vox--2020-10-25--How bookstores are weathering the pandemic

The pandemic arrived early for Emily Powell , owner of Powell ’ s Books in Portland , Oregon .
The state had one of the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US in February .
As she watched more cases pop up across the country , “ I felt an increasing sense of panic and crisis , ” she said .
On March 15 , she abruptly closed her stores in the middle of the day .
She immediately shrank her staff from 500 to 60 who were “ just helping us turn the lights off and put out-of-office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she shifted her business entirely to online orders .
She ’ s since been able to bring back around 150 employees , and thanks to a flood of online sales , a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal Small Business Administration , and partial reopenings of her stores , she ’ s made it this far .
Twenty percent of independent bookstores across the country are in danger of closing Still , Powell ’ s and other independent bookstores across the country face an uncertain and undoubtedly difficult future : Government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is still low , and the virus is again threatening to bring everything to a screeching halt .
Independent bookstore owners dug deep into their wells of creativity and passion and found ways to transform their businesses to cope with Covid-19 .
But even so , according to the American Booksellers Association ( ABA ) , 35 member bookstores have closed during the pandemic , with roughly one store closing each week .
Twenty percent of independent bookstores across the country are in danger of closing , the ABA says .
Between mid-April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Foundation ( BINC ) distributed $ 2.7 million to store owners in need .
“ That equals the distribution that we had had in the previous eight years , ” said executive director Pamela French .
The individual grants it gives out have increased 443 percent over last year .
The level of need has subsided somewhat since the peak of the pandemic , but it ’ s remained consistently elevated , even with many stores now open .
A number of bookstores shut their doors voluntarily before any government lockdowns were imposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first places in our town to close down , ” said Suedee Hall-Elkins , manager of Dickson Street Bookshop in Fayetteville , Arkansas .
Her store ’ s aisles are very narrow , so they felt the need to close “ for morally responsible reasons.
” Closing off browsing meant a seismic shift in bookstore business models .
Kris Kleindienst ’ s shelves at Left Bank Books in St. Louis , Missouri , were fully stocked with newly released books in March .
“ All of a sudden , they just became décor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owners pivoted as quickly as they could .
“ These independent bookstore owners are just tenacious , ” French said .
Owners suddenly found themselves arranging curbside pickups , shipping thousands of online orders , and staging completely virtual events .
Many factors boosted sales just when stores needed them .
Customers flooded online ordering systems , many in the hope of helping their local stores , others simply desperate for something to read during lockdown .
Amazon started prioritizing essential goods over things like books , giving an edge to independent stores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Bank Square Books in Mystic , Connecticut , and Savoy Bookshop & Café in Westerly , Rhode Island , are about 10 times what they were each year for the past five .
Michael Fusco-Straub , co-owner of Books Are Magic in Brooklyn , New York , sold 50,000 books during his city ’ s lockdown .
Then the Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd took off , prompting another deluge of purchases as readers were eager to get their hands on books about race and racism .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ anti-racism orders , ” Kleindienst said .
The switch to online and curbside ordering saved bookstores from ruin .
But it wasn ’ t easy , nor was it enjoyable .
“ It started to feel like a fulfillment warehouse for widgets , ” said Steven Salardino , manager of Skylight Books in Los Angeles , California .
“ It really took a toll on us psychologically.
” What kept him going , he said , was getting notes in online orders saying thank you .
Philbrick took it upon herself to pick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drive them to customers ’ homes .
“ I was a UPS driver for a month or so , ” she said .
She would hang bags of books on their doors , ring the bell , and walk back to her car .
She even drove an hour and a half out of town to bring books to a couple who would leave her snack bags in thanks .
“ That was a pleasure , ” she said .
In many ways , online ordering is the antithesis of what independent bookstores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ space that thrived with that in-person , face-to-face conversation about ideas and literature , ” said Hilary Gustafson , owner of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor , Michigan .
Her store typically stages 300 events a year , and the in-store ones pack 50 people “ elbow to elbow , ” she said .
Now , she ’ s been entirely focused on online orders , which requires “ 10 times as much work for a sale of one book.
” Stores like Gustafson ’ s quickly moved their programming — author events @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online platforms .
But it ’ s a difficult and often money-losing way to do them .
Stores typically make money from free events when people buy books , often getting them autographed .
Online , it ’ s different .
“ Sales are down even though audience levels are , in some cases , up , ” Graham said .
Readers also now have a vast array of stores ’ events to choose from because they ’ re all online .
“ The competition has just become fierce , ” Philbrick said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faced in getting PPP loans , all of the stores I spoke to were able to secure loans , and the money was vital .
“ The thing that got us this far and avoided bankruptcy was the PPP money , ” said Bradley Graham , co-owner of Politics and Prose in Washington , DC .
Even so , it was gone within a couple of months .
Other money came from unexpected places .
Philbrick got $ 5,000 from Spanx , which was offering grants to women-owned businesses .
That , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sorts , when she realized that not only would she have a cushion to get through , but “ we ’ re all in this together trying to figure this out.
” Some customers even gave their local bookstores donations in the hope of keeping them alive .
Gustafson ’ s store launched a GoFundMe , which was a “ lifeline , ” she said .
She raised more there than she got in PPP money .
But at this point , most of the money has dried up .
“ Given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not realistic to think that bookstores or other retail businesses can , on their own , make a go of it , ” Graham said with a heavy sigh .
“ More federal assistance is needed so long as the pandemic persists.
” “ We want to survive , so it ’ s like , ‘ How do we make this work ?
’ ” Some stores are doing as well as they would otherwise expect thanks to loyal customers and a thirst for books as people stay closer to home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making the numbers work for everyone .
Vroman ’ s , which bills itself as the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California , has warned that without a significant increase in sales , its 126-year tenure will come to a close .
Powell ’ s has exhausted its PPP loan and isn ’ t making enough in sales to support the business .
Politics & Prose is still not breaking even , and the store will need to make enough in the next few months to have a cushion headed into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sustainable position to continue to operate in the red , ” Graham said .
Laughing , he added , “ You don ’ t need a degree in anything to understand that fact.
” A number of stores have opened their doors simply to remain as financially solvent as possible .
When we spoke , Gustafson was preparing to open with limited hours and days .
“ Our rent is still due and we still have payables , ” she said .
“ We want to survive , so it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this work ?
’ ” “ We face this tension between the need to welcome in more customers for the holiday shopping season in order to at least get back in the black , ” Graham said , “ while at the same time being very careful not to create a public health hazard.
” Public health has been at the forefront of the minds of owners who have reopened as fully as possible .
All stores have reduced their hours as well as their capacity .
Everyone has installed Plexiglas barriers at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their stores .
There ’ s crowd control not just to limit the number of shoppers but to ensure that masks are worn correctly .
Many stores have rearranged their layouts so customers don ’ t have to squeeze by each other in tight aisles .
Hall-Elkins went even further , installing UV lights and ionizing cleaners in all three of her HVAC units , putting fans around the store , and keeping the door open as much as possible to better ventilate .
She replaced her old carpets and installed touchless credit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in entirely new roles , worried not just about their business ’ s finances but the health of their employees , their customers , and their own families .
Hall-Elkins finds herself up late reading medical articles .
“ I ’ m in a heightened state of anxiety for sure , ” she said .
Laughing , she added , “ I feel responsible for everybody ’ s life , and that ’ s a really weird thing to feel as a manager of a bookstore.
” Some have kept their doors closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week of October , Kleindienst said she was planning to open that weekend by appointment and only after 6 pm .
“ Our staff really did not feel like they wanted people to be just walking in off the street and wandering around , ” she explained .
“ It just didn ’ t seem like it was worth risking our lives.
” She ’ s hoping that allowing a very select group of customers back in will be enough to keep the store afloat .
But , she added , “ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doors to walk-in traffic for quite a while.
” The holiday season will be crucial .
Nearly every bookstore owner mentioned how important the season is normally — and therefore what it will mean now .
Graham said the store typically makes anywhere from a quarter to a third of the whole year ’ s sales in December alone .
“ It ’ s an absolutely critical period.
” To help stores that need to see high sales without big crowds , the American Booksellers Association has begun a campaign urging consumers to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New December.
” Other things will have to change , too .
Normally , Salardino ’ s store offers gift-wrapping for a fee , and he ’ d have a long line of people waiting to have books wrapped .
That ’ s not possible now .
One book could make or break the future for many stores : The first volume of President Barack Obama ’ s memoir will be released November 17 .
Not only is it destined to be a bestseller — the publisher ordered a first printing of 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pricey , coming in at $ 45 .
“ I literally think that that book is going to save a lot of stores , ” Fusco-Straub said .
His store will be ordering a whole pallet .
The future , of course , remains completely uncertain .
It ’ s difficult just to plan ahead .
Philbrick noted she ’ s ordering paperback copies of hardcover books that she struggled to sell during the shutdown , which means the data she typically relies on to predict future sales are almost useless .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re all used to being able to forecast , ” Powell said .
But now , “ we can ’ t see beyond a 30-day time horizon.
” “ Books aren ’ t … groceries or rent .
How much will people be willing to come out to our stores ?
” Hall-Elkins worries that a virus spike or just cold weather will keep people home from holiday shopping .
Then there ’ s what could happen with the election or the economy .
The immediate pandemic-caused contraction appears to be turning into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t know how much folks will be able to shop , ” Powell noted .
“ Books aren ’ t ... groceries or rent .
How much will people be willing to come out to our stores ?
” Few owners were willing to contemplate what another complete shutdown would mean .
“ I don ’ t even know what we would do , ” Hall-Elkins said .
“ We would probably be in pretty big trouble.
” Losing an independent bookstore is a huge blow to a community .
“ These @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to discuss what ’ s going on in the world , to also have a safe haven and a safe place for exploring new ideas , ” French said .
Bookstores “ provide everything from sanctuary to just meditative spaces.
” And they help keep an economy humming , retaining money in the local community and generating jobs and tax revenue .
Still , independent bookstores have been through a lot , including competition from big chains and Amazon .
“ People have been predicting the end of indie bookstores since the Great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programs manager at BINC .
Even with a pandemic , 30 bookstores have opened this year so far , although that ’ s still a far cry from the 104 that opened in 2019 .
“ We ’ re a stalwart bunch , ” Philbrick said .
“ We ’ re just going to keep going .
We ’ re not dead.
” Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
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The pandemic arrived early for Emily Powell, owner of Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon. The state had one of the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US in February. As she watched more cases pop up across the country, “I felt an increasing sense of panic and crisis,” she said. On March 15, she abruptly closed her stores in the middle of the day. She immediately shrank her staff from 500 to 60 who were “just helping us turn the lights off and put out-of-office messages on the website.” Almost overnight, she shifted her business entirely to online orders.
She’s since been able to bring back around 150 employees, and thanks to a flood of online sales, a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal Small Business Administration, and partial reopenings of her stores, she’s made it this far.
Twenty percent of independent bookstores across the country are in danger of closing
Still, Powell’s and other independent bookstores across the country face an uncertain and undoubtedly difficult future: Government assistance has dried up, foot traffic is still low, and the virus is again threatening to bring everything to a screeching halt. Independent bookstore owners dug deep into their wells of creativity and passion and found ways to transform their businesses to cope with Covid-19. But even so, according to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), 35 member bookstores have closed during the pandemic, with roughly one store closing each week. Twenty percent of independent bookstores across the country are in danger of closing, the ABA says.
Between mid-April and June, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) distributed $2.7 million to store owners and employees in need. “That equals the distribution that we had had in the previous eight years,” said executive director Pamela French. The individual grants it gives out have increased 443 percent over last year. The level of need has subsided somewhat since the peak of the pandemic, but it’s remained consistently elevated, even with many stores now open.
A number of bookstores shut their doors voluntarily before any government lockdowns were imposed. “We were one of the first places in our town to close down,” said Suedee Hall-Elkins, manager of Dickson Street Bookshop in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her store’s aisles are very narrow, so they felt the need to close “for morally responsible reasons.”
Closing off browsing meant a seismic shift in bookstore business models. Kris Kleindienst’s shelves at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri, were fully stocked with newly released books in March. “All of a sudden, they just became décor,” she said.
Still, owners pivoted as quickly as they could. “These independent bookstore owners are just tenacious,” French said. Owners suddenly found themselves arranging curbside pickups, shipping thousands of online orders, and staging completely virtual events.
Many factors boosted sales just when stores needed them. Customers flooded online ordering systems, many in the hope of helping their local stores, others simply desperate for something to read during lockdown. Amazon started prioritizing essential goods over things like books, giving an edge to independent stores. Annie Philbrick’s online orders at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, and Savoy Bookshop & Café in Westerly, Rhode Island, are about 10 times what they were each year for the past five. Michael Fusco-Straub, co-owner of Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, New York, sold 50,000 books during his city’s lockdown.
Then the Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd took off, prompting another deluge of purchases as readers were eager to get their hands on books about race and racism. “The summer was mostly fulfilling ... anti-racism orders,” Kleindienst said.
The switch to online and curbside ordering saved bookstores from ruin. But it wasn’t easy, nor was it enjoyable. “It started to feel like a fulfillment warehouse for widgets,” said Steven Salardino, manager of Skylight Books in Los Angeles, California. “It really took a toll on us psychologically.” What kept him going, he said, was getting notes in online orders saying thank you.
Philbrick took it upon herself to pick up books from her two stores and drive them to customers’ homes. “I was a UPS driver for a month or so,” she said. She would hang bags of books on their doors, ring the bell, and walk back to her car. She even drove an hour and a half out of town to bring books to a couple who would leave her snack bags in thanks. “That was a pleasure,” she said.
In many ways, online ordering is the antithesis of what independent bookstores are. “We are a community space that thrived with that in-person, face-to-face conversation about ideas and literature,” said Hilary Gustafson, owner of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her store typically stages 300 events a year, and the in-store ones pack 50 people “elbow to elbow,” she said. Now, she’s been entirely focused on online orders, which requires “10 times as much work for a sale of one book.”
Stores like Gustafson’s quickly moved their programming — author events, book clubs, classes — to online platforms. But it’s a difficult and often money-losing way to do them. Stores typically make money from free events when people buy books, often getting them autographed. Online, it’s different. “Sales are down even though audience levels are, in some cases, up,” Graham said. Readers also now have a vast array of stores’ events to choose from because they’re all online. “The competition has just become fierce,” Philbrick said.
Despite the many hurdles small-business owners faced in getting PPP loans, all of the stores I spoke to were able to secure loans, and the money was vital. “The thing that got us this far and avoided bankruptcy was the PPP money,” said Bradley Graham, co-owner of Politics and Prose in Washington, DC. Even so, it was gone within a couple of months.
Other money came from unexpected places. Philbrick got $5,000 from Spanx, which was offering grants to women-owned businesses. That, she said, was a turning point of sorts, when she realized that not only would she have a cushion to get through, but “we’re all in this together trying to figure this out.”
Some customers even gave their local bookstores donations in the hope of keeping them alive. Gustafson’s store launched a GoFundMe, which was a “lifeline,” she said. She raised more there than she got in PPP money.
But at this point, most of the money has dried up. “Given the current level of economic activity, it’s not realistic to think that bookstores or other retail businesses can, on their own, make a go of it,” Graham said with a heavy sigh. “More federal assistance is needed so long as the pandemic persists.”
“We want to survive, so it’s like, ‘How do we make this work?’”
Some stores are doing as well as they would otherwise expect thanks to loyal customers and a thirst for books as people stay closer to home. But those factors aren’t making the numbers work for everyone.
Vroman’s, which bills itself as the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California, has warned that without a significant increase in sales, its 126-year tenure will come to a close. Powell’s has exhausted its PPP loan and isn’t making enough in sales to support the business. Politics & Prose is still not breaking even, and the store will need to make enough in the next few months to have a cushion headed into 2021. “It’s not a sustainable position to continue to operate in the red,” Graham said. Laughing, he added, “You don’t need a degree in anything to understand that fact.”
A number of stores have opened their doors simply to remain as financially solvent as possible. When we spoke, Gustafson was preparing to open with limited hours and days. “Our rent is still due and we still have payables,” she said. “We want to survive, so it’s like, ‘How do we make this work?’”
“We face this tension between the need to welcome in more customers for the holiday shopping season in order to at least get back in the black,” Graham said, “while at the same time being very careful not to create a public health hazard.”
Public health has been at the forefront of the minds of owners who have reopened as fully as possible. All stores have reduced their hours as well as their capacity. Everyone has installed Plexiglas barriers at cash registers and hand sanitizing stations throughout their stores. There’s crowd control not just to limit the number of shoppers but to ensure that masks are worn correctly. Many stores have rearranged their layouts so customers don’t have to squeeze by each other in tight aisles.
Hall-Elkins went even further, installing UV lights and ionizing cleaners in all three of her HVAC units, putting fans around the store, and keeping the door open as much as possible to better ventilate. She replaced her old carpets and installed touchless credit card systems.
Owners have found themselves in entirely new roles, worried not just about their business’s finances but the health of their employees, their customers, and their own families. Hall-Elkins finds herself up late reading medical articles. “I’m in a heightened state of anxiety for sure,” she said. Laughing, she added, “I feel responsible for everybody’s life, and that’s a really weird thing to feel as a manager of a bookstore.”
Some have kept their doors closed. When we spoke in the first week of October, Kleindienst said she was planning to open that weekend by appointment and only after 6 pm. “Our staff really did not feel like they wanted people to be just walking in off the street and wandering around,” she explained. “It just didn’t seem like it was worth risking our lives.” She’s hoping that allowing a very select group of customers back in will be enough to keep the store afloat. But, she added, “I don’t see us opening the doors to walk-in traffic for quite a while.”
The holiday season will be crucial. Nearly every bookstore owner mentioned how important the season is normally — and therefore what it will mean now. Graham said the store typically makes anywhere from a quarter to a third of the whole year’s sales in December alone. “It’s an absolutely critical period.”
To help stores that need to see high sales without big crowds, the American Booksellers Association has begun a campaign urging consumers to shop early called “October Is the New December.” Other things will have to change, too. Normally, Salardino’s store offers gift-wrapping for a fee, and he’d have a long line of people waiting to have books wrapped. That’s not possible now.
One book could make or break the future for many stores: The first volume of President Barack Obama’s memoir will be released November 17. Not only is it destined to be a bestseller — the publisher ordered a first printing of 3 million copies — but it’s pricey, coming in at $45. “I literally think that that book is going to save a lot of stores,” Fusco-Straub said. His store will be ordering a whole pallet.
The future, of course, remains completely uncertain. It’s difficult just to plan ahead. Philbrick noted she’s ordering paperback copies of hardcover books that she struggled to sell during the shutdown, which means the data she typically relies on to predict future sales are almost useless. “As a business person, we’re all used to being able to forecast,” Powell said. But now, “we can’t see beyond a 30-day time horizon.”
“Books aren’t … groceries or rent. How much will people be willing to come out to our stores?”
Hall-Elkins worries that a virus spike or just cold weather will keep people home from holiday shopping. Then there’s what could happen with the election or the economy. The immediate pandemic-caused contraction appears to be turning into a full-blown recession. “We don’t know how much folks will be able to shop,” Powell noted. “Books aren’t ... groceries or rent. How much will people be willing to come out to our stores?”
Few owners were willing to contemplate what another complete shutdown would mean. “I don’t even know what we would do,” Hall-Elkins said. “We would probably be in pretty big trouble.”
Losing an independent bookstore is a huge blow to a community. “These are places where folks can come together to discuss what’s going on in the world, to also have a safe haven and a safe place for exploring new ideas,” French said. Bookstores “provide everything from sanctuary to just meditative spaces.” And they help keep an economy humming, retaining money in the local community and generating jobs and tax revenue.
Still, independent bookstores have been through a lot, including competition from big chains and Amazon. “People have been predicting the end of indie bookstores since the Great Depression,” said Kate Weiss, programs manager at BINC. Even with a pandemic, 30 bookstores have opened this year so far, although that’s still a far cry from the 104 that opened in 2019.
“We’re a stalwart bunch,” Philbrick said. “We’re just going to keep going. We’re not dead.”


vox--2020-10-25--Biden looks very competitive in new Southern swing state polls

A set of new polls show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with a narrow lead — or a tie — with President Donald Trump in the Southern states of Florida , Georgia , North Carolina , and Texas , a potentially promising sign for Biden ’ s odds of winning the White House .
In this election cycle , political analysts consider Florida and North Carolina to be swing states — and Texas and Georgia to be possible swing states , as well .
Considering that Trump won all of them in 2016 — including outstripping Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the new polling speaks to the president ’ s vulnerabilities as Election Day swiftly approaches .
The latest CBS News Battleground Tracker polls show Biden leading Trump 50 percent to 48 percent among likely voters in Florida ; Biden over Trump in North Carolina 51 percent to 47 percent ; and Biden tied with Trump 49-49 in Georgia .
The results are close enough that Trump could regain his advantage ahead of November 3 , but it is striking to see Biden performing so well in states that Trump easily won before , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up big numbers in a region that has skewed Republican for decades .
In a broader average of recent polls tracked by FiveThirtyEight , as of October 25 , Biden leads in Florida by 2.4 percentage points , and in North Carolina by 2.6 percentage points , but is essentially tied in Georgia , where he has a scant half-percentage point lead .
Most worryingly for Trump , perhaps , is that Biden garners more trust from voters on the top tier issue of handling the coronavirus pandemic .
According to the CBS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 49 to 41 percent on the issue ; in North Carolina he leads 50 to 39 percent ; and in Georgia 48 to 41 percent .
CNN ’ s polling expert Harry Enten has argued this is bad news for Trump , since historical polling data suggests that in elections where there ’ s an issue that surpasses the economy in attention , then “ whoever is most trusted most on the non-economic issue is likely to win the election.
” And as Vox ’ s Roge Karma has written , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessarily the top issue for Trump voters , surveys have found it is a key issue for the undecided voters who could swing all three states either toward Trump or Biden .
In Texas , things are looking up for Biden as well .
A new Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll shows Biden edging out Trump 48 to 45 percent among likely voters .
Mark Owens , the political scientist at UT-Tyler who directed the poll , told the Dallas Morning News that he considered Texas a “ tossup ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Cook Political Report has rated the race “ Lean Republican.
” FiveThirtyEight ’ s average of polls for Texas also shows a tied race , at 47.5 percentage points for Biden and 47.6 percentage points for Trump .
The number of Texas voters concerned with how Trump has handled the coronavirus appears to be growing , Owens found .
In September , 32 percent of Texans said they had no confidence in Trump to keep communities safe from the pandemic — but in the latest poll , that number surged to 44 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden on the economy , with 53 percent of likely voters saying they thought Trump would handle it better , and 46 percent feeling the same about Biden .
State polling should be taken with a grain of salt Polling in battleground states is important — particularly given that the US ’ s presidential elections are determined by the electoral college , not a popular vote .
And together , Florida , Georgia , North Carolina , and Texas account for 98 of the 270 electoral college votes a candidate needs to win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also has significant limitations , and Biden ’ s standing in these states ( as well as other more closely-watched swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania ) should not be seen as a surefire sign of his victory in the overall election .
Consider that a Marquette Law School poll in Wisconsin conducted in October 2016 had Clinton up by 6 percentage points — but that Trump ultimately won the state by 0.7 points .
As Vox ’ s Li Zhou has explained , there are many reasons that a number of state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compared to the final election results .
Some of those have been corrected for during this election cycle — for instance , in the run-up to 2016 , some polls overrepresented Clinton voters because they failed to account for differences in education level , and that ’ s largely no longer the case : Both the CBS News and Dallas Morning News polls were weighted by education , for example .
But there are still plenty of obstacles .
Polling is always a snapshot of a specific time and group of voters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insight into the likelihood that someone sharing their preference with a pollster will actually show up at the voting booth on Election Day .
It also can ’ t necessarily predict the patterns of late-breaking voters who decide on their candidate in the final days before election ( something that played a crucial role in Trump ’ s victory ) .
Adding to the uncertainty is that the pandemic makes predictions based on polling especially difficult , as Zhou explains : Bottom line : this Southern swing state polling is promising for Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confused with perfect predictions of outcome .
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It ’ s essential that all Americans are able to access clear , concise information on what the outcome of the election could mean for their lives , and the lives of their families and communities .
That is our mission at Vox .
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A set of new polls show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with a narrow lead — or a tie — with President Donald Trump in the Southern states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, a potentially promising sign for Biden’s odds of winning the White House.
In this election cycle, political analysts consider Florida and North Carolina to be swing states — and Texas and Georgia to be possible swing states, as well. Considering that Trump won all of them in 2016 — including outstripping Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Texas by 9 percentage points — the new polling speaks to the president’s vulnerabilities as Election Day swiftly approaches.
The latest CBS News Battleground Tracker polls show Biden leading Trump 50 percent to 48 percent among likely voters in Florida; Biden over Trump in North Carolina 51 percent to 47 percent; and Biden tied with Trump 49-49 in Georgia.
The results are close enough that Trump could regain his advantage ahead of November 3, but it is striking to see Biden performing so well in states that Trump easily won before, and to see a Democratic candidate putting up big numbers in a region that has skewed Republican for decades.
In a broader average of recent polls tracked by FiveThirtyEight, as of October 25, Biden leads in Florida by 2.4 percentage points, and in North Carolina by 2.6 percentage points, but is essentially tied in Georgia, where he has a scant half-percentage point lead.
Most worryingly for Trump, perhaps, is that Biden garners more trust from voters on the top tier issue of handling the coronavirus pandemic. According to the CBS polling, in Florida, Biden leads Trump 49 to 41 percent on the issue; in North Carolina he leads 50 to 39 percent; and in Georgia 48 to 41 percent.
CNN’s polling expert Harry Enten has argued this is bad news for Trump, since historical polling data suggests that in elections where there’s an issue that surpasses the economy in attention, then “whoever is most trusted most on the non-economic issue is likely to win the election.” And as Vox’s Roge Karma has written, while polls show the pandemic isn’t necessarily the top issue for Trump voters, surveys have found it is a key issue for the undecided voters who could swing all three states either toward Trump or Biden.
In Texas, things are looking up for Biden as well. A new Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll shows Biden edging out Trump 48 to 45 percent among likely voters.
Mark Owens, the political scientist at UT-Tyler who directed the poll, told the Dallas Morning News that he considered Texas a “tossup” because of shifting attitudes toward Trump. The Cook Political Report has rated the race “Lean Republican.” FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls for Texas also shows a tied race, at 47.5 percentage points for Biden and 47.6 percentage points for Trump.
The number of Texas voters concerned with how Trump has handled the coronavirus appears to be growing, Owens found. In September, 32 percent of Texans said they had no confidence in Trump to keep communities safe from the pandemic — but in the latest poll, that number surged to 44 percent.
Most Texans preferred Trump over Biden on the economy, with 53 percent of likely voters saying they thought Trump would handle it better, and 46 percent feeling the same about Biden.
State polling should be taken with a grain of salt
Polling in battleground states is important — particularly given that the US’s presidential elections are determined by the electoral college, not a popular vote. And together, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas account for 98 of the 270 electoral college votes a candidate needs to win the White House.
But state polling also has significant limitations, and Biden’s standing in these states (as well as other more closely-watched swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania) should not be seen as a surefire sign of his victory in the overall election.
Consider that a Marquette Law School poll in Wisconsin conducted in October 2016 had Clinton up by 6 percentage points — but that Trump ultimately won the state by 0.7 points.
As Vox’s Li Zhou has explained, there are many reasons that a number of state polls were off the mark in 2016 compared to the final election results. Some of those have been corrected for during this election cycle — for instance, in the run-up to 2016, some polls overrepresented Clinton voters because they failed to account for differences in education level, and that’s largely no longer the case: Both the CBS News and Dallas Morning News polls were weighted by education, for example.
But there are still plenty of obstacles. Polling is always a snapshot of a specific time and group of voters, and ultimately can’t give definitive insight into the likelihood that someone sharing their preference with a pollster will actually show up at the voting booth on Election Day. It also can’t necessarily predict the patterns of late-breaking voters who decide on their candidate in the final days before election (something that played a crucial role in Trump’s victory).
Adding to the uncertainty is that the pandemic makes predictions based on polling especially difficult, as Zhou explains:
Specifically, the use of vote-by-mail due to the coronavirus pandemic makes predicting the composition of the electorate that much harder. It’s unclear how closely turnout will match up with prior years because of public health concerns about physical polling places and questions around the number of people who’ll use mail-in ballots instead. “It’s difficult to do a turnout model because you’re not sure who’s going to turn out. That’s going to be even harder in an election that has extensive vote-by-mail,” says University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson.
Bottom line: this Southern swing state polling is promising for Biden, but polls are not to be confused with perfect predictions of outcome.


vox--2020-10-25--Trump’s closing message is lying about the coronavirus at rallies that spread infection

With the pandemic getting worse , not better , President Donald Trump tried to turn reality on its head during a series of rallies on Saturday in North Carolina , Ohio , and Wisconsin .
“ We ’ re rounding the turn .
Our numbers are incredible , ” Trump claimed in Lumberton , North Carolina , before blasting the media for its alleged fear-mongering .
But the US is not rounding a turn for the better .
Friday and Saturday saw new daily coronavirus infections in the US surge past 80,000 for the first time ever .
And it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are up more than 33 percent over the last month , and the seven-day average of deaths is now back above 800 .
“ That ’ s all I hear about now .
Turn on television , ‘ Covid , Covid , Covid Covid Covid.
’ A plane goes down , 500 people dead , they don ’ t talk about it .
‘ Covid Covid Covid Covid.
’ By the way , on November 4 , you won ’ t hear about it anymore , ” Trump said .
( In case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plane crash he referred to was made up . )
Trump invoked a nearly identical talking point a couple hours later in Circleville , Ohio , saying , “ You know what ?
On November 4 , you ’ re not gon na hear— the news , CNN , all they talk about , ‘ Covid Covid Covid.
’ If a plane goes down with 500 people , they don ’ t talk about ... they ’ re trying to scare everybody.
” Then , on Saturday night in Waukesha , Wisconsin , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main reason cases in the US are going up is because the US does so much testing — “ if we did half the testing , we ’ d have half the cases , ” he said , as if testing causes cases — and insisted the coronavirus is “ going away.
” ( In recent weeks , new cases have actually grown at a much faster rate than testing has expanded . )
Trump echoed the same theme during his first rally of the day on Sunday in Londonderry , New Hampshire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rhetoric irresponsible , but the fact is , he ’ s holding rallies that make a mockery of social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines recommended by his own government .
And these rallies appear to be actively making the pandemic worse by spreading the virus .
Perhaps the strongest evidence of this came on Friday , when Erin Mansfield , Josh Salman , and Dinah Voyles Pulver authored a piece for USA Today that examined how coronavirus cases surged in a number of places where Trump recently held rallies .
But to the extent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , his message is that people have to learn to live with it .
“ You have to lead your life , and you have to get out , ” he advised his fans on Saturday in Ohio .
The White House has no plan — and they aren ’ t even trying to hide it Beyond the mounting human toll — more than 220,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus — the latest spike in cases comes at a politically inopportune time for the White House , with Election Day now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this point , the Trump administration isn ’ t even pretending to have a plan to slow the spread of the virus .
Instead , during a CNN interview on Sunday , White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said , revealingly , that “ we ’ re not going to control the pandemic.
” Meanwhile , the White House is dealing with yet another cluster of cases — five people close to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for the virus in recent days .
Pence , the chair of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exposed .
But instead of following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance , which calls for exposed people to self-quarantine for 14 days , he plans to travel to pandemic rallies on Sunday and Monday .
So not only has the White House given up on protecting the American public , but Trump administration officials have failed to protect themselves .
And Trump and Pence are actively making things worse by lying to the American public about the state of the pandemic at rallies that fuel further spread .
Will you help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes .
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That is our mission at Vox .
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With the pandemic getting worse, not better, President Donald Trump tried to turn reality on its head during a series of rallies on Saturday in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
“We’re rounding the turn. Our numbers are incredible,” Trump claimed in Lumberton, North Carolina, before blasting the media for its alleged fear-mongering.
But the US is not rounding a turn for the better. Friday and Saturday saw new daily coronavirus infections in the US surge past 80,000 for the first time ever. And it’s not just cases — hospitalizations are up more than 33 percent over the last month, and the seven-day average of deaths is now back above 800.
“That’s all I hear about now. Turn on television, ‘Covid, Covid, Covid Covid Covid.’ A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don’t talk about it. ‘Covid Covid Covid Covid.’ By the way, on November 4, you won’t hear about it anymore,” Trump said. (In case it’s not clear, the plane crash he referred to was made up.)
"That's all I hear about now. Turn on TV, 'Covid, Covid, Covid Covid Covid.' A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. 'Covid Covid Covid Covid.' By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore ... 'please don't go and vote, Covid!'" -- Trump pic.twitter.com/1bh7x2RSTy — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2020
Trump invoked a nearly identical talking point a couple hours later in Circleville, Ohio, saying, “You know what? On November 4, you’re not gonna hear— the news, CNN, all they talk about, ‘Covid Covid Covid.’ If a plane goes down with 500 people, they don’t talk about ... they’re trying to scare everybody.”
Then, on Saturday night in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Trump argued, falsely, that the main reason cases in the US are going up is because the US does so much testing — “if we did half the testing, we’d have half the cases,” he said, as if testing causes cases — and insisted the coronavirus is “going away.” (In recent weeks, new cases have actually grown at a much faster rate than testing has expanded.)
Trump still thinks public health measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus are the fruit of a Democratic hoax to take him out. He also seems to (falsely) believe that without testing, there would be no coronavirus cases. pic.twitter.com/33wtRDVrDy — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2020
Trump echoed the same theme during his first rally of the day on Sunday in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
"Even without the vaccines, we're rounding the turn. It's going to be over." -- as new coronavirus cases spike to record levels in the US, Trump intensifies his efforts to turn reality on its head pic.twitter.com/XyugnUErUg — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2020
Not only is Trump’s rhetoric irresponsible, but the fact is, he’s holding rallies that make a mockery of social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines recommended by his own government. And these rallies appear to be actively making the pandemic worse by spreading the virus.
Perhaps the strongest evidence of this came on Friday, when Erin Mansfield, Josh Salman, and Dinah Voyles Pulver authored a piece for USA Today that examined how coronavirus cases surged in a number of places where Trump recently held rallies.
From the article:
The president has participated in nearly three dozen rallies since mid-August, all but two at airport hangars. A USA TODAY analysis shows COVID-19 cases grew at a faster rate than before after at least five of those rallies in the following counties: Blue Earth, Minnesota; Lackawanna, Pennsylvania; Marathon, Wisconsin; Dauphin, Pennsylvania; and Beltrami, Minnesota. Together, those counties saw 1,500 more new cases in the two weeks following Trump’s rallies than the two weeks before – 9,647 cases, up from 8,069.
But to the extent that Trump actually engages with this reality, his message is that people have to learn to live with it.
“You have to lead your life, and you have to get out,” he advised his fans on Saturday in Ohio.
The White House has no plan — and they aren’t even trying to hide it
Beyond the mounting human toll — more than 220,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus — the latest spike in cases comes at a politically inopportune time for the White House, with Election Day now just nine days away.
But at this point, the Trump administration isn’t even pretending to have a plan to slow the spread of the virus. Instead, during a CNN interview on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said, revealingly, that “we’re not going to control the pandemic.”
MEADOWS: We're not going to control the pandemic
TAPPER: Why not?
M: Because it's a contagious virus
T: Why not make efforts to contain it?
M: What we need to do is make sure we have the proper mitigation factors to make sure people don't die pic.twitter.com/0DYgk4rB3T — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2020
Meanwhile, the White House is dealing with yet another cluster of cases — five people close to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for the virus in recent days. Pence, the chair of the White House coronavirus task force, was exposed. But instead of following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which calls for exposed people to self-quarantine for 14 days, he plans to travel to pandemic rallies on Sunday and Monday.
So not only has the White House given up on protecting the American public, but Trump administration officials have failed to protect themselves. And Trump and Pence are actively making things worse by lying to the American public about the state of the pandemic at rallies that fuel further spread.


vox--2020-10-25--Amy Coney Barrett is now one step away from becoming a Supreme Court justice

The Senate voted to end its debate over the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Sunday afternoon , a move that sets the stage for a final Senate floor vote for her confirmation on Monday .
Despite efforts by Democratic lawmakers to use procedural maneuvers to slow her appointment , Barrett is on track to be confirmed to the court just about a week before Election Day with almost unanimous support from Senate Republicans .
Republicans have moved quickly to seat Barrett on the court , following her nomination by President Donald Trump in late @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg so close to the presidential election — particularly given the GOP blocked President Barack Obama ’ s final Supreme Court nominee for months in 2016 , arguing that the winner of that year ’ s presidential election should get to fill any empty seats .
But Republicans have the votes needed to secure the judge ’ s place on the court , and the Senate Judiciary Committee began its confirmation hearings for Barrett on October 12 .
And on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voted to approve Barrett ’ s nomination , despite the fact that every Democrat on the panel boycotted the meeting — which technically meant they didn ’ t have the required number of minority members needed to conduct business .
Chair Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) disregarded the requirement and proceeded anyway .
On Friday , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) deployed a number of tactics to try to slow down the nomination process , with little effect .
For example , he forced a closed Senate session on Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The damage to Americans ’ faith in these institutions could be lasting .
So before we go any further , we should shut off the cameras , close the Senate and talk face to face about what this might mean for the country , ” Schumer argued .
But the GOP ended that session — which required cameras to leave — in just 20 minutes .
Schumer also tried to file several motions to delay the nomination process , like calling for the Senate to be adjourned until after the election unless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ package , but these all failed as the GOP-controlled Senate acted against them along party lines .
Ultimately , McConnell filed a cloture motion , a mechanism for limiting debate , which set up Sunday ’ s vote .
Saturday , Schumer tried again to halt confirmation proceedings by raising coronavirus relief legislation , but was blocked by the GOP .
And the Republicans ’ position grew even stronger Saturday afternoon , with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — one of just two Republican senators who had objected to confirming a justice before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact vote to confirm Barrett during a floor vote .
On Sunday Murkowski , along with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine , were the only two Republicans to decline to vote on ending the nomination debate .
Murkowski , however , has signaled that her objection is over the timing of the vote , not with Barrett herself , and that she intends to vote to confirm Barrett on a floor vote .
“ I ’ ve concluded she ’ s the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to Politico .
“ While I oppose the process that led us to this point , I do not hold it against her.
” Barrett is likely to be confirmed Monday A final confirmation vote is likely to take place on Monday evening , and barring unforeseen events , Barrett is all but certain to be confirmed .
Republicans need 51 votes to confirm Barrett , and have 53 in the Senate .
They can afford to lose three votes , since Vice President Mike Pence can cast a tie-breaking vote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But that is unlikely to be necessary , since only one Republican lawmaker is expected to defect : Collins , who is running a competitive race for reelection this year .
Political scientists say that the controversy surrounding the Barrett confirmation battle could increase turnout for the elections , by illustrating how high-stakes the next presidency is as the Supreme Court becomes an increasingly politicized institution .
According to polling by Data For Progress , likely voters split largely along party lines in their perception of whether it was appropriate for Republicans to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapid confirmation processes in modern American history .
Schumer has indicated that the Democrats have considered boycotting the final confirmation vote in a display of dissent — and to send a message to the voters that they feel the process is illegitimate .
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The Senate voted to end its debate over the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Sunday afternoon, a move that sets the stage for a final Senate floor vote for her confirmation on Monday.
Despite efforts by Democratic lawmakers to use procedural maneuvers to slow her appointment, Barrett is on track to be confirmed to the court just about a week before Election Day with almost unanimous support from Senate Republicans.
Republicans have moved quickly to seat Barrett on the court, following her nomination by President Donald Trump in late September. Democrats have protested Republicans working to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg so close to the presidential election — particularly given the GOP blocked President Barack Obama’s final Supreme Court nominee for months in 2016, arguing that the winner of that year’s presidential election should get to fill any empty seats.
But Republicans have the votes needed to secure the judge’s place on the court, and the Senate Judiciary Committee began its confirmation hearings for Barrett on October 12.
And on Thursday, the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve Barrett’s nomination, despite the fact that every Democrat on the panel boycotted the meeting — which technically meant they didn’t have the required number of minority members needed to conduct business. Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) disregarded the requirement and proceeded anyway.
On Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) deployed a number of tactics to try to slow down the nomination process, with little effect.
For example, he forced a closed Senate session on Friday for the first time since 2010. “The damage to Americans’ faith in these institutions could be lasting. So before we go any further, we should shut off the cameras, close the Senate and talk face to face about what this might mean for the country,” Schumer argued. But the GOP ended that session — which required cameras to leave — in just 20 minutes.
Schumer also tried to file several motions to delay the nomination process, like calling for the Senate to be adjourned until after the election unless both parties settle on a coronavirus relief package, but these all failed as the GOP-controlled Senate acted against them along party lines. Ultimately, McConnell filed a cloture motion, a mechanism for limiting debate, which set up Sunday’s vote.
Saturday, Schumer tried again to halt confirmation proceedings by raising coronavirus relief legislation, but was blocked by the GOP. And the Republicans’ position grew even stronger Saturday afternoon, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — one of just two Republican senators who had objected to confirming a justice before the election — saying she would in fact vote to confirm Barrett during a floor vote.
On Sunday Murkowski, along with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, were the only two Republicans to decline to vote on ending the nomination debate. Murkowski, however, has signaled that her objection is over the timing of the vote, not with Barrett herself, and that she intends to vote to confirm Barrett on a floor vote.
“I’ve concluded she’s the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court,” Murkowski said of Barrett on Saturday, according to Politico. “While I oppose the process that led us to this point, I do not hold it against her.”
Barrett is likely to be confirmed Monday
A final confirmation vote is likely to take place on Monday evening, and barring unforeseen events, Barrett is all but certain to be confirmed.
Republicans need 51 votes to confirm Barrett, and have 53 in the Senate. They can afford to lose three votes, since Vice President Mike Pence can cast a tie-breaking vote in the case of a 50-50 draw.
But that is unlikely to be necessary, since only one Republican lawmaker is expected to defect: Collins, who is running a competitive race for reelection this year.
Political scientists say that the controversy surrounding the Barrett confirmation battle could increase turnout for the elections, by illustrating how high-stakes the next presidency is as the Supreme Court becomes an increasingly politicized institution.
According to polling by Data For Progress, likely voters split largely along party lines in their perception of whether it was appropriate for Republicans to press ahead with one of the most rapid confirmation processes in modern American history.
Schumer has indicated that the Democrats have considered boycotting the final confirmation vote in a display of dissent — and to send a message to the voters that they feel the process is illegitimate.


vox--2020-10-25--Poll: Most Trump voters don’t see Covid-19 as an important election issue

A new Pew Research Center poll has found a stark partisan difference in views on the importance of the coronavirus pandemic in the days before the presidential election .
The poll , taken from October 6 to 12 , found that only 24 percent of registered voters who support Trump view the pandemic as a “ very important ” voting issue in the 2020 election , compared to 82 percent of Biden supporters .
The highest issue of concern for Trump voters , by far , was the economy — 84 percent named that as being “ very important ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporters , 66 percent , agreed ) .
The poll asked registered voters about six issues — abortion , health care , foreign policy , the economy , the coronavirus pandemic , and Supreme Court appointments — and found that Biden and Trump supporters viewed most issues with relatively equal importance .
Two interrelated issues were clear exceptions : health care , an issue Biden supporters were 38 percentage points more likely to view as “ very important , ” and the pandemic , which boasted an even larger 58 percentage point gap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans have died from Covid-19 and roughly 1,000 continue to die every day .
States like Arizona , Wisconsin , and Florida — all of which voted for Trump in 2016 — have experienced some of the worst outbreaks in the US .
As my colleague German Lopez points out , if Republican-leaning states alone were a country , they ’ d be in the top 10 for Covid-19 deaths among developed nations .
And the worst may be yet to come : On Friday , the US reported a single-day record of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surpassing the previous high from July by over 10,000 cases .
Saturday , the new confirmed case count nearly matched that record high , topping 83,000 .
With case loads and hospitalizations already at dangerously high levels , epidemiologists have expressed concern that this “ third wave ” of Covid-19 cases could be the most deadly yet .
Trump has stressed the economy over pandemic response A second Pew poll , released earlier this month , may give some insight into why many Trump supporters don ’ t see the coronavirus as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The survey found that 68 percent of Republicans think the US has controlled the Covid-19 outbreak “ as much as it could have ” versus 11 percent of Democrats ; it also found that 66 percent of Republicans think the Covid-19 outbreak has been made out to be a “ bigger deal than it really is , ” while just 15 percent of Democrats said the same .
This poll reflects a narrative advanced by President Donald Trump : that his administration had done everything possible to control the coronavirus outbreak — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as media , experts , and Democratic politicians made it out to be .
Throughout the pandemic , Trump has praised himself and his administration for having done a “ phenomenal job ” handling the crisis .
In Thursday ’ s presidential debate , Trump cited a model that forecast US deaths if the country took no coronavirus prevention measures , claiming that “ 2.2 million people , modeled out , were expected to die , ” misleadingly suggesting that his administration ’ s response had saved approximately 2 million lives .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ 700,000 people would be dead right now ” under a Biden administration — a death toll that would have required Biden to do less to stop the virus than the Trump administration has ( Biden ’ s coronavirus plan calls for doing more ) .
Vice President Mike Pence pursued a similar line of attack at the vice presidential debate in early October .
Besides praising his response , Trump has also consistently played down the seriousness of the coronavirus .
In the last presidential debate , he responded to a question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ re learning to live with it.
” On Saturday alone , Trump tweeted that the record-setting number of new cases in the US is being overhyped , claimed that the virus would magically disappear after the election , and pushed a baseless conspiracy theory that doctors and hospitals are inflating the Covid-19 death count for profit .
Meanwhile , Trump has repeatedly pushed to completely reopen the US economy .
Echoing a claim he ’ s been making since March , the president said at Thursday ’ s debate , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the problem itself , and that ’ s what ’ s happening .
... We can ’ t keep this country closed .
This is a massive country with a massive economy.
” From the outside , it ’ s easy to view Trump ’ s constant downplaying of the pandemic as political suicide — the sort of behavior that will entrench opposition to the president and potentially cause his supporters to abandon him come November .
But the Pew polls released this month appear to tell a different story .
Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and his focus on reopening the economy — isn ’ t turning his base off ; to the contrary , it reflects what they already believe about the pandemic .
Political polarization affects views on Covid-19 — but it has its limits The academic literature on political polarization points to a simple explanation for the massive divergence in public opinion on the coronavirus , Pew ’ s pollsters detected : Partisans don ’ t evaluate the world objectively ; they take cues from the leaders and media sources who they trust .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sara Wallace Goodman , my colleague Ezra Klein explained this phenomenon with regard to partisan divergence on mask-wearing earlier this year : Sara Wallace Goodman , a political scientist at the University of California Irvine , has been part of a team repeatedly surveying the same group of Americans to see how their behaviors and attitudes have changed over the course of the virus .
Even controlling for factors like the prevalence of the disease in the place respondents live , Wallace Goodman and her colleagues find a significant and growing partisan gap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , perceived safety of different behaviors , and preferred policy solutions .
The key to understanding this , Wallace Goodman says , is that “ when people are operating in areas of high misinformation and lack of information , they take cues .
We can only be rational if our leaders are rational .
If you see the president not wearing a mask in meetings , you ’ re going to model what he does.
” The same goes for whether you think the importance of the coronavirus pandemic has been overblown , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything it could to control the virus .
Because few Democrats or Republicans have personally conducted investigations into these issues , the differences in opinion between them hinge on which leaders and institutions they trust .
Liberals tend to take their cues from epidemiologists and science journalists — or from political leaders and media outlets that defer to their expertise .
Conservatives often take their cues from Fox News , Trump , and other leaders and news outlets who are often skeptical of — or downright hostile toward — those experts .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that evaluated partisan opinions on Covid-19 ’ s seriousness asked respondents about their primary news sources , it unveiled some striking findings .
Among Republicans whose primary news sources are Fox News or talk radio , 78 percent thought the seriousness of Covid-19 has been exaggerated , and 90 percent believed the US has done everything it can to control the virus .
Republicans who consume a more diverse array of news sources have considerably lower numbers on both counts .
None of this means Trump ’ s dismissive rhetoric and response to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The president has not enjoyed the same kind of pandemic polling bump that peer country leaders and US governors have received .
He still lags behind former Vice President Joe Biden by about 9 percentage points in national polls just over a week before the election .
Trump also appears to be lacking support among older voters in key swing states like Florida that have been especially hard-hit by the pandemic .
One reason for this appears to be that while Trump ’ s rhetoric on the coronavirus clearly appeals to Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at winning over swing voters .
According to a September Kaiser Family Foundation poll , the coronavirus outbreak is the most important 2020 election issue for 15 percent of undecided voters .
And recent polling across seven swing states — Florida , Georgia , Michigan , North Carolina , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Texas — by the conservative polling firm CT Group found that 56 percent of former Trump voters who no longer planned to vote for the president cited his pandemic response as a major factor in reconsidering their support for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free for all ?
The United States is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes .
It ’ s essential that all Americans are able to access clear , concise information on what the outcome of the election could mean for their lives , and the lives of their families and communities .
That is our mission at Vox .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone understand this presidential election : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

A new Pew Research Center poll has found a stark partisan difference in views on the importance of the coronavirus pandemic in the days before the presidential election.
The poll, taken from October 6 to 12, found that only 24 percent of registered voters who support Trump view the pandemic as a “very important” voting issue in the 2020 election, compared to 82 percent of Biden supporters. The highest issue of concern for Trump voters, by far, was the economy — 84 percent named that as being “very important” (a reasonably high number of Biden supporters, 66 percent, agreed).
The poll asked registered voters about six issues — abortion, health care, foreign policy, the economy, the coronavirus pandemic, and Supreme Court appointments — and found that Biden and Trump supporters viewed most issues with relatively equal importance. Two interrelated issues were clear exceptions: health care, an issue Biden supporters were 38 percentage points more likely to view as “very important,” and the pandemic, which boasted an even larger 58 percentage point gap.
So far, more than 220,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and roughly 1,000 continue to die every day. States like Arizona, Wisconsin, and Florida — all of which voted for Trump in 2016 — have experienced some of the worst outbreaks in the US. As my colleague German Lopez points out, if Republican-leaning states alone were a country, they’d be in the top 10 for Covid-19 deaths among developed nations.
And the worst may be yet to come: On Friday, the US reported a single-day record of confirmed coronavirus cases, over 85,000 — surpassing the previous high from July by over 10,000 cases. Saturday, the new confirmed case count nearly matched that record high, topping 83,000. With case loads and hospitalizations already at dangerously high levels, epidemiologists have expressed concern that this “third wave” of Covid-19 cases could be the most deadly yet.
Trump has stressed the economy over pandemic response
A second Pew poll, released earlier this month, may give some insight into why many Trump supporters don’t see the coronavirus as an important issue in the upcoming election.
The survey found that 68 percent of Republicans think the US has controlled the Covid-19 outbreak “as much as it could have” versus 11 percent of Democrats; it also found that 66 percent of Republicans think the Covid-19 outbreak has been made out to be a “bigger deal than it really is,” while just 15 percent of Democrats said the same.
This poll reflects a narrative advanced by President Donald Trump: that his administration had done everything possible to control the coronavirus outbreak — and that the coronavirus was never as serious as media, experts, and Democratic politicians made it out to be.
Throughout the pandemic, Trump has praised himself and his administration for having done a “phenomenal job” handling the crisis. In Thursday’s presidential debate, Trump cited a model that forecast US deaths if the country took no coronavirus prevention measures, claiming that “2.2 million people, modeled out, were expected to die,” misleadingly suggesting that his administration’s response had saved approximately 2 million lives.
In that same debate, he claimed that “700,000 people would be dead right now” under a Biden administration — a death toll that would have required Biden to do less to stop the virus than the Trump administration has (Biden’s coronavirus plan calls for doing more). Vice President Mike Pence pursued a similar line of attack at the vice presidential debate in early October.
Besides praising his response, Trump has also consistently played down the seriousness of the coronavirus. In the last presidential debate, he responded to a question about the virus by saying, “We’re learning to live with it.” On Saturday alone, Trump tweeted that the record-setting number of new cases in the US is being overhyped, claimed that the virus would magically disappear after the election, and pushed a baseless conspiracy theory that doctors and hospitals are inflating the Covid-19 death count for profit.
The US has had 300,000 excess deaths this year. So far. Blame what you want. This has been a very deadly year. And that’s at least in part due to COVID. https://t.co/P5YQUS0Tdq https://t.co/jsc6AlIrz5 — Charles Ornstein (@charlesornstein) October 25, 2020
Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly pushed to completely reopen the US economy. Echoing a claim he’s been making since March, the president said at Thursday’s debate, “The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself, and that’s what’s happening. ... We can’t keep this country closed. This is a massive country with a massive economy.”
From the outside, it’s easy to view Trump’s constant downplaying of the pandemic as political suicide — the sort of behavior that will entrench opposition to the president and potentially cause his supporters to abandon him come November. But the Pew polls released this month appear to tell a different story. Trump’s blatant denial of the coronavirus reality — and his focus on reopening the economy — isn’t turning his base off; to the contrary, it reflects what they already believe about the pandemic.
Political polarization affects views on Covid-19 — but it has its limits
The academic literature on political polarization points to a simple explanation for the massive divergence in public opinion on the coronavirus, Pew’s pollsters detected: Partisans don’t evaluate the world objectively; they take cues from the leaders and media sources who they trust. Drawing on the work of political scientist Sara Wallace Goodman, my colleague Ezra Klein explained this phenomenon with regard to partisan divergence on mask-wearing earlier this year:
Sara Wallace Goodman, a political scientist at the University of California Irvine, has been part of a team repeatedly surveying the same group of Americans to see how their behaviors and attitudes have changed over the course of the virus. Even controlling for factors like the prevalence of the disease in the place respondents live, Wallace Goodman and her colleagues find a significant and growing partisan gap in terms of fear of the disease, perceived safety of different behaviors, and preferred policy solutions. The key to understanding this, Wallace Goodman says, is that “when people are operating in areas of high misinformation and lack of information, they take cues. We can only be rational if our leaders are rational. If you see the president not wearing a mask in meetings, you’re going to model what he does.”
The same goes for whether you think the importance of the coronavirus pandemic has been overblown, or whether you think the US did everything it could to control the virus. Because few Democrats or Republicans have personally conducted investigations into these issues, the differences in opinion between them hinge on which leaders and institutions they trust. Liberals tend to take their cues from epidemiologists and science journalists — or from political leaders and media outlets that defer to their expertise. Conservatives often take their cues from Fox News, Trump, and other leaders and news outlets who are often skeptical of — or downright hostile toward — those experts.
In fact, when the same Pew poll that evaluated partisan opinions on Covid-19’s seriousness asked respondents about their primary news sources, it unveiled some striking findings. Among Republicans whose primary news sources are Fox News or talk radio, 78 percent thought the seriousness of Covid-19 has been exaggerated, and 90 percent believed the US has done everything it can to control the virus. Republicans who consume a more diverse array of news sources have considerably lower numbers on both counts.
None of this means Trump’s dismissive rhetoric and response to Covid-19 will ultimately help him come November. The president has not enjoyed the same kind of pandemic polling bump that peer country leaders and US governors have received. He still lags behind former Vice President Joe Biden by about 9 percentage points in national polls just over a week before the election. Trump also appears to be lacking support among older voters in key swing states like Florida that have been especially hard-hit by the pandemic.
One reason for this appears to be that while Trump’s rhetoric on the coronavirus clearly appeals to Republican voters, it seems far less effective at winning over swing voters.
According to a September Kaiser Family Foundation poll, the coronavirus outbreak is the most important 2020 election issue for 15 percent of undecided voters. And recent polling across seven swing states — Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas — by the conservative polling firm CT Group found that 56 percent of former Trump voters who no longer planned to vote for the president cited his pandemic response as a major factor in reconsidering their support for him.


vox--2020-10-25--Pence should quarantine after coronavirus exposure. He’s going to keep campaigning instead.

On Saturday evening , news broke of yet another coronavirus case cluster at the White House — this one involving aides to Vice President Mike Pence .
Pence himself was exposed , but he doesn ’ t plan to let the outbreak get in the way of his campaigning .
According to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times , at least five people in Pence ’ s orbit have tested positive for the virus , including chief of staff Marc Short , outside adviser Marty Obst , and three as of yet unidentified White House staffers who work with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latest group of cases — which is not the first to affect Pence ’ s inner circle — comes just four weeks after the development of a White House cluster that included more than 30 confirmed cases , including President Donald Trump .
Haberman reported that White House officials tried to sweep the latest batch of positive tests under the rug : Pence spokesman Devin O ’ Malley told Haberman that while Pence was indeed in close contact with Short ( and therefore , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he ’ s not planning to do so because he tested negative and is considered “ essential personnel.
” Pence is still planning to forge ahead with campaign rallies in Kinston , North Carolina , on Sunday , and Hibbing , Minnesota , on Monday .
During a CNN interview Sunday morning , Trump ’ s chief of staff Mark Meadows struggled to defend the decision to keep Pence on the campaign trail despite his coronavirus exposure , and made a stunning admission — that the Trump administration has given up trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hoping for new treatments while counting on a successful vaccine being available soon .
“ We ’ re not going to control the pandemic , ” Meadows said , adding later : “ What we need to do is make sure we have the proper mitigation factors ... to make sure people don ’ t die from this.
” The sad irony of this situation is that Pence is chair of the White House coronavirus task force , yet his behavior has been a model of what not to do to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steadfastly refused to wear a mask in public throughout the pandemic , even at hospitals .
He ’ s gone on Fox News and paid lip service to CDC guidelines by saying things like “ it ’ s always a good idea to wear a mask , ” yet he has not done so at packed campaign events where people visibly aren ’ t social distancing or wearing masks .
Pence has also put himself — and those around him — in danger by initiating physical contact and making a mockery of social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this behavior has resulted in several exposures beyond his contact with Short .
At the Rose Garden event at the White House to introduce Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett , which has been linked with numerous coronavirus cases , a maskless Pence sat directly in front of Sen. Mike Lee ( R-UT ) , who later tested positive for the coronavirus , and close to first lady Melania Trump and former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway , both of whom also tested positive .
That wasn ’ t even Pence ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on that day .
Before the Rose Garden event , Pence spent time at a packed prayer march with Pastor Greg Laurie , who tested positive for the coronavirus as well .
In his capacity as head of the task force , Pence has consistently misled the public about the state of the pandemic , insisting the administration has done a great job and that the end of the pandemic is right around the corner .
Some people may have bought that in April and May , but it ’ s become a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit records in recent days and hospitalizations have increased by more than 33 percent over the last month .
Not only is the White House failing to protect the public , it ’ s failing to protect itself News of the coronavirus cluster around Pence comes during a weekend when the US set records for the most new single-day coronavirus cases — around 83,000 on both Friday and Saturday .
But you wouldn ’ t know this from listening to Pence or Trump , both of whom have made brazen lies about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their stump speeches .
Pence ’ s decision to keep campaigning despite his coronavirus exposure doesn ’ t just put his inner circle at risk — his rallies are also public health hazards .
USA Today reported on Friday that a number of places where Trump held rallies in recent weeks have subsequently experienced a spike in coronavirus cases .
This means that not only is the White House not protecting the American public from a pandemic that has now killed more than 220,000 Americans , but it ’ s actively making things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top officials like Trump and Pence , the Trump administration is demonstrating that it can ’ t even protect itself .
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On Saturday evening, news broke of yet another coronavirus case cluster at the White House — this one involving aides to Vice President Mike Pence. Pence himself was exposed, but he doesn’t plan to let the outbreak get in the way of his campaigning.
According to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, at least five people in Pence’s orbit have tested positive for the virus, including chief of staff Marc Short, outside adviser Marty Obst, and three as of yet unidentified White House staffers who work with the vice president. News of this latest group of cases — which is not the first to affect Pence’s inner circle — comes just four weeks after the development of a White House cluster that included more than 30 confirmed cases, including President Donald Trump.
Haberman reported that White House officials tried to sweep the latest batch of positive tests under the rug:
The statement [confirming the positive tests] did not come from the White House medical unit, but instead from a press aide. Two people briefed on the matter said that the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had sought to keep news of the outbreak from becoming public.
Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley told Haberman that while Pence was indeed in close contact with Short (and therefore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, should quarantine for 14 days), he’s not planning to do so because he tested negative and is considered “essential personnel.” Pence is still planning to forge ahead with campaign rallies in Kinston, North Carolina, on Sunday, and Hibbing, Minnesota, on Monday.
During a CNN interview Sunday morning, Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows struggled to defend the decision to keep Pence on the campaign trail despite his coronavirus exposure, and made a stunning admission — that the Trump administration has given up trying to contain the pandemic and has resorted to hoping for new treatments while counting on a successful vaccine being available soon.
“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows said, adding later: “What we need to do is make sure we have the proper mitigation factors ... to make sure people don’t die from this.”
MEADOWS: We're not going to control the pandemic
TAPPER: Why not?
M: Because it's a contagious virus
T: Why not make efforts to contain it?
M: What we need to do is make sure we have the proper mitigation factors to make sure people don't die pic.twitter.com/0DYgk4rB3T — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2020
The sad irony of this situation is that Pence is chair of the White House coronavirus task force, yet his behavior has been a model of what not to do to protect yourself from the coronavirus.
Pence has steadfastly refused to wear a mask in public throughout the pandemic, even at hospitals. He’s gone on Fox News and paid lip service to CDC guidelines by saying things like “it’s always a good idea to wear a mask,” yet he has not done so at packed campaign events where people visibly aren’t social distancing or wearing masks.
Here’s Mike Pence saying “it’s always a good idea to wear a mask” on Fox News in front of a mask-less crowd that isn’t even distancing pic.twitter.com/xJ6I22Oxmu — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2020
Pence has also put himself — and those around him — in danger by initiating physical contact and making a mockery of social distancing guidelines during mask-less events.
Pence is fist-bumping random people while working a rope line during a pandemic pic.twitter.com/WBAV5diSm7 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 27, 2020
And this behavior has resulted in several exposures beyond his contact with Short. At the Rose Garden event at the White House to introduce Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, which has been linked with numerous coronavirus cases, a maskless Pence sat directly in front of Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who later tested positive for the coronavirus, and close to first lady Melania Trump and former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, both of whom also tested positive.
The finger is pointing at Mike Pence who should be in quarantine for 14 days since last exposure.
We can add Chris Christie and White House staffers to the list of people who are now positive & within the air space of Mike Pence
He's being irresponsible & endangering others pic.twitter.com/AWsvivalEL — ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) October 4, 2020
That wasn’t even Pence’s only possible exposure to the coronavirus on that day. Before the Rose Garden event, Pence spent time at a packed prayer march with Pastor Greg Laurie, who tested positive for the coronavirus as well.
A few hours before the Amy Coney Barrett event, Mike Pence spoke at this jam-packed "prayer march" full of thousands of people who weren't wearing masks.
(h/t to @Olivianuzzi) pic.twitter.com/F9XWmTatFq — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) October 3, 2020
In his capacity as head of the task force, Pence has consistently misled the public about the state of the pandemic, insisting the administration has done a great job and that the end of the pandemic is right around the corner. Some people may have bought that in April and May, but it’s become a harder sell as new daily case numbers hit records in recent days and hospitalizations have increased by more than 33 percent over the last month.
Not only is the White House failing to protect the public, it’s failing to protect itself
News of the coronavirus cluster around Pence comes during a weekend when the US set records for the most new single-day coronavirus cases — around 83,000 on both Friday and Saturday. But you wouldn’t know this from listening to Pence or Trump, both of whom have made brazen lies about the state of the pandemic a staple of their stump speeches.
"It is going away" -- Trump on the coronavirus as the US sets single-day records for new infections and hospitalizations continue to rise pic.twitter.com/jpcqNhyhBn — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2020
Pence’s decision to keep campaigning despite his coronavirus exposure doesn’t just put his inner circle at risk — his rallies are also public health hazards. USA Today reported on Friday that a number of places where Trump held rallies in recent weeks have subsequently experienced a spike in coronavirus cases.
The president has participated in nearly three dozen rallies since mid-August, all but two at airport hangars. A USA TODAY analysis shows COVID-19 cases grew at a faster rate than before after at least five of those rallies in the following counties: Blue Earth, Minnesota; Lackawanna, Pennsylvania; Marathon, Wisconsin; Dauphin, Pennsylvania; and Beltrami, Minnesota. Together, those counties saw 1,500 more new cases in the two weeks following Trump’s rallies than the two weeks before – 9,647 cases, up from 8,069.
This means that not only is the White House not protecting the American public from a pandemic that has now killed more than 220,000 Americans, but it’s actively making things worse. And by failing to protect top officials like Trump and Pence, the Trump administration is demonstrating that it can’t even protect itself.


vox--2020-10-25--In SNL’s cold open, the final presidential debate becomes an absurd slugfest over the coronavirus

Saturday Night Live parodied the final presidential debate during its opening sketch on Saturday , depicting President Donald Trump as clueless and callous about the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic , and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as comically old-fashioned and goofy about everything .
Maya Rudolph , playing moderator and NBC journalist Kristen Welker , began the debate by reminding the participants that she had a mute button — a feature that was added to the actual final debate because of Trump ’ s relentless interruptions during the first debate in September .
“ Tonight we have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that or tranquilizer darts — and the president has a very high tolerance for those after his Covid treatment , ” Rudolph ’ s Welker declared .
As the debate began , Trump , played by Alec Baldwin , immediately downplayed the virus as worthy of the public ’ s concern .
“ Coronavirus — boring , right ?
We ’ re doing terrific , ” Baldwin said .
“ We ’ re rounding the corner , in fact we ’ ve rounded so many corners we ’ ve gone all the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back where we started in March.
” Biden , played by Jim Carrey , retorted , “ C ’ mon man , we ’ re in the middle of a third wave !
Where I come from if a girl gave you a third wave , you were practically married.
” Later on , Baldwin ’ s Trump promised that a coronavirus vaccine would be distributed by the military in spectacular fashion : “ The army will come and shoot it with a cannon into your face.
” He then rambled about his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I had it , it was very mean to me , but I beat it , and now the doctors say I can never die , ” Baldwin said .
“ And this virus said to me , ‘ Sir , sir , I have to leave your body.
’ Now the virus was crying , very sad .
It didn ’ t want to leave my body .
And the point is we ’ re all learning to live with it.
” Dramatizing Biden ’ s actual response to Trump saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live with it , ” on Thursday , Carrey said with a squint , “ Learning to live with it ?
We ’ re learning to die with it man !
” Overall , Biden ’ s debate performance was characterized as “ a little feisty , ” and SNL satirized this by having Rudolph ’ s Welker halt the proceedings to observe , “ Looks like Mr. Biden is so mad he ’ s Eastwooding it a little bit , ” in a reference to actor and director Clint Eastwood .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe the little lady asked you about a plan , why don ’ t you enlighten us , punk ?
” Carrey said .
Rudy Giuliani , played by Kate McKinnon , also made a brief appearance during the debate .
“ Get ready for this truth bomb !
” McKinnon ’ s Giuliani shouted .
“ Your son Hunter got $ 3 million from Moscow and his friend Tony Babdooey has emails right there on the wet laptop from hell !
And our eyewitness saw everything and he is blind !
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questionable story published by the New York Post alleging the discovery of inappropriate emails by Hunter Biden on a laptop dropped off at a repair shop .
As Vox ’ s Andrew Prokop recently explained , “ questions have been raised about whether that story is accurate and whether all the information allegedly on the laptop is authentic.
” In making his closing statement , Carrey ’ s Biden presented himself as the safe option by likening himself to a reliable car .
“ Look , everybody , you know who he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ I ’ m good old Joe .
I ’ m reliable as a rock .
I ’ ve got a five-star safety rating and I ’ m ranked best midsize in my class by J.D .
Power and Associates .
I don ’ t have a gold toilet seat .
I have a soft , spongy one that hisses whenever I park my keister.
” “ There ’ s only two things I do , ” he added .
“ I kick ass and I take trains .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ trains in sight .
And that ladies and gentlemen , is no malarkey.
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Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
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Saturday Night Live parodied the final presidential debate during its opening sketch on Saturday, depicting President Donald Trump as clueless and callous about the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as comically old-fashioned and goofy about everything.
Maya Rudolph, playing moderator and NBC journalist Kristen Welker, began the debate by reminding the participants that she had a mute button — a feature that was added to the actual final debate because of Trump’s relentless interruptions during the first debate in September.
“Tonight we have a mute button, because it was either that or tranquilizer darts — and the president has a very high tolerance for those after his Covid treatment,” Rudolph’s Welker declared.
As the debate began, Trump, played by Alec Baldwin, immediately downplayed the virus as worthy of the public’s concern.
“Coronavirus — boring, right? We’re doing terrific,” Baldwin said. “We’re rounding the corner, in fact we’ve rounded so many corners we’ve gone all the way around the block that we’re back where we started in March.”
Biden, played by Jim Carrey, retorted, “C’mon man, we’re in the middle of a third wave! Where I come from if a girl gave you a third wave, you were practically married.”
Later on, Baldwin’s Trump promised that a coronavirus vaccine would be distributed by the military in spectacular fashion: “The army will come and shoot it with a cannon into your face.”
He then rambled about his own experience with Covid-19.
“Look, I had it, it was very mean to me, but I beat it, and now the doctors say I can never die,” Baldwin said. “And this virus said to me, ‘Sir, sir, I have to leave your body.’ Now the virus was crying, very sad. It didn’t want to leave my body. And the point is we’re all learning to live with it.”
Dramatizing Biden’s actual response to Trump saying, “We’re learning to live with it,” on Thursday, Carrey said with a squint, “Learning to live with it? We’re learning to die with it man!”
Overall, Biden’s debate performance was characterized as “a little feisty,” and SNL satirized this by having Rudolph’s Welker halt the proceedings to observe, “Looks like Mr. Biden is so mad he’s Eastwooding it a little bit,” in a reference to actor and director Clint Eastwood.
“That’s right, now I believe the little lady asked you about a plan, why don’t you enlighten us, punk?” Carrey said.
Rudy Giuliani, played by Kate McKinnon, also made a brief appearance during the debate.
“Get ready for this truth bomb!” McKinnon’s Giuliani shouted. “Your son Hunter got $3 million from Moscow and his friend Tony Babdooey has emails right there on the wet laptop from hell! And our eyewitness saw everything and he is blind!”
The statement is a reference to a questionable story published by the New York Post alleging the discovery of inappropriate emails by Hunter Biden on a laptop dropped off at a repair shop. As Vox’s Andrew Prokop recently explained, “questions have been raised about whether that story is accurate and whether all the information allegedly on the laptop is authentic.”
In making his closing statement, Carrey’s Biden presented himself as the safe option by likening himself to a reliable car.
“Look, everybody, you know who he is and you know who I am,” he said. “I’m good old Joe. I’m reliable as a rock. I’ve got a five-star safety rating and I’m ranked best midsize in my class by J.D. Power and Associates. I don’t have a gold toilet seat. I have a soft, spongy one that hisses whenever I park my keister.”
“There’s only two things I do,” he added. “I kick ass and I take trains. And I don’t see any trains in sight. And that ladies and gentlemen, is no malarkey.”