Impact2020 Briefing: March 12, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Thursday, March 12. This is McClatchyDC Politics Editor Adam Wollner filling in once again. No debates about which states are in the Midwest today, though. Let’s get right into it.
Of note: The coronavirus pandemic is limiting Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders’ activity this week. But for now, Sunday’s debate and this summer’s conventions are still scheduled to take place.
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On the Ground
‘Weird Times’
The 2020 Democratic presidential race has largely come to a halt amid the coronavirus outbreak. Aside from speeches Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders delivered this afternoon on the pandemic, the candidates have been sidelined from the campaign trail ahead of Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.
Sunday’s debate was moved from Phoenix to CNN’s Washington studio, and will take place without a live audience, the Arizona Republic’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez reports.
In Florida, which has the most delegates to offer on March 17, Biden so far only plans to hold a “virtual” event on the eve of the primary. “[A]t a time the campaign should be bustling, it’s unclear what the Florida campaign will look like — or if it will even matter,” the Miami Herald’s David Smiley writes.
Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Juan Peñalosa summed it up best: “These are weird times.”
But Smiley notes that “there’s little indication that health concerns affect voter turnout.”
“After eight days of early in-person voting and weeks of voting by mail, more than 1.4 million Democrats and Republicans had cast ballots in Florida as of Wednesday,” he reports. “More than 70,000 people voted Tuesday at early voting centers, according to state data.”
The Show Must Go On
This Milwaukee Bucks fan is quite sad that the NBA has suspended its season. But the arena where the league’s best team plays, the Fiserv Forum, is still set to host the Democratic National Convention this summer, according to top party officials.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told the Journal Sentinel: “There will be a convention in Milwaukee. All systems are go.” That echoes comments Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez made this week.
“The convention is expected to bring 50,000 people to Milwaukee when it takes place July 13-16,” Alison Dirr and Mary Spicuzza report. “Six people in Wisconsin have tested positive for coronavirus.”
And as we noted earlier this week, there are no changes as of yet to the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, either.
Trail Mix
March Madness
“Georgia may have missed its moment in the spotlight by pushing back the 2020 presidential primaries,” Greg Bluestein writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The state was originally set to vote with more than a dozen others on March 3 (Super Tuesday), but now has a primary day to itself on March 24. The only problem is the Democratic race may be all but over by then.
A new Telemundo poll finds Sanders leading Biden 47% to 40% among Latinos who are likely to vote in the Arizona primary, Melissa Gomez of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Biden appears to have won every county in Michigan’s presidential primary. “That was especially surprising given that Sanders won all but 10 of Michigan’s 83 counties four years ago,” Todd Spangler writes for the Detroit Free Press.
“Biden’s widespread support in Michigan … offers clues to watch for in next week’s Illinois Democratic presidential primary,” the Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports.
April Showers
Sanders’ disappearing support with rural and working-class voters from 2016 to 2020 is a warning sign for his campaign’s chances in the Pennsylvania primary, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Julia Terruso reports.
Swing State Watch
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari also breaks down how Biden’s big win in the Michigan primary could provide Democrats with a playbook to win back Pennsylvania in the general election.
A new Des Moines Register poll shows President Donald Trump leading Biden and Sanders by double digits in general election matchups in Iowa, Nick Coltrain reports.
Veepstakes
A coalition of progressive women’s groups is pushing the remaining Democratic contenders to select a female vice president, the Boston Globe’s Stephanie Ebbert reports.
Battle for Congress
Democrat Mark Kelly leads GOP Sen. Martha McSally 49% to 42% in a new poll of the Arizona Senate race, Kevin Stone of KTAR News reports.
Number of The Day
16,203
That’s how many votes Biden currently leads Sanders by in Washington state’s primary with 77 percent of precincts reporting.
For Planning Purposes
March 15
Biden and Sanders meet for a head-to-head debate.
March 17
The Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio primaries take place.
“Between you and me. Don’t tell anybody.”
Sanders acknowledged to Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show that Biden can beat Trump in the general election — but that he would have a better chance to do so.
Even More
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This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
