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New polls: PA
Dem pickups: AZ FL GA MI NC PA TX WI
GOP pickups: (None)

And That's a Wrap

Mercifully, after two weeks, convention season is over, and the presidential race can enter the home stretch. Thursday's fourth and final evening of the RNC was as conventional as nights one and three, excepting that the two Trump speeches took place on the South Lawn of the White House as opposed to in a convention hall. Apparently, the gimmickry and surprises that the President spent last weekend sweating over were solely for the second day of the convention. In any event, here are our impressions of the finale:

That's it for our convention commentary. We hope it was useful because, hoo boy, they are dry. And now, the race truly begins. (Z)

In Kenosha, Trump Sees Opportunity

With the presidential race now hitting full throttle, time is running short for Donald Trump. He's trailing in polls with 67 days to the election, and a little more than 20 days until early voting commences. He needs to make up some ground, and fast. If he is still down 10 nationally on, say, Oct. 1, it will probably be too late for him. And the events in Kenosha, along with their effects, seem to present a real opportunity, as Team Trump sees it.

First, let's get up to date on recent developments. The circumstances under which Jacob Blake was shot remain unclear, beyond what is shown in the widely available cell phone video. He's in the hospital, and will be for the foreseeable future. Despite being in no condition to flee, Blake is handcuffed to his hospital bed, which many see as harsh and inappropriate. Meanwhile, unrest in Kenosha and elsewhere continues, with some amount of violence and property destruction. Burning buildings make for compelling TV, so the violence is being covered extensively, whereas the peaceful protests are getting less attention. And finally, the NBA, NHL, and WNBA all suspended play on Thursday, though they will all resume this weekend.

And now, the response from Trump & Co. As we note above, Thursday's RNC was heavy on rhetoric about mobs, cities in crisis, heroic police, and the like, while concurrently very light on mentions of Blake. Donald Trump has personally embraced the latter policy, and has yet to say anything about Blake, or to speak to his family. Meanwhile, the folks who can say things that even the President can't say are already rewriting history. It is quickly becoming a matter of faith on the right that Blake was going for a knife, which is why the police had to shoot him. There is no public evidence, as yet, that this is the case. Meanwhile, the shooter who killed two protesters is being recast as...a hero. Fox News' Tucker Carlson is leading the way on that; he took to the air and wondered: "How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?" That would be an open endorsement of vigilantism for those keeping score at home.

At the same time, there is nothing that Trump and his base like more than a pissing contest with ungrateful athletes, especially black ones. And so, on that front, the administration put on a full-court press on Thursday. Marc Short, the chief of staff to Mike Pence, slammed the NBA protests as "absurd." White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner observed how lucky the NBA players are to have the wealth and the privilege necessary to "take a night off." Pot, meet kettle. Trump himself declared that the NBA has "become like a political organization, and that's not a good thing." He also, as you might expect, derided the league's poor ratings. For reference, a day's worth of NBA games attracts about 12 million viewers, or about the same as the average day of the RNC.

How well this approach will work obviously remains to be seen. Since all the sports leagues are resuming play in a day or two, it's going to be hard to maintain the ungrateful athletes bit much longer. As to running against mobs/urban violence, polling broke heavily in favor of the protesters in early July (after the killing of George Floyd), but has drifted back to pre-Floyd numbers since. During those two months, the President's efforts to frighten voters, particularly suburban women, did not land. Maybe the media's greater focus on violence this time will give Trump a stronger opening. That said, the worst phase of this won't last much longer, and if the political effect of George Floyd faded in 55 days, we're not clear why the same wouldn't happen here. Trump also has the problem that this is not happening in Joe Biden's America, it's happening in Donald Trump's America. In the end, a campaign has to take the opportunities that are available, so this is a politically savvy path to pursue, but it looks like a long shot to us. (Z)

Team Biden Finally Does Some Counter-programming

At the end of the DNC, the Biden campaign promised a week of counter-programming to the RNC. If it happened Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, it was pretty scarce, such that many Democrats were squawking about Team Biden's apparent silence.

The Democratic ticket broke out of its bubble in a big way on Thursday. Biden was ubiquitous on TV, and in particular noted that he has already spoken to Jacob Blake's family, while also opining, apparently correctly, that Donald Trump is "rooting for violence" (see above). Running mate Kamala Harris gave a speech in which she savaged the President's performance on COVID-19: "Donald Trump froze. He was scared. And he was petty and vindictive." She knows that will get under his skin; there's nothing he hates more than to be portrayed as weak. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) even got into the act, sharing her view that there should not be any presidential debates because Donald Trump is not presidential enough to deserve them. This was pretty clearly coordinated in order to give Biden an opportunity to emphasize how very much he wants to debate, and he certainly doesn't agree with the Speaker.

In addition, the Biden campaign paid to air a two-minute ad in many markets during the RNC:



If you don't want to watch the whole thing, we don't blame you, but consider watching the first 10 seconds for some world-class-level trolling.

And speaking of trolling, Biden also announced on Thursday that his campaign managed to grab www.keepamericagreat.com, which means that people who search for the President's 2020 slogan are greeted with a site that runs down exactly which promises he's failed to keep, and how. We continue to be mystified as to how many political campaigns, especially those with millions of dollars at their disposal, fail to lock up all possible domains that might be of value or interest. But these things keep slipping through the cracks. (Z)

This White House May Not Be Transparent, but Its Motives Are

Yesterday, The Washington Post ran their latest piece about how Donald Trump is profiting from his office. Knowing full well that the Secret Service is a captive customer, Mar-a-Lago and other presidential properties are in the habit of hitting the USSS with every fee they can come up with, including resort fees, furniture removal fees, and premium reservation fees (required to secure a room close to the President). The bill thus far totals more than $900,000.

This is hardly the first story the Post has written on this subject; the paper's David A. Fahrenthold won a Pulitzer back in 2017 for his coverage of the general issue. However, the White House has apparently decided to fight back, and has announced that a "dossier" is being compiled on Fahrenthold and other reporters, for "blatantly interfering with the business relationships of the Trump Organization." Like, for example, the "business relationship" between the Trump Organization and the USSS.

If the White House was putting together an actual dossier, presumably of information they believe adverse to Fahrenthold (and the others), they would not announce it publicly. Collecting dirt becomes much harder if your subject is aware of what you're up to. This could be an attempt at intimidation, but a vet like Fahrenthold is not going to be cowed, and the White House knows it. That leaves us with the only plausible explanation: This is a PR stunt meant to underscore the convention's (and the administration's) ongoing message that the media is the enemy of the people. The "dossier," if it ever even existed, has surely already been tossed in the garbage, having served its purpose. (Z)

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Breaks Left

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCOC) is a pro-business lobby. It's right there in their name. And what that has translated to, for generations, is regular support of moderate Republican politicians. That doesn't mean that the USCOC never backs Democrats, but they lean rightward often enough that they are considered an essential part of the Republican fundraising machine, along the lines of the NRA or American Crossroads.

Maybe not anymore, though. The modern GOP has abandoned some of its longstanding economic principles, like budget austerity, and "moderate Republican" is something of a rare bird these days. Meanwhile, some of the Democrats who were first elected in the 2018 wave year—folks like Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI), or Abigail Spanberger (VA)—actually look pretty good, as far as the USCOC is concerned. So, they are preparing to endorse (and give money to) nearly two dozen first-term House Democrats.

It's not quite a done deal yet, as some in the USCOC are pushing back due to their view that the Democratic Party on the whole is not sufficiently pro-business. That said, the leadership of the organization is on board, so it's probably going to happen. Meanwhile, the whole thing is a reminder of: (1) How far right the party of Reagan has veered recently, and (2) that many of the GOP's traditional funding sources, including the USCOC and the NRA, are drying up. Have you heard much from the Koch brother who is still alive (Charles)? We haven't either. We wonder why. If the GOP is going to make a go of it as the Trumpublican Party, they're going to have to find some new donors. (Z)

Japanese PM Is Out

Shinzō Abe is Japan's longest-serving prime minister, with just short of 8 years under his belt since taking office in Dec. 2012, plus another year from 2006-07. He's also had a rough couple years, including both national and personal health crises (COVID-19 and severe colitis, respectively). It would appear that the latter became too much to handle, because late Thursday night (U.S. time), he announced that he will step down, one year before his current term was set to expire.

Abe has generally had a warmer relationship with Donald Trump than any other leader of a major, industrialized democracy. That's a little bit because they have some common political goals, but it's mostly because Abe is a shrewd and pragmatic operator. If Trump is returned to office in November, then he'll have to try to develop a relationship with someone new, which may not be so easy for him. If Joe Biden is elected, then he and the new PM will have something of a "fresh start" to work from, with the possibility that they may try to coordinate on a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (which is, of course, basically an anti-China alliance). (Z)

COVID-19 Diaries: Stasis

A forest fire that is contained is not the same as a forest fire that is out. In the U.S., we seem to have found a balance where the number of COVID-19 cases is kept from exploding, but we are not willing to do enough to really stop the virus. The number of new U.S. cases in June and July seemed to be increasing dramatically (though it never did go back to the exponential growth rate of March). This growth was led by the new hotspots of Texas, Florida, and California. In all three states (after a renewed effort to manage the pandemic), new cases and deaths are no longer on the increase and Texas and Florida are both showing dramatic decreases.

My fear that school openings might provide COVID-19 with a compelling "October surprise" may not materialize. One month ago, the reopening of most schools and universities seemed to be inevitable. If 56 million schoolchildren and 20 million college students were stuffed into classrooms, lecture halls, and other gatherings, it would have destroyed our modest progress and probably placed us back on an exponential growth curve rivaling our experience in March. Some schools did try to reopen and then immediately closed when new cases were discovered.

In a rare example of not ignoring reality, schools and colleges throughout the country are rethinking their reopening plans and most now seem to be proceeding much more cautiously. Trump has declared teachers "essential workers," and his non-binding edict says that teachers should still teach even after potential exposure. It remains to be seen how many schools and universities will volunteer to test how wise such advice might be. My child's local school in New Jersey has elected to start fully online with no face-to-face classes. However, the football team is still out practicing together on the field every morning. I find some priorities hard to explain.

The glass-half-full perspective is that, with fewer people thinking it is all a hoax and more people employing social distancing rules, COVID-19 can be prevented from moving through the population like a raging wildfire. The glass-half-empty perspective is that we are still living in the middle of a wildfire with no end in sight. We are just keeping the flames from getting too high.

In New Jersey, we are still taking COVID-19 very seriously. But it is not enough. The number of new cases/day has been basically flat for the past two months. Hospitalizations are still decreasing but are no longer decreasing dramatically.

Unless Americans agree to increase our level of effort to stop the spread of the disease, the country will find some sort of equilibrium where we only do enough to keep things from getting really bad but never stop it.

It may be possible to stop COVID-19. Both Australia (which I wrote about last week) and New Zealand are taking their recent outbreaks very seriously (though it is hard for me to call New Zealand's total of less than 100 new cases much of an outbreak). The daily new cases in Australia look like things are well on their way to being controlled. Daily new cases in New Zealand look like they never really took off in the first place and are now looking like they are approaching zero once again. If Australia continues its progress and both countries go back to no new cases, then we will have strong evidence that COVID-19 can be defeated. It simply must be decided if it is worth the cost.

It is hard to see any "bright side" when 1000 people/day are dying, millions are out of work and there are whole sectors of the economy that will take years to recover, if they ever do. However, there are some positive things that COVID-19 is doing for us:

  1. No flu season. I have been suspecting this for a while and now there is some nice data. South Africa is having a very mild flu season. The flu has a raw R0 (infectiousness) of only a little over 1. The same behaviors that reduce the experienced R0 of SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) will also reduce the transmission of the flu. However, it is still important to get a flu shot, as flu and COVID-19 symptoms are similar. Anyhow, expect to see a reduction in all respiratory infectious diseases.

  2. Expanded remote delivery of health care services. You don't really need to be face-to-face with a doctor for many medical issues. However, until COVID-19 arose, payers (insurance companies, Medicare) were unwilling to pay for many remote services. It was required for patients to see their doctors face to face in order for the practice to get paid. Things will be more convenient going forward. However, expect to see a charge on your bill the next time you speak to a doctor after hours.

  3. A happier planet. A reduction in driving, flying and all sorts of other activities are improving our air and water quality.

  4. Telecommuting is here to stay. We are finding out that not all jobs require you to be sitting in an office every day. Both employers and employees can realize significant savings. However, telecommuting is mainly available for higher paying jobs, so this benefit is not realized by most low-wage earners.

  5. Remote education is going to transform higher education (and maybe high school as well). Many classes can be taught on a computer terminal rather than in a classroom. Not all classes lend themselves to online delivery (such as hands-on labs) but others may actually work better on a computer. Online classes are still in their infancy, but they will be getting lots of attention this year. The lower cost of online delivery should help to put downward pressure on the cost of higher education.

It would seem that almost everything has at least one or two silver linings. (PD)


Dr. Paul Dorsey, Ph.D., works in medical software, providing software to support medical practices and hospitals nationwide.

Today's Presidential Polls

Pennsylvania is both a linchpin and a bellwether; if Joe Biden wins it by 7, he'll be hard to beat nationwide. (Z)

State Biden Trump Start End Pollster
Pennsylvania 49% 42% Aug 17 Aug 23 Franklin+Marshall Coll.


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