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5. To brief or not to brief?: After holding a press briefing on the fight against the coronavirus almost every day for the last month, President Donald Trump has decided he’s done. For now.
The obvious problem with Trump ending them is that the public is less aware of how the fight against the virus is going. While Trump dominated these daily pressers — especially in recent weeks — there were still always actual updates provided by the likes of Vice President Mike Pence as well as Drs. Anthony Facui and Deborah Birx.
It’s not clear whether the administration will still make these experts available to the public even as Trump retreats from the daily spotlight.
Of course, this is Donald Trump we are talking about. A President more co-dependent on the media than any in history. The real question then may be how long can Trump resist talking to the media before he reverses his current reversal?
The reasons are obvious: She’s a hugely popular figure with liberals nationwide and would help Biden energize that wing of the party come fall.
But increasingly, there’s chatter that picking Warren would come with a major potential downside: Republican Gov. Charlie Baker would be tasked with picking her Senate replacement — and he would almost certainly pick a Republican.
That would hand the GOP a bonus seat at the start of 2021 — and trigger a special election in the summer for Warren’s full term.
The rules in Massachusetts work like this: Baker has the right to appoint an interim senator but also must call a special election for the seats between 145 and 160 days after the vacancy occurs.
If Warren was the VP pick and resigned on the day she and Biden were inaugurated (January 20, 2021), the soonest a special election could be held is Tuesday June 15, 2021, and the latest June 29, 2021.
That would mean that for the first six months of Biden’s presidency, Republicans would have an extra seat, which could be hugely important if the margin for control in the Senate was tight.
Other potential VP picks Sens. Kamala Harris (California) and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) represent states with Democratic governors, making their selections far less problematic for Biden.
3. How long can we stay apart?: With the vast majority of states still adhering to stay-at-home and social distancing guidelines to limit the spread of coronavirus, a clear partisan divide has emerged over how long we can keep it up.
Those numbers are likely to play a role in — if not drive — decisions being made by governors across the country in coming weeks.
They suggest that governors in solidly Republican states may run an increasingly large political risk the longer they keep strict social distancing — and broader quarantine measures — in place.
Of course, the decision on when to reopen a state’s economy isn’t purely a political one. Health considerations, most especially the possibility of a significant bump in coronavirus cases, have to be carefully weighed as well.
But the more Republicans voice frustration with social distancing, the more likely that governors in GOP-friendly states are likely to speed up their calendars to reopen.
2. Biden needs to address the Tara Reade allegations: For weeks, allegations made by Reade, a former Senate staffer, that she was sexually assaulted by the then-Delaware senator in the early 1990s have been circulating in (mostly) conservative circles.
“I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington?” the woman asks King. “My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him.”
Biden has not said anything publicly about these latest allegations, and his press team referred CNN back to a previous statement by deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield: “Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim: it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.”
Given the seriousness of the allegations — and the emergence of the 1993 phone call to Larry King, Biden himself should step forward and address this head-on. Does he remember Reade? Did they ever interact? Had he ever heard of this allegation from her prior to a few weeks ago?
All questions that someone running for president should answer. Remember that Biden isn’t running to be Trump, he’s running, in his words, to restore dignity and honor back to the White House. That process starts here.
1. Republicans are stuck with Trump: As Trump’s job approval ratings sink — after a brief spike at the outset of the coronavirus crisis — members of his party are starting to get skittish about what it means for them at the ballot box this fall.
“Trump’s erratic handling of the coronavirus outbreak, the worsening economy and a cascade of ominous public and private polling have Republicans increasingly nervous that they are at risk of losing the presidency and the Senate if Mr. Trump does not put the nation on a radically improved course.”
True! But the really, truly scary reality for Republicans is not just Trump’s numbers but this: They are attached at the hip with him — no matter what happens in the next six months.
Early in Trump’s presidency, there was occasional acts of rebellion within the ranks — former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake being the most visible — all of which were eliminated after failing to garner any real support among establishment figures wary of Trump.
Now, the die is cast. There is no realistic chance — given how steadfastly the likes of Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (California) have stood behind Trump amid his many, many ups and downs — that they could possibly hope to distance their endangered incumbents from him now.
And that is very bad news for the likes of Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and Maine Sen. Susan Collins — both of whom represent states Trump lost in 2016 — as well as, potentially, Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who represent states where Trump’s winning margin four years ago was narrow.
In the House, Trump’s current numbers — and the inability for any GOP candidate or incumbent to distance themselves from him and his policies — make re-taking the majority in November look, increasingly, like a long shot.
This is the deal Republicans made for themselves three-plus years ago. Now they have to brace for a very large potential downside to it — and one they have very little ultimate control over.
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