Coronavirus presents unprecedented challenges to public policy and the electoral process.
Jeff Zeleny at CNN:
The worries over losing the senior vote come as coronavirus cases climb nationwide, four months before the general election. And here in Florida, summertime signs of anxiety are plentiful, as a record-setting 10,109 cases were reported Thursday. The administration's handling of the crisis was raised again and again during interviews with older voters -- a group more vulnerable to serious illness from coronavirus -- here this week. Several people pointed to the pandemic as only their latest disappointment of the Trump presidency, with some using words like "embarrassment" and "laughing stock to the world" to describe their view of the President.
From KHOU in Houston:“He blew it.” pic.twitter.com/ANKrAtV6XZ— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 3, 2020
Ross Ramsey at The Texas Tribune:
President Donald Trump would beat former Vice President Joe Biden in Texas by 4 percentage points if the election were held today, according to a new poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project.
The Republican incumbent’s narrow lead four months before the election suggests Texas, a state where no Democratic presidential candidate has prevailed since 1976, is competitive in 2020.
The poll found 48% of Texas registered voters support Trump, while 44% support Biden. Partisans are sticking with their nominees at this point, with 91% of Republicans saying they’d vote for Trump and 93% of Democrats supporting Biden. Among self-identified independent voters, Trump holds a 41-27 edge over his challenger.
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The pandemic is the most important problem facing the country today, according to 18% of Texas voters, while 15% say political corruption/leadership is the top problem and another 8% put the economy first.
Only 30% of Texas voters think the country is on the right track, compared with 40% who thought so a year ago. Another 62% say the country is on the wrong track, up from 50% in June 2019.Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey at WP:
Vice President Pence’s trip to Arizona this week had to be postponed by a day after several Secret Service agents who helped organize the visit either tested positive for the coronavirus or were showing symptoms of being infected.Ursula Perano at Axios:
Pence was scheduled to go to Phoenix on Tuesday but went on Wednesday instead so that healthy agents could be deployed for his visit, according to two senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private details of the trip.
Arizona has seen a spike in cases in recent weeks, and Pence scaled back the trip before the delay because of the growing amount of infections in the state.
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, 74, has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus less than two weeks after attending President Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Why it matters: Public health officials warned Trump that hosting a large-scale rally last month could bolster the spread of the coronavirus. The campaign did require temperature checks upon entry but did not require attendees to wear face masks. A tweet from Cain, who is the co-chairman of Black Voices for Trump, shows him not wearing a mask during the event.
Six Trump staffers who were part of the advance team in Tulsa tested positive for the coronavirus just hours before the rally. Two Trump staffers who attended the rally have since tested positive.
