vox--2020-08-17--The all-virtual Democratic National Convention, explained

For the first time in modern United States history , there will be no screaming throngs of delegates cheering at the Democratic National Convention as the party ’ s nominees for president and vice president give their acceptance speeches .
No red , white , and blue balloons and confetti will drop from the ceiling of the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee , Wisconsin .
Instead , former Vice President Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination for president over a live video stream from his home in Delaware — the place he ’ s spent the vast majority of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dramatically reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic .
This year , the Democratic officials and delegates who were supposed to travel to Milwaukee for the party ’ s biggest celebration will have the same view of the Democratic National Convention as everyone else in the country : from their television screens .
All the major networks will carry two hours of programming each night of the DNC — from Monday , August 17 , to Thursday , August 20 — beginning at 9 pm Eastern ; the convention will also be streamed live from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fully virtual convention cements the reality that 2020 isn ’ t really a year for celebrating .
Amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that ’ s claimed more than 165,000 American lives and counting , Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis .
With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump , the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party of responsibility .
“ I ’ ve wanted to set an example as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this crisis , ” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser , talking about the virtual convention .
“ From the start of the process , we ’ ve made it clear .
... Science matters.
” Democrats have known for months that the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question with the coronavirus .
A public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention ’ s in-person capacity to 250 people , but coronavirus cases in Wisconsin are also still on the rise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place , some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19 .
After Trump ’ s June rally in Tulsa , Oklahoma , coronavirus cases in that city surged , and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of the Covid-19 .
Democrats didn ’ t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention .
“ From the very beginning of this pandemic , we put the health and safety of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chair Tom Perez said in a statement .
“ We followed the science , listened to doctors and public health experts , and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives .
That ’ s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves .
And that ’ s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.
” Democrats want one big message to dominate their convention : Where Trump has failed , Biden will lead America out of its current crisis .
“ People care about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe , ” former Virginia Gov .
Terry McAuliffe told Vox .
“ It ’ s a totally different dynamic ; we have one message to come out of that convention.
” Democrats have been planning for a virtual convention for months A national party convention is organized chaos .
Tens of thousands of delegates from every state and territory pack into sports arenas for multiple days .
They cheer , shake hands , hug , and move around in cramped spaces teeming with other people .
Normally , “ you have four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the chair of the 2000 Democratic National Convention , told Vox .
The daily parade of speeches is “ really for the people who are hoping to embellish their résumés , but this is a different election.
” The Democratic National Committee is packing what is normally hours of events into tight , two-hour television segments .
The format will be mostly the same as an in-person convention , but the speeches will be shorter and more sober , given the seriousness of the current moment .
“ Having 5,000 people screaming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment ?
” Alex Lasry , senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks and an instrumental figure in bringing the DNC to his home city , told Vox .
“ This is a very serious time and a very serious moment ; this is something you can ’ t do ad hoc.
” In previous years , the convention would be a moment for party unity and celebration .
This year , Democrats hope their convention conveys how they plan to govern in the Covid-19 era : with responsibility .
“ People are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to pay attention ; I think it ’ s a great opportunity for Joe Biden , ” McAuliffe said .
Democrats have been planning for a virtual convention since April , and the basic question of what would keep convention attendees healthy drove every step , sources familiar with the planning told Vox .
The DNC brought on two epidemiologists to consult from a public health perspective .
And a convention initially meant to draw tens of thousands to Milwaukee was then pared down to no more than 250 people , after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ While we wish we could move forward with welcoming the world to beautiful Milwaukee in two weeks , we recognize protecting the health of our host community and everyone involved with this convention must be paramount , ” Joe Solmonese , CEO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention , said in a statement on Wednesday .
Important Democratic figures like former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were set to deliver their speeches remotely .
But as the summer dragged on with little reprieve and coronavirus cases continued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including the Midwest — holding any type of in-person convention in Milwaukee seemed less and less likely .
The decision ultimately was made to have Biden and his eventual running mate avoid travel to Wisconsin and give their acceptance speeches remotely as well .
Democrats believe their event will provide a stark contrast to the message coming out of Trump ’ s Republican National Convention .
Even the planning of the RNC has been marked by chaos every step of the way ; Republicans first canceled their event in Charlotte , North Carolina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the number of people who could attend the convention , then switched the site of the convention to be outside in sweltering Jacksonville , Florida .
But as coronavirus cases spiked in Jacksonville , Republican officials moved the scaled-down convention back to Charlotte , making their decision in late July .
For now , the RNC is planning for at least one day of in-person events with 336 delegates traveling from across the country , as well as event staff .
RNC attendees will have to comply with a number of health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temperature screening , and mask wearing inside the convention hall .
President Trump is not planning to attend , recently floating the idea of delivering his acceptance speech from the White House — which prompted at least one Republican senator to question the legality of such a move .
“ The way these conventions have been handled has been a look at the kind of leadership of both candidates and both parties , ” Lasry said .
Covid-19 is changing the way conventions are held .
How much does it matter ?
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year to discard the in-person pomp and circumstance of a regular convention , some Democrats told Vox .
Unlike 2016 and 2008 , there ’ s little reconciling that needs to happen between progressives and establishment Democrats .
The common purpose of defeating Trump and getting to work on bringing down coronavirus cases has done that for Democratic factions , and Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders have already collaborated on policy task forces designed to bring moderates and progressives together .
“ One of the big things about bringing closure to the primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we had such an early nominee , ” McAuliffe told Vox .
“ We had closure three months ago.
” But the Democratic National Convention involves a lot more than speeches and party unity .
Important business like the party platform is typically voted on at the conventions , and the event itself provides a chance for delegates and party activists from around the country to meet and organize .
Much of that will still happen on Zoom , but some fear the organic energy will be lost .
“ I totally support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having an in-person convention ; it would have been insane , but what you lose is the 4,000 elected delegates meeting in their parties every morning , ” said longtime DNC member Larry Cohen , board chair of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group Our Revolution .
“ The most important part is the people getting involved in their state parties and meeting every day.
” That party-building will shift to being conducted virtually throughout the election , especially as many Democratic campaigns aren ’ t yet returning to the in-person elements of campaigning like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some state party chairs , including Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb , said if money that was supposed to go to the convention gets reinvested in the state parties , it ’ s a good thing .
“ The national convention has never built a state party , ” Kleeb said .
Kleeb told Vox she ’ s already much happier with how the Biden campaign and national Democrats are partnering with individual state parties , including hers , describing the effort as much more coordinated than it was in 2016 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Nebraska .
“ For me , this is a very bright light at the end of a pretty dark tunnel , ” Kleeb said , adding that Biden ’ s senior staff “ understand the value of a strong state party and they understand the liability of a weak state party.
” Kleeb will be watching the convention from home this year , rather than traveling to Milwaukee as she normally would have .
But for her , the work of Democratic party-building continues in safe ways , texting and calling or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ houses instead of having in-person conversations .
Politics is adapting to the pandemic , and the Democratic National Convention should be no different , Kleeb said .
“ That ’ s the fundamental thing we ask from our public officials is that they just care about us as a person , ” she said .
Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
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Today , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
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Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
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For the first time in modern United States history, there will be no screaming throngs of delegates cheering at the Democratic National Convention as the party’s nominees for president and vice president give their acceptance speeches. No red, white, and blue balloons and confetti will drop from the ceiling of the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Instead, former Vice President Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination for president over a live video stream from his home in Delaware — the place he’s spent the vast majority of his time campaigning virtually during a general election dramatically reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year, the Democratic officials and delegates who were supposed to travel to Milwaukee for the party’s biggest celebration will have the same view of the Democratic National Convention as everyone else in the country: from their television screens. All the major networks will carry two hours of programming each night of the DNC — from Monday, August 17, to Thursday, August 20 — beginning at 9 pm Eastern; the convention will also be streamed live from the DNC’s website.
A fully virtual convention cements the reality that 2020 isn’t really a year for celebrating. Amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that’s claimed more than 165,000 American lives and counting, Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis. With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party of responsibility.
“I’ve wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis,” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser, talking about the virtual convention. “From the start of the process, we’ve made it clear. ... Science matters.”
Democrats have known for months that the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question with the coronavirus. A public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention’s in-person capacity to 250 people, but coronavirus cases in Wisconsin are also still on the rise, and interstate travel comes with risk.
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place, some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19. After Trump’s June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, coronavirus cases in that city surged, and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of the Covid-19. Democrats didn’t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. “We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.”
Democrats want one big message to dominate their convention: Where Trump has failed, Biden will lead America out of its current crisis.
“People care about one thing, they care about being safe,” former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told Vox. “It’s a totally different dynamic; we have one message to come out of that convention.”
Democrats have been planning for a virtual convention for months
A national party convention is organized chaos. Tens of thousands of delegates from every state and territory pack into sports arenas for multiple days. They cheer, shake hands, hug, and move around in cramped spaces teeming with other people.
Now that’s every public health official’s worst nightmare.
Normally, “you have four days of constant programming,” McAuliffe, the chair of the 2000 Democratic National Convention, told Vox. The daily parade of speeches is “really for the people who are hoping to embellish their résumés, but this is a different election.”
The Democratic National Committee is packing what is normally hours of events into tight, two-hour television segments. The format will be mostly the same as an in-person convention, but the speeches will be shorter and more sober, given the seriousness of the current moment.
“Having 5,000 people screaming and partying, does that meet the moment?” Alex Lasry, senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks and an instrumental figure in bringing the DNC to his home city, told Vox. “This is a very serious time and a very serious moment; this is something you can’t do ad hoc.”
In previous years, the convention would be a moment for party unity and celebration. This year, Democrats hope their convention conveys how they plan to govern in the Covid-19 era: with responsibility.
“People are at home, so they’re going to pay attention; I think it’s a great opportunity for Joe Biden,” McAuliffe said.
Democrats have been planning for a virtual convention since April, and the basic question of what would keep convention attendees healthy drove every step, sources familiar with the planning told Vox. The DNC brought on two epidemiologists to consult from a public health perspective. And a convention initially meant to draw tens of thousands to Milwaukee was then pared down to no more than 250 people, after an order from the Milwaukee Health Department.
“While we wish we could move forward with welcoming the world to beautiful Milwaukee in two weeks, we recognize protecting the health of our host community and everyone involved with this convention must be paramount,” Joe Solmonese, CEO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Important Democratic figures like former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were set to deliver their speeches remotely. But as the summer dragged on with little reprieve and coronavirus cases continued to go up in some regions — including the Midwest — holding any type of in-person convention in Milwaukee seemed less and less likely. The decision ultimately was made to have Biden and his eventual running mate avoid travel to Wisconsin and give their acceptance speeches remotely as well.
Democrats believe their event will provide a stark contrast to the message coming out of Trump’s Republican National Convention. Even the planning of the RNC has been marked by chaos every step of the way; Republicans first canceled their event in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the city put a limit on the number of people who could attend the convention, then switched the site of the convention to be outside in sweltering Jacksonville, Florida. But as coronavirus cases spiked in Jacksonville, Republican officials moved the scaled-down convention back to Charlotte, making their decision in late July.
For now, the RNC is planning for at least one day of in-person events with 336 delegates traveling from across the country, as well as event staff. RNC attendees will have to comply with a number of health and safety checks, including travel and temperature screening, and mask wearing inside the convention hall. President Trump is not planning to attend, recently floating the idea of delivering his acceptance speech from the White House — which prompted at least one Republican senator to question the legality of such a move.
“The way these conventions have been handled has been a look at the kind of leadership of both candidates and both parties,” Lasry said.
Covid-19 is changing the way conventions are held. How much does it matter?
In some ways, 2020 is an easier year to discard the in-person pomp and circumstance of a regular convention, some Democrats told Vox.
Unlike 2016 and 2008, there’s little reconciling that needs to happen between progressives and establishment Democrats. The common purpose of defeating Trump and getting to work on bringing down coronavirus cases has done that for Democratic factions, and Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders have already collaborated on policy task forces designed to bring moderates and progressives together.
“One of the big things about bringing closure to the primary wasn’t needed this time because we had such an early nominee,” McAuliffe told Vox. “We had closure three months ago.”
But the Democratic National Convention involves a lot more than speeches and party unity. Important business like the party platform is typically voted on at the conventions, and the event itself provides a chance for delegates and party activists from around the country to meet and organize. Much of that will still happen on Zoom, but some fear the organic energy will be lost.
“I totally support the fact that we’re not having an in-person convention; it would have been insane, but what you lose is the 4,000 elected delegates meeting in their parties every morning,” said longtime DNC member Larry Cohen, board chair of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group Our Revolution. “The most important part is the people getting involved in their state parties and meeting every day.”
That party-building will shift to being conducted virtually throughout the election, especially as many Democratic campaigns aren’t yet returning to the in-person elements of campaigning like door-knocking and field work. Still, some state party chairs, including Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb, said if money that was supposed to go to the convention gets reinvested in the state parties, it’s a good thing.
“The national convention has never built a state party,” Kleeb said.
Kleeb told Vox she’s already much happier with how the Biden campaign and national Democrats are partnering with individual state parties, including hers, describing the effort as much more coordinated than it was in 2016, with more staff even in redder states like Nebraska.
“For me, this is a very bright light at the end of a pretty dark tunnel,” Kleeb said, adding that Biden’s senior staff “understand the value of a strong state party and they understand the liability of a weak state party.”
Kleeb will be watching the convention from home this year, rather than traveling to Milwaukee as she normally would have. But for her, the work of Democratic party-building continues in safe ways, texting and calling or dropping off written notes at voters’ houses instead of having in-person conversations. Politics is adapting to the pandemic, and the Democratic National Convention should be no different, Kleeb said.
“That’s the fundamental thing we ask from our public officials is that they just care about us as a person,” she said.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-17--The Republican speakers at the Democratic convention, explained

On Monday night , the Democratic National Convention will feature something that might seem a little bit odd at a partisan gathering : Republicans .
Former Ohio governor and longtime member of Congress John Kasich will lead the charge , followed by Susan Molinari , who is a former GOP member of Congress from Staten Island , and Meg Whitman , the former eBay and Hewlett-Packard CEO who is now chief executive at the mobile streaming service Quibi .
Cross-party speeches are actually a staple of convention rhetoric , but this round is already attracting criticism from the left — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more broadly because many people on the left don ’ t like Joe Biden very much and never have .
This in turn highlights Biden ’ s fundamental strength as a candidate : He ’ s good at focusing on the actual views of the American electorate , which continues to enjoy hazy gestures of bipartisanship even as politics becomes more polarized .
But it ’ s also a reminder that Biden ’ s efforts to court the left wing of the party and present a united front face daunting fundamental challenges , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left does not trust him on a basic personal level .
Consequently , he can form all the joint policy task forces he wants , but at the end of the day , he is given little running room or benefit of the doubt by his intraparty critics who are primed to see betrayal at every turn .
Who are these people ?
There will be three main GOP speakers at the convention Monday : • John Kasich was a fairly typical Reagan-era House Republican who rose to chair the powerful Budget Committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House following the 1994 midterms .
He left Congress after 2000 , did a not-very-successful stint as a Fox News personality , made a bunch of money at Lehman Brothers , and got elected governor of Ohio in 2010 .
As governor , he accepted the Affordable Care Act ’ s Medicaid expansion money , for which he took a lot of heat from the right , but otherwise governed as a fairly conventional conservative .
In the 2016 primaries he positioned himself in the “ moderate ” lane and , after losing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of a moderate side in various speeches and media appearances .
He actual record , however , remains very right-wing on everything from unions to abortion right and beyond .
• Susan Molinari served two terms in the New York City Council and three in the US House of Representatives , all in districts based on Staten Island .
Her father , Guy Molinari , preceded her in the House seat , which he vacated in order to become borough president , where he was essentially the party boss of the borough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ 90s as one of the more moderate House Republicans , and potentially a rising star of the party ’ s more socially moderate wing , but she unexpectedly quit to work at CBS News and then later joined Rudy Giuliani ’ s consulting firm before becoming a Google lobbyist from 2012 until 2018 .
• Meg Whitman has had a long and distinguished career in corporate America , starting with a stint at Procter & Gamble and ranging from Walt Disney and StrideRite to Florists ’ Transworld Delivery and Hasbro .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as CEO of eBay and later Hewlett-Packard .
She ’ s also been increasingly involved in politics over the past 15 years — as a national co-chair of John McCain ’ s 2008 campaign , as the GOP nominee for governor of California in 2010 , as finance chair of Chris Christie ’ s campaign in 2016 — but has never won anything or even backed a winner .
She ’ s now the CEO of Quibi , a mobile video streaming service .
From a vote-winning standpoint , Kasich , who got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2016 primary cycle , is an okay get for Biden .
He ’ s known to the national media as a thoughtful but decidedly conservative Republican , and he ’ s well-known to voters in Ohio .
If Ohio were still a major battleground state , he ’ d be an excellent get , but politics has evolved to the point where if Ohio is close , Biden is almost certainly winning the Electoral College anyway .
It ’ s doubtful many people know or care who Whitman and Molinari are , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kicked off by Kamala Harris ’ s selection of consolidating Silicon Valley donors behind Biden .
Molinari endorsing Biden could also conceivably be useful to Max Rose , the first-term Democrat who holds what was once Molinari ’ s seat and who ’ s vulnerable given how well Trump did there in 2016 .
In short , these are not earth-shattering endorsements , but Kasich speaking at least creates a clear permission structure for moderate Republicans to follow him into Biden ’ s camp .
The left is mad about this Biden courting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to be clear , is really not that moderate — is causing him to take flak from the left .
The best way to understand this is probably not about Kasich per se , but about a larger fear on the left that Republican elites dissatisfied with Trump are not so much joining the Democratic Party as infiltrating it .
Samuel Moyn , a Yale law professor , recently published an article in the New Republic denouncing entryism by Never Trumpers as a successful strategy for “ centrist containment of the left.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ argument — Sanders lost twice first and foremost because of overwhelming support from black voters for first Hillary Clinton and then Biden and it ’ s hard to believe Never Trump conservative intellectuals were the key cause here .
And it ’ s hardly unknown for a figure on the left to emphasize support from someone despite areas of disagreement — Sanders himself eagerly accepted Joe Rogan ’ s support , even though it angered trans activists upset about Rogan ’ s past comments on trans people .
But it is true that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because he does not share the left ’ s critique of the pre-Trump bipartisan foreign policy consensus .
More broadly , the presence of cross-party endorsers is by no means unusual .
But from a left perspective , a moderate podcast celebrity boosting Sanders is good because it boosts Sanders , whereas a moderate ex-governor boosting Biden is bad because it boosts Biden .
One noteworthy exception that I witnessed in person was a barnburner by Sen. Zell Miller , a Georgia Democrat who earlier in his career had been a well-known New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the years and took a particularly severe swerve after 9/11 , only to end up speaking at the 2004 RNC in New York , where he absurdly slandered John Kerry as wanting to force the US military to defend the country with spitballs .
Joe Lieberman , a Democrat turned independent who caucused with the Democrats , prominently endorsed McCain at the 2008 convention , and though nobody particular remembers Jim Leach and Jim Whitaker ( the GOP mayor of Fairbanks , Alaska ! )
speaking at the 2008 Democratic convention , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to trumpet the support of some GOP politicians .
It seems very unlikely that this sort of thing “ matters ” in any real terms .
Cross-party endorsements are both common enough that it ’ s not hard to find examples , and forgettable enough that a lot of people found the Kasich announcement surprising .
That said , politics is a game of inches , and if Biden can get just a brief mention of the idea that longtime Republicans discomfited by Trump should feel comfortable voting for him , that will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The left , meanwhile , will grumble .
But their problem is really with Joe Biden , not with Kasich .
The left doesn ’ t trust Joe Biden and likely never will Elizabeth Bruenig , a leftist and deeply Biden-skeptical opinion writer for the New York Times , recently penned a column built around her recent conversations about the 2020 campaign with Bernie Sanders .
As she herself concluded , the fundamental reason Sanders is more bullish on the 2020 Democratic ticket than she is is that he knows and likes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As I wrote when the primary wrapped up , there was always a certain amount of folly in the idea that Biden could win over the left with concrete policy concessions because Biden personifies the Democratic Party establishment that the left is convinced is the thing that stands between them and policy victory .
Biden ’ s policy platform is much more progressive than Hillary Clinton ’ s was in 2016 , or than Barack Obama ’ s was in 2008 or Bill Clinton ’ s was in 1992 .
And today ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and even Joe Manchin are well to the left of the likes of Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson .
But the left ’ s diagnosis of the Obama years is that the president betrayed his grassroots supporters in favor of the moneyed interests that supposedly control the Democratic Party and pull the party to the center ( this is not true ) .
This is not an analysis that can really be debunked with policy concessions , since the point of the narrative is that Biden will betray his promises , not that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden-era Democrats have declined to give much succor or comfort to left-wing activists inclined to believe in narratives of betrayal , and to those inclined to believe that a Biden betrayal is coming , the Republican convention speakers offer a useful preview .
To those inclined to believe that Biden ’ s laser focus on assuaging moderates ’ doubts about the Democratic Party has been effective so far , it will be just another example of that success .
Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

On Monday night, the Democratic National Convention will feature something that might seem a little bit odd at a partisan gathering: Republicans.
Former Ohio governor and longtime member of Congress John Kasich will lead the charge, followed by Susan Molinari, who is a former GOP member of Congress from Staten Island, and Meg Whitman, the former eBay and Hewlett-Packard CEO who is now chief executive at the mobile streaming service Quibi.
Cross-party speeches are actually a staple of convention rhetoric, but this round is already attracting criticism from the left — in part on the merits, but more broadly because many people on the left don’t like Joe Biden very much and never have.
We're going to have two Republican conventions this year. https://t.co/44IPIrqUPB — Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 17, 2020
This in turn highlights Biden’s fundamental strength as a candidate: He’s good at focusing on the actual views of the American electorate, which continues to enjoy hazy gestures of bipartisanship even as politics becomes more polarized.
But it’s also a reminder that Biden’s efforts to court the left wing of the party and present a united front face daunting fundamental challenges, because the underlying issue is that the left does not trust him on a basic personal level. Consequently, he can form all the joint policy task forces he wants, but at the end of the day, he is given little running room or benefit of the doubt by his intraparty critics who are primed to see betrayal at every turn.
Who are these people?
There will be three main GOP speakers at the convention Monday:
John Kasich was a fairly typical Reagan-era House Republican who rose to chair the powerful Budget Committee after the GOP seized control of the House following the 1994 midterms. He left Congress after 2000, did a not-very-successful stint as a Fox News personality, made a bunch of money at Lehman Brothers, and got elected governor of Ohio in 2010. As governor, he accepted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion money, for which he took a lot of heat from the right, but otherwise governed as a fairly conventional conservative. In the 2016 primaries he positioned himself in the “moderate” lane and, after losing to Trump, tended to evince even more of a moderate side in various speeches and media appearances. He actual record, however, remains very right-wing on everything from unions to abortion right and beyond.
was a fairly typical Reagan-era House Republican who rose to chair the powerful Budget Committee after the GOP seized control of the House following the 1994 midterms. He left Congress after 2000, did a not-very-successful stint as a Fox News personality, made a bunch of money at Lehman Brothers, and got elected governor of Ohio in 2010. As governor, he accepted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion money, for which he took a lot of heat from the right, but otherwise governed as a fairly conventional conservative. In the 2016 primaries he positioned himself in the “moderate” lane and, after losing to Trump, tended to evince even more of a moderate side in various speeches and media appearances. He actual record, however, remains very right-wing on everything from unions to abortion right and beyond. Susan Molinari served two terms in the New York City Council and three in the US House of Representatives, all in districts based on Staten Island. Her father, Guy Molinari, preceded her in the House seat, which he vacated in order to become borough president, where he was essentially the party boss of the borough. Susan Molinary was seen in the ’90s as one of the more moderate House Republicans, and potentially a rising star of the party’s more socially moderate wing, but she unexpectedly quit to work at CBS News and then later joined Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm before becoming a Google lobbyist from 2012 until 2018.
served two terms in the New York City Council and three in the US House of Representatives, all in districts based on Staten Island. Her father, Guy Molinari, preceded her in the House seat, which he vacated in order to become borough president, where he was essentially the party boss of the borough. Susan Molinary was seen in the ’90s as one of the more moderate House Republicans, and potentially a rising star of the party’s more socially moderate wing, but she unexpectedly quit to work at CBS News and then later joined Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm before becoming a Google lobbyist from 2012 until 2018. Meg Whitman has had a long and distinguished career in corporate America, starting with a stint at Procter & Gamble and ranging from Walt Disney and StrideRite to Florists’ Transworld Delivery and Hasbro. She’s best known for her turns as CEO of eBay and later Hewlett-Packard. She’s also been increasingly involved in politics over the past 15 years — as a national co-chair of John McCain’s 2008 campaign, as the GOP nominee for governor of California in 2010, as finance chair of Chris Christie’s campaign in 2016 — but has never won anything or even backed a winner. She’s now the CEO of Quibi, a mobile video streaming service.
From a vote-winning standpoint, Kasich, who got about 14 percent of the vote in the 2016 primary cycle, is an okay get for Biden. He’s known to the national media as a thoughtful but decidedly conservative Republican, and he’s well-known to voters in Ohio. If Ohio were still a major battleground state, he’d be an excellent get, but politics has evolved to the point where if Ohio is close, Biden is almost certainly winning the Electoral College anyway.
It’s doubtful many people know or care who Whitman and Molinari are, though securing their support continues the trend kicked off by Kamala Harris’s selection of consolidating Silicon Valley donors behind Biden. Molinari endorsing Biden could also conceivably be useful to Max Rose, the first-term Democrat who holds what was once Molinari’s seat and who’s vulnerable given how well Trump did there in 2016.
In short, these are not earth-shattering endorsements, but Kasich speaking at least creates a clear permission structure for moderate Republicans to follow him into Biden’s camp.
The left is mad about this
Biden courting a prominent moderate Republican — one who, to be clear, is really not that moderate — is causing him to take flak from the left.
catch him tonight at the dnc! https://t.co/Oz3SzB1JIL — jordan (@JordanUhl) August 17, 2020
The best way to understand this is probably not about Kasich per se, but about a larger fear on the left that Republican elites dissatisfied with Trump are not so much joining the Democratic Party as infiltrating it.
Samuel Moyn, a Yale law professor, recently published an article in the New Republic denouncing entryism by Never Trumpers as a successful strategy for “centrist containment of the left.”
This seems like a questionable causal argument — Sanders lost twice first and foremost because of overwhelming support from black voters for first Hillary Clinton and then Biden and it’s hard to believe Never Trump conservative intellectuals were the key cause here. And it’s hardly unknown for a figure on the left to emphasize support from someone despite areas of disagreement — Sanders himself eagerly accepted Joe Rogan’s support, even though it angered trans activists upset about Rogan’s past comments on trans people. But it is true that Biden secures support from some ex-Republicans precisely because he does not share the left’s critique of the pre-Trump bipartisan foreign policy consensus.
More broadly, the presence of cross-party endorsers is by no means unusual. But from a left perspective, a moderate podcast celebrity boosting Sanders is good because it boosts Sanders, whereas a moderate ex-governor boosting Biden is bad because it boosts Biden.
Conventions frequently feature cross-party endorsers
Most convention speeches are extremely forgettable.
One noteworthy exception that I witnessed in person was a barnburner by Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat who earlier in his career had been a well-known New South moderate-to-progressive politician. Miller shifted right over the years and took a particularly severe swerve after 9/11, only to end up speaking at the 2004 RNC in New York, where he absurdly slandered John Kerry as wanting to force the US military to defend the country with spitballs.
Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent who caucused with the Democrats, prominently endorsed McCain at the 2008 convention, and though nobody particular remembers Jim Leach and Jim Whitaker (the GOP mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska!) speaking at the 2008 Democratic convention, at the time, Obama was eager to trumpet the support of some GOP politicians.
It seems very unlikely that this sort of thing “matters” in any real terms. Cross-party endorsements are both common enough that it’s not hard to find examples, and forgettable enough that a lot of people found the Kasich announcement surprising. That said, politics is a game of inches, and if Biden can get just a brief mention of the idea that longtime Republicans discomfited by Trump should feel comfortable voting for him, that will be a huge win for his campaign.
The left, meanwhile, will grumble. But their problem is really with Joe Biden, not with Kasich.
The left doesn’t trust Joe Biden and likely never will
Elizabeth Bruenig, a leftist and deeply Biden-skeptical opinion writer for the New York Times, recently penned a column built around her recent conversations about the 2020 campaign with Bernie Sanders.
As she herself concluded, the fundamental reason Sanders is more bullish on the 2020 Democratic ticket than she is is that he knows and likes Joe Biden whereas she does not:
It’s worth mentioning that Mr. Sanders has more faith in Mr. Biden than many of those among the young left, myself included; many politicians will call one another friends behind the podium only to seethe behind the scenes, but not Mr. Sanders. When he says Mr. Biden is his friend, he means it: “Obviously, Joe and I have very strong differences of opinion,” he said, “but I do know, having talked to him, that he is more than aware of the acute, unprecedented crisis facing this country,” a fairly high distinction in the Sandersverse.
As I wrote when the primary wrapped up, there was always a certain amount of folly in the idea that Biden could win over the left with concrete policy concessions because Biden personifies the Democratic Party establishment that the left is convinced is the thing that stands between them and policy victory. Biden’s policy platform is much more progressive than Hillary Clinton’s was in 2016, or than Barack Obama’s was in 2008 or Bill Clinton’s was in 1992. And today’s moderate Democratic senators like Kyrsten Sinema and even Joe Manchin are well to the left of the likes of Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson.
But the left’s diagnosis of the Obama years is that the president betrayed his grassroots supporters in favor of the moneyed interests that supposedly control the Democratic Party and pull the party to the center (this is not true). This is not an analysis that can really be debunked with policy concessions, since the point of the narrative is that Biden will betray his promises, not that he will refuse to make promises.
Biden-era Democrats have declined to give much succor or comfort to left-wing activists inclined to believe in narratives of betrayal, and to those inclined to believe that a Biden betrayal is coming, the Republican convention speakers offer a useful preview.
To those inclined to believe that Biden’s laser focus on assuaging moderates’ doubts about the Democratic Party has been effective so far, it will be just another example of that success.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-17--CNN has Trump nipping at Biden’s heels. ABC has Biden cruising. The truth is in the middle.

A new CNN poll released on the eve of the Democratic National Convention indicates that the lead presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has enjoyed over President Donald Trump in most national polls all but evaporated in recent weeks .
But another one released hours later by ABC and the Washington Post illustrated why .
It ’ s important to put any single survey in context .
A poll conducted by CNN in June had Biden up by a robust 14 percentage points .
But the new poll released Sunday showed his lead among a random national sample of adults slimmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent — a spread nearly within the poll ’ s 3.7 percent margin of error .
“ Across 15 battleground states , the survey finds Biden has the backing of 49 percent of registered voters , while Trump lands at 48 percent , ” CNN ’ s writeup of the poll says , though it doesn ’ t identify which specific states were included in that set .
Some understandably responded to the poll with surprise that a race that seemed Biden ’ s to lose could suddenly be so close , especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of control and with the unemployment rate north of 10 percent .
Others , however — like Greg Sargent of the Washington Post — quickly pointed out that the CNN survey has all the makings of an outlier .
Sargent ’ s view was quickly vindicated .
The ABC News/Washington Post poll of a random national sample of adults released Monday morning showed Biden with a 12 percentage point lead over Trump ( margin of error 3.5 percent ) — a spread more in line with the polling averages like RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8 percentage points .
So Biden appears to still be favored by voters .
But Trump remains in striking range given the structural advantage that the Electoral College gives to Republicans .
Biden ’ s lead has actually stayed remarkably consistent over time Aggregations like those put together by RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight are only as good as the polls they aggregate .
But since any single poll can be off by three or four percentage points , the 30,000-foot view polling averages provide is a better way to get a sense of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data points like the CNN survey showing the race in doubt or the ABC/Post poll showing Biden cruising to a blowout .
The truth of where the race currently lies is likely somewhere in the middle .
With both the CNN and ABC/Post polls included , FiveThirtyEight ’ s daily polling average shifted from an 8.5 point Biden advantage on Sunday to an 8 point advantage on Monday .
In short , Trump may have narrowed the gap slightly , but Biden is still solidly ahead in the polls .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polling aggregation , what ’ s stood out about the Biden-Trump contest so far is how stable Biden ’ s lead has been .
It wouldn ’ t take much to throw the race in doubt , however .
As Hillary Clinton can attest , Biden leading in the polls and perhaps winning the popular vote doesn ’ t mean he ’ ll be the next president .
But as my colleague Ian Millhiser has explained , if Biden ends up winning the popular vote by six points or more — which he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day mirror current polling — it ’ s extremely unlikely that Trump could claim enough swing states and once again prevail in the Electoral College .
Still , election day may not reflect this summer ’ s polls .
As my colleague Li Zhou has explained , polls are snapshots in time rather than predictive tools — and many factors , from low turnout to trouble with mail-in ballots , could mean November ’ s results look radically different than polling currently suggests they will .
Trump is desperate for wins because he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CNN survey is as close as Trump has been to Biden in a reputable survey in quite some time .
So the president predictably took to Twitter to tout it as a major indicator of momentum , contrasting it favorably with a Fox News poll released last week that showed Biden up by 7 percentage points .
Trump , of course , regularly dismisses polls more in line with polling averages , insisting that 2020 will see a reprise of the sort of “ fake polls ” that showed Clinton beating him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Zhou notes , pollsters have tried to correct for errors they made in 2016 , working to include more representative samples , and adjusting their results to account for factors — like educational disparities — in ways they previously did not .
And overall , the idea that polls in 2016 — particularly national ones , like CNN ’ s — were way off isn ’ t completely accurate .
For instance , FiveThirtyEight ’ s final election forecast had Clinton besting Trump in the popular vote by a 48.5 percent to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close to Clinton ’ s actual margin ( 48.2 percent to 46.1 percent ) .
Clinton ’ s largest national FiveThirtyEight lead of that cycle came in August , when she was up 49.1 percent to 41.7 percent against Trump — a spread very similar to Biden ’ s current lead over Trump .
So a lot can still happen between now and November .
But right now , at least , the idea that Trump is nipping at Biden ’ s heels isn ’ t borne out by a full accounting of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

A new CNN poll released on the eve of the Democratic National Convention indicates that the lead presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has enjoyed over President Donald Trump in most national polls all but evaporated in recent weeks. But another one released hours later by ABC and the Washington Post illustrated why. It’s important to put any single survey in context.
A poll conducted by CNN in June had Biden up by a robust 14 percentage points. But the new poll released Sunday showed his lead among a random national sample of adults slimmed all the way down to just 4 percent — a spread nearly within the poll’s 3.7 percent margin of error.
“Across 15 battleground states, the survey finds Biden has the backing of 49 percent of registered voters, while Trump lands at 48 percent,” CNN’s writeup of the poll says, though it doesn’t identify which specific states were included in that set.
Some understandably responded to the poll with surprise that a race that seemed Biden’s to lose could suddenly be so close, especially as the coronavirus continues to rampage out of control and with the unemployment rate north of 10 percent.
This is mind-boggling. 170,000 are dead and it's within the margin of error. https://t.co/FIC3XuO1CF — manu is writing a utopia (@trekonomics) August 17, 2020
That CNN poll showing Biden/Harris up by 4 is the most disturbing thing I’ve seen all day. That 46% think Trump deserves a second term is...disturbing — Karoli #BidenHarris2020 (@Karoli) August 17, 2020
Others, however — like Greg Sargent of the Washington Post — quickly pointed out that the CNN survey has all the makings of an outlier.
God this website is the worst. Four good polls showed Biden up 9, 10 and 11 points in the last few days, and there's a fake freakout about one poll that finds something different. Tell me *why* you're tweeting about that one latter poll as meaningful while ignoring the others. — Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 17, 2020
Sargent’s view was quickly vindicated. The ABC News/Washington Post poll of a random national sample of adults released Monday morning showed Biden with a 12 percentage point lead over Trump (margin of error 3.5 percent) — a spread more in line with the polling averages like RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight showing his advantage in the range of 8 percentage points.
So Biden appears to still be favored by voters. But Trump remains in striking range given the structural advantage that the Electoral College gives to Republicans.
Biden’s lead has actually stayed remarkably consistent over time
Aggregations like those put together by RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight are only as good as the polls they aggregate. But since any single poll can be off by three or four percentage points, the 30,000-foot view polling averages provide is a better way to get a sense of a race than by drawing conclusions from single data points like the CNN survey showing the race in doubt or the ABC/Post poll showing Biden cruising to a blowout.
The truth of where the race currently lies is likely somewhere in the middle. With both the CNN and ABC/Post polls included, FiveThirtyEight’s daily polling average shifted from an 8.5 point Biden advantage on Sunday to an 8 point advantage on Monday. In short, Trump may have narrowed the gap slightly, but Biden is still solidly ahead in the polls.
In fact, as Sargent noted citing FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregation, what’s stood out about the Biden-Trump contest so far is how stable Biden’s lead has been.
What's really remarkable is how steady this race is.
Note that Trump's low point in the recent national polling averages was 41.1, and he's only 1.8 points higher than that now, at 42.9.
That's pretty low.
Meanwhile, Biden has steadily hovered around 50%. pic.twitter.com/CGjfnmCSZF — Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 17, 2020
It wouldn’t take much to throw the race in doubt, however.
As Hillary Clinton can attest, Biden leading in the polls and perhaps winning the popular vote doesn’t mean he’ll be the next president. But as my colleague Ian Millhiser has explained, if Biden ends up winning the popular vote by six points or more — which he would do if the results of election day mirror current polling — it’s extremely unlikely that Trump could claim enough swing states and once again prevail in the Electoral College.
Still, election day may not reflect this summer’s polls. As my colleague Li Zhou has explained, polls are snapshots in time rather than predictive tools — and many factors, from low turnout to trouble with mail-in ballots, could mean November’s results look radically different than polling currently suggests they will.
Trump is desperate for wins because he’s losing
All caveats aside, the CNN survey is as close as Trump has been to Biden in a reputable survey in quite some time. So the president predictably took to Twitter to tout it as a major indicator of momentum, contrasting it favorably with a Fox News poll released last week that showed Biden up by 7 percentage points.
What’s with @CNN POLLS increasing me by 10 points in a short period of time. Maybe they want to take over from @FoxNews! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2020
Trump, of course, regularly dismisses polls more in line with polling averages, insisting that 2020 will see a reprise of the sort of “fake polls” that showed Clinton beating him in 2016.
Here we go with the Fake Polls. Just like what happened with the Election against Crooked Hillary Clinton. ABC, NBC, CNN, @nytimes, @washingtonpost, they all got it wrong, on purpose. Suppression Polls so early? They will never learn! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
That seems unlikely. As Zhou notes, pollsters have tried to correct for errors they made in 2016, working to include more representative samples, and adjusting their results to account for factors — like educational disparities — in ways they previously did not.
And overall, the idea that polls in 2016 — particularly national ones, like CNN’s — were way off isn’t completely accurate. For instance, FiveThirtyEight’s final election forecast had Clinton besting Trump in the popular vote by a 48.5 percent to 44.9 percent margin — a spread very close to Clinton’s actual margin (48.2 percent to 46.1 percent).
Clinton’s largest national FiveThirtyEight lead of that cycle came in August, when she was up 49.1 percent to 41.7 percent against Trump — a spread very similar to Biden’s current lead over Trump. So a lot can still happen between now and November. But right now, at least, the idea that Trump is nipping at Biden’s heels isn’t borne out by a full accounting of the data.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-17--Watch live: The 2020 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is going fully virtual this year .
Rather than days of full programming , the convention will be condensed into two hours of televised speeches spread out from Monday , August 17 , to Thursday , August 20 .
Former Vice President Joe Biden is set to accept his party ’ s nomination on Thursday night from his home in Delaware , rather than the original planned location of Milwaukee , Wisconsin .
Fears about the Covid-19 outbreak and the potential to spread the virus even with a severely reduced crowd caused the Democratic National Committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Starting at 9 Eastern each night , the Democratic convention will be broadcast on all major television networks , social media sites like Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube , and streaming services like Apple TV and Roku .
The convention will also be streamed live from the DNC ’ s website .
The DNC lineup features big Democratic names including former first lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama , Sen. Bernie Sanders , Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , and Sens .
Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren .
The convention will also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gov .
John Kasich , who will deliver an appeal to his fellow Republicans to support Biden for president .
The week will culminate with Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris accepting their nominations to be president and vice president .
The lineup has not been without controversy .
Ocasio-Cortez has been slotted just one minute to deliver remarks on Tuesday .
Many progressives have criticized the decision — she is one of the highest-profile members of the Democratic Party and among its brightest young stars , and she is a compelling speaker .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ her too high a profile would allow Republicans to paint Biden as a “ vessel ” of the left .
The New York Congress member responded by tweeting out a poem by Benjamin E. Mays , “ I have only just a minute , ” which the late Rep. Elijah Cummings recited in his first speech to Congress in 1996 .
There has also been outcry that former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro , the only Latino candidate in the 2020 primary field , won ’ t deliver an address during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was left off the list of speakers , but the entrepreneur said he has since been added .
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been given a slot as well .
Some progressives have expressed dismay at the DNC ’ s apparent prioritization of figures like Bloomberg and Kasich over Castro and Ocasio-Cortez .
But the show goes on .
These bigger names will give speeches Monday through Thursday , alongside American business owners , teachers , factory workers , and front-line health care workers .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at this year ’ s Democratic National Convention ( which is still subject to change ) .
There will be a slate of speakers each night , including former presidents and sitting US senators , governors , and US representatives .
The themes for each day : Here ’ s the list of speakers , broken out by day .
The first night of the convention has the theme of “ We The People , ” with a keynote by former first lady Michelle Obama , which means she will be among the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listed below , with descriptions from the Democratic National Convention ’ s media guidance .
• Everyday Americans will read the preamble to the US Constitution • Rep. Bennie Thompson ( D-MS ) , convention chair and chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security , officially gavels in the 2020 Democratic National Convention • National Anthem performed by a multicultural choir with singers representing all 50 states , the District of Columbia , the Cheyenne Nation and five territories , including Puerto Rico , Guam , American Samoa , the US Virgin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • Invocation by Reverend Gabriel Salguero , President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and co-lead pastor of The Lamb ’ s Church in New York , New York • A conversation on racial justice between Biden , social justice activist Jamira Burley , Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot , Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo , NAACP President Derrick Johnson , and author Gwen Carr , mother of Eric Garner , who was killed by police in 2014 .
• Remarks by Kristin Urquiza , a woman whose father died from Covid-19 • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frontlines of the pandemic • A performance by Maggie Rogers , an American singer-songwriter , introduced by Sara Gideon , Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives • Remarks by former New Jersey Gov .
Christine Whitman , a Republican • Remarks by Meg Whitman , the CEO of Quibi and former CEO of Hewlett Packard who once ran for governor of California as a Republican • Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto ( D-NV ) , chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee • A panel of 2020 Democratic candidates for president including Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris ; Sen. Cory Booker ( D-NJ ) ; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ( D-NY ) ; Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ) ; Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee ; Rep. Seth Moulton ( D-MA ) ; former Rep. Beto O ’ Rourke ( D-TX ) ; businessman Tom Steyer ; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang .
• Keynote address by former first lady Michelle Obama • Benediction by Reverend Dr. Jerry Young , 18th President of the National Baptist Convention • Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , the 2016 Democratic nominee for president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic nomination for president Why the DNC is virtual this year In previous years , the national party convention would be a moment for unity and celebration .
But amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that ’ s claimed more than 163,000 American lives and counting , Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis .
With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump , the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis , ” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser , speaking about the virtual convention .
“ From the start of the process , we ’ ve made it clear .
... Science matters.
” Democrats have known for months that the coronavirus meant the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question .
A recent public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention ’ s in-person capacity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wisconsin are also still on the rise , and interstate travel comes with risk .
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place , some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19 .
After Trump ’ s June rally in Tulsa , Oklahoma , coronavirus cases in that city surged , and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Covid-19 .
Democrats didn ’ t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention .
“ From the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put the health and safety of the American people first , ” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement .
“ We followed the science , listened to doctors and public health experts , and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives .
That ’ s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves .
And that ’ s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.
” Democrats want one message to dominate their convention : Where Trump has failed , Biden will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ People care about one thing : They care about being safe , ” former Virginia Gov .
Terry McAuliffe told Vox .
“ It ’ s a totally different dynamic ; we have one message to come out of that convention.
” Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

The Democratic National Convention has gone fully virtual this year.
Rather than days of full programming, the convention has been condensed into two hours of televised speeches a day spread out from Monday, August 17, to Thursday, August 20. Former Vice President Joe Biden is set to accept his party’s nomination on Thursday night from his home in Delaware, rather than the original planned location of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Fears about the Covid-19 outbreak and the potential to spread the virus even with a severely reduced crowd caused the Democratic National Committee to scrap its in-person Milwaukee convention.
Starting at 9 Eastern each night, the Democratic convention has been broadcast on all major television networks, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and streaming services such as Apple TV and Roku. The convention will also be streamed live from the DNC’s website.
In its first three nights, the DNC lineup featured big Democratic names including former first lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren. Monday, the convention also featured former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who delivered an appeal to his fellow Republicans to support Biden for president. The week will culminate with Biden accepting his nomination to be president on Thursday, one day after Sen. Kamala Harris accepted her vice presidential nomination.
The lineup has not been without controversy. Ocasio-Cortez was given just one minute of speaking time on Tuesday; she served as one of the officials symbolically nominating Sanders, who crossed the delegate threshold for nomination to the ticket.
Many progressives criticized the decision — Ocasio-Cortez is one of the highest-profile members of the Democratic Party and among its brightest young stars, and she is a compelling speaker. But Politico reported moderate Democrats worried giving her too high a profile would allow Republicans to paint Biden as a “vessel” of the left.
The New York Congress member responded by tweeting out a poem by Benjamin E. Mays, “I have only just a minute,” which the late Rep. Elijah Cummings recited in his first speech to Congress in 1996, and ultimately used her limited time to make a compact case for sweeping progressive reforms.
“I only have a minute.
Sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, I did not choose it,
But I know that I must use it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Suffer, if I lose it.
Only a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.”
- Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
(and recited by Elijah Cummings) https://t.co/ul9CE7NriV — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 12, 2020
There has also been outcry that former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, the only Latino candidate in the 2020 primary field, was not invited to deliver an address during the event. Initially, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was left off the list of speakers, but the entrepreneur said he has since been added — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been given a slot as well. Both are expected to speak Thursday evening. Throughout the proceedings, some progressives have expressed dismay at the DNC’s apparent prioritization of figures like Bloomberg and Kasich over Castro and Ocasio-Cortez.
But the show goes on, with these bigger names giving speeches Monday through Thursday, alongside American business owners, teachers, factory workers, and front-line health care workers.
Here’s the lineup of speakers at this year’s Democratic National Convention (which is still subject to change).
The DNC speaker schedule and lineup
There will be a slate of speakers each night, including former presidents and sitting US senators, governors, and US representatives. The themes for each day (and links to our coverage):
Here’s the list of Thursday night’s speakers:
The fourth and final night of the 2020 convention has the theme of “America’s Promise,” and will feature former Vice President Joe Biden officially accepting the nomination for president. Full run-of-show is listed below, with descriptions from the Democratic National Convention’s media guidance.
“This Time Next Year:” A short presentation from a diverse group of Americans on how they imagine their lives one year into a Biden presidency
Remarks by Andrew Yang, American businessman
Introduction by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
Pledge of Allegiance, led by Rep. Cedric Richmond Jr. (D-LA)
National anthem, performed by the Chicks
Invocation by Sister Simone Campbell, American Roman Catholic religious sister
Remarks by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)
Remarks by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
A tribute to John Lewis directed by Dawn Porter, director of the film John Lewis: Good Trouble
Performance by John Legend, American singer-songwriter, and Common, American rapper, actor, and writer
Remarks by Jon Meacham, American writer and author
Remarks by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM)
Remarks by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
Remarks by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
“You Built America”: A conversation between Biden and a panel of union workers from around the US
Remarks by former Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy
Remarks by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
A presentation on Biden’s plan for supporting military families
Remarks by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
A video tribute to Biden’s late son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden
Remarks by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
“United We Stand:” A presentation on Biden’s candidacy from his Democratic primary rivals, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and businessman Andrew Yang
Remarks by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
A short film on the Biden family, focused on Biden’s grandchildren
Remarks by Biden’s daughter and son, Ashley Biden and Hunter Biden
A brief video biography of Biden
Remarks and acceptance speech by Joe Biden
Why the DNC is virtual this year
In previous years, the national party convention would be a moment for unity and celebration. But amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that’s claimed more than 163,000 American lives and counting, Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis.
With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party of responsibility.
“I’ve wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis,” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser, speaking about the virtual convention. “From the start of the process, we’ve made it clear. ... Science matters.”
Democrats have known for months that the coronavirus meant the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question. A recent public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention’s in-person capacity to 250 people, but coronavirus cases in Wisconsin are also still on the rise, and interstate travel comes with risk.
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place, some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19. After Trump’s June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, coronavirus cases in that city surged, and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Covid-19. Democrats didn’t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. “We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.”
Democrats wanted one message to dominate their convention: Where Trump has failed, Biden will lead America out of its current crisis.
“People care about one thing: They care about being safe,” former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told Vox. “It’s a totally different dynamic; we have one message to come out of that convention.”
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-17--“This is exactly what we’ve been warning about”: Why some school reopenings have backfired

Many schools across the US gambled on offering in-person classes in early August , even as their states were still battling uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 .
In some of those schools , it hasn ’ t gone well .
In Georgia ’ s Cherokee County School District , for example , there have been at least 80 positive cases since August 3 , and more than 1,100 students , teachers , and staff have had to quarantine .
At the high school in Paulding County School District , which came to national attention after photos of halls crowded with mostly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and staff have tested positive , forcing the school to adopt a hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning .
In Atlanta , one second-grader tested positive the day after classes started ; the same week , a 7-year-old with no underlying conditions died from the virus .
Scientists have found clear evidence that children , especially those over 12 , can and do transmit the virus , though the disease is generally more mild than in adults .
This means school outbreaks can be a risk for students , teachers , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ districts that reopened are reporting infected students , these initial cases may not have originated in the classroom .
“ For most of these cases in Georgia , schools weren ’ t open long enough for the transmission to be coming from within the schools , ” says Megan Ranney , an emergency physician and the director for the Center for Digital Health at Brown University , who researches pediatric mental health .
Nevertheless , infected students and staff arriving in the first week of school have already prompted shutdowns and quarantines around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half of counties have reported Covid-19 cases in teachers , staff , or students .
What ’ s remarkable is that health experts predicted that cases among young people would surge if schools reopened before community transmission was under control — yet many school districts went ahead anyway .
“ This is exactly what we ’ ve been warning about — when you have high levels of Covid in the community , you will have cases showing up in schools , just because people are catching it out in the community , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not just kids , teachers , and parents who are then at risk — school outbreaks can fan wider outbreaks in communities .
A recent superspreading event in Ohio , for example , found that children between ages 6 and 16 were part of the chain of transmission , passing the virus on to other children and adults .
The World Health Organization recommends that schools open only if fewer than five percent of those tested for the virus over a two-week period are positive .
In the US , the cutoff for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reopening schools currently varies by state , but they all tend to look at similar factors : Oregon , for example , has said counties must have fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people for three weeks before in-person classes resume .
Arizona calls for less than 100 cases per 100,000 , or a two-week decline in cases , as well as meeting other standards like hospital capacity .
For comparison , Georgia has had 189 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days as of August 16 .
( You can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here . )
In Georgia , many schools also reopened despite high positivity rates — the percentage of people being tested for Covid-19 who have a positive result .
Georgia ’ s number of positive tests per 100,000 people were also well above the general threshold that public health experts recommend for in-person activities .
A recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children ’ s Hospital Association found that 97,000 children in the US got Covid-19 in the last two weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or almost one-third of the total number of pediatric cases since the pandemic began .
It ’ s unclear whether this is an increase in actual infections or if more children , who are often asymptomatic , are now being tested as schools reopen .
Since testing overall is still inadequate to control the virus in the US , the CDC says the true incidence of Covid-19 in children is still unknown .
But as Tom Frieden , former director of the CDC , recently tweeted , kids between 5 and 17 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all age groups .
“ Age groups aren ’ t an island , ” he wrote .
“ Spread in any group is a risk to all.
” The US Department of Education is not publicly tracking Covid-19 cases in K-12 schools , numbers of students quarantined , deaths , or school closures .
That led a Kansas teacher to create a crowdsourced Google spreadsheet using media reports to track positive cases of Covid-19 associated with schools in over 40 states .
It shows that more than 2,000 students , faculty , administrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 nationwide since early July , and that teachers have already died in Mississippi , Alabama , and California .
Public health experts at the University of Texas at Austin recently published a report analyzing the likelihood that students and teachers would arrive on the first day of school already infected .
They found it largely depends on the size of the school and how prevalent Covid-19 is in that school ’ s community .
Based on data from mid-July , their model suggests that in Texas , a school of 100 individuals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two Covid-19 cases in the first week , while higher rates in Harris County likely make up four cases .
Hidalgo County , which currently has a 17 percent positive test rate , looks worse yet , with two to eight cases predicted .
( Racial and economic disparities contribute to these differences ; Hidalgo County is 90 percent Latinx and has seen a disproportionate number of Covid-19 cases . )
These numbers are constantly changing , but they show that with high-enough levels of community transmission , you can pretty much guarantee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to school infected , potentially exposing others .
In other countries where data on school-linked outbreaks is more readily available , the impacts of reopening schools have been mixed .
In Denmark , reopening schools for 2- to 12-year-olds didn ’ t make the country ’ s already minimal outbreak worse .
But many precautions were taken to limit transmission .
Denmark reopened elementary schools with extensive safety measures in place , like staggered entry time .
Students were placed in small groups to reduce interaction , and hotels and libraries were utilized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the rate of infection increased after Danish schools reopened , although not enough to keep total cases from declining .
In Israel , new cases have skyrocketed since schools reopened two months ago , but the country also lifted other distancing measures at the same time , making it harder to tease apart the causes .
There are many factors that can make reopening schools safer , like mask-wearing , social distancing , and regular testing , so it ’ s difficult to directly compare different countries ’ school plans .
Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Countries like Vietnam and New Zealand , which have generally done a good job controlling spread , have successfully reopened schools .
Others , with higher community transmission , like Chile , have struggled .
With a new disease , it ’ s important to look at the totality of the emerging body of research on different age groups , rather than individual study results .
For example , a widely cited South Korean study initially reported in July found that adolescents might spread the virus more than adults ; an update @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that some of the teens ’ purported transmission was likely due to families actually sharing outside exposure .
Overall , the sum of evidence — including independent studies from the US , Iceland , and Germany — finds older children may be as likely to spread the virus as adults when infected .
A recent literature review found that “ opening secondary/high schools is likely to contribute to the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
” ( The same review found that children under age 10 may be less susceptible to infection . )
Another review @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing and contact tracing are essential to reopening schools .
That ’ s not possible currently in many US states , which are still seeing positivity rates as high as 23 percent , along with extreme delays in test results .
Chethan Sathya , a pediatric surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the Cohen Children ’ s Medical Center in New York , says that people seem to be missing the point that having an incomplete picture of how Covid-19 impacts kids is not license to send them back to school to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some states , like New York and her home state of Rhode Island , currently have low test positivity , and so it may be safer to reopen schools in those areas .
” The only possible road to reopening schools is with low rates of community transmission , ” she says .
“ Emerging data suggests that it ’ s unsafe to send children and teachers into school buildings , even with safety protocols , if the prevalence of cases in the community is too high , ” she says .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adds , “ it ’ s an ongoing experiment on children and staff.
” Correction : An earlier version of this story stated that Georgia had 2,236 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days as of August 16 .
In fact , it has had 2.236 cumulative cases per 100,000 people and 189 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days .
Lois Parshley is a freelance investigative journalist .
Follow her Covid-19 reporting on Twitter @ loisparshley .
Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asking readers for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

Many schools across the US gambled on offering in-person classes in early August, even as their states were still battling uncontrolled spread of Covid-19.
In some of those schools, it hasn’t gone well.
In Georgia’s Cherokee County School District, for example, there have been at least 80 positive cases since August 3, and more than 1,100 students, teachers, and staff have had to quarantine. At the high school in Paulding County School District, which came to national attention after photos of halls crowded with mostly maskless students went viral, several students and staff have tested positive, forcing the school to adopt a hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning. In Atlanta, one second-grader tested positive the day after classes started; the same week, a 7-year-old with no underlying conditions died from the virus.
Scientists have found clear evidence that children, especially those over 12, can and do transmit the virus, though the disease is generally more mild than in adults. This means school outbreaks can be a risk for students, teachers, and the wider community.
While many school districts that reopened are reporting infected students, these initial cases may not have originated in the classroom. “For most of these cases in Georgia, schools weren’t open long enough for the transmission to be coming from within the schools,” says Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and the director for the Center for Digital Health at Brown University, who researches pediatric mental health.
Nevertheless, infected students and staff arriving in the first week of school have already prompted shutdowns and quarantines around the country; in Mississippi, over half of counties have reported Covid-19 cases in teachers, staff, or students.
What’s remarkable is that health experts predicted that cases among young people would surge if schools reopened before community transmission was under control — yet many school districts went ahead anyway. “This is exactly what we’ve been warning about — when you have high levels of Covid in the community, you will have cases showing up in schools, just because people are catching it out in the community,” says Ranney.
And it’s not just kids, teachers, and parents who are then at risk — school outbreaks can fan wider outbreaks in communities. A recent superspreading event in Ohio, for example, found that children between ages 6 and 16 were part of the chain of transmission, passing the virus on to other children and adults.
The World Health Organization recommends that schools open only if fewer than five percent of those tested for the virus over a two-week period are positive. In the US, the cutoff for what is considered “safe” for reopening schools currently varies by state, but they all tend to look at similar factors: Oregon, for example, has said counties must have fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people for three weeks before in-person classes resume. Arizona calls for less than 100 cases per 100,000, or a two-week decline in cases, as well as meeting other standards like hospital capacity.
For comparison, Georgia has had 189 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days as of August 16. (You can check your own state’s rates at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here.) In Georgia, many schools also reopened despite high positivity rates — the percentage of people being tested for Covid-19 who have a positive result. Georgia’s number of positive tests per 100,000 people were also well above the general threshold that public health experts recommend for in-person activities.
A recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association found that 97,000 children in the US got Covid-19 in the last two weeks of July— representing a 40 percent increase, or almost one-third of the total number of pediatric cases since the pandemic began. It’s unclear whether this is an increase in actual infections or if more children, who are often asymptomatic, are now being tested as schools reopen.
Since testing overall is still inadequate to control the virus in the US, the CDC says the true incidence of Covid-19 in children is still unknown. But as Tom Frieden, former director of the CDC, recently tweeted, kids between 5 and 17 now have the highest positivity rate of all age groups. “Age groups aren’t an island,” he wrote. “Spread in any group is a risk to all.”
The US Department of Education is not publicly tracking Covid-19 cases in K-12 schools, numbers of students quarantined, deaths, or school closures. That led a Kansas teacher to create a crowdsourced Google spreadsheet using media reports to track positive cases of Covid-19 associated with schools in over 40 states. It shows that more than 2,000 students, faculty, administrators, and staff have tested positive for Covid-19 nationwide since early July, and that teachers have already died in Mississippi, Alabama, and California.
Public health experts at the University of Texas at Austin recently published a report analyzing the likelihood that students and teachers would arrive on the first day of school already infected. They found it largely depends on the size of the school and how prevalent Covid-19 is in that school’s community. Based on data from mid-July, their model suggests that in Texas, a school of 100 individuals in Denton County could expect one to two Covid-19 cases in the first week, while higher rates in Harris County likely make up four cases.
Hidalgo County, which currently has a 17 percent positive test rate, looks worse yet, with two to eight cases predicted. (Racial and economic disparities contribute to these differences; Hidalgo County is 90 percent Latinx and has seen a disproportionate number of Covid-19 cases.) These numbers are constantly changing, but they show that with high-enough levels of community transmission, you can pretty much guarantee that at least one person will go to school infected, potentially exposing others.
In other countries where data on school-linked outbreaks is more readily available, the impacts of reopening schools have been mixed. In Denmark, reopening schools for 2- to 12-year-olds didn’t make the country’s already minimal outbreak worse. But many precautions were taken to limit transmission.
Denmark reopened elementary schools with extensive safety measures in place, like staggered entry time. Students were placed in small groups to reduce interaction, and hotels and libraries were utilized as additional class space. Even so, the rate of infection increased after Danish schools reopened, although not enough to keep total cases from declining.
In Israel, new cases have skyrocketed since schools reopened two months ago, but the country also lifted other distancing measures at the same time, making it harder to tease apart the causes. There are many factors that can make reopening schools safer, like mask-wearing, social distancing, and regular testing, so it’s difficult to directly compare different countries’ school plans.
Still, there’s a definite trend: Countries like Vietnam and New Zealand, which have generally done a good job controlling spread, have successfully reopened schools. Others, with higher community transmission, like Chile, have struggled.
With a new disease, it’s important to look at the totality of the emerging body of research on different age groups, rather than individual study results. For example, a widely cited South Korean study initially reported in July found that adolescents might spread the virus more than adults; an update from the same researchers this week found that some of the teens’ purported transmission was likely due to families actually sharing outside exposure.
Overall, the sum of evidence — including independent studies from the US, Iceland, and Germany — finds older children may be as likely to spread the virus as adults when infected. A recent literature review found that “opening secondary/high schools is likely to contribute to the spread of SARS-CoV-2.” (The same review found that children under age 10 may be less susceptible to infection.)
Another review published in The Lancet highlights that adequate testing and contact tracing are essential to reopening schools. That’s not possible currently in many US states, which are still seeing positivity rates as high as 23 percent, along with extreme delays in test results.
Chethan Sathya, a pediatric surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, says that people seem to be missing the point that having an incomplete picture of how Covid-19 impacts kids is not license to send them back to school to find out. Ranney points out that some states, like New York and her home state of Rhode Island, currently have low test positivity, and so it may be safer to reopen schools in those areas. ”The only possible road to reopening schools is with low rates of community transmission,” she says.
“Emerging data suggests that it’s unsafe to send children and teachers into school buildings, even with safety protocols, if the prevalence of cases in the community is too high,” she says. If schools choose to reopen anyway, she adds, “it’s an ongoing experiment on children and staff.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Georgia had 2,236 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days as of August 16. In fact, it has had 2.236 cumulative cases per 100,000 people and 189 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days.
Lois Parshley is a freelance investigative journalist. Follow her Covid-19 reporting on Twitter @loisparshley.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.