Impact2020: August 21, 2020
In Friday’s Impact2020, we take a look at the themes of the Democratic National Convention and Joe Biden’s speech, Donald Trump’s visit to Pennsylvania as a new poll shows him gaining ground there, and Kanye West’s struggles to qualify for the presidential ballot in key states.
On the Ground
“This is not a partisan moment”
The Democratic national convention wrapped up last night with Joe Biden officially accepting the presidential nomination in a nearly empty room instead of a crowded arena. McClatchy’s David Catanese and Alex Roarty summarized the entire convention with six takeaways, including that Biden “aimed squarely at moderate and Republican-leaning voters who are wary of” Trump and his haphazard response to the pandemic, but unsure if they can ultimately vote for a Democrat.”
In his speech, Biden framed himself as an elder statesman ready to unite and heal a divided country in crisis. “That’s the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party,” Biden said. “This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.”
Credit: Andrew Harnik, AP
As with other speeches during the four-day convention, Biden’s address “mostly avoided policy specifics in favor of outlining a bipartisan governing philosophy,” noted Catanese and Roarty.
“The way in which Biden delivered his speech might ultimately be as important as its content. In a race in which Trump and the GOP have characterized the Democratic nominee as a doddering old man in decline, Biden’s speech was forceful and effective, his voice rising to denounce what he saw as a president who had failed America in ‘unforgivable’ ways.”
Tune in: McClatchy’s Adam Wollner joins Catanese and Roarty on a brand new episode of the Beyond the Bubble podcast to wrap up Biden’s speech and the four-day Democratic convention, and look ahead to next week’s Republican event, where Trump will be renominated. You can download it on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
“Imagine the mayhem”
On the day Biden delivered the biggest speech of his career, Trump made a visit just outside of the Democratic nominee’s hometown of Scranton, Pa., telling a crowd that Biden had “abandoned” the city while he was a senator and vice president, Andrew Seidman reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Trump accused Biden of supporting trade deals that cost American jobs and argued that a Biden presidency would “eliminate manufacturing jobs and spawn a wave of violent crime.”
“If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins of Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town and every single town in America,” Trump said.
Trump’s visit to Pennsylvania “underscored the political stakes in Pennsylvania,” Seidman writes. Though some earlier polls showed Biden with a substantial lead in the battleground state, a new Muhlenberg College/Allentown Morning Call survey showed a slightly tighter race, with Biden at 49% and Trump at 45%.
Brian Murphy reports for the Charlotte Observer that Trump will be in North Carolina on Monday, the same day Republican National Convention delegates renominate him for president in Charlotte.
Mail voting takes center stage
The night before a U.S. Senate hearing on the United States Postal Service, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla spoke at the Democratic convention to “reassure voters his office would make sure mail ballots would be counted — and blast … Trump for trying to slow the process,” David Lightman reports for the Sacramento Bee.
After asserting that “elections changes lives” Padilla took aim at Trump, who has been critical of mail-in balloting and floated delaying Election Day in a tweet. “Despite what he says, Donald Trump can’t cancel it, but he and Republicans are making it too hard for so many to cast their ballots. And now he’s attacking vote-by-mail to distract and confuse voters,” Padilla said during a primetime address with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Padilla advised, ”Don’t let anyone keep you from exercising your sacred vote. Make your plan to vote. Grab your vote and head to the polls the first day they are open.”
Lightman also notes that Padilla, who has been secretary of state since January 2015, is “often mentioned as a potential U.S. Senate successor to Sen. Kamala Harris ... if she wins in November. “
Trail Mix
Battle for Congress
New federal campaign finance filings confirmed suspicions about who was paying for the barrage of television ads Kansans saw before the Aug. 4 U.S. Senate primary. Bryan Lowry has details for the Kansas City Star.
Election disruption
Kanye West’s efforts to qualify for the presidential ballot as an independent candidate are running into more roadblocks. He didn’t qualify in Wisconsin (the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Daniel Bice reports), Ohio (the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jackie Borchardt reports) or his home state of Illinois (the Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports).
Voters in Ada County, Idaho, were erroneously sent a postcard telling them that they hadn’t requested their absentee ballot for November’s general election, when they indeed had done so. The Idaho Statesman’s Hayley Harding explains how that happened.
Bryan Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star that a lawsuit seeks to overturn multiple Missouri election laws, alleging they “create an undue burden on voters trying to safely cast ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Convention watch
Will Harris’ first big speech as a vice presidential candidate motivate women and people of color to vote Democratic? David Lightman takes a look for the Sacramento Bee.
The Republican National Convention is going to test every worker and guest for COVID-19, but the public likely won’t know right away if any of them test positive, the Charlotte Observer’s Hannah Smoot and Alison Kuznitz report.
Number of the Day
8%
Biden leads Trump by 8 points, 51% to 43% in New Hampshire, according to a new St. Anselm College poll.
“I’m just a regular kid”
Brayden Harrington told the Democratic National Convention how he bonded with Biden over a common struggle in a speech people are still talking about.
For Planning Purposes
Aug. 21
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hold a virtual fundraiser
Aug. 24-27
The Republican National Convention takes place
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This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 1:14 PM.