 |
| theguardian.com |
Hello Everyone:
The Blogger Candidate Forum is tapping in today and tomorrow with pre- and post-game analysis. If you are an election nerd, like The Candidate Forum, you live for days like this. Only election day is more exciting, speaking of which, voting is underway in some states. The Candidate Forum has a question for you: Have you made a plan?
If you did make a plan to vote, good for you. If you have not made a plan, there are 34 days, 10 hours, and 39 seconds left until Election Day, November 3, 2020. Time to put your skates on and make a plan. You can go to vote.org or text VOTE to 30330. If you can safely vote in-person, make sure you pack provisions (food, beverage, phone charger, mask, hand sanitizer), get in line, and stay in line. You cannot be denied a ballot if you are in line after the polls close. Now then, what urban issues would like to see the candidates discuss?
 |
| The candidates wbur.org |
This evening's first round of debates will focus on some of the most pressing challenges of this year: COVID-19 and the economy to election integrity. No doubt at some point, the nuclear bomb New York Times article will be brought up at some point but The Candidate Forum can only speculate that it will come up with in context to a section on the economy or not. Regardless of when and or if the subject does come up, the COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the dominant theme of themes of the contest.
Real fact first, last week the United States recorded 200,000 pandemic deaths last week, globally it surpassed 1 million and unemployment continuing to climb, Mr. Trump will have to account for his lethally inept response to the pandemic while VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE) will have his first chance to outline his pandemic response. Thus far, we can only speculate about what the Gentleman from Delaware would do differently but The Candidate Forum feels confident in saying it would not be wasting two precious months ignoring it.
 |
| Voters lining up in Wisconsin startribune.com |
The pandemic has also upended the traditional election cycle (to say the very least), sowing very real concerns about the integrity and safety of one of the most hallowed of American institutions. The incumbent president has not helped matters by tweeting or pontificating about nonsense such as voting twice or throwing out ballots. Even worse, rushing to fill a Supreme Court seat in order to possibly throw the election his way. The incumbent president's scare mongering and further threats to the right to vote has made in-person particularly risky for African American and other voters of color. Real fact: BIPOC have "an age-adjusted COVID-19 hospitalization rate about 5.3 times that of non-Hispanic white people. COVID-19 hospitalization rates among non-Hispanic Black people and Hispanic or Latino were both about 4.7 times the rate of non-Hispanic white people" (mayoclinic.org; Aug. 13, 2020; date accessed Sept. 29, 2020). Although many states are expanding their mail-in ballot program in the interest of public health and safety. Health and safety concerns do not seem to be on the mind of the incumbent president's mind given that he has doubled down on his campaign against its legitimacy.
 |
| wbur.org |
At some point during the debate, host and moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News, will steer the conversation towards this summer's wave of protests against police brutality in a segment titled "Race and Violence in Our Cities" (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020). The title of this segment of the debate has rightly drawn criticism for reinforcing the out-dated and, frankly misguided, notion that American cities are crime-infested cesspools and African American are inherently violent (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020). Be that as it may, this anachronistic understanding of urban America implies that the summer of protests against America's long history of systemic racism is holding cities hostage, a narrative that the incumbent president has consistently used to delegitimize the Black Live Matter organization and punish cities that allow the protests to take place. This rationale has found its way into the manner in which law enforcement agencies blame the recent spike in shootings and homicides "on the 'anti-police rhetoric that's permeating our country,'" (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020), according to the Detroit chief of police.
Other subjects up for discussion this evening include the future of the Supreme Court and the candidates' respective records. What is surprisingly not on this evening's agenda is climate change, despite the fact that hurricanes and wildfires ravage cities and polling data suggests that it has become an increasingly important issue for voters. No surprise, previous presidential debates have made little or no mention of the consequences of climate and the racial disparity of those who are the most affected by it.
What should you pay attention to? Both candidates are going into the contest with different incentives. For the incumbent president, it is a much needed chance shake up the race and the Gentleman from Delaware the debate poses risks. He will be facing off against an opponent who can and will of say anything, at any time. Second, how quickly will the debate go from zero to off the rails? In debates with former Secretary of State Hillary, Mr, Trump has demonstrated his ability to draw his opponent into verbal jousting matches over character. VPOTUS Joe Biden has been well-advised and prepared to avoid that mistake. The Gentleman from Delaware can also benefit from lower expectations. For months the incumbent president has be arguing that the Gentleman from Delaware has somehow lost it. Never mind the fact that the incumbent president has a tendency to spew his own version of verbal salad. Fourth, how quickly will the incumbent president get under the Gentleman from Delaware's skin? Mr. Trump has run attack lines about Hunter Biden and allegations against the former vice president of sexual misconduct. Just remember that when he debated Madame Secretary right after that infamous Access Hollywood tape, the now-incumbent president managed to turn it back on to for President Bill Clinton's own history of sexual misconduct. Fifth, shall we be honest? The incumbent president lacks the capability to demonstrate empathy with struggling Americans. Empathy is one of the Gentleman from Delaware's strongest hands and could prove critical. Sixth, we know that the incumbent president frequently spouts claims that have dubious veracity. When Madame Secretary tried to fact check her opponent, it failed. If the Gentleman from Delaware tries to fact check his opponent, he could find himself playing into the incumbent president's hand. If he ignores, the critics will wonder what did VPOTUS Biden let the president get away with. Will there be any fireworks? Stay tuned.
Blogger Candidate Forum will back tomorrow with the post-game analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment