Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - July 20, 2020

Newsletters Daily Brew Weekly Brew Hall Pass

Specialty

Ballot Measure Monthly The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Robe & Gavel

Previous edition

Next edition

July 20, 2020

Biden issues $30 billion plan for reopening schools   July 20, 2020: Kanye West held his first campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. Joe Biden issued a five-point plan to reopen schools. Share the latest from the campaign trail.           Sabato’s Crystal Ball updated its race ratings on July 14, 2020: Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Utah moved from Safe Republican to Likely Republican. Notable Quote of the Day “Put it all together, and Biden currently leads Trump by an average of 9.1 percentage points, according to the FiveThirtyEight national polling average, which isn’t all that different from Biden’s lead one week ago (9.6 points) or even one month ago (9.3 points). … Simply put, since the protests against police violence appeared to erode Trump’s standing at the beginning of the summer, there hasn’t been a lot of action in the race. The campaign is not dominating the headlines, and Trump’s handling of the pandemic — which is dominating the headlines — hasn’t improved in Americans’ eyes. However, the party conventions start in one month, and we can probably expect the presidential campaign to command people’s attention between then and November, pandemic or no. And, of course, developments in the coronavirus crisis — or some other breaking news story that we can’t predict yet, like a scandal — could cause voters to view the candidates in a different light. While Biden’s current lead is robust enough to withstand even a major polling error, there are still three and a half months left for the polling to change.” – Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight Election Updates Joe Biden issued a five-point plan to reopen schools on Friday. He proposed the following policies: control the coronavirus by expanding contact tracing and increasing the supply of PPE, set national safety guidelines and empower local decision-making authority, authorize a $30 billion emergency education package, develop improved remote and hybrid learning models, and invite specialists from several education fields to identify solutions to the COVID-19 educational equity gap. Biden spoke at the Florida Democrat’s Leadership Blue gala on Saturday through a virtual address from Delaware. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Donald Trump said he was prohibited from holding rallies in Michigan, Minnesota, and Nevada. He said, “We're not allowed to have rallies in these Democrat-run states. … I guarantee you, if everything was gone 100%, they still wouldn't allow it.” The Trump campaign began running ads on Facebook calling for TikTok to be banned and saying the app was spying on its users. Trump held his first tele-rally on Friday, where he spoke to supporters through a telephone conference about the coronavirus pandemic, housing regulations, and Biden. The Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump launched a joint campaign, called “Operation Grant,” to target conservative-leaning voters in Ohio. Both groups made six-figure ad buys for network and cable television spots across the Columbus, Akron, and Cincinnati markets. Howie Hawkins spoke on public radio with WRVO on Saturday about his campaign’s appeal to progressives. Jo Jorgensen campaigned in Washington over the weekend, including stops in Spokane and Seattle. During his first campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday, Kanye West said expectant parents should receive up to $1 million in financial support. He also criticized Harriet Tubman, saying she “never actually freed the slaves. She just had the slaves go work for other white people." What We’re Reading CNN: Trump's school reopening push a gamble aimed at White suburban voters The Washington Post: Joe Biden has an enthusiasm problem with Hispanic voters. It’s even worse for Trump. USA Today: The odds stood against Lincoln for reelection as the Civil War raged on. Will history repeat itself in 2020? Flashback: July 20, 2016 The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce endorsed Hillary Clinton.