Impact2020: July 28, 2020
In today’s Impact2020 briefing, we take a look at President Trump’s trip to North Carolina one month out from the GOP convention, the strict COVID-related requirements in place for Democratic convention attendees, and a fast-tracked bill to address racial inequities.
On the Ground
‘Unleashing American scientific genius’
Zachery Eanes, Brian Murphy and Josh Shaffer report for the Raleigh News & Observer that less than six weeks before absentee ballots can be sent to voters in the mail in North Carolina, President Donald Trump visited the battleground state, lauding the progress made toward a potential coronavirus vaccine.
“We will achieve a victory over the virus by unleashing American scientific genius,” Trump said in his remarks at Fujifilm Diosynth in Morrisville. The company is manufacturing a vaccine for the biotech company Novavax, which was awarded $1.6 billion from the federal government as part of “Operation Warp Speed” to speed up coronavirus vaccine development.
Credit: Evan Vucci, AP
Trump has trailed in recent national polls, with voters disapproving of his administration’s response to the pandemic. And polls in North Carolina also showed him behind Joe Biden among registered voters by an average of 3 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. (For a deeper discussion of the national polls, check out the latest episode of McClatchy’s Beyond the Bubble podcast).
Trump said internal polls indicated that he was leading in North Carolina, and added that many public polls showed him trailing in key swing states in 2016.
Trump now also plans to accept the Republican presidential nomination in North Carolina, but it’s unclear exactly where his speech will happen or if he will speak in front of a crowd, Murphy reports for the Charlotte Observer.
Convention precautions
We now know more about the health precautions that will be taken at the slimmed down Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee from Aug. 17-20.
“Everyone, from presumptive nominee Joe Biden on down, will have to wear a face mask. But Biden and other main speakers will be able to take off their face masks when addressing the convention from the podium, which will be set 20 feet away from other people,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bill Glauber reports.
Questionnaires and daily tests for COVID-19 will also be part of the health protocols for attendees. And there’s more for people traveling into the city, Glauber notes: “Convention organizers are encouraging those traveling from outside Milwaukee to get tested for COVID-19 before they depart. It is required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment during travel, including a face mask.” There are also protocols for departing the city and for time spent outside of the center or hotels.
Fast-tracked after Floyd protests
Congress hasn’t been able to pass a bill to change policing practices in response to nationwide protests after George Floyd’s death, but “a more limited piece of legislation” was approved on Monday, Alex Daugherty reports for the Miami Herald.
The Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act “orders the establishment of a commission as part of the Department of Justice that would study societal forces that have disproportionately affected Black men in America.” The bill, written by Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, would study issues such as “mortality and homicide rates, arrest and incarceration rates, poverty, violence, fatherhood, mentorship, drug abuse, disparate income and wealth levels, school performance at various grade levels, and health.”
GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida co-sponsored the bill, which was first introduced in March 2019, but fast-tracked in Congress after protests erupted across the country after Floyd’s death. The commission of lawmakers and experts — modeled after a Florida commission created in 2006 by Rubio and Wilson when they served in the Florida Legislature — would help Congress come up with policy solutions.
Trail Mix
Battleground state watch
The Miami Herald’s Daniel Chang and David Smiley report that Vice President Mike Pence focused on the rapid development of a vaccine against COVID-19 during his Miami visit.
Next, Pence is scheduled to visit a private school in North Carolina on Wednesday, Jessica Banov reports for the Raleigh News & Observer.
Kanye West’s presidential campaign submitted paperwork to appear on the Missouri ballot, Bryan Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star.
The first presidential debate will now be held in Cleveland on Sept. 29 after the original host, Notre Dame, opted out. The Akron Beacon Journal’s Betty Lin-Fisher has more.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has extended the state’s early voting period for the general election, the Dallas Morning News’ James Barragán reports.
Battle for Congress
Rep. Steve Watkins of Kansas acknowledged he voted in the wrong city council district in 2019, but called it “a mistake, not a felony” in a new interview with Bryan Lowry of the Kansas City Star.
Lowry also has a guide of who is paying for the attack ads in Kansas’ Senate and House races.
COVID action
South Carolina Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler urged his chamber’s Republican leader to call legislators back before September to deal with voter safety, The State’s Maayan Shechter reports.
The Sacramento Bee’s David Lightman has the latest on the Republicans’ proposed cut to coronavirus unemployment benefits.
Number of the Day
3%
Biden leads Trump by 3 points, 47% to 44%, in Minnesota, according to the latest Morning Consult polling.
A ‘terrible’ nickname
Name-calling is an unfortunate and frequent occurrence in politics, but Seth Meyers is really disappointed with Nancy Pelosi’s new nickname for Trump.
For Planning Purposes
July 28
Joe Biden will deliver remarks in Wilmington, Del.
Jill Biden makes a virtual campaign stop in Pittsburgh
July 29
Trump visits Midland, Texas
Pence travels to Raleigh, North Carolina
Joe Biden holds virtual conversation with UnidosUS Action Fund President and CEO Janet Murguía
Jill Biden hosts a virtual campaign event
Stacey Abrams will hold a virtual Biden campaign roundtable in Michigan
July 30
Pence travels to Pennsylvania
July 31
Trump holds a fundraiser in Tampa
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Wisconsin state Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa host a virtual Biden campaign roundtable
Cory Booker hosts a virtual Biden campaign roundtable in Philadelphia
August 1
Trump holds a fundraiser in Miami
August 4
Primaries in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington
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This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 12:43 PM.