Impact2020: March 25, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Wednesday, March 25. Joe Biden begins to form his VP shortlist as he tries to stay in the mix amid the coronavirus pandemic. And Bernie Sanders is planning to stick around for a while.
On the Ground
Biden’s choice
With the presidential campaign essentially on pause and the last Democratic debate seeming like forever ago, you may have forgotten that Joe Biden committed to selecting a woman as his running mate.
Credit: Matt Rourke/AP Photo
Biden said on “The View” that he’s planning to narrow his VP vetting list to “about 11.” It seems pretty clear that African American women, such as Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams, will be at the top of the list. But with Hispanics expected to be the largest nonwhite voting bloc in the 2020 election, shouldn’t a Latina be a possible pick?
McClatchy’s David Catanese writes that “Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, is the first name cited almost universally by Hispanic leaders as a credible contender.”
But they also “concede that Latina women enter the veepstakes process as less likely prospects, rather than top-tier hopefuls — the result of a still-maturing power base that’s yet to be fully realized.”
As Mayra Marcias, the Latino Victory Project’s executive director, puts it: “Black women have been critical to Democratic Party wins and a critical part of the vice president’s coalition. We still have work to do on our end.”
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Sunshine state spotlight
Biden is also searching for ways to re-enter the spotlight as the country’s focus remains squarely on the coronavirus pandemic. Aside from “The View”, he also appeared on CNN and MSNBC Tuesday for interviews from a TV studio his campaign set up at his home in Delaware.
Now he’s injecting himself into the debate over how to respond to the crisis in the key swing state of Florida. The Miami Herald’s David Smiley reports that Biden “became the latest Democrat to criticize Florida’s attempts to halt the spread of novel coronavirus, suggesting Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has sidelined health professionals and failed to protect a state with a large population of vulnerable senior citizens.”
Not done yet
However, Biden has still not technically wrapped up the nomination. And his rival, Bernie Sanders, is signaling that he does not plan to exit the 2020 race anytime soon.
The Vermont senator’s campaign sent out an email to supporters saying “they were ramping up for the next round of primaries with thousands of volunteers phone-banking and organizing” in New York, which is scheduled to vote April 28, the New York Post’s Ebony Bowden reports.
The email read: “In the ramp up to the New York primary, Bernie 2020 … announced full-time state staff and a broadscale digital organizing program throughout the state.”
Trail Mix
Election Disruption
Delaware Gov. John Carney moved the state’s presidential primary from April 28 to June 2, Sarah Gamard reports for the Delaware News Journal. That now makes 13 states and territories that have changed their nominating contest in some form due to the coronavirus.
The Pennsylvania state House approved a proposal that would also postpone the state’s primary from April 28 to June 2, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Lai and Chris Brennan report.
“All of Georgia’s 6.9 million active voters will be mailed absentee ballot request forms for the May 19 primary, a major push to encourage voting by mail,” Mark Niesse writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Nevada election officials are planning to effectively cancel in-person voting and move the state’s primary election on June 9 to mail ballots only,” the Nevada Independent’s Riley Snyder and Jackie Valley report.
Election officials in South Carolina are concerned their local offices may not be able to handle an influx of absentee ballots ahead of the state’s June primaires, Emily Bohatch reports for The State.
March Madness
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina is facing a lawsuit following revelations that dumped up to $1.7 million in stock after private briefings about the coronavirus, the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Morrill notes.
President Donald Trump is hoping to ease many restrictions to combat COVID-19 by Easter. But in Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Parson isn’t sure that’s realistic, Jason Hancock reports for the Kansas City Star. “I hope the president is right,” Parson said. “But the reality is we are planning this much longer than two weeks here in the state of Missouri.”
Swing State Watch
The Texas Democratic Party is shifting “its political organizing program into an online resource for Texans looking for information about the novel coronavirus outbreak in the state,” James Barragán reports for the Dallas Morning News.
Number of the Day
63 percent
That’s how many respondents in a recent survey from “She The People,” an influential group of women of color, said they wanted to see Stacey Abrams as Biden’s VP.
For Planning Purposes
March 25
Biden holds a virtual roundtable with young Americans.
April 4
The Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming contests are held exclusively by mail.
April 7
The Wisconsin primary is still scheduled to take place but some polling places in Milwaukee have closed.
Sometime in April
The DNC says a debate will still happen but hasn’t set an exact date. Sanders’ campaign says he’ll be there if one happens.
Speaking of Sanders…
The Vermont senator wasn’t having it with the fast food giant’s “act of coronavirus solidarity” and shows you that he never misses an opportunity to call out corporate America.
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This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 11:41 AM.