Impact2020: October 8, 2020
The day after the lone vice-presidential debate, the next presidential debate may not happen. In the Impact2020 briefing, we dive into that, as well as the latest developments in the North Carolina Senate race and why Arizona is in the battleground spotlight today.
On the Ground
Tillis goes on the attack
After initially refraining from commenting on Cal Cunningham’s alleged extramarital affair, North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis is now attacking his Democratic opponent on the airwaves. Brian Murphy reports for the Raleigh News & Observer that a new 30-second TV ad calls Cunningham’s campaign “one big lie.”
Using headlines from newspapers and TV newscasts, the ad traces the developments of the personal scandal. Tillis’ campaign manager, Luke Blanchat, said: “The scandal itself shows that Cunningham lacks the judgment and character necessary to be a United States Senator, but his inability to apologize and fully account for his transgressions makes them even worse.
Credit: AP Photo/Gerry Broome, Pool
Late Wednesday, Cunningham “apologized for his personal scandal during his first public appearance since a California woman said she had an affair with him and sexual text messages between the two were published,” Murphy writes.
During a live-streamed event held by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, Cunningham said he was “deeply sorry for the hurt that I have caused in my personal life.” He didn’t address any specifics about the incident, and that he would not be “sidetracked” from the issues important to voters.
Meanwhile, the husband of the woman who confirmed an extramarital affair with Cunningham called on him to drop out of the race, Tara Copp, Ames Alexander and Murphy report.
Cunningham has consistently led in the polls of an election that could determine which party controls the Senate.
“I’m not going to waste my time”
President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t participate in next week’s debate in Miami after the he Commission on Presidential Debates said it would take place virtually, the Miami Herald’s David Smiley and Doug Hanks report.
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” said Trump, who is currently battling COVID-19. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous. And they cut you off whenever they want.”
While the commission said that the change was made “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved,” Trump’s campaign attacked it as a “unilateral” decision, saying he will have tested negative multiple times prior to the debate, Smiley and Hanks write. They also note that Trump’s doctors and administration “have refused to say when the president last tested negative for the virus, making the timeline for his recovery difficult to ascertain.”
Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, called on the commission to push the debate back one week.
“Joe Biden will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on October 15th, as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks,” she said. “Given the President’s refusal to participate on October 15th, we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump Town Hall to October 22nd, so that the President is not able to evade accountability.”
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien agreed that the date should be changed, adding that the commission should also push back a third debate scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tenn., to Oct. 29.
VP debate fallout
The coronavirus pandemic remained at the forefront of last night’s vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, McClatchy’s David Catanese and Michael Wilner write. While outlining five takeaways from the event, the duo noted that “it took on heightened importance due to the unclear health of the president — still recovering from his own coronavirus infection— and the age of the 77-year-old … Biden who, if elected would become the oldest president in U.S. history.”
While Pence took some hits on the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, he largely held his own. Catanese and Wilner pointed to him not answering moderator Susan Page’s request to explain why the U.S. has the highest death rate of the world’s wealthy nations and his false claim that the event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at the White House was held entirely outdoors.
Harris and Pence both diverted away from issues they least comfortable with addressing. For Pence, that was Trump’s plan to protect those with pre-existing conditions. For Harris, “it was the thorny question of whether a President Biden would push to add Supreme Court justices to the bench to even out a conservative majority.” That prompted Pence to interrupt: “If you haven’t figured it out yet, the straight answer: They are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election.”
But in comparison to the chaotic showdown between Trump and Biden last week, this one “was a relatively conventional debate that avoided any harm,” Catanese and Wilner write. And “regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election next month, both Harris and Pence are seen as likely aspirants in the next presidential race” with perhaps “90 minutes of archival footage for each party to study when Pence and Harris mount their own future presidential runs.”
Tune In
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tia Mitchell joins McClatchy’s Kristin Roberts and Adam Wollner on the latest episode of the Beyond the Bubble podcast to discuss Biden’s chances of becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Georgia since 1992. Download and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
Trail Mix
Battleground state watch
Biden, Harris and Pence are all headed today to Arizona, where early voting began Wednesday. The Arizona Republic’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Andrew Oxford have a preview.
The federal government has charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an alleged domestic terrorist plot which also included plans to “storm” the Capitol Building in Lansing, the Detroit Free Press’ Paul Egan and Tresa Baldas report.
“White House chief of staff Mark Meadows hosted a lavish wedding for his daughter in Atlanta this May, despite a statewide order and city of Atlanta guidelines that banned gatherings of more than 10 people to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus,” Patricia Murphy and Greg Bluestein report for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
After Harris and Pence clashed over fracking, the Allentown Morning Call’s Andrew Scott and Stephanie Sigafoos took a closer look at the industry in Pennsylvania and how voters feel about it.
Two of western Pennsylvania’s top officials discouraged Trump from holding an in-person campaign event in Pittsburgh next week after a report that he’s “exploring” the option, Julian Routh reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Fact checks
David Lightman digs into the claim that Biden will raise your taxes if he becomes president for the Sacramento Bee.
And Lightman looked at whether Harris would push for a government takeover of health care, as well as where she stands on legalizing marijuana.
Number of the Day
5
Biden leads Trump by 5 points, 46% to 41%, in Wisconsin among likely voters, according to a new Marquette University Law School poll.
Branding
Biden’s campaign was quick to use the fly on Pence’s head as a way to push for donations but other groups were just as fast to seize on moments from the debate to push a product. This one might also work well for your next Zoom meeting.
For Planning Purposes
Oct. 8
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris travel to Arizona
Vice President Mike Pence travels to Utah and Arizona
Oct. 9
Pence travels to Indianapolis, Ind.
Biden travels to Las Vegas, Nev.
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This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 12:59 PM.