Impact2020: May 8, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Friday, May 8. A court filing provides additional confirmation that Tara Reade told of harassment in Joe Biden’s Senate office in the 1990s. Meanwhile, Biden’s first virtual Florida event was marred by technical difficulties as he faces his first major ad onslaught from Donald Trump.
On the Ground
Drip, drip, drip
The San Luis Obispo Tribune’s Matt Fountain exclusively obtained a 1996 court document showing that Tara Reade told her ex-husband she was sexually harassed while working in Joe Biden’s Senate office in 1993.
The declaration, written by Reade’s then-husband Theodore Dronen, “does not say Biden committed the harassment nor does it mention Reade’s more recent allegations of sexual assault,” Fountain notes.
Dronen wrote that Reade told him about “a problem she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s office.”
Credit: Donald Thompson, AP
Fountain writes that “it appears to be the only written record that has surfaced from the time that substantiates Reade shared her account in the years following the alleged incident, though a former neighbor came forward last week about similar conversations she said she had with Reade in 1995.”
Biden’s campaign did not provide a new comment on the development. Instead, they passed along a prior statement from Biden’s former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, who said that Reade never came to him at the time regarding these allegations.
Read the full story here. (And make sure to give Matt Fountain a follow on Twitter.)
A Florida fail
Meanwhile, Biden held his first online event specifically aimed at a swing state Thursday in Florida. But as the Tampa Bay Times’ Kirby Wilson reports, it did not go as planned.
The livestream of the virtual rally in Tampa “was beset by technological failures.” Speakers appeared pixelated as their feeds were delayed. “At one point, the stream cut to black with no audio for several minutes. Finally, 40 minutes into the rally, Biden was introduced. A full-seven seconds after his introduction, Biden appeared, not moving. As he leaned against a wall, Biden sported his trademark aviators.”
“I wish we could have done this together and it had gone a little more smoothly,” Biden said. “But, ha, I’m grateful that we’re able to connect virtually.”
Activating the ‘Death Star’
If that wasn’t bad enough for Biden, his campaign and Democratic allies are now getting outspent on airwaves and online.
McClatchy’s David Catanese reports that this week marks the first time this year that forces backing President Donald Trump are significantly eclipsing their Democratic opponents in overall advertising — by around 2-to-1.
“During the first ten days of May, the Trump campaign and its allied America First Action super PAC are deploying $5.3 million in ads nationwide, compared to just over $2 million combined from leading Democratic super PACs, Priorities USA and American Bridge, and … Biden’s campaign, according to data provided to McClatchy by Advertising Analytics.”
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale likened it to a “juggernaut Death Star … firing on all cylinders.”
“The emerging resource gap between two parties spotlights the imminent challenge Biden faces as the Trump campaign begins to unleash millions of additional spending packed with searing attacks in the coming weeks,” Catanese writes. “The ad blitz also comes as Biden is still working at chipping away at a mammoth fundraising deficit to an incumbent, while hamstrung by the constraints imposed by the pandemic.”
Want to know more? Sign up to receive texts about the latest presidential campaign developments from Catanese.
Listen Up
Check out a brand new episode of the Beyond the Bubble podcast, where McClatchy’s Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers and Brian Murphy discuss whether North Carolina is a true presidential battleground and break down the state’s competitive U.S. Senate race.
Beyond the Bubble is available on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
Trail Mix
Election disruption
Nearly 120,000 Georgians have voted in the June 9 primary, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Isaac Sabetai reports. More than 1.2 million registered voters requested mail ballots.
The Missouri Democratic Party is asking the state ethics commission to investigate whether a conservative nonprofit that has targeted the party’s presumptive gubernatorial nominee violated state law and should be forced to disclose its donors, Jason Hancock writes for the Kansas City Star.
Pennsylvania’s counties will be allowed to run the June primary with fewer than half the normal number of poll workers, bringing some relief for election officials, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Lai reports.
Battleground state watch
A group of House Democrats from Florida is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to stop a phased reopening in most of the state, citing testing capacity, Alex Daughtery reports for the Miami Herald.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says he’s still supporting Biden, but won’t say whether he believes Reade’s accusations, the Columbus Dispatch’s Darrel Rowland reports.
Convention watch
Republican National Convention officials have hired a health expert with national security experience to help ensure convention safety for the event still planned for August, the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Morrill reports.
Veepstakes
In an interview with WFTV in Orlando, Biden said Florida Rep. Val Demings “is one of a group of close to a dozen really qualified and talented women who are on the list” for vice president.
Number of the Day
68%
That’s how many Americans who said their greater concern is that state governments will lift coronavirus-related restrictions on public activity too quickly, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. By comparison, 31% said their greater concern is that states will not lift restrictions quickly enough.
For planning purposes
May 8
Vice President Mike Pence visits Iowa
May 12
Nebraska primary
May 19
Idaho and Oregon primaries
May 22
Hawaii primary
What’s in the box?
A C-SPAN clip of Pence’s visit to a health care center in Virginia had people talking after Jimmy Kimmel narrated over a portion showing the vice president asking about empty boxes. The Indianapolis Star has the lowdown on the clip.
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