chacabuco after authorities banned it from landing passengers there , on grounds that it was carrying suspected cases of the coronavirus .
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report .

Michael Coulter, Martin Farrer and agencies

The international travel industry faces a widespread shutdown over coronavirus fears after airlines announced new flight reductions and more countries introduced travel bans and isolation requirements.
Travel businesses were hit with multiple doses of bad news on Saturday and Sunday, with the US expanding its Europe travel ban to include the UK and Ireland, a number of South American countries bringing in flight restrictions and Australia joining New Zealand in requiring all people entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days.
American Airlines, the second biggest in the world, said on Saturday that it would start implementing a phased suspension of nearly all long-haul international flights from Monday, amid reduced demand and travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The cruise industry also suffered another setback when two ships were placed in quarantine in Chile after an elderly British man aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Saturday.
The US government said on Saturday that it would “immediately” begin working on ways to help the coronavirus-hit aviation and cruise industries as they scramble to stem losses and protect jobs.
The crisis facing the industry has been accelerated by the latest extension of the US ban on incoming travel, with US vice-president Mike Pence announcing at the White House on Saturday that British and Irish travellers would also be barred from entering the US for 30 days.
At the same press conference, Donald Trump revealed that he had taken a test for the virus, with the White House later revealing that he had proved negative.
In Spain, the wife of prime minister Pedro Sánchez has tested positive as her husband formally declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus. Spain is now the fourth-worst affected country in the world after it recorded more deaths to take the total to 196. Sánchez said the country would be placed in lockdown for two weeks and ordered people to stay at home unless they had to buy food or medicine or go to work or hospital.
The outbreak also worsened in the UK on Saturday with the total of deaths nearly doubling from 11 to 21 amid continued controversy about whether the government’s policy aimed at creating “herd immunity” from the disease would work or not.
Around the world, varying measures of control continued to be imposed on populations from the Philippines, where the capital Manila was in the process of being sealed off, to Argentina where flights from countries badly hit by the virus have been halted.
The prospect of a shattering blow for the airline industry was foreshadowed by the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, as he announced that all international passenger arrivals from midnight Sunday would be legally required to self-isolate for 14 days.
The flights would dry up “very, very quickly”, he said, and set up serious concerns for the country’s $3.5bn cruise industry by adding that passenger ships from foreign ports would be banned for an initial 30 days.
Even before the new curbs were announced, the chief executive of British Airways told staff that the airline was in a “fight for survival”.
US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government would “immediately” start working with Congress to support the afflicted industries.
The US restrictions on travel to the UK and Ireland will begin on Monday at midnight, Pence said. Most non-US citizens who have been in those countries within the last 14 days will be barred from entering America. The restrictions do not bar flights to and from the US, and Americans and permanent residents can still travel.
As the curbs were revealed, United and Delta airlines said they would start cutting flights to the UK and Southwest, one of the few US airlines still flying a full schedule, said it was “seriously considering” cutting flights.
United said it would suspend flights to London from Houston and Denver starting Monday. The airline expects to fly three daily flights to London and one daily flight to Dublin through the end of April.
United said it would give a credit for the value of the ticket for any customer whose international travel is disrupted by more than six hours because of schedule changes resulting from government restrictions. Customers who do not use the credit for 12 months will get a refund.
Between 16 March and 6 May, American will reduce its international capacity by 75% on a year-over-year basis, it said in a statement, adding that the changes will result in the airline parking nearly its entire widebody fleet. The airline also anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% on a year-over-year basis.
Domestic capacity for the month of May will be reduced by 30%, the company added.
The US Chamber of Commerce on Friday called on the government to “turn next to a package to assist impacted employers ... No business should go bankrupt because of a temporary loss in revenue as a result of the coronavirus.”
In Europe, the situation for the sector was increasingly dire.
Norwegian Air, which has built up large debts to establish itself as a low-cost transatlantic operator, said on Saturday that it had “weeks not months” to avert collapse.
KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM, plans to slash up to 2,000 jobs, cut working hours by one-third for its entire staff and ask for government support.
German flagship carrier Lufthansa said on Friday it was considering a request for state aid.
In Bolivia, a ban on direct flights to and from Europe went into effect on Saturday. Travellers from China, South Korea, Italy and Spain are also banned from entry.
Panama banned flights from Asia, one day after blocking flights from Europe.
Chile, meanwhile, has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced Saturday.
The 85-year-old man, who is reportedly in good condition in a hospital in the city of Coyhaique, showed symptoms of the virus after getting off the Silver Explorer ship in the far southern port of Caleta Tortel, 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) from Santiago.
The other ship, the Azmara Pursuit was currently near the port of Chacabuco after authorities banned it from landing passengers there, on grounds that it was carrying suspected cases of the coronavirus.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.


theguardian--2020-03-15--The acid test of Trump's maverick leadership has come – can he save himself?

With his back to the wall , Donald Trump turned to perhaps the only people that truly impress him : not health experts or scientists but the titans of corporate America .
Confronted by a global pandemic he can not bully , insult or out-tweet , the president paraded chief executives at the White House in the hope they could dig him out of a hole partly of his own making .
Retailers such as CVS , Target , Walmart and Walgreens – household names in America – will provide “ drive-thru ” testing for the coronavirus , Trump promised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website to offer guidance .
This , however , came as a surprise to Google .
The tech giant denied it is doing any such thing .
The bizarrely misleading claim was indicative of Trump ’ s mishandling of a crisis different in magnitude from any he faced before .
The former special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s Russia investigation and the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump ’ s impeachment did not send markets into free fall , force mass closures of schools and sporting events or potentially put millions of lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s maverick leadership has finally come .
His response so far has been “ haphazard ” , said Michael Steele , former chairman of the Republican National Committee .
“ When you start from the point of thinking the whole thing is a hoax , or at least something your political opponents are ginning up to use against you , it colours your whole approach.
” Trump ’ s original sin was committed two years ago when he disbanded a White House office dealing specifically with preparation for pandemics .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday when a reporter asked him about it .
“ Well , I just think it ’ s a nasty question , ” he said .
“ I don ’ t know anything about it.
” Trump ’ s second big mistake was turning down the offer of a German-made diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .
Asked about the shortage , which left America lagging far behind South Korea and other countries , Trump said : “ I don ’ t take responsibility at all.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cascade of false statements that sought to downplay the severity of the threat and wish it away .
The coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu , Trump has maintained , and will disappear in the warmth of spring .
The slump of financial markets , on which Trump has yoked so much of his re-election hopes , finally seized his attention .
Everything he did , however , just seemed to make matters worse .
He toured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) in Atlanta wearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cap , boasting of his “ natural ability ” to understand the subject and making the bogus assertion that any American who needs a coronavirus test can get one .
On Wednesday this week he addressed the nation from the Oval Office , live on primetime TV .
It was , in many viewers ’ estimation , an unmitigated disaster , fueling anxiety rather than calm , panic rather than reassurance .
Trump blindsided European officials by announcing a 30-day travel ban and made some basic factual errors the White House had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rose garden reset .
Trump declared a national emergency that released $ 50bn for state and local governments .
Shaking hands with chief executives despite medical advice on social distancing , the president promised a public-private partnership to finally make testing widely available .
His eternally loyal vice-president , Mike Pence , did his best to reshape the narrative .
“ This day should be an inspiration to every American , ” he said , “ because thanks to your leadership from early on , not only are we bringing a whole-of-government approach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re bringing an all-of-America approach .
“ Mr President , from early on , you took decisive action .
You suspended all travel from China … throughout this process , Mr President , you ’ ve put the health of America first.
” It was an attempt to right the ship and restore confidence .
But will it work ?
There was a promising sign on the stock market .
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 2,000 points – its biggest point gain ever .
Furthermore , the are few signs that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s supporters .
Some 87 % of Republicans approve of his handling of the problem , according to a Quinnipiac University poll .
Sean Spicer , a former White House press secretary , said : “ I think they came out really strong in terms of declaring flights shut down [ from China ] .
The rollout of the kits and the testing was a step backwards but now they seem to be getting their footing back.
” Bill Whalen , a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He gets mixed reviews .
His rhetoric over this has been sloppy if not reckless : the Trump tendency to blurt out things , loose talk .
Where he got good reviews lies in the government ’ s overall approach.
” Whalen noted that California ’ s Democratic governor , Gavin Newsom , had praised Trump for supporting his state in the repatriation of passengers from a coronavirus-infected cruise ship .
Newsom told reporters : “ We had a private conversation , but [ Trump ] said : ‘ We ’ re gon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ You have my support , all of our support , logistically and otherwise ’ .
He said everything I could have hoped for and we had a very long conversation and every single thing he said , they followed through on.
” Trump will almost certainly face Joe Biden in November ’ s presidential election .
Standing before US flags , the former vice-president gave a speech this week about his plan to tackle the coronavirus , presenting the image of a government in waiting .
It made for a telling contrast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ haunted by the spectre of George W Bush ’ s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 .
Whalen said : “ The question is how does he handle this as on a personal level .
For Bush , the problem with Katrina wasn ’ t the federal response but Bush not getting out of the plane , not showing the personal touch .
Nobody elected Trump on the principle that he ’ d be the hugger-in-chief or the consoler-in-chief .
“ The economy is his trump card at all times .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may not care for the tweets or his bombastic bluster but I ’ m making money while he ’ s in office.
’ But now people will get their monthly statement and ask : ‘ What happened to 10 % of my portfolio ?
’ ”

With his back to the wall, Donald Trump turned to perhaps the only people that truly impress him: not health experts or scientists but the titans of corporate America.
Confronted by a global pandemic he cannot bully, insult or out-tweet, the president paraded chief executives at the White House in the hope they could dig him out of a hole partly of his own making.
Retailers such as CVS, Target, Walmart and Walgreens – household names in America – will provide “drive-thru” testing for the coronavirus, Trump promised, while Google was developing a national website to offer guidance.
This, however, came as a surprise to Google. The tech giant denied it is doing any such thing.
The bizarrely misleading claim was indicative of Trump’s mishandling of a crisis different in magnitude from any he faced before. The former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s impeachment did not send markets into free fall, force mass closures of schools and sporting events or potentially put millions of lives at risk.
The acid test of Trump’s maverick leadership has finally come.
His response so far has been “haphazard”, said Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. “When you start from the point of thinking the whole thing is a hoax, or at least something your political opponents are ginning up to use against you, it colours your whole approach.”
Trump’s original sin was committed two years ago when he disbanded a White House office dealing specifically with preparation for pandemics. His discomfort on this topic was clear on Friday when a reporter asked him about it.
“Well, I just think it’s a nasty question,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it.”
Trump’s second big mistake was turning down the offer of a German-made diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Asked about the shortage, which left America lagging far behind South Korea and other countries, Trump said: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
The past few weeks have also brought a cascade of false statements that sought to downplay the severity of the threat and wish it away. The coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu, Trump has maintained, and will disappear in the warmth of spring. The slump of financial markets, on which Trump has yoked so much of his re-election hopes, finally seized his attention.
Everything he did, however, just seemed to make matters worse. He toured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta wearing a “Keep America Great” cap, boasting of his “natural ability” to understand the subject and making the bogus assertion that any American who needs a coronavirus test can get one.
On Wednesday this week he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, live on primetime TV. It was, in many viewers’ estimation, an unmitigated disaster, fueling anxiety rather than calm, panic rather than reassurance. Trump blindsided European officials by announcing a 30-day travel ban and made some basic factual errors the White House had to correct.
Then came Friday’s rose garden reset. Trump declared a national emergency that released $50bn for state and local governments. Shaking hands with chief executives despite medical advice on social distancing, the president promised a public-private partnership to finally make testing widely available.
His eternally loyal vice-president, Mike Pence, did his best to reshape the narrative.
“This day should be an inspiration to every American,” he said, “because thanks to your leadership from early on, not only are we bringing a whole-of-government approach to confronting the coronavirus, we’re bringing an all-of-America approach.
“Mr President, from early on, you took decisive action. You suspended all travel from China … throughout this process, Mr President, you’ve put the health of America first.”
It was an attempt to right the ship and restore confidence. But will it work?
There was a promising sign on the stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 2,000 points – its biggest point gain ever.
Furthermore, there are few signs that the coronavirus shambles has disillusioned Trump’s supporters. Some 87% of Republicans approve of his handling of the problem, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.
Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary, said: “I think they came out really strong in terms of declaring flights shut down [from China]. The rollout of the kits and the testing was a step backwards but now they seem to be getting their footing back.”
His rhetoric over this has been sloppy if not reckless: the Trump tendency to blurt out things, loose talk Bill Whalen
Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: “He gets mixed reviews. His rhetoric over this has been sloppy if not reckless: the Trump tendency to blurt out things, loose talk. Where he got good reviews lies in the government’s overall approach.”
Whalen noted that California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, had praised Trump for supporting his state in the repatriation of passengers from a coronavirus-infected cruise ship.
Newsom told reporters: “We had a private conversation, but [Trump] said: ‘We’re gonna do the right thing’ and ‘You have my support, all of our support, logistically and otherwise’. He said everything I could have hoped for and we had a very long conversation and every single thing he said, they followed through on.”
Trump will almost certainly face Joe Biden in November’s presidential election. Standing before US flags, the former vice-president gave a speech this week about his plan to tackle the coronavirus, presenting the image of a government in waiting.
It made for a telling contrast with Trump, who may find himself haunted by the spectre of George W Bush’s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Whalen said: “The question is how does he handle this as on a personal level. For Bush, the problem with Katrina wasn’t the federal response but Bush not getting out of the plane, not showing the personal touch. Nobody elected Trump on the principle that he’d be the hugger-in-chief or the consoler-in-chief.
“The economy is his trump card at all times. There are people who say: ‘I may not care for the tweets or his bombastic bluster but I’m making money while he’s in office.’ But now people will get their monthly statement and ask: ‘What happened to 10% of my portfolio?’”