theguardian--2020-10-30--Trump and Biden hold dueling rallies in Florida – US election live

Probably not .
The most likely scenario is that American voters alone will decide the election .
For all its flaws and added complications this year from the coronavirus pandemic , the US elections system has basic features to ensure a high correlation between the vote that is cast and the result that is announced .
It is highly decentralized , with thousands of jurisdictions staffed by members of each major party , all using different technologies and independently reporting results , which can be reviewed or recounted , with both sides and the media watching out for irregularities before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It might take awhile , and the tragic story of disenfranchisement in the United States continues , but elections officials have vowed to deliver an accurate count .
Sometimes , however , US elections are very close , and in an era of nihilistic partisanship , court fights during elections are becoming increasingly common .
Such disputes might land with increasing frequency before the supreme court .
It is extremely rare for a presidential election to land before the supreme court .
In 1876 , five justices sat on a commission that decided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over Samuel Tilden .
In the modern era , it has happened just once , in 2000 , after the Florida state supreme court ordered a recount in a razor-thin race that the Republican secretary of state said George W Bush had won .
Republicans challenged the recount order and the case went to the supreme court , which sustained the challenge and stopped the recount .

Maanvi Singh (now), Lauren Aratani, Joan E Greve, Martin Belam and Tom McCarthy (earlier)

30 Oct 2020 04.50 GMT Summary The new US economic report showed GDP rose at an annualized rate of 33.1% between July and September. The president and his allies celebrated the news, but the growth seems to be fueled by consumer spending among Americans fortunate enough to have had a stable income since March. The US economy is also still not as strong as it was before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president and his allies celebrated the news, but the growth seems to be fueled by consumer spending among Americans fortunate enough to have had a stable income since March. The US economy is also still not as strong as it was before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Donald Trump and Joe Biden held dueling rallies in the key swing state of Florida today, with just five days to go until election day. A new set of polls show Biden building a small lead in Florida, which could eliminate any hope of a comeback victory for Trump. As Biden said at his drive-in rally in Broward county today, “If Florida goes blue, it’s over.”
with just five days to go until election day. A new set of polls show Biden building a small lead in Florida, which could eliminate any hope of a comeback victory for Trump. As Biden said at his drive-in rally in Broward county today, “If Florida goes blue, it’s over.” Trump assured supporters that they would recover if they contracted coronavirus, which has already claimed more than 228,000 American lives. “You know the bottom line though? You’re going to get better. You’re going to get better,” Trump said at his Tampa rally. According to Johns Hopkins University, 994 Americans died of coronavirus yesterday alone.
which has already claimed more than 228,000 American lives. “You know the bottom line though? You’re going to get better. You’re going to get better,” Trump said at his Tampa rally. According to Johns Hopkins University, 994 Americans died of coronavirus yesterday alone. House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was “confident” Biden would win the election. “We are confident, we are calm, and we have prepared,” the Democratic speaker said at her weekly press conference. “I feel very confident that Joe Biden will be elected president on Tuesday.”
“We are confident, we are calm, and we have prepared,” the Democratic speaker said at her weekly press conference. “I feel very confident that Joe Biden will be elected president on Tuesday.” More than 80 million Americans have their cast ballots, either by voting early in person or by submitting their absentee ballots, the US Elections Project says. Well before election day, the number of people who have voted so far amounts to 58% of the total turnout during the last presidential election in 2016.
either by voting early in person or by submitting their absentee ballots, the US Elections Project says. Well before election day, the number of people who have voted so far amounts to 58% of the total turnout during the last presidential election in 2016. A federal appeals court ruled that ballots in Minnesota received after election day to count should be set aside, and shouldn’t be counted. The ruling is likely to inject confusion and chaos into the elections – as Republicans continue their crusade to limit how and when Americans can vote, and whether those votes are counted.
30 Oct 2020 04.24 GMT God and the GOP: will conservative evangelicals stay loyal to Trump? 10:41 God and the GOP: will conservative evangelicals stay loyal to Trump? – video
30 Oct 2020 04.04 GMT Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Minnesota tomorrow, which he is referring to as a “Make America Great Again Peaceful Protest” . Trump and Biden, who held dueling events in Florida today, will be doing the same in Minnesota and Wisconsin tomorrow. At Trump’s campaign – which has drawn thousands of maskless supporters in recent days – he has consistently been working to downplay the coronavirus pandemic. At a rally in Arizona yesterday, Trump mocked mask requirements in California, bizarrely claiming that the state requires diners to wear “a special mask.” “You cannot, under any circumstances, take it off. You have to eat through the mask,” he said. “It’s a very complex mechanism. And they don’t realize, those germs, they go through it like nothing. They look at you with that contraption and they say, ‘That’s an easy one.’”
This claim is totally false – Californians are required to wear normal face masks, and both store-bought surgical masks and homemade fabric ones are permitted. At restaurants, they are allowed to remove their masks while eating and drinking. The comments have become characteristic of Trump at his rallies – the president often offers to kiss every man and woman in attendance, claiming he is “immune” and cannot transmit Covid-19 after he survived the disease. He often complains about how the media focuses to much on the pandemic - and not enough on baseless accusations against Joe Biden’s son Hunter. As the US coronavirus death toll ticks up, and the number of cases surge, Trump has continued to lag behind his opponent in polls. It is unclear that enough voters in swing states will buy into the alternate reality – and vote for him.
Updated at 04.14 GMT
30 Oct 2020 03.04 GMT On Fox News, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, claimed that the number of deaths is “almost nothing”. At least 1,049 new Covid-19 deaths were reported today, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Donald Trump, his family, and his supporters have continued to downplay the virus even as cases in the US, and deaths, have been trending up. Trump Jr said he “went through the CDC data”. It’s unclear what he was looking at, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clearly notes the devastating death toll. Jr. claims Coronavirus death numbers are down to “almost nothing” pic.twitter.com/NGMDLYkdsD — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 30, 2020
Updated at 03.21 GMT
30 Oct 2020 02.34 GMT Election officials in US battleground states are still fighting to limit the usage of ballot drop boxes, with only days left until 3 November. A voter cast his ballot at the Summit County drop off box during Ohio’s early voting period. Photograph: David Maxwell/EPA Jess Hardin reports: In response to safety concerns spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and worries about potential mail delays, drop boxes are popping up all over the country – in many places for the first time. The largely secure voting method has long been available to voters in states like Colorado and Washington. But amid the partisan battles over access to the polls, election officials in battleground states are still fighting to limit their usage with only days left until 3 November. Directives from Ohio secretary of state, Frank LaRose, and Texas governor, Greg Abbott – both Republicans – limit drop boxes to one per county. In Harris county, Texas, home to Houston, that’s one box for 4.7 million people. For the 228,000 residents in more sparse Mahoning county, a single drop box could result in a lengthy trip to the board of elections. In stark contrast, for the 2.3 million residents of King county in greater Seattle, there are 73 24-hour drop boxes within easy reach of voters. The ongoing litigation limiting the number of drop boxes has created confusion for voters in the middle of an election in which 46 million people have already voted by mail. But in many cases, officials are also seeing that voters’ increased anxiety about the safety of their ballots is matched by their determination. “When they see it’s so much harder for them to cast their ballot, they react to that by saying, ‘I’ll show you,’” said the Harris county clerk, Chris Hollins. Read more: 'To me, it's voter suppression': the Republican fight to limit ballot boxes Read more
30 Oct 2020 01.57 GMT Joe Biden will campaign in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin Friday. Both candidates have been making the rounds to swing states in a final push ahead of election day. In Florida Thursday, where polls have found Biden neck-and-neck with Trump, the former vice-president appealed to Latinos – a key demographic that could help deliver victories to Democrats. He spoke directly to Cuban Americans and Venezuelan Americans: “President Trump can’t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people or the Venezuelan people, for that matter, when he has praised so many autocrats around the world,” he said. As he has done throughout the campaign, Biden also pitched himself as a leader who could pull the US out of the coronavirus crisis. While his opponent held a packed rally, drawing thousands of unmasked supporters, Biden has stuck to smaller pandemic-safe events and drive-ins. Supporters gather near the stage to see Joe Biden speak during a drive-in rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Photograph: Luis Santana/AP
Updated at 02.43 GMT
30 Oct 2020 01.29 GMT Could the 2020 US election be decided by the supreme court? Tom McCarthy Probably not. The most likely scenario is that American voters alone will decide the election. For all its flaws and added complications this year from the coronavirus pandemic, the US elections system has basic features to ensure a high correlation between the vote that is cast and the result that is announced. It is highly decentralized, with thousands of jurisdictions staffed by members of each major party, all using different technologies and independently reporting results, which can be reviewed or recounted, with both sides and the media watching out for irregularities before, during and after election day. It might take awhile, and the tragic story of disenfranchisement in the United States continues, but elections officials have vowed to deliver an accurate count. Sometimes, however, US elections are very close, and in an era of nihilistic partisanship, court fights during elections are becoming increasingly common. Such disputes might land with increasing frequency before the supreme court. It is extremely rare for a presidential election to land before the supreme court. In 1876, five justices sat on a commission that decided the 1876 race for Rutherford B Hayes over Samuel Tilden. In the modern era, it has happened just once, in 2000, after the Florida state supreme court ordered a recount in a razor-thin race that the Republican secretary of state said George W Bush had won. Republicans challenged the recount order and the case went to the supreme court, which sustained the challenge and stopped the recount. Read more: Could the 2020 US election really be decided by the supreme court? Read more
30 Oct 2020 01.16 GMT Federal appeals court orders mail-in ballots that arrive after election day be segregated A federal appeals court ruled that ballots in Minnesota received after election day to count should be set aside, and shouldn’t be counted. Voters were told for months that ballots postmarked by 3 November would count if received by the 10th, and this latest ruling has added confusion to a chaotic election where Republicans have been making a last-minute push to limit how many votes count, and how they’re counted. The decision could have significant implications in swing-state Minnesota. Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator of Minnesota, told voters to not mail in their ballots after the ruling. “Because of LAST MINUTE ruling, Minnesota DO NOT put ballots in mail any more,” Klobuchar wrote on Twitter. “Vote in-person or take mail-in ballot directly to ballot box.” BREAKING: Because of LAST MINUTE ruling, Minnesota DO NOT put ballots in mail any more.
In the middle of a pandemic, the Republican Party is doing everything to make it hard for you to vote. Stand up for YOUR rights:
Vote in-person or take mail-in ballot directly to ballot box https://t.co/rPlAwN8K0q — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) October 29, 2020
Updated at 01.25 GMT
30 Oct 2020 00.41 GMT More than 80 million Americans have already voted More than 80 million Americans have their cast ballots, either by voting early in person, or by submitting their absentee ballots, the US Elections Project says. Well before election day, the number of people who have voted so far amounts to 58% of the total turnout during the last presidential election in 2016. At this pace, the US could set a record for the voter participation rate in more than a century. More Democrats have chosen to vote early, whereas Republicans – who have historically voted by mail in large numbers – this year are expected to turn out to vote in person on election day, having been put off by Donald Trump’s false claims that absentee voting is prone to fraud. Ian Marshall of Kent, Ohio, casts his ballot at a ballot drop box during Ohio’s early voting period. Photograph: David Maxwell/EPA
Updated at 01.26 GMT
30 Oct 2020 00.13 GMT Your absentee ballot never showed up. Now what? Sarah Fielding reports: Voting during a contentious presidential election and a pandemic is more than a little overwhelming. Like many Americans, you may have designed a plan to vote by absentee ballot months ago, when 3 November felt a lifetime away, and no one knew how election day would look. Maybe you were unsure of where you would be, geographically speaking, and voting by mail felt like the safest option. If you’re like me, when the time came to request your absentee ballot, you submitted your information and waited for the ballot to arrive in the mail, but it never did. I requested my absentee ballot for New York on 14 September. Two weeks later, the status on my ballot tracker read “out for delivery” but no ballot ever arrived. One of my roommates requested her Pennsylvania absentee ballot on 5 October and it has reportedly been on the way since 19 October. Last week, the Queer Eye star and Texas resident Jonathan Van Ness shared on Instagram that his absentee ballot was marked out for delivery weeks before but never arrived, and the election board couldn’t locate it. Read more about why that’s happening, and what to do: Your absentee ballot never showed up. Now what? Read more
29 Oct 2020 23.53 GMT Joe Biden’s drive-in rally in Tampa, Florida seems to have been cut short due to a torrential downpour. The Democratic candidate spoke about taxes and criticized his opponent’s comments about military veterans. “Folks, of all the things Donald Trump has said, nothing has bothered me more than what he has said to those who serve in uniform,” Biden said. Both candidates have been chasing votes in swing-state Florida, holding back-to-back events in Tampa.
“I guarantee you, my word as a Biden, no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a single penny more in taxes,” @JoeBiden tells Tampa drive-in rally pic.twitter.com/HD1aDQNnTu — Ernest Scheyder (@ErnestScheyder) October 29, 2020
Updated at 01.27 GMT


theguardian--2020-10-29--Glenn Greenwald resigns from the Intercept over 'editorial freedom'

The investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald has resigned abruptly from the Intercept , the news website he co-founded , and accused the organization of seeking to censor him over a planned article critical of the Democratic nominee , Joe Biden .
Greenwald , who was a vital part of the Guardian US team that broke the Edward Snowden whistleblower story in 2013 , released a statement online that blasted the editors of the Intercept as being in hock to Biden and the Democratic party .
“ The Intercept ’ s editors , in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden , the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression , ” he wrote in a lengthy resignation post .
Greenwald is a vocal critic of the US media and American politics , with an abrasive style that has won him many admirers as well as a legion of critics .
Recently , he has been especially critical of media coverage of the Russian attempt to interfere with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by some leftwing commentators for appearing on rightwing Fox News host Tucker Carlson ’ s show .
He co-founded the Intercept in 2014 with investment from the tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar .
The website rapidly established itself as a scrappy online news organization that could punch above its weight on some issues , especially cybersecurity , politics and tech and corruption in Brazil , where Greenwald lives .
Greenwald said the site no longer carried out the mission that he had intended when it was founded , which was to amplify voices rarely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resignation statement Greenwald said : “ The current iteration of the Intercept is completely unrecognizable when compared to that original vision.
” In a sharply worded statement , the Intercept ’ s editor-in-chief , Betsy Reed , said that the charge that the Intercept was censoring its staff was “ preposterous ” and that Greenwald ’ s main problem had been a desire to have his work published unedited .
“ Glenn Greenwald ’ s decision to resign from the Intercept stems from a fundamental disagreement over the role of editors in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ censorship , ” Reed wrote .
“ Glenn demands the absolute right to determine what he will publish .
He believes that anyone who disagrees with him is corrupt , and anyone who presumes to edit his words is a censor.
” “ The narrative he presents about his departure is teeming with distortions and inaccuracies – all of them designed to make him appear a victim , rather than a grown person throwing a tantrum , ” she added .
Greenwald posted a version of the Biden article in question to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ note that read : “ I am posting here the most recent draft of my article about Joe and Hunter Biden — the last one seen by Intercept editors before telling me that they refuse to publish it absent major structural changes involving the removal of all sections critical of Joe Biden , leaving only a narrow article critiquing media outlets.
” In his resignation statement , Greenwald also said he had been “ exploring the possibility of creating a new media outlet ” and was working with journalists and commentators “ across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secure funding .
“ We have no doubt that Glenn will go on to launch a new media venture where he will face no collaboration with editors – such is the era of Substack and Patreon , ” Reed said in her statement .
“ In that context , it makes good business sense for Glenn to position himself as the last true guardian of investigative journalism and to smear his longtime colleagues and friends as partisan hacks .
We get it .
But facts are facts and the Intercept record of fearless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
”

The investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald has resigned abruptly from the Intercept, the news website he co-founded, and accused the organization of seeking to censor him over a planned article critical of the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.
Sign up for the Guardian’s First Thing newsletter
Greenwald, who was a vital part of the Guardian US team that broke the Edward Snowden whistleblower story in 2013, released a statement online that blasted the editors of the Intercept as being in hock to Biden and the Democratic party.
“The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week, refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression,” he wrote in a lengthy resignation post.
Greenwald is a vocal critic of the US media and American politics, with an abrasive style that has won him many admirers as well as a legion of critics. Recently, he has been especially critical of media coverage of the Russian attempt to interfere with the 2016 US election and has been criticized by some leftwing commentators for appearing on rightwing Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show.
He co-founded the Intercept in 2014 with investment from the tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar. The website rapidly established itself as a scrappy online news organization that could punch above its weight on some issues, especially cybersecurity, politics and tech and corruption in Brazil, where Greenwald lives.
Greenwald said the site no longer carried out the mission that he had intended when it was founded, which was to amplify voices rarely heard in American journalism. In his resignation statement Greenwald said: “The current iteration of the Intercept is completely unrecognizable when compared to that original vision.”
In a sharply worded statement, the Intercept’s editor-in-chief, Betsy Reed, said that the charge that the Intercept was censoring its staff was “preposterous” and that Greenwald’s main problem had been a desire to have his work published unedited.
“Glenn Greenwald’s decision to resign from the Intercept stems from a fundamental disagreement over the role of editors in the production of journalism and the nature of censorship,” Reed wrote. “Glenn demands the absolute right to determine what he will publish. He believes that anyone who disagrees with him is corrupt, and anyone who presumes to edit his words is a censor.”
“The narrative he presents about his departure is teeming with distortions and inaccuracies – all of them designed to make him appear a victim, rather than a grown person throwing a tantrum,” she added.
Greenwald posted a version of the Biden article in question to the online platform Substack, along with a note that read: “I am posting here the most recent draft of my article about Joe and Hunter Biden — the last one seen by Intercept editors before telling me that they refuse to publish it absent major structural changes involving the removal of all sections critical of Joe Biden, leaving only a narrow article critiquing media outlets.”
In his resignation statement, Greenwald also said he had been “exploring the possibility of creating a new media outlet” and was working with journalists and commentators “across the political spectrum” in order to secure funding.
“We have no doubt that Glenn will go on to launch a new media venture where he will face no collaboration with editors – such is the era of Substack and Patreon,” Reed said in her statement. “In that context, it makes good business sense for Glenn to position himself as the last true guardian of investigative journalism and to smear his longtime colleagues and friends as partisan hacks. We get it. But facts are facts and the Intercept record of fearless rigorous, independent journalism speaks for itself.”


theguardian--2020-10-29--US election roundup: Biden and Trump descend on key battleground of Florida

Donald Trump and Joe Biden converged on Florida on Thursday in the final stages of the battle for the swing state , which the president must win to have a realistic chance of holding on to power .
“ You hold the key , ” Biden told a rally in Broward county .
“ If Florida goes blue , it ’ s over .
It ’ s over !
” The rivals duelled over interpretations of new data , which showed the US economy recovering fast in the third quarter , but still suffering from the impact of the Covid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts to push the issue aside , the candidates ’ widely different approaches to the pandemic came into focus once more .
The Trump campaign broadcast new Spanish-language advertisements showing the president wearing a mask – a tacit admission that his frequent derision of mask-wearing was damaging his standing among at least some of his supporters .
But the president ’ s rally held outside a Tampa football stadium followed the pattern of his campaign , packing thousands of mostly maskless fans together in sweltering heat .
Trump used a favourite talking point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , the coronavirus was not to be feared .
“ You know the bottom line though ?
You ’ re going to get better .
You ’ re going to get better , ” Trump told the crowd .
“ If I can get better , anybody can get better , and I got better fast.
” Trump was treated at Walter Reed , one of the country ’ s best medical facilities with the help of experimental drugs not yet available to most patients .
About 228,000 Americans have so far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected .
As the president was speaking , health authorities in North Carolina released a statement saying two people had tested positive after attending a Trump rally in Gaston county on 21 October and advising other attendees to monitor their symptoms and get tested if necessary .
At the Gaston rally , Trump had mocked coronavirus precautions .
The president ’ s disregard for masks has alienated many elderly voters , who are critical in Florida , where polls show the race to be more or less tied – and whose 29 votes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the past .
Most electoral analysts argue that it would be virtually impossible for Trump to hold on to the presidency without winning the state .
If Trump wins Florida , it would increase pressure on Biden to win the big battleground states to the north : Pennsylvania , Michigan and Wisconsin .
The Democratic challenger began the day in Broward county , part of the coastal urban sprawl north of Miami , before crossing the state to Tampa , where he was due to arrive in the evening , a few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carolina , one of the traditionally Republican strongholds he is trying to defend against a Democratic surge .
As part of the continuing deliberate contrast with the president ’ s campaign style , the Biden Broward county event was a socially distanced drive-in at a college campus , where supporters were cautioned not to stray more than an arm ’ s-length from their cars .
The evening rally scheduled in Tampa was also a drive-in .
At the rally , Biden sought to address the state ’ s Latino communities whose support he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration was “ the worst possible standard bearers for democracy ” in Cuba and other countries with autocratic leaders .
“ President Trump can ’ t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people , for the Venezuelan people , when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world , ” Biden said .
In a new advertisement launched on Thursday , Biden pledged to set up a special taskforce on his first day in office which would be devoted to finding the families of 545 children forcibly separated from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under Trump immigration policies .
Data released on Thursday showed GDP had bounced back dramatically in the third quarter of 2020 , 33 % on an annualized rate in the third quarter after dropping 31 % in the second quarter , but the economy was still nearly 4 % down compared with the end of 2019 .
On Twitter , Trump proclaimed the recovery to be the “ Biggest and Best in the History of our Country ” .
Biden countered that the country was still “ in a deep hole ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if not stalling ” while benefiting the wealthiest Americans .
Handling of the economy is one of the few issues where Trump holds a lead in public opinion , but it is slipping .
On Thursday , the Economist magazine endorsed Biden , saying the president “ has desecrated the values that make America a beacon to the world ” .
The Republican party , with its candidate running consistently about 10 percentage points behind nationwide and trailing in most battlegrounds , has focused its efforts in crucial swing states on limiting both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counting .
On Thursday , those suppression efforts had a mixed day in the courts .
The Texas supreme court upheld Governor Greg Abbott ’ s edict limiting drop box locations for mail-in ballots to one per county .
Democrats had argued that the measure was designed to make it harder for voters in big cities .
Harris county , which covers most of Houston and has a population the size of New Zealand , had its number of drop boxes reduced from 12 to one .
However , the US supreme court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extensions for accepting absentee ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina , of three and up to nine days respectively .
Amy Coney Barrett , Trump ’ s new appointee to the court , did not take part in either decision .
A court spokesperson said that was because she had not had time to review the case .
The president reacted furiously , claiming on Twitter : “ A 3 day extension for Pennsylvania is a disaster for our Nation , and for Pennsylvania itself .
The Democrats are trying to steal this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are essential because of the surge in postal ballots and the cost-cutting measures taken by the Trump-appointed head of the national postal service , which have led to slower delivery times .
Biden is due to campaign in Iowa , Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday and then hold a joint rally with Barack Obama in Michigan on Saturday , the first time they will have campaigned side-by-side this year .
Trump will also be campaigning in the north on Friday , in Michigan , Wisconsin and Minnesota .
The former British Brexit politician @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the president ’ s side , appearing in Arizona on Wednesday , where he called Trump “ the single most resilient and brave person I have ever met in my life ” .
The US president returned the favour by describing Farage , who failed in seven attempts to win election to the House of Commons , as “ one of the most powerful men in Europe ” .

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Donald Trump and Joe Biden converged on Florida on Thursday in the final stages of the battle for the swing state, which the president must win to have a realistic chance of holding on to power.
“You hold the key,” Biden told a rally in Broward county. “If Florida goes blue, it’s over. It’s over!”
The rivals duelled over interpretations of new data, which showed the US economy recovering fast in the third quarter, but still suffering from the impact of the Covid pandemic. And despite Trump’s efforts to push the issue aside, the candidates’ widely different approaches to the pandemic came into focus once more.
The Trump campaign broadcast new Spanish-language advertisements showing the president wearing a mask – a tacit admission that his frequent derision of mask-wearing was damaging his standing among at least some of his supporters.
But the president’s rally held outside a Tampa football stadium followed the pattern of his campaign, packing thousands of mostly maskless fans together in sweltering heat. Trump used a favourite talking point suggesting that because he recovered from the virus, the coronavirus was not to be feared.
“You know the bottom line though? You’re going to get better. You’re going to get better,” Trump told the crowd. “If I can get better, anybody can get better, and I got better fast.”
Trump was treated at Walter Reed, one of the country’s best medical facilities with the help of experimental drugs not yet available to most patients. About 228,000 Americans have so far died, and 9 million have been infected.
As the president was speaking, health authorities in North Carolina released a statement saying two people had tested positive after attending a Trump rally in Gaston county on 21 October and advising other attendees to monitor their symptoms and get tested if necessary. At the Gaston rally, Trump had mocked coronavirus precautions.
A Trump rally at Raymond James Stadium on 29 October 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Photograph: Octavio Jones/Getty Images
The president’s disregard for masks has alienated many elderly voters, who are critical in Florida, where polls show the race to be more or less tied – and whose 29 votes in the electoral college have proved decisive in the past.
Most electoral analysts argue that it would be virtually impossible for Trump to hold on to the presidency without winning the state.
If Trump wins Florida, it would increase pressure on Biden to win the big battleground states to the north: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Democratic challenger began the day in Broward county, part of the coastal urban sprawl north of Miami, before crossing the state to Tampa, where he arrived just a few hours after Trump had departed for North Carolina, one of the traditionally Republican strongholds he is trying to defend against a Democratic surge.
The Democratic candidate appealed to the region’s large community of military veterans. “Folks, of all the things Donald Trump has said, nothing has bothered me more than what he has said to those who serve in uniform,” Biden told the crowd amid a torrential downpour.
He spoke about his late son Beau Biden, who served in Iraq: “He wasn’t a sucker or a loser, he was a patriot, like all of you who served, like your sons, your daughters, your parents and your grandparents. We have to vote for their dignity and the respect that they are due.”
As part of the continuing deliberate contrast with the president’s campaign style, the Biden Broward county event was a socially distanced drive-in at a college campus, where supporters were cautioned not to stray more than an arm’s-length from their cars. The evening rally in Tampa was also a drive-in.
At the rally, Biden sought to address the state’s Latino communities whose support he has struggled to attract, arguing the Trump administration was “the worst possible standard bearers for democracy” in Cuba and other countries with autocratic leaders.
“President Trump can’t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people, for the Venezuelan people, when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world,” Biden said.
In a new advertisement launched on Thursday, Biden pledged to set up a special taskforce on his first day in office that would be devoted to finding the families of 545 children forcibly separated from their families on the southern US border under Trump immigration policies.
Data released on Thursday showed GDP had bounced back dramatically in the third quarter of 2020, 33% on an annualized rate in the third quarter after dropping 31% in the second quarter, but the economy was still nearly 4% down compared with the end of 2019.
On Twitter, Trump proclaimed the recovery to be the “Biggest and Best in the History of our Country”. Biden countered that the country was still “in a deep hole” and warned that the recovery was “slowing if not stalling” while benefiting the wealthiest Americans.
Melania Trump joins her husband at his campaign rally outside Raymond James Stadium, in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Handling of the economy is one of the few issues where Trump holds a lead in public opinion, but it is slipping. On Thursday, the Economist magazine endorsed Biden, saying the president “has desecrated the values that make America a beacon to the world”.
The Republican party, with its candidate running consistently about 10 percentage points behind nationwide and trailing in most battlegrounds, has focused its efforts in crucial swing states on limiting both voter turnout and the duration of vote counting.
On Thursday, those suppression efforts had a mixed day in the courts. The Texas supreme court upheld Governor Greg Abbott’s edict limiting drop box locations for mail-in ballots to one per county. Democrats had argued that the measure was designed to make it harder for voters in big cities. Harris county, which covers most of Houston and has a population the size of New Zealand, had its number of drop boxes reduced from 12 to one.
And in Minnesota, a federal appeals court ruled that ballots received after election day should be set aside from others. While a final decision as to whether those late ballots will eventually be counted has yet to be made, the decision could have significant implications in the swing state, infusing chaos and confusion into the election.
“Voters should no longer place their absentee ballots in the mail,” Minnesota’s secretary of state, Steve Simon, said. “It is too late for you, practically speaking, to get it back. Don’t risk it.”
Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, also warned voters not to mail in their ballots after the ruling.
BREAKING: Because of LAST MINUTE ruling, Minnesota DO NOT put ballots in mail any more.
In the middle of a pandemic, the Republican Party is doing everything to make it hard for you to vote. Stand up for YOUR rights:
Vote in-person or take mail-in ballot directly to ballot box https://t.co/rPlAwN8K0q — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) October 29, 2020
However, the US supreme court rejected a Republican attempt to stop deadline extensions for accepting absentee ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, of three and up to nine days respectively. Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s new appointee to the court, did not take part in either decision. A court spokesperson said that was because she had not had time to review the case.
The president reacted furiously, claiming on Twitter: “A 3 day extension for Pennsylvania is a disaster for our Nation, and for Pennsylvania itself. The Democrats are trying to steal this Election.”
Democrats have argued the extensions are essential because of the surge in postal ballots and the cost-cutting measures taken by the Trump-appointed head of the national postal service, which have led to slower delivery times.
More than 80 million Americans have cast their ballots, either by voting early in person, or by submitting their absentee ballots, the US Elections Project says.
Well before election day, the number of people who have voted so far amounts to 58% of the total turnout during the last presidential election in 2016. At this pace, the US could see its highest voter participation rate in more than a century.
Biden is due to campaign in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday and then hold a joint rally with Barack Obama in Michigan on Saturday, the first time they will have campaigned side-by-side this year. Trump will also be campaigning in the north on Friday, in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The former British Brexit politician, Nigel Farage, has been campaigning at the president’s side, appearing in Arizona on Wednesday, where he called Trump “the single most resilient and brave person I have ever met in my life”. The US president returned the favour by describing Farage, who failed in seven attempts to win election to the House of Commons, as “one of the most powerful men in Europe”.
Maanvi Singh contributed reporting


theguardian--2020-10-29--The polls point to a Biden victory but can they be trusted this time?

For months , activists and Democratic party officials have been telling Joe Biden supporters that the only answer to the question “ can we trust the polls ?
” is to go out and vote for Biden , and then get others to do the same .
“ The polls are a mirage , ” one organizer told the Guardian last month .
For partisans on either side of the presidential election , “ go vote ” remains the only sound advice .
Tens of millions of people have acted on that advice and cast their ballots early in record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person on Tuesday .
After the dust has settled on the election , there will be plenty of time to analyze whether the state-level polling delivered a better picture of the race this year than it did in 2016 , political organizers say .
But one thing is certain : the polls at the end of the 2020 presidential race are telling a very different story from the polls at the end of the 2016 race , and it ’ s a rosier picture for Biden than it was for Clinton .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this presidential race : two lines , a blue one above and a red one below , running in parallel , separated by 8 points or so , for the entire year .
Those lines represent the national polling averages over time of a head-to-head match-up between Biden and Donald Trump , and they have never intersected .
In the last presidential election , between Trump and Hillary Clinton , the polling averages intersected every couple of months , weaving their way towards an endpoint that depicted Clinton ahead by three points .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ points .
The averages this time have Biden up by 7.5 points ( Real Clear Politics ) , 9 points ( New York Times/Upshot ) and 9 points ( FiveThirtyEight ) – depicting a lead that is two or three times larger than that depicted for Clinton .
The White House is not won through a popular vote , of course .
But opening up a large national lead is impossible without opening up state-level leads .
And the state-level polls in 2020 also depict larger leads for Biden in key battlegrounds than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important caveats .
We can focus on three states Trump narrowly won in 2016 – Wisconsin ( Trump +0.7 ) , Michigan ( Trump +0.3 ) and Pennsylvania ( Trump +0.7 ) – and compare the work , then and now , of three influential outlets : FiveThirtyEight , an elections forecaster ; Real Clear Politics , a polling aggregator ; and the New York Times ’ Upshot , a forecaster-pollster-aggregator .
The Upshot produced an insightful product for 2020 that delivers a polling average – and then delivers the same average “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were in 2016 ” .
The tool currently depicts Biden with a lead in Wisconsin of 10 points , or 4 points if the polls were equally wrong ; in Michigan of 8 points , or 4 points ; and in Pennsylvania of 6 points , or 1 point .
The upshot : even if the polls were as wrong as they were in 2016 – which was very wrong indeed – Biden still would look to be ahead in the three key states that Trump won that year .
FiveThirtyEight projects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the candidates on election day .
In each of the three states , the site ’ s projections are significantly better for Biden than they were for Clinton .
In Wisconsin the number has moved from 5.3 points four years ago to 8 points , in Michigan from 4.2 points to 8.1 points , and in Pennsylvania from 3.7 points to 5.1 points .
Real Clear Politics averages polling results .
Here , too , the estimated sizes of the Democratic candidate ’ s leads have changed since 2016 , in Wisconsin from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan from 3.4 points to 8.2 points ; and in Pennsylvania from 1.9 points to 3.5 points .
The Wisconsin number , in which Biden ’ s lead in the polling averages is depicted as a fraction smaller than what we read about Clinton , is one of the aforementioned caveats – exceptions in the data to the narrative that Biden ’ s lead is significantly larger than Clinton ’ s across the board .
Such exceptions point up the fact that Trump continues to have a path to victory , reliant on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters .
But even that base appears to be shrinking , among seniors , white women without a college degree and white people overall .
One of Trump ’ s rare areas of growth appears to be with Black and Latino voters , especially men .
Trump also could have a path to victory that in effect bypasses the numbers , in the potential chaos of a unique election featuring an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots , a lurking public health threat , a potential blizzard of lawsuits and undefined security concerns .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has featured such a destabilizing force as a president sowing false accusations of voter fraud , calling for the results to be declared before all the votes are counted and encouraging supporters to make a show of force at polling sites , as Trump has .
But US elections are decentralized affairs in which local officials methodically count and report batches of votes in thousands of jurisdictions , meaning that the voters will be heard – even though some cities expect to take days to count their mail-in ballots .
As many as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or Trump , and at least half that many have voted already .
The election does not look close in the polls .
Before long we ’ ll know how the polls look through the lens of the results .

Sign up for the Guardian’s First Thing newsletter
For months, activists and Democratic party officials have been telling Joe Biden supporters that the only answer to the question “can we trust the polls?” is to go out and vote for Biden, and then get others to do the same.
“The polls are a mirage,” one organizer told the Guardian last month.
For partisans on either side of the presidential election, “go vote” remains the only sound advice. Tens of millions of people have acted on that advice and cast their ballots early in record numbers. Others are preparing to vote in person on Tuesday.
After the dust has settled on the election, there will be plenty of time to analyze whether the state-level polling delivered a better picture of the race this year than it did in 2016, political organizers say.
But one thing is certain: the polls at the end of the 2020 presidential race are telling a very different story from the polls at the end of the 2016 race, and it’s a rosier picture for Biden than it was for Clinton.
An unchanging polling graphic has emerged in this presidential race: two lines, a blue one above and a red one below, running in parallel, separated by 8 points or so, for the entire year.
Those lines represent the national polling averages over time of a head-to-head match-up between Biden and Donald Trump, and they have never intersected.
In the last presidential election, between Trump and Hillary Clinton, the polling averages intersected every couple of months, weaving their way towards an endpoint that depicted Clinton ahead by three points. She won the popular vote by two points.
The averages this time have Biden up by 7.5 points (Real Clear Politics), 9 points (New York Times/Upshot) and 9 points (FiveThirtyEight) – depicting a lead that is two or three times larger than that depicted for Clinton.
The White House is not won through a popular vote, of course. But opening up a large national lead is impossible without opening up state-level leads. And the state-level polls in 2020 also depict larger leads for Biden in key battlegrounds than they did for Clinton – with some important caveats.
A sign in displayed in a garden of a home in Emmaus, Lehigh county, in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Photograph: Matt Smith/Rex/Shutterstock
We can focus on three states Trump narrowly won in 2016 – Wisconsin (Trump +0.7), Michigan (Trump +0.3) and Pennsylvania (Trump +0.7) – and compare the work, then and now, of three influential outlets: FiveThirtyEight, an elections forecaster; Real Clear Politics, a polling aggregator; and the New York Times’ Upshot, a forecaster-pollster-aggregator.
The Upshot produced an insightful product for 2020 that delivers a polling average – and then delivers the same average “if the polls were as wrong as they were in 2016”. The tool currently depicts Biden with a lead in Wisconsin of 10 points, or 4 points if the polls were equally wrong; in Michigan of 8 points, or 4 points; and in Pennsylvania of 6 points, or 1 point.
The upshot: even if the polls were as wrong as they were in 2016 – which was very wrong indeed – Biden still would look to be ahead in the three key states that Trump won that year.
FiveThirtyEight projects vote share – meaning the margin between the candidates on election day. In each of the three states, the site’s projections are significantly better for Biden than they were for Clinton. In Wisconsin the number has moved from 5.3 points four years ago to 8 points, in Michigan from 4.2 points to 8.1 points, and in Pennsylvania from 3.7 points to 5.1 points.
Real Clear Politics averages polling results. Here, too, the estimated sizes of the Democratic candidate’s leads have changed since 2016, in Wisconsin from 6.5 points to 6.4 points; in Michigan from 3.4 points to 8.2 points; and in Pennsylvania from 1.9 points to 3.5 points.
The Wisconsin number, in which Biden’s lead in the polling averages is depicted as a fraction smaller than what we read about Clinton, is one of the aforementioned caveats – exceptions in the data to the narrative that Biden’s lead is significantly larger than Clinton’s across the board.
Such exceptions point up the fact that Trump continues to have a path to victory, reliant on an extraordinary turnout by his base of voters.
A woman about to join a car caravan supporting Donald Trump in Easton, Pennsylvania. Trump appears to have been losing ground among white women. Photograph: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters
But even that base appears to be shrinking, among seniors, white women without a college degree and white people overall. One of Trump’s rare areas of growth appears to be with Black and Latino voters, especially men.
Trump also could have a path to victory that in effect bypasses the numbers, in the potential chaos of a unique election featuring an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, a lurking public health threat, a potential blizzard of lawsuits and undefined security concerns.
No recent election in the United States has featured such a destabilizing force as a president sowing false accusations of voter fraud, calling for the results to be declared before all the votes are counted and encouraging supporters to make a show of force at polling sites, as Trump has.
But US elections are decentralized affairs in which local officials methodically count and report batches of votes in thousands of jurisdictions, meaning that the voters will be heard – even though some cities expect to take days to count their mail-in ballots.
As many as 150 million might vote for either Biden or Trump, and at least half that many have voted already. The election does not look close in the polls. Before long we’ll know how the polls look through the lens of the results.


theguardian--2020-10-29--Fox News's Tucker Carlson mocked for 'lost in mail' Biden documents claim

The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been mocked for his attempt to explain why he could not produce documents he had promised relating to Joe Biden , implying some kind of conspiracy .
On Thursday United Parcel Service ( UPS ) confirmed that it had indeed lost , and then found , the package in question .
Carlson said the only copy of the papers , which he alleged added to claims about Biden ’ s son Hunter , had been lost .
In a segment delivered to camera , Carlson said : He went on to say of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not name : UPS subsequently issued a statement confirming some of the details .
It told the Daily Beast : “ After an extensive search , we have found the contents of the package and are arranging for its return .
UPS will always focus first on our customers , and will never stop working to solve issues and make things right.
” Glenn Zaccara , UPS ’ s corporate media relations director , confirmed to Business Insider that “ the package was reported with missing contents as it moved within our network @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into this matter and regrets that the package was damaged .
The integrity of our network and the security of our customers ’ goods are of utmost importance .
We will remain in frequent , direct contact with Fox News as we learn more through our investigation.
” It remains to be seen what the documents will contain .
Carlson ’ s show has been one of the main conduits of conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden , attempting to expand the narrative about his dealings in Ukraine and China and castigating other media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims made recently in the New York Post .
Carlson ’ s story of the lost documents cut little ice on social media on Wednesday night , before the package carrier ’ s statement :

The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been mocked for his attempt to explain why he could not produce documents he had promised relating to Joe Biden, implying some kind of conspiracy.
On Thursday United Parcel Service (UPS) confirmed that it had indeed lost, and then found, the package in question.
Carlson said the only copy of the papers, which he alleged added to claims about Biden’s son Hunter, had been lost. In a segment delivered to camera, Carlson said:
On Monday we received from a source a collection of confidential documents related to the Biden family. We believe those documents are authentic, they’re real, and they’re damning … We texted a producer in New York and we asked him to send those documents to us in LA … He shipped those documents overnight to California with a large national carrier brand … But the Biden documents never arrived in Los Angeles. Tuesday morning we received word from the shipping company that our package had been opened and the contents were missing. The documents had disappeared.
Damning Hunter Biden documents suddenly vanish pic.twitter.com/B2qsajZlID — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 29, 2020
He went on to say of the delivery company, which he did not name:
They searched the plane and the trucks that carried it, they went through the office in New York where our producer dropped that package off, they combed their entire cavernous sorting facility. They used pictures of what we had sent so that searchers would know what to look for. They went far and beyond. But they found nothing, those documents have vanished. As of tonight, the company has no idea – and no working theory even – about what happened to this trove of materials, documents that are directly relevant to the presidential campaign.
UPS subsequently issued a statement confirming some of the details. It told the Daily Beast: “After an extensive search, we have found the contents of the package and are arranging for its return. UPS will always focus first on our customers, and will never stop working to solve issues and make things right.”
Glenn Zaccara, UPS’s corporate media relations director, confirmed to Business Insider that “the package was reported with missing contents as it moved within our network. UPS is conducting an urgent investigation into this matter and regrets that the package was damaged. The integrity of our network and the security of our customers’ goods are of utmost importance. We will remain in frequent, direct contact with Fox News as we learn more through our investigation.”
It remains to be seen what the documents will contain. Carlson’s show has been one of the main conduits of conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden, attempting to expand the narrative about his dealings in Ukraine and China and castigating other media outlets for not paying enough attention to claims made recently in the New York Post.
Carlson’s story of the lost documents cut little ice on social media on Wednesday night, before the package carrier’s statement:
BREAKING: Documents Tucker Carlson never actually had that would allegedly blow up the election were so important that they were sent via DHL, and now can’t be found despite copiers, iPhone cameras and security cameras. 😂😂😂 https://t.co/9yKkDAUh2v — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 29, 2020
did you check underneath Trump’s healthcare plan https://t.co/Ec9PBvdBRu — Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) October 29, 2020


theguardian--2020-10-29--Majority of Christians wouldn’t back Trump | Letters

While agreeing wholeheartedly with your editorial ( It ’ s time to dump Donald Trump .
America ’ s only hope is Joe Biden , 27 October ) , your suggestion that “ white Christian America ” is a unified block vote for the Republicans gave a seriously misleading impression .
In my 50 years of observing US churches , I would guess a majority of Methodists , Episcopalians , Presbyterians , Congregationalists and black churches – and even many Catholics and Baptists – would never support Trump .
The least you could say in terms of accuracy is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or write “ evangelical Christian ” , or even more accurately “ self-styled Christian ” , as much of what they say and do has very little to do with the teachings of Jesus .
Rev David Haslam Evesham , Worcestershire • Regarding your searing editorial , why not come off the fence and tell us what you really think ?
Seriously , it summarises , with admirable strength and clarity , the implications of the choice facing Americans next Tuesday , as well as the potential impact of that choice on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your international reach to arrange for the text to be displayed on rolling electronic billboards outside every polling station in the US , to remind queueing voters of the significance of the choice they are about to make ?
Phil Murray Linlithgow , West Lothian

While agreeing wholeheartedly with your editorial (It’s time to dump Donald Trump. America’s only hope is Joe Biden, 27 October), your suggestion that “white Christian America” is a unified block vote for the Republicans gave a seriously misleading impression. In my 50 years of observing US churches, I would guess a majority of Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and black churches – and even many Catholics and Baptists – would never support Trump.
The least you could say in terms of accuracy is to use inverted commas around “Christian”, or write “evangelical Christian”, or even more accurately “self-styled Christian”, as much of what they say and do has very little to do with the teachings of Jesus.
Rev David Haslam
Evesham, Worcestershire


theguardian--2020-10-30--Australians ask me what the mood is in the US. I say optimism, quickly smothered by dread | Chloe An

Australians ask me what the mood is in the US. I say optimism, quickly smothered by dread | Chloe Angyal

In Iowa , lawn signs keep vanishing .
They ’ ll be there in the front garden one night , red white and blue against the unnaturally lush suburban American green grass , advertising to drivers and dog walkers alike that the people inside want Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States .
“ Joe 2020.
” “ Unity over division , Biden-Harris 2020.
” “ Bye-Don.
” And the next morning , they ’ re gone .
One man got caught stealing a sign , and then got caught stealing the newspapers reporting what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been stolen and vandalised too ) .
Iowa , where the presidential primaries began with the shambolic caucuses in February , has become one of the most expensive electoral battlegrounds in the nation .
In 2016 , the state went for Trump by a massive 10 points after voting for Obama by two in 2012 ; the 12-point swing was the largest of any state in the nation .
Now , the swing state is living up to that label : FiveThirtyEight has Biden slightly ahead .
But it ’ s not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : the incumbent Republican senator Joni Ernst is neck-and-neck with her Democratic challenger , Theresa Greenfield , who has raked in a staggering amount of money – $ 28.7m in the third quarter of this year alone – to try to flip one of Iowa ’ s two red Senate seats to blue .
This is my fourth presidential election in the US , but my first in Iowa .
I grew up in Australia , and moved to this state two years ago after living in New York City for a decade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ran for office here .
The vanishing lawn signs , of course , are not the only dirty trick we ’ ve seen this year : Republicans have done everything in their power to make voting harder for people who likely won ’ t vote for them , from closing ballot drop locations to reimposing felon disenfranchisement to knee-capping the postal service .
I voted early and in person , waiting for half an hour in a socially distanced line at the local library .
That ’ s nothing compared with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but still a tax in the form of time , and in the middle of a pandemic in which Iowa is faring absolutely terribly , a risk voters shouldn ’ t have to take to get their ballot counted .
By now it has become a cliche to compare America ’ s voting system – a state-by-state patchwork of time-consuming and easily-screwed up registration procedures , followed by deliberately limited in-person voting options – to Australia ’ s .
Similarly , it has become a threadbare exercise in horror to compare how the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Australia has .
When I returned home to see my family in July , I was required to spend two weeks in a hotel room in Sydney and was regularly tested for coronavirus during my quarantine .
Six weeks later , when I flew back to Iowa , there was nothing to stop me from driving from the airport to my local supermarket , mask-free , and breathing all over my fellow Iowans .
To date , more than 120,000 people in Iowa have contracted coronavirus , and 1,693 of them have died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Republican governor never issued a stay-at-home order and has pushed the state to a full re-opening even as case numbers continue to rise , is 3.1 million .
Australia , with its population of 25 million , has seen 27,569 cases to date , 907 of them fatal .
Cliches or no , it is hard to avoid making these comparisons as election day hurtles towards us .
Because they are not simply thought experiments , they ’ re questions about life and death , and about who and what government is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like if it invested in the infrastructure of a truly representative democracy , as Australia has ?
Would the officials elected under such a system have taken the threat of the pandemic seriously , rather than allowing partisanship to warp their understanding of not just science but of what sacrifices we owe to each other ?
Just as it was hard to explain to Americans how stringent Australia ’ s policies for returnees were , it has been hard to explain to Australians what the mood is here as the election approaches .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican party – four years of obscene policies meant to harm the most vulnerable , four years of testing and in some cases breaking the institutional guard rails of American democracy – and eight months of coronavirus , the mood is sheer anxiety .
The mood is utter exhaustion .
The mood is optimism quickly smothered by fear and dread .
This time in 2016 , the polls predicted a Trump loss , but voter suppression and Russian interference kept just enough people from voting in crucial states to swing the election Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for me and many of my fellow journalists , is disassociation and numbness , coping mechanisms we learned a long time ago are essential for doing the work of covering the horrors and incompetencies of this administration .
The mood is anticipation of relief , mingled with the knowledge that relief might not come , that it all might go wrong , and that the election , like our lawn signs , might once again be stolen from us .
• Chloe Angyal is a contributing editor at marieclaire.com and the author of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet From Itself .
She is from Sydney and lives in the Iowa City area

In Iowa, lawn signs keep vanishing. They’ll be there in the front garden one night, red white and blue against the unnaturally lush suburban American green grass, advertising to drivers and dog walkers alike that the people inside want Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States. “Joe 2020.” “Unity over division, Biden-Harris 2020.” “Bye-Don.” And the next morning, they’re gone. One man got caught stealing a sign, and then got caught stealing the newspapers reporting what he’d done. (Trump signs have been stolen and vandalised too).
Iowa, where the presidential primaries began with the shambolic caucuses in February, has become one of the most expensive electoral battlegrounds in the nation. In 2016, the state went for Trump by a massive 10 points after voting for Obama by two in 2012; the 12-point swing was the largest of any state in the nation. Now, the swing state is living up to that label: FiveThirtyEight has Biden slightly ahead. But it’s not only the presidential race on the line: the incumbent Republican senator Joni Ernst is neck-and-neck with her Democratic challenger, Theresa Greenfield, who has raked in a staggering amount of money – $28.7m in the third quarter of this year alone – to try to flip one of Iowa’s two red Senate seats to blue.
This is my fourth presidential election in the US, but my first in Iowa. I grew up in Australia, and moved to this state two years ago after living in New York City for a decade, because my partner, an Iowan, ran for office here.
The vanishing lawn signs, of course, are not the only dirty trick we’ve seen this year: Republicans have done everything in their power to make voting harder for people who likely won’t vote for them, from closing ballot drop locations to reimposing felon disenfranchisement to knee-capping the postal service.
I voted early and in person, waiting for half an hour in a socially distanced line at the local library. That’s nothing compared with the hours-long wait other voters have endured, but still a tax in the form of time, and in the middle of a pandemic in which Iowa is faring absolutely terribly, a risk voters shouldn’t have to take to get their ballot counted.
By now it has become a cliche to compare America’s voting system – a state-by-state patchwork of time-consuming and easily-screwed up registration procedures, followed by deliberately limited in-person voting options – to Australia’s. Similarly, it has become a threadbare exercise in horror to compare how the US has responded to coronavirus with how Australia has. When I returned home to see my family in July, I was required to spend two weeks in a hotel room in Sydney and was regularly tested for coronavirus during my quarantine. Six weeks later, when I flew back to Iowa, there was nothing to stop me from driving from the airport to my local supermarket, mask-free, and breathing all over my fellow Iowans.
To date, more than 120,000 people in Iowa have contracted coronavirus, and 1,693 of them have died. The population of Iowa, where a Republican governor never issued a stay-at-home order and has pushed the state to a full re-opening even as case numbers continue to rise, is 3.1 million. Australia, with its population of 25 million, has seen 27,569 cases to date, 907 of them fatal.
Cliches or no, it is hard to avoid making these comparisons as election day hurtles towards us. Because they are not simply thought experiments, they’re questions about life and death, and about who and what government is for. What would this country look like if it invested in the infrastructure of a truly representative democracy, as Australia has? Would the officials elected under such a system have taken the threat of the pandemic seriously, rather than allowing partisanship to warp their understanding of not just science but of what sacrifices we owe to each other?
Just as it was hard to explain to Americans how stringent Australia’s policies for returnees were, it has been hard to explain to Australians what the mood is here as the election approaches. After four years under Trump’s Republican party – four years of obscene policies meant to harm the most vulnerable, four years of testing and in some cases breaking the institutional guard rails of American democracy – and eight months of coronavirus, the mood is sheer anxiety. The mood is utter exhaustion.
The mood is optimism quickly smothered by fear and dread. This time in 2016, the polls predicted a Trump loss, but voter suppression and Russian interference kept just enough people from voting in crucial states to swing the election Trump’s way.
The mood, for me and many of my fellow journalists, is disassociation and numbness, coping mechanisms we learned a long time ago are essential for doing the work of covering the horrors and incompetencies of this administration.
The mood is anticipation of relief, mingled with the knowledge that relief might not come, that it all might go wrong, and that the election, like our lawn signs, might once again be stolen from us.


theguardian--2020-10-29--‘Turning pain into purpose’: why the Covid crisis is driving Arizonans to the polls

When Kristin Urquiza drafted an obituary for her father , Mark Urquiza , she didn ’ t imagine it would be all that controversial or notable .
“ I was just being honest , ” she said , when she wrote that her dad ’ s death from Covid-19 was “ due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership , refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis , and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk ” .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republic – were shared , retweeted , emailed and relayed across the country .
Daughters , sons , parents , grandparents , friends mourning loved ones flooded her inbox .
Her father was a Trump supporter who had trusted the president , and believed it would be safe to go to a karaoke bar after Arizona ’ s stay-at-home order was lifted in May .
Now , Urquiza has returned to Phoenix , the city where he lived and she grew up , to campaign for Trump ’ s opponent – and get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve been turning my pain into purpose , ” she told the Guardian .
“ This is our chance to collectively come together and demand change.
” The coronavirus crisis , which has dominated the election cycle , looms especially large over Arizona .
The virus has killed more than 227,000 people in the US , including nearly 6,000 Arizonans , and forced hundreds of thousands more to file for unemployment .
It has taken a disproportionate toll on Latino , Black and Native American populations .
Maricopa county was especially hard hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the US .
With election day less than a week away , a traumatized electorate is weighing the failures of Republican leaders to control the pandemic in Arizona , and across the country .
‘ People don ’ t have work , and they don ’ t have healthcare ’ At the peak of the pandemic this summer , Latino residents in Phoenix – who make up 40 % of the city ’ s population – were nearly twice as likely to contract the virus as white residents .
Latino , Native @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been disproportionately dying of the virus , they have also been bearing the brunt of the pandemic ’ s economic fallout .
Imelda Quiroz Beltran , a canvasser with the non-profit Mi Familia Vota who has been going door to door in Phoenix ’ s Latino neighborhoods in an effort to get out the vote , said she often ends up helping people with much more than just voter registration issues .
“ It ’ s very hard – heartbreaking , ” she said .
“ People don ’ t have work , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Beltran herself caught the virus in the early summer , as did most of her immediate and extended family .
“ We had insurance , we were lucky , ” she said .
“ But so many people I hear from in the community – they are afraid to go to the doctor even if they have Covid , because of the bills.
” Local Latino leaders said health officials botched efforts to improve access to diagnostic tests in Phoenix ’ s hardest-hit neighborhoods .
In mid-July , the municipality set up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Maryvale neighborhood – where Mark Urquiza lived – and at a desert park south of the city .
But after a week and a half , three quarters of the 60,000 test kits remained unused .
In a county where the local sheriff has been working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( Ice ) , allowing raids and deportations to carry on amid the pandemic , people were unnerved by uniformed police and national guard , requests for ID , said Emma Viera , the executive director of the Phoenix-based non-profit Unlimited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Independence Day fair , where Unlimited Potential was offering blood pressure checks and distributing fliers with healthy recipe ideas , Viera said the year has dumped crisis upon crisis on Phoenix ’ s most vulnerable .
“ We were offering small amounts of cash assistance to families who didn ’ t qualify for federal aid , ” she recounted .
“ And as soon as I finished writing the last check , a woman came to my office crying that she would have to put her two children up for adoption .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The trauma is unfathomable , said José Martínez , 50 – who lost his niece Xiomara Martínez in July .
She was like a daughter to him , a sibling and mentor to his own five children .
“ We don ’ t have a word for a parent who loses their child , ” he said , in Spanish .
If you lose a spouse you ’ re a widower , if you lose your parent you are an orphan .
But what was he ?
“ Not having a word makes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
Xiomara was only 37 , “ and life for her had not been easy ” , he said .
She was a trans woman , who came to the US in 1998 without documents .
“ In Mexico , she suffered because people did not understand her identity , ” Martínez said .
She had health complications as well – she suffered kidney failure in her 20s that left her dependent on dialysis .
In June , as the number of coronavirus cases in Phoenix swelled , Xiomara was hospitalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long after , she found out she had Covid-19 .
She called , pleading to come home .
“ She said , ‘ I don ’ t want to die here , come get me from the hospital , ’ ” Martínez said .
“ And I couldn ’ t bring her home .
I was crying , that I couldn ’ t help her , that I couldn ’ t bring her home.
” She died alone in the hospital .
Martínez said the family , her friends , the 14 little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to health – are all still stricken with grief .
“ This was the responsibility of the authorities .
They didn ’ t do what they needed to do to control the pandemic.
” Martínez ’ s 19 year old son is voting for the first time this year .
“ I am anxious .
But I am also hopeful , ” Martínez said .
“ Millions of people have already voted – and that ’ s a demonstration that they want change.
” ‘ When Covid hit , it really changed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Arizona had emerged as a coronavirus hotspot , counting more cases per capita than the hardest-hit European nations .
Maricopa county was reporting 2,000 to 3,000 cases a day , “ eclipsing the New York City boroughs even on their worst days ” , according to epidemiologists at the Children ’ s Hospital of Philadelphia .
Lines at drive-thru testing sites were at times 1,000 cars deep .
Hospitals were overwhelmed , and so were funeral homes and morgues .
The county ordered industrial coolers to keep the dead .
A month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – under pressure from the president and his anti-mask voter base , had announced plans to reopen the state .
At that point , Arizona did not meet the White House ’ s own criteria for reopening , but Trump had nonetheless cheered on anti-lockdown protests across the country .
Ducey banned mayors from imposing stricter coronavirus restrictions and mandating masks , before relenting under pressure from the medical community .
Days after Phoenix ’ s Democratic mayor enacted a mask ordinance , Trump visited the city , drawing thousands of maskless supporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ megachurch .
“ It ’ s going away , ” he told the crowd .
Exactly a week later , on 30 June , Urquiza ’ s father died .
In the weeks and months since , as Urquiza spoke to her relatives – some liberal , some conservative – “ everybody , everybody said the same thing ” , she said .
“ They said he was robbed , that we were robbed.
” A month after local jurisdictions enacted safety measures , the number of Covid-19 cases across the state dropped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains the third leading cause of death in the state , with outbreaks at schools and universities – which have slowly reopened this autumn driving a new wave of infections .
Ducey recently defended his handling of the crisis in response to criticism from Biden .
“ I prohibited cities from implementing onerous shutdowns on local businesses and citizens as some local politicians threatened to bring our entire economy to a complete halt , ” he wrote on Twitter .
“ It paid off.
” His constituents may not agree .
Throughout the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 and 70 % of Arizonans disapproved of Ducey ’ s response to the pandemic .
Polls by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights found that Ducey ’ s approval rating overall fell from about 50 % to 35 % in July , rising slightly to 41 % in the late summer , as infection rates declined .
“ I would watch our governor doing his press conferences , and I would just get angry , ” said Bill Whitmire , 56 , a Phoenician who survived Covid-19 .
He ’ s been struggling with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus – which his doctor said could be long-term , lingering symptoms of the disease .
After his wife contracted the virus , “ I felt I had to do something , ” he said .
She survived , but Whitmire started organizing safe , socially distanced events for locals who were not as lucky as him , for those who had lost loved ones – so they could mourn and vent .
The ongoing crisis and mounting death toll weigh on him , he said .
“ Sometimes I feel overloaded.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ rated immigration , education and healthcare as top priorities , according to a survey conducted by the firm .
By September , as officials grappled with how to safely reopen schools , education was their top priority , followed by healthcare and the economy .
“ When Covid hit , it really changed the concerns of voters to the point where immigration is no longer in the top three , ” said Mike Noble , the firm ’ s chief researcher .
Noble said this shift in priorities puts Republicans at a disadvantage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important issues this election – education and healthcare – voters in Arizona trust Democrats .
As in other swing states , seniors , traditionally a bedrock Republican constituency , are abandoning Trump over his handling of the crisis , as are suburban voters , many of whom are juggling work and childcare amid school closures .
A recent Monmouth poll in Arizona showed Biden leading Trump , 52 % to 46 % among voters over 65 .
These voters said they trusted Biden over Trump to manage the pandemic by a nearly 20-point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic , even after he contracted Covid-19 himself , has been tough , said Linda Brown , 62 .
Her father died after the virus hit his Phoenix-area nursing home in July .
“ The notion that these millions of families who have been touched by Covid would ever consider it trivial is absurd , ” Brown said .
One of Brown ’ s sisters – who has asthma – was hospitalized with the virus right after her dad died .
“ I just bawled like I haven ’ t bawled since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already voted – for Biden .
“ If my father didn ’ t have dementia , if he was aware , ” she said , “ he would have been pissed off that this mishandling is what killed him.
” Democrats up and down the ballot have welcomed voters disillusioned by Republican leaders ’ fumbled response .
In Arizona ’ s sixth district – which encompasses wealthy Phoenix suburbs that have remained reliably Republican for decades , former emergency physician Hiral Tipereni has been locked in an unexpectedly tight race with the incumbent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scrambling to hang on to a seat he easily won five times over .
Republicans have “ become tone deaf to the cries of these families ” , Tipereni said .
That she is such a serious contender in the race this year is a testament to how large the pandemic looms over this year ’ s election .
Two years ago , when Tipereni ran unsuccessfully for Congress in a neighboring district , her opponent baselessly attacked her as a “ fake doctor ” .
This year , Tipereni ’ s medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My skill set is the same as I had last time , ” she said .
“ But I think people have now seen the very real consequences of having leaders who do not lead with science .
”

Maanvi Singh and Lauren Gambino in Phoenix

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When Kristin Urquiza drafted an obituary for her father, Mark Urquiza, she didn’t imagine it would be all that controversial or notable.
“I was just being honest,” she said, when she wrote that her dad’s death from Covid-19 was “due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk”.
Her words – published by the Arizona Republic – were shared, retweeted, emailed and relayed across the country. Daughters, sons, parents, grandparents, friends mourning loved ones flooded her inbox.
Her father was a Trump supporter who had trusted the president, and believed it would be safe to go to a karaoke bar after Arizona’s stay-at-home order was lifted in May. Now, Urquiza has returned to Phoenix, the city where he lived and she grew up, to campaign for Trump’s opponent – and get out the vote. “I’ve been turning my pain into purpose,” she told the Guardian. “This is our chance to collectively come together and demand change.”
The coronavirus crisis, which has dominated the election cycle, looms especially large over Arizona. The virus has killed more than 227,000 people in the US, including nearly 6,000 Arizonans, and forced hundreds of thousands more to file for unemployment. It has taken a disproportionate toll on Latino, Black and Native American populations.
Maricopa county was especially hard hit, and remains the fifth worst affected in the US. With election day less than a week away, a traumatized electorate is weighing the failures of Republican leaders to control the pandemic in Arizona, and across the country.
A worker at a Covid-19 testing center at Phoenix College on 15 October. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
‘People don’t have work, and they don’t have healthcare’
At the peak of the pandemic this summer, Latino residents in Phoenix – who make up 40% of the city’s population – were nearly twice as likely to contract the virus as white residents. Latino, Native American and Black residents have not only been disproportionately dying of the virus, they have also been bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic fallout.
Imelda Quiroz Beltran, a canvasser with the non-profit Mi Familia Vota who has been going door to door in Phoenix’s Latino neighborhoods in an effort to get out the vote, said she often ends up helping people with much more than just voter registration issues. “It’s very hard – heartbreaking,” she said. “People don’t have work, and they don’t have healthcare.”
Beltran herself caught the virus in the early summer, as did most of her immediate and extended family. “We had insurance, we were lucky,” she said. “But so many people I hear from in the community – they are afraid to go to the doctor even if they have Covid, because of the bills.”
‘We had insurance, we were lucky,’ said Imelda Quiroz Beltran. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
Local Latino leaders said health officials botched efforts to improve access to diagnostic tests in Phoenix’s hardest-hit neighborhoods. In mid-July, the municipality set up free testing sites in the city’s Maryvale neighborhood – where Mark Urquiza lived – and at a desert park south of the city. But after a week and a half, three quarters of the 60,000 test kits remained unused.
In a county where the local sheriff has been working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), allowing raids and deportations to carry on amid the pandemic, people were unnerved by uniformed police and national guard, requests for ID, said Emma Viera, the executive director of the Phoenix-based non-profit Unlimited Potential.
At a socially distanced Mexican Independence Day fair, where Unlimited Potential was offering blood pressure checks and distributing fliers with healthy recipe ideas, Viera said the year has dumped crisis upon crisis on Phoenix’s most vulnerable. “We were offering small amounts of cash assistance to families who didn’t qualify for federal aid,” she recounted. “And as soon as I finished writing the last check, a woman came to my office crying that she would have to put her two children up for adoption. She had no money to feed them.”
The trauma is unfathomable, said José Martínez, 50 – who lost his niece Xiomara Martínez in July. She was like a daughter to him, a sibling and mentor to his own five children. “We don’t have a word for a parent who loses their child,” he said, in Spanish. If you lose a spouse you’re a widower, if you lose your parent you are an orphan. But what was he? “Not having a word makes the suffering and pain harder,” he said.
Millions of people have already voted – and that’s a demonstration that they want change José Martínez
Xiomara was only 37, “and life for her had not been easy”, he said. She was a trans woman, who came to the US in 1998 without documents. “In Mexico, she suffered because people did not understand her identity,” Martínez said. She had health complications as well – she suffered kidney failure in her 20s that left her dependent on dialysis. In June, as the number of coronavirus cases in Phoenix swelled, Xiomara was hospitalized due to a blood clot. Not long after, she found out she had Covid-19.
She called, pleading to come home. “She said, ‘I don’t want to die here, come get me from the hospital,’” Martínez said. “And I couldn’t bring her home. I was crying, that I couldn’t help her, that I couldn’t bring her home.” She died alone in the hospital.
Martínez said the family, her friends, the 14 little stray dogs Xiomara had adopted and nursed back to health – are all still stricken with grief. “This was the responsibility of the authorities. They didn’t do what they needed to do to control the pandemic.”
Martínez’s 19 year old son is voting for the first time this year. “I am anxious. But I am also hopeful,” Martínez said. “Millions of people have already voted – and that’s a demonstration that they want change.”
Xiomara Martínez, who died from Covid-19 in July at 37, shown here with her mother, Silvia Martínez. Photograph: Courtesy of Jose Martinez
‘When Covid hit, it really changed the concerns of voters’
By June, Arizona had emerged as a coronavirus hotspot, counting more cases per capita than the hardest-hit European nations. Maricopa county was reporting 2,000 to 3,000 cases a day, “eclipsing the New York City boroughs even on their worst days”, according to epidemiologists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Lines at drive-thru testing sites were at times 1,000 cars deep. Hospitals were overwhelmed, and so were funeral homes and morgues. The county ordered industrial coolers to keep the dead.
A month earlier, the governor, Doug Ducey – under pressure from the president and his anti-mask voter base, had announced plans to reopen the state. At that point, Arizona did not meet the White House’s own criteria for reopening, but Trump had nonetheless cheered on anti-lockdown protests across the country.
Ducey banned mayors from imposing stricter coronavirus restrictions and mandating masks, before relenting under pressure from the medical community. Days after Phoenix’s Democratic mayor enacted a mask ordinance, Trump visited the city, drawing thousands of maskless supporters to an indoor rally at a local megachurch. “It’s going away,” he told the crowd.
Exactly a week later, on 30 June, Urquiza’s father died.
In the weeks and months since, as Urquiza spoke to her relatives – some liberal, some conservative – “everybody, everybody said the same thing”, she said. “They said he was robbed, that we were robbed.”
A month after local jurisdictions enacted safety measures, the number of Covid-19 cases across the state dropped by 75%. Still, Covid-19 remains the third leading cause of death in the state, with outbreaks at schools and universities – which have slowly reopened this autumn driving a new wave of infections.
Ducey recently defended his handling of the crisis in response to criticism from Biden. “I prohibited cities from implementing onerous shutdowns on local businesses and citizens as some local politicians threatened to bring our entire economy to a complete halt,” he wrote on Twitter. “It paid off.”
His constituents may not agree. Throughout the summer, multiple polls found that between 60 and 70% of Arizonans disapproved of Ducey’s response to the pandemic. Polls by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights found that Ducey’s approval rating overall fell from about 50% to 35% in July, rising slightly to 41% in the late summer, as infection rates declined.
Ann, and Bill Whitmire at their home in Phoenix, Arizona, on 13 October. They each fell ill and recovered from Covid-19 earlier this year in July and January. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
“I would watch our governor doing his press conferences, and I would just get angry,” said Bill Whitmire, 56, a Phoenician who survived Covid-19. He’s been struggling with periods of confusion and depression since overcoming the virus – which his doctor said could be long-term, lingering symptoms of the disease. After his wife contracted the virus, “I felt I had to do something,” he said. She survived, but Whitmire started organizing safe, socially distanced events for locals who were not as lucky as him, for those who had lost loved ones – so they could mourn and vent.
The ongoing crisis and mounting death toll weigh on him, he said. “Sometimes I feel overloaded.”
Late last year, Arizona voters rated immigration, education and healthcare as top priorities, according to a survey conducted by the firm. By September, as officials grappled with how to safely reopen schools, education was their top priority, followed by healthcare and the economy.
“When Covid hit, it really changed the concerns of voters to the point where immigration is no longer in the top three,” said Mike Noble, the firm’s chief researcher. Noble said this shift in priorities puts Republicans at a disadvantage: on two of the three most important issues this election – education and healthcare – voters in Arizona trust Democrats.
As in other swing states, seniors, traditionally a bedrock Republican constituency, are abandoning Trump over his handling of the crisis, as are suburban voters, many of whom are juggling work and childcare amid school closures.
A vending machine sells hand sanitizer, gloves and masks at the Cronkite School of Mass Communication at the downtown Phoenix campus of Arizona State University. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
A recent Monmouth poll in Arizona showed Biden leading Trump, 52% to 46% among voters over 65. These voters said they trusted Biden over Trump to manage the pandemic by a nearly 20-point margin.
Hearing Trump continue to minimize the pandemic, even after he contracted Covid-19 himself, has been tough, said Linda Brown, 62. Her father died after the virus hit his Phoenix-area nursing home in July. “The notion that these millions of families who have been touched by Covid would ever consider it trivial is absurd,” Brown said. One of Brown’s sisters – who has asthma – was hospitalized with the virus right after her dad died. “I just bawled like I haven’t bawled since I was a child.”
She has already voted – for Biden. “If my father didn’t have dementia, if he was aware,” she said, “he would have been pissed off that this mishandling is what killed him.”
Democrats up and down the ballot have welcomed voters disillusioned by Republican leaders’ fumbled response. In Arizona’s sixth district – which encompasses wealthy Phoenix suburbs that have remained reliably Republican for decades, former emergency physician Hiral Tipereni has been locked in an unexpectedly tight race with the incumbent Republican David Schweikert, who has been scrambling to hang on to a seat he easily won five times over.
Republicans have “become tone deaf to the cries of these families”, Tipereni said.
That she is such a serious contender in the race this year is a testament to how large the pandemic looms over this year’s election. Two years ago, when Tipereni ran unsuccessfully for Congress in a neighboring district, her opponent baselessly attacked her as a “fake doctor”.
This year, Tipereni’s medical background has been a boon. “My skill set is the same as I had last time,” she said. “But I think people have now seen the very real consequences of having leaders who do not lead with science.”