Daily Archives: June 5, 2020

President Donald Trump is weighing his options after threatening to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina in August. Two Republican governors have offered up their states as alternatives. (May 27) AP Domestic

Metro Phoenix is among at least a half-dozen cities in the running for hosting a revised Republican National Convention after President Donald Trump said Tuesday the GOP is pulling out of Charlotte, North Carolina, after a dispute over crowds during the pandemic.

The move has sent the Republican National Committee scrambling to consider alternate locations. Party officials are finalizing details to scout potential venues in Arizona in the coming days.

Heres what we know so far about the convention, which is scheduled to run from Aug. 24-27, and the possibility it might come here.

Republican Reps. Debbie Lesko and Andy Biggs are pushing hard for it. So is Kelli Ward, the Arizona Republican Party chairwoman.

Lesko has been in contact with the RNC and Mark Meadows, Trumps chief of staff.

The empty exterior leading up to the Gila River Arena after the NHL suspended games due to the coronavirus in Glendale on March 12, 2020.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)

One possibility for any convention events in Arizona would be to hold them at Gila River Arena in Glendale, which is in her congressional district.

Biggs,the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which provided key support for Trump throughout his impeachment proceedings in the House last year, reportedly is reaching out to Trump directly.

If he is, he hasn't said so.

During a news conference on Thursday, Ducey said he hasn't made the issue a priority.

"The president is always welcome in Arizona. I know Ive said that before and Ill continue to say it," he told reporters. "I know theres discussion around the convention. Ive got to be straight up with you ... Ive been focused on the pandemic, the protest, public safety and wildfires.

"This is going to be the presidents decision and his decision alone. So I want him to choose the place that he thinks is to his best advantage on the electoral map."

Ducey went on to note that "Arizona is great at hosting large events. I dont know that theres a place thats better in the entire country."

He then added another health-related warning:

"And I also want to say regardless of the convention or the political party, in the environment were in right now, wherever the convention goes, theres going to be concerns and we would deal with them in turn."

The convention is now in play because Trump could not get the assurance he wanted about allowing traditional crowds from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat.

Cooper maintained that because of the lingering concerns about the new coronavirus it was very unlikely that Republicans could have the convention they originally planned.

Ducey has taken heat throughout the pandemic for being too slow to order the closure of schools, businesses and the economy more broadly, and for being too quick to reopen the economy.

Since Ducey allowedhis shutdown order to expire May 15, and as the state ramped up its testing, the state has seen rising numbers of COVID-19 daily deaths and hospitalizations.

Those numbers could begin to wane, but at least at the moment the convention issue is directly under consideration.Arizonas figures may not be encouraging Ducey to advocate for visitors from across the country.

No.

Traditional conventions are held in one city and include days of debate and voting on the rules and platform the party is going to follow for the next few years.

That more mundane party business gets considerably less attention than the speeches of party luminaries and rising stars, andthe nominations for vice president and president.

The issueis that North Carolina wont allow the giant rally because of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, so the business of the party will be separate from the acceptance speeches.

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Philip Klinker, professor of government at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, likened the acceptance speech component to Trumps campaign rallies.

Im sure they'll do it like Trump rallies. They'll have a number of speakers and then the president comes on and does his thing, he said. It will probably be a little more structured than a Trump rally.

What you want is a large, enthusiastic, adoring crowd and thats built in at a convention in almost every circumstance. And the parties very carefully arrange the convention what is the podium going to look like? At the end of the day, its basically a televised political rally.

Klinker said organizers would not need a substantial amount of lead time to pull off such an event.

Past organizers and local Republicans say it won't be a factor in the decision. The heat will be blazing, but the humidity levels are super low compared with Florida, Tennessee and other cities under consideration in the Southeast.

It is unclear how splitting the convention into two cities would affect the gathering of delegates to formally nominate Trump. One question is whether delegates would have to attend functions in Charlotte and the other city.

For what its worth, the average daily high in August for Phoenix is 105 degrees.

In Orlando, its 92. Miami is 91. Las Vegas is 102. In Nashville, its 89.

The relative humidity, a measure of how moist the air is, shows average August humidity in Phoenix is 36 percent of capacity.

Orlando is 79 percent. Miami is 76 percent. Las Vegas is 26 percent. Nashville has 73 percent.

Arizona is a swing state this year. Polls in Arizona show Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Arizona hasnt gone to a Democrat since 1996. Before that, you have to go back to President Harry Truman in 1948 for Arizona to vote for a Democrat. Thats why national Republicans are worried about the state now and dont want to see it, and the states 11 electoral votes, slip away.

The same polls also spell trouble for Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., in her bid against Democrat Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut. That race is among the few that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate.

A large Republican event could energize the GOP base and generate good news coverage to bolster candidates chances this cycle.

But it could backfire, given the pandemic, Klinker said.

Arizona Republicans are feeling incredibly embattled right now, he said. Its a close state, Bidens leading, Martha McSally is way down in the polls, and the last thing they want is to hold a big rally there and then suddenly get a spike of cases. I mean thats a devastating message.

A spokesman for the Arizona Department of Health Services did not answer that question directly.

Arizona has adopted the federal COVID-19 guidance, Reopening America. Using that criteria, the state is in Phase 1 of reopening and the governors own commitment to that federal guidance means that Arizonans should not gather in groups of more than 10 in a single location, with exceptions such as church.

The governors latest executive order seems to carve out an exception for the democratic process. The order states: Nothing in this order prevents a person from engaging in constitutionally protected activities such as speech and religion or participating in the democratic process.

The state health department reiterates on its website the best way to prevent COVID-19 is to avoid exposure, to avoid close contact with people, to consider wearing face coverings, and to frequently clean and disinfect surfaces and objects. Those at higher risk for severe illnesses should avoid attending events with crowds altogether, it said.

Will Humble, the former state health director, said a convention could be held but only if it was dramatically scaled down and mitigation measures were put into place.

If it has to be like 2016 where its several thousand people in a ballroom for three days and in a big stadium and stage with dry ice coming out, if thats the standard, I dont think you could do it safely, he said.

But he said there is a scenario in which Republicans could place small groups of people in various rooms and then join them virtually to give the feel of a large gathering.

Youd have to do workarounds and have lots of virtual components, Humble said. But if the standard is we have to have everyone in a big giant ballroom like has been happening over the last 100 years, then to do it, youre posing a threat to the community, and the participants."

Conventions are based on a variety of considerations, such as hotel rooms and venues with adequate space for large crowds. But its also based on political considerations, such as whether a state is competitive or whether it builds a helpful narrative for the candidate.

When Charlotte won the 2020 convention in July 2018, the city's host committee had a goal of raising $70 million from various sources to help put on the event, according to the Charlotte Observer.

It's unclear how much is needed or sought from cities in the running to host the revised convention.

Heres how some of the contenders stack up.

Las Vegas: Nevada isnt viewed as especially competitive this year. Democrats are counting on it in November. And, like Phoenix, its hot in the summer. But it is home to a gaming industry that has been generous in its campaign support for Trump.

That city is struggling after the national quarantine, and casino owners, including Trump himself, would probably welcome a boost in traffic.

And few cities can match Las Vegas for hospitality-industry infrastructure.

Miami or Orlando: Florida is also ready for large events more than most states. Trump considers his home in Florida, and his private club, Mar-a-Lago, would allow him to be comfortable in the days leading up to his convention nomination-acceptance speech.

If Republicans actually move their convention from Charlotte, its hard to argue against relocating it to Florida.

Thats because Florida is crucial to Trumps reelection strategy.

Put simply, there is no plausible path to victory for him without it. Polls show Trump faces a critical battle with Biden there. And Biden could make it harder by naming former Orlando police chief Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., as his running mate.

Any late-summer event carries the risk of a major hurricane barreling through Florida, though that hazard can affect far-flung locales, too. The 2008 GOP convention in Minneapolis was shortened by a Florida hurricane.

The NBA announced Thursday it will be returning to play July 31 with 22 teams all playing in Orlando. Its unclear whether that would affect that citys convention prospects.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves before he speaks at an event for the National Federation of Republican Assemblies at Rocketown in Nashville Aug. 29, 2015.(Photo: Jae S. Lee / The Tennessean)

Nashville: Like Las Vegas, Nashville is one of those cities with a strong hospitality-industry presence. The Music City has a long history of putting on good shows. Its also in a safely red state where Trump and the GOP probably wouldnt have to worry about crowd restrictions.

But Tennessee doesnt offer an obvious boost to Trump by being in a swing state or in a location that provides a helpful narrative. The states COVID-19 rate is the highest among the states in contention for the convention, according to figures tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Other cities said to be in the running include Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans and Savannah, South Carolina.

Each of those markets also has its own pluses and minuses.

Georgia, for example, is a state that is getting increasingly competitive for Democrats, and that state has two U.S. Senate races this year. That would make Atlanta a tempting alternative, and its a short connecting flight distance from Charlotte.

But Atlanta may be a difficult choice in the wake of the racial unrest over the George Floyd killing, and New Orleans would mean dealing with another Democratic governor, and traveling to a city that was among the hardest hit by COVID-19.

A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said the timeline of solidifying a decision remains unclear.

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Republican National Convention coming to Phoenix? Here's what we know - AZCentral

In Wisconsins Fond du Lac County, the local GOP chairman, Rohn Bishop, took the rare step of snapping back at the president on Twitter last week, replying to one of Trumps all-caps diatribes about voting by mail with a rant of his own: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT MAIL IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE, Bishop wrote. IN FACT, WE MAY BE ABLE TO USE IT TO HELP OFFSET THE DEMOCRATS EARLY VOTING ADVANTAGES.

I kind of screamed at my computer, Bishop told me when I reached him by phone. Mail-in voting works well in Wisconsin, he said, and helps Republicans in rural parts of the state compete with Democratic strongholds that have more resources to dedicate to in-person early voting. Because rural counties dont open many early-voting locations, voting by mail is more important. I just think we can use it to help [Trump] here, Bishop said.

Read: Americas elections wont be the same after 2020

In rural America, theres a bigger risk to Trumps attacks on mail balloting than merely annoying Republican officials. Trumps rhetoric may inadvertently be suppressing Republican votes, Michael McDonald, an elections expert at the University of Florida, told me. A reluctance among GOP voters to use the system could lead to longer lines at polling sites, which in turn could discourage voter turnout in places where Trump is stronger, especially if the pandemic remains a factor in November, he explained.

The Postal Service could be another problem. Trump is opposed to efforts to shore up the beleaguered agency in preparation for a surge in mail-in ballots. But delays in mail service could disproportionately affect rural areas, especially if Republicans are simultaneously fighting changes that would relax deadlines requiring ballots to be received, and not merely postmarked, by Election Day. More of the rural ballots are getting returned later, McDonald said.

In Pennsylvania, more Democrats than Republicans requested absentee ballots in every county in the run-up to this weeks primary elections, and the surge of late requests prompted Governor Tom Wolf to extend the deadline for returning ballots by a week in several counties, including Philadelphia. That potential for a late surge is exactly whats causing stateswhether led by Republicans or Democratsto prepare for the possibility of a huge demand for mail voting this fall.

And it means that GOP leaders in many of these states are telling their voters to support Trumpand also, implicitly, to ignore him. Were giving people the choice, Gruters, the Florida GOP chairman, told me. If you want to vote by mail, vote by mail.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

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Trump Hates Vote-by-Mail. These Republicans Love It. - The Atlantic

Representative Steve King of Iowa, the nine-term Republican with a history of racist comments who only recently became a party pariah, lost his bid for renomination early Wednesday, one of the biggest defeats of the 2020 primary season in any state.

Mr. King was defeated by Randy Feenstra, a state senator, who had the backing of mainstream state and national Republicans who found Mr. King an embarrassment and, crucially, a threat to a safe Republican seat if he were on the ballot in November.

The loss was most likely the final political blow to one of the nations most divisive elected officials, whose insults of undocumented immigrants foretold the messaging of President Trump, and whose flirtations with extremism led him far from rural Iowa, to meetings with anti-Muslim crusaders in Europe and an endorsement of a Toronto mayoral candidate with neo-Nazi ties.

In interviews over the years, voters in Iowas most conservative region downplayed Mr. Kings incendiary comments. His loss after 18 years in office was mainly because opponents painted him as ineffective after party leaders in Congress stripped him of his committee assignments last year.

That move came after comments that Mr. King made in an interview with The New York Times in 2019, in which he asked, White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization how did that language become offensive?

The remarks caused an uproar. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, told Mr. King to find another line of work.

Instead, Mr. King clung to his seat, claiming to be the victim of Republican insiders and of the news media.

Now Mr. Feenstra, a political and social conservative in a deep-red district in northwest Iowa, is the odds-on favorite to hold the seat against J.D. Scholten, who nearly defeated Mr. King two years ago and ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The belief that Mr. King, who had crushed earlier primary opponents, was vulnerable this year drew four challengers, including Mr. Feenstra; Jeremy Taylor, a former state lawmaker; and two businessmen, Bret Richards and Steve Reeder. All four opponents campaigned as equally conservative as Mr. King on red-meat issues like abortion and gun rights, but they promised more effective representation of the district after Mr. King lost his committee assignments.

Our Fourth District desperately needs a seat at the table, Mr. Feenstra said at a debate last month, calling for the district to have an effective conservative voice.

Although there was a question of whether the four challengers would split voters opposed to Mr. King too many ways and allow him to skate through, Mr. Feenstras margin was decisive, 46 percent to 36 percent for Mr. King.

In comments Mr. King recorded on Facebook after his loss, he said none of his challengers had taken issue with a single statement that I have made during his career, and he urged Iowans to continue to teach our children well about values we care about, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

His defeat, he said, was the result of an effort to push out the strongest voice for full-spectrum constitutional, Christian conservatism in Congress.

Mr. Feenstra promised during the campaign to be an unflagging social and fiscal conservative in Congress. Ill fight with President Trump to build the wall, he said at a candidate forum, boasting that he had voted in the Iowa Senate to ban sanctuary cities and defund Planned Parenthood. As a lawmaker, he co-sponsored a bill to define life as beginning at conception. He ran on his support of Iowas largest tax cut in history, in 2018, which a state Department of Revenue analysis showed aimed the highest benefits to the wealthy.

Mr. Feenstra was the preferred candidate of establishment Republicans, and he easily outraised Mr. King, bringing in $925,800 to Mr. Kings $331,000. He won endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee. And in an extraordinary rebuke of Mr. King by House colleagues, five Republican congressmen donated to Mr. Feenstras campaign.

Anticipating the general election, Mr. Scholten on Wednesday indicated he would run a populist campaign around economic issues, while accusing Mr. Feenstra of siding with corporate donors. Not being Steve King isnt enough for this district, he said. It wont be enough to revitalize rural communities, ensure farmers get a fair price and can stay on their land, or for families to afford health care and save for retirement. We need someone with vision and the ability to bring people together. Thats not Feenstra.

During the primary, Mr. Feenstra refrained from attacking Mr. Kings years of demeaning comments about immigrants he once compared Dreamers to drug mules with calves the size of cantaloupes and instead portrayed the congressman as powerless to help Iowans.

Mr. King, 71, claimed during the campaign that Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, had privately pledged to help him regain his committee assignments. But Mr. McCarthy denied having said any such thing, adding that if the Republican Steering Committee, which decides on committee roles, met again to weigh in on Mr. King, he would not win back his posts.

Even before facing Republican discipline in the House in January 2019 after the Times interview, Mr. King was in electoral trouble. He just barely won re-election in 2018 over Mr. Scholten, a former professional baseball player, by three percentage points in a district Mr. Trump carried by nearly 30 points.

Just before that election, the head of the Republican House campaign arm, Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio, denounced Mr. King for his endorsement of the Toronto mayoral candidate, Faith Goldy, who has espoused white nationalism, and for comments seeming to embrace the Great Replacement, a far-right conspiracy theory. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior, Mr. Stivers said at the time.

A paradox of Mr. Kings career is that, in his anti-immigrant language and policies, he was years ahead of Mr. Trump, who won the presidency by stirring fears about nonwhite immigrants.

Well before Mr. Trump promised to build a wall on the southwest border, Mr. King, who founded an earth-moving company, stood on the House floor and showed off a model of a 12-foot border wall of his own design.

Soon after Mr. Trump took office, he invited Mr. King who even then was snubbed by establishment Republicans like the former House speaker John A. Boehner to the Oval Office. The president boasted to Mr. King of having supported him, and raised money for him during an Iowa visit in 2014, Mr. King told The Times.

In the past, Mr. King routinely won the backing of other Iowa Republicans, including Gov. Kim Reynolds, who named him a co-chair of her 2018 election campaign. He sought to be a kingmaker in presidential politics given Iowas early-voting role. In 2015 he played host to a forum for 2016 hopefuls, including Mr. Trump, who attacked Jeb Bush for saying that immigrants enter the United States in an act of love.

Say what? Mr. Trump said. Half of them are criminals!

For two decades Steve King has been something of the sun in the political universe around here, Douglas Burns, an owner of newspapers in Mr. Kings district, said on Tuesday night. Ill still have to see the eclipse tomorrow to believe these results.

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Steve King, House Republican With a History of Racist Remarks, Loses Primary - The New York Times

Stop me if youve heard this one. Our Republican legislators, for all their faults, are decent, fair-minded folks committed to the common interest its the cesspool of Washington politics that is to blame for the dire straits in which we find our country. Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) argued along such lines at a Stanford in Government event the Thursday before last, contending that most conservative congresspeople are good guys in a bad spot. According to Flake, his erstwhile colleagues traditional though they may be are essentially moral, genuine, just. Many even wish Trump were out of office, replaced by someone a little steadier and a little saner, and this silent majority would curb the excesses of the current administration if only it were electorally tenable to do so. To hear Flake tell it, these are honest men and women caught in a bind, and, if necessary, they will do whats right. Maybe so, maybe so. Yet Flake fails to answer the obvious question: Where are these honorable Republicans now?

Our nation is in the midst of a crisis not seen since World War II. It has rarely been more important for our representatives in government to put their personal incentives aside and defend the life and liberty of those they are sworn to protect. Yet what do we see? Partisan warfare, political waffling, state-sponsored medical malpractice on a massive scale. Hard-heartedness. Racism. And to top it off, a president that encourages violence and a governing party that lets him. Again and again, those trustworthy, noble Republicans roll over on every issue imaginable. Susan Collins, independent-minded feminist, voted for Kavanaugh. Lindsey Graham, friend of Joe Biden, called for a conspiracy-based investigation into Bidens son. Richard Burr profited off the pandemic. Rand Paul attacked the director of the National Institutes of Health. There isnt an ounce of spine or a flicker of empathy among the lot of them, and Flake is naive to think that these people are working for anyone but themselves.

More naive is the idea that the Republican Party can be saved. Flake believes that a resurgence of leadership is all that stands between his former colleagues and moral redemption. A wave of individualist thinkers could sweep away the rot at the core of our politics, and we could all get back to the business of bettering lives. A nice thought. But Flake is mistaken for a reason as simple as it is sad: The modern GOP has ceased to be an instrument for a cogent political ideology. It is not the party of limited government and personal freedom indeed, those principles apply only when the other side is in control. Nor is it the party of social conservatism: The occupant of the White House is proof enough of that. At present, the GOP is merely the party of power, of keeping it and wielding it, of doing whatever it takes to win. It stands for nothing. It means nothing. Its battles are political, and its judgment are amoral, and little matters to it except victories and votes. And that is why Flake is incorrect: No amount of leadership or rugged individualism can rekindle a flame of conscience long-since extinguished.

Nowhere is this abdication of duty more evident than in Republican responses to the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd. Absent are grief or reproach or empathy. Their tears are for the dollar, not the dead, and their every action conveys the disdain they have for the issues at hand. Its Ted Cruz calling peaceful demonstrations an abuse of power. Its Mitch McConnell condoning the tear-gassing of protestors. Its the decades of parliamentary inaction, indifference and ignorance that brought us to this point, and the refusal to engage with police brutality even now. These arent Senators; these are hardly people. They are unrecognizable as public servants, and Flake is wrong to see them as such.

Still, some empathy is warranted. Flake was one of the few partisans to stand up to Trump, and for that he deserves credit. Perhaps his perspective is understandable the man is a conservative, exiled or not, and no one wants to break with their party. But to maintain the fiction that these are just good guys in a bad spot, that Republican complicity is not ruthlessness but weakness, is to entirely underestimate a political organization Flake knows all too well. McConnell said it himself: Its the judges, stupid. The GOP is not standing idly by out of fear of an executive tweet or a primary challenge. They are not afraid of this president. They are enabling him, empowering him, using him for their own ends. Trump is a riot of the American soul, and Republican lawmakers are the true looters, picking through the rubble of a ruined nation for judicial appointments. So tell us, Jeff Flake: Wheres the honor in that?

Contact Sean Casey at spcasey at stanford.edu.

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The myth of the honorable Republican - The Stanford Daily

WASHINGTON In a rare break with President Trump, multiple Senate Republicans on Tuesday faulted his response to civil unrest around the nation, rejecting his move to crack down on demonstrators and rushing to express sympathy with black Americans who have taken to the streets to protest police brutality against them.

The day after Mr. Trump threatened to unleash the United States military to rout protesters around the nation, the reactions of Republicans some condemning the president directly, others carefully suggesting that they held a different view underscored the politically precarious choice they face between endorsing the presidents divisive approach or breaking with him and risking a party backlash just months before the November elections.

There is no right to riot, no right to destroy others property and no right to throw rocks at police, Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, said in a statement. But there is a fundamental a constitutional right to protest, and Im against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the word of God as a political prop.

Mr. Sasse was referring to the remarkable spectacle that unfolded Monday evening when the police fired flash-bang explosive devices and a chemical agent and used officers on horseback to drive away peaceful protesters outside the White House. Minutes later, Mr. Trump strode out and marched across Lafayette Square to brandish a Bible outside St. Johns Episcopal Church, which had been damaged in a fire during unrest the night before.

Mr. Sasses comments echoed those of Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, who denounced the move in unequivocal terms during an event hosted by Politico.

If your question is, Should you use tear gas to clear a path so the president can go have a photo op? the answer is no, Mr. Scott said.

Those rebukes, and much harsher criticism of the presidents actions by Democrats in the House and the Senate, reflected a rising sense of alarm at Mr. Trumps behavior as protests of police violence and racial discrimination reached a boiling point after the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody.

With Democrats demanding a legislative response to the issues underlying Mr. Floyds death, Republicans are facing increasing pressure to back up their critical statements against the president and expressions of concern about persistent racism with something tangible.

We are going to propose and push for bold action, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said Tuesday. What matters is that we respond to a national wave of unrest with action.

This was hardly the first time Republicans on Capitol Hill found themselves pressed to distinguish between their views and those of a president who in times of trouble often seeks the affirmation of his most conservative supporters.

From the moment he took office, Republicans have been called upon to respond to the presidents loaded statements, hyperbolic tweets and scathing criticisms of others as well as his dealings with foreign governments and his positions on harsh immigration measures, trade, congressional authority and other matters. Most Republicans have typically demurred, not wanting to provoke a caustic Twitter attack from the president or alienate party voters devoted to Mr. Trump.

But the current situation may be the most volatile for Republicans yet, with Americans already enduring the twin public health and economic calamities of the coronavirus pandemic almost uniformly outraged at the case of Mr. Floyd, whose brutal death after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes was captured on video. Many Americans in both parties are increasingly unsettled by both the violence stemming from the protests and Mr. Trumps demands that governors and local authorities take a harder line.

With their hold on the Senate to be decided in an election five months away, Republicans will need the votes of suburban and independent voters if they hope to retain seats in states such as Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina and Maine. In a sign of how lawmakers view the political landscape, moderate Democrats in conservative-leaning districts emphatically rejected Mr. Trumps response to the protests in Washington, suggesting that they see little sympathy for the presidents approach among their constituents.

Despite Mr. Trump anointing himself your president of law and order, many Senate Republicans have adopted a much less bellicose attitude, emphasizing the need to get at the root causes of the upheaval racial discrimination and a well-established pattern of excessive use of force by the police rather than targeting protesters.

You can understand the outrage, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, said Tuesday about the national anguish over Mr. Floyds killing. Mr. McConnell, whose hometown, Louisville, was in turmoil over Mr. Floyds death and recent episodes involving the police in Kentucky, said the grievances were legitimate and he did not dispute the role racism played in the events.

There is no question that there is residual racism in America, he told reporters. No question about that. It has been a longtime dilemma, and we all wish we could get to a better place.

But when Mr. Schumer tried to force action on a symbolic resolution to condemn both the violence and Mr. Trumps actions, Mr. McConnell objected, chiding Democrats for pushing a measure that he said addressed neither justice for black Americans nor peace for our country in the face of looting.

Instead, it just indulges in the myopic obsession with President Trump that has come to define the Democratic side, Mr. McConnell said.

Still, other Republicans joined in the criticism of Mr. Trump.

To me at a time like this, the president ought to be trying to calm the nation, said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who is facing a difficult re-election race in a state Mr. Trump plans to visit this week. She said she found it painful to watch peaceful protesters subjected to tear gas so he could go to a church he had visited just once before, and added that Mr. Trump came across as unsympathetic and as insensitive to the rights of people to peacefully protest.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, told reporters that Mondays events did not reflect the America that I know.

I dont think militarization is the answer to the anxiety, the fear, the distrust, the oppression we feel right now, Ms. Murkowski said. It is not the response.

Even Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Mr. Trumps chief Republican defenders, said he had been flummoxed by the presidents actions.

I dont know what the purpose of the trip was, Mr. Graham said. I do know that last night was a bad night and we need less bad nights.

Representative Will Hurd of Texas, the lone black Republican in the House, joined a peaceful protest in Houston on Tuesday evening, marching alongside his constituents and Mr. Floyds family.

What we are showing you today in Houston is that we can be outraged by a black man getting murdered in police custody, Mr. Hurd, who is retiring, said in a video on Twitter. We can be united for change in our society, and we can be thankful that law enforcement is enabling our First Amendment rights.

Other Republicans fell back on their practiced defense, saying they could not make a judgment because they had not seen the incident, while others defended the president, noting that some of the protests had grown violent and given way to looting.

We have to restore order, said Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin. This cant go on. So hopefully, you know, the president talking that way will put a little spine in some of these governors that arent calling out the National Guard, to the extent that they need to to restore order.

Mr. Johnson claimed not to have seen protesters being violently driven back so that Mr. Trump could walk to the church, and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said the episode had been in the eye of the beholder.

Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, commended Mr. Trump, saying, Im glad the president led by going to St. Johns Church. It was the protesters, not the president, who had abused power, Mr. Cruz said.

Democrats moved quickly to try to take political advantage of the public mood.

Its time for John Katko to find the backbone to state clearly whether he stands with President Trump or the clergy denouncing his tear-gassing of Americans peacefully protesting, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement, singling out a third-term moderate Republican from New York who is facing a difficult re-election race in a district Hillary Clinton won in 2016. The committee sent out identical statements about roughly a dozen other endangered House Republicans.

Democrats said they were skeptical that Republicans would be willing to challenge Mr. Trump too aggressively. They said they suspected Republicans would treat the issue as they had gun control in the past, promising action immediately after mass killings but letting the issue pass quietly without action once the uproar subsided.

But Democrats made it clear that they did not intend to let the issue go.

Ive heard words from people on both sides of the aisle, speaking toward the injustice of racism that exists in our country Ive heard words, Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, said in a passionate floor speech. Its on us in this body to do something.

Catie Edmondson contributed reporting.

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In Rare Break, Some Republicans Reject Trumps Harsh Response to Unrest - The New York Times

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George Will is right. Its not enough to boot Donald Trump out of office:

In lifes unforgiving arithmetic, we are the sum of our choices. Congressional Republicans have made theirs for more than 1,200 days. We cannot know all the measures necessary to restore the nations domestic health and international standing, but we know the first step: Senate Republicans must be routed, as condign punishment for their Vichyite collaboration, leaving the Republican remnant to wonder: Was it sensible to sacrifice dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles, if convictions so easily jettisoned could be dignified as principles, for ... what?

.Those who think our unhinged presidents recent mania about a murder two decades ago that never happened represents his moral nadir have missed the lesson of his life: There is no such thing as rock bottom. So, assume that the worst is yet to come.

It has long been my belief that the Republican Party was on the brink of a devastating defeat that would ruin the party for decades. But I was always wrong. Somehow it never happened even though the demographic headwinds were always intensely against them. They kept hanging on, winning elections despite getting worse and worse.

But the same thing is true of all bubbles: they always last longer than anyone thinks they can, which makes the inevitable crash even worse. Republicans probably expected 2016 to be the year of the crash, but thanks to a desperate strategy and some good breaks, they somehow managed to eke out one more win. Unfortunately for them, the price for this was Donald Trump, who was always fated to be the doom of the party. Mitch McConnell knows this, which is why hes so frantically filling judgeships. He knows Republicans are likely to lose in November, and its possible that this is finally the year that they lose the median voter too, entering the same decade-long wilderness that Democrats did in the 1980s.

Trump isnt the only sign of this. The right these days is bereft of ideas. Literally. They have nothing new that they want to accomplish and no particular principles left. They just mechanically accede to whatever Trump happens to be saying this week. The left, by contrast, is brimming with ideas. UBI. National health care. $15 minimum wage. Child care. The revival of labor unions. Taxing the rich. The Green New Deal. Free college tuition. Decriminalization of marijuana. Criminal justice reform. DC statehood. Most of these wont fly, but even if youre a moderate who doesnt care much for Bernie-esque socialism you can still sense the tumult of ideas roiling the progressive movement. Theres life and energy among progressives, while conservatives seem filled only with weariness and hatred. This is not a good foundation for four more years.

Then again, I might be wrong yet again. Maybe the Republican bubble still has some life left in it. Ask me again in November.

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The Republican Party Must Be Routed Mother Jones - Mother Jones

Florida is upping its game to become home field for the Republican National Convention.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry quickly had his hand up, saying his city wants to host the convention, which is apparently crashing out of Charlotte because North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper wont give assurances that coronavirus physical-distancing rules will be lifted for the late August showcase.

Gov. Ron DeSantis remains all-in for bringing the event to Florida, whether it be to Jacksonville, Orlando or Miami-Dade County.

So, this is almost three months out, I think that we probably are going to be able to pull it off, DeSantis said Wednesday while in Orlando.

Unlike Cooper, DeSantis said the convention could be planned for a fully open event. Still, DeSantis didnt give a 100 percent assurance, noting that if the coronavirus flares, changes could be made.

Cooper advised Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Tuesday about the need to plan a "scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings."

Florida, which this week topped 2,500 deaths from the virus, is in a more aggressive reopening mode.

Curry was emphatic in promoting Northeast Florida as being open for business.

We welcome the opportunity to host the @GOPconvention in Jacksonville, Curry tweeted Tuesday. A $100 million local impact event would be important for our city as an event/convention destination. The City is ready for world class events & ready show the world we are open for business.

Orlando, along with Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville, and Las Vegas are reportedly under consideration to scramble to put on the event, which is expected to attract 19,000 delegates, along with staff members, elected officials and reporters. The convention is scheduled from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27.

DeSantis said Orlando would be a good fit just because of the hotel capacity.

Most of the reaction on social media to Curry was, as is the case with social media, negative.

This would be a horrific thing to bring to our city, one commenter replied to Curry. As divided and broken as Jacksonville is, the tension and riots would devastate us.

DeSantis reiterated Wednesday that he is also open to hosting the Democratic convention, even though no overtures have been made about moving that event from Milwaukee.

If (presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe) Biden called me and said they want to do them here, I would support that, because I think the impact to the community, I think, from an economic perspective, would be positive, DeSantis said.

BRING US YOUR PROS

No matter the crisis, superfan DeSantis keeps pushing Florida to roll out the red carpet for the return of professional sports.

While handling the coronavirus and its massive health-care and economic fallout, DeSantis, a former college baseball player, has taken time to keep in contact with leaders of major sports that have been sidelined since March because of the virus.

On Tuesday, a day before it was reported the National Basketball Association planned to use Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando for a 22-team format to restart the season, the governor was on the phone with NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.

DeSantis said Wednesday he couldnt discuss what they talked about, before adding, Let's just say this, that I'm all in from the state's perspective. I don't think you can find a better place than Orlando to do this. I think it's very exciting.

Last week, DeSantis had calls with Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner and Co-Chairman Ed Glazer and Lesa France Kennedy, chief executive officer of Daytona Beach-based International Speedway Corp. and vice chair of the NASCAR Board of Directors.

DeSantis also regularly promoted a late May charity golf matchup in Hobe Sound involving golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and footballs Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

They raised $20 million. This is for people playing golf. Charity. They got 6 million TV viewers for this, DeSantis said Wednesday. So, I think people are hungry for this. And I think the first sport back, if it is the NBA, I think that they're going to be able to bring more and more fans into the fold. And I think, here in Orlando, I think it would be a great place to do it.

DeSantis, in calling Orlando the potential epicenter of the comeback of professional sports, said hes told the same thing to Major League Baseball. However, that maybe a tougher sell as owners and players continue to lock horns over issues such as revenue sharing and the length of a season.

We've told baseball, Florida wants to be a part, DeSantis said. I don't know how you're going to do it. But we would love to be a part of the solution to be able to get that sport going again.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: White House press secretary says video of protester embracing a Florida State Trooper is not being shown in the media. The video was shot exclusively by @WPLGLocal10 and has aired numerous times in our newscasts. - Parker Branton (@ParkerWPLG), a reporter for WPLG in Miami.

_Please follow CDC guidelines and Orange County advisories to stay safe, and please support this free publication. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you news on how coronavirus is affecting Central Florida. Please consider making a one-time or monthly donation. Every little bit helps.

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DeSantis wants to bring Republican National Convention to Miami, Jacksonville or Orlando - Orlando Weekly

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Some national Republicans are boosting Nancy Mace ahead of next weeks primary in SC-01, one of the GOPs top opportunities to flip a House seat.

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A wave of polls out of core battleground states showed Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump, along with a close race in several other states.

A handful of the congressional primaries in Pennsylvania were called on Wednesday, clarifying some of the battleground races in the crucial and slow-counting swing state.

Good Thursday morning. Email me at [emailprotected], or follow me on Twitter at @ZachMontellaro.

Email the rest of the Campaign Pro team at [emailprotected], [emailprotected] and [emailprotected]. Follow them on Twitter: @POLITICO_Steve, @JamesArkin and @allymutnick.

Days until the Georgia, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and West Virginia primaries: 5

Days until the Democratic convention: 74

Days until the Republican convention: 82

Days until the 2020 election: 152

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THE PALMETTO STATE The race to take on freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham in South Carolinas lowcountry is one of the most interesting contests on Tuesday. National Republicans are boosting Mace, whose main main opponent is Kathy Manning, a partially self-funding businesswoman and a local town councilmember. Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox is also running.

Mace is the kind of candidate that Republicans say they want more of, in a House conference that is still overwhelmingly white, older men. Mace, a state lawmaker, was the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, something that features prominently in a lot of her campaign messaging. Shes been elevated over Landing in the NRCCs Young Guns program, and has the endorsement of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The White House has not formally backed Mace, but she got a shoutout from Vice President Mike Pence when he visited The Citadel in February (which has also been featured in an ad from Mace).

And stop me if youve heard this one before the Club for Growth has also gone in big for Mace in the primary. (Has any outside group spent more in GOP primaries this cycle than the Club?) Club for Growth Action has spent nearly $600,000 on the race. A spot that landed on Wednesday from the Club said Landing would be an expensive mistake in Congress. Polling released by the Club in late April had Mace with a big lead (but still a little shy of avoiding a runoff), but we havent seen much in the way of reliable polling since then. Landing has the backing of the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus, but they have come nowhere close to matching the Clubs spending. Another big Landing endorsement: former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Whoever emerges from the primary will go up against Cunningham in a district Trump carried by 13 points in 2016. Cunningham eked out an incredibly narrow victory in 2018 in an open-seat race, and if Republicans are to have any hopes of flipping the lower chamber as NRCC Chair Tom Emmer insists they have districts like SC-01 are must-wins.

But Cunningham wont be a pushover in the district. He is one of the better fundraisers out of all the freshmen Democrats in a wave year, in a class thats just absolutely loaded with money-printing machines. Hes raised a whopping $3.7 million since the beginning of the cycle and was sitting on over $2.6 million in the bank, as of late May. Mace has been a solid fundraiser herself: Shes raised a bit under $1.4 million and had $560,000 squirreled away for the stretch run of the primary.

Republican Nancy Mace is trying to win her primary on Tuesday in one of the country's most competitive House races. | AP Photo

POLLS POLLS POLLS A trio of Fox News polls in battleground states are all good for Biden. In Wisconsin, Biden leads Trump, 49 percent to 40 percent (801 registered voters; May 30-June 2; +/- 3.5 percentage point MOE). Theres a tight race in Ohio, where Biden is at 45 percent to 43 percent for the president (803 registered voters; May 30-June 2; +/- 3.5 percentage point MOE). And across the country in Arizona, the former vice president is at 46 percent to 42 percent for Trump (1,002 registered voters; May 30-June 2; +/- 3 percentage point MoE).

And a new poll out of Texas yes, Texas has the presidential race within the margin of error. In the Quinnipiac University poll, Trump is at 44 percent, to 43 percent for Biden (1,166 self-identified registered voters; May 28-June 1; +/- 2.9 percentage point MOE). Alas, no Senate ballot-test here.

And a Monmouth University national poll has a wide lead for Biden. In the poll of registered voters, Biden is at 52 percent to 41 percent for Trump (742 registered voters; May 28-June 1; +/- 3.6 percentage point MOE).

NOT HOW IT WORKS Trump tried to register to vote in Florida in Sept. 2019 listing the White House as his legal residence which created a potential problem for Trump: Florida law requires voters to be legal residents of the state, The Washington Posts Manuel Roig-Franzia reported. Trump later resubmitted an application with a Florida address a month later.

MORE CALLS Some more calls trickled in from Pennsylvania on Wednesday. In PA-01, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) fended off a surprisingly-lively primary challenge and will face Democrat Christina Finello. Fitzpatrick represents a district that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, but to call Finello an underfunded primary challenger at this point would be generous. She had $82,000 in the bank as of mid-May, compared to $1.7 million for Fitzpatrick.

In PA-07, Republican Lisa Scheller narrowly edged out Dean Browning for the nomination to face Democratic Rep. Susan Wild. Scheller picked up a last-minute Trump endorsement that may have helped push her across the finish line.

And in PA-08, Republican Jim Bognet emerged from a crowded primary to face Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright. The Democratic race in PA-10 to face GOP Rep. Scott Perry remains uncalled. National Democrats recruited state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who currently leads his primary opponent.

PRIMARY PROBLEMS Wednesday was a real banner day for Jamaal Bowman, who is primarying Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel in NY-16. Bowman picked up the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who for the first time this cycle endorsed against a fellow member of the New York delegation. (She promised a slate of New York endorsements later today.)

Earlier in the day, the Working Families Party and Justice Democrats said theyll collectively spend $500,000 to back Bowman, HuffPosts Daniel Marans reported. Following Engels hot mic moment on Tuesday, Bowman said he raised over $107,000 as well.

THE PROCESS California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order requiring that in-person voting still be an option for the November election, even with the state mailing every registered voter a ballot. The order requires counties to allow voters to cast ballots starting three days before the election and to maintain at least one polling place per 10,000 voters, POLITICO Californias Jeremy B. White reported.

Baltimores election saw a significant amount of problems, with mail delays and some ballots never showing up at all, with election results being delayed, The Baltimore Suns Jean Marbella reported, with results vanishing off the states election results page. Some Baltimore voters received mail-in ballots with errors on them as well, per CBS Baltimore.

ON THE AIRWAVES The NRSC launched its first ad in Maine Wednesday, attacking Democrat Sara Gideon over a campaign finance violation that resulted in a fine last year. Dont gamble on Gideon, a narrator says before promoting GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

Democrat Andrew Romanoff released his first TV ad ahead of Colorados June 30 Senate primary. The ad features Romanoff speaking straight to camera talking about mental health care. I know what its like to lose someone you love, Romanoff says in the ad. Thats why I led the fight for mental health care. But it shouldnt take a crisis to teach us our healthcare system is broken. His campaign said the ad will run statewide backed by a six figure buy.

FIRST IN SCORE Democrat Francis Conole, one of the Democrats running in NY-24, is up with a new television ad. Now were facing a crisis unlike weve ever seen before. So when I see Washington politicians failing to lead, feeding us misinformation, costing us lives. I say, enough is enough, he says in the ad. The ad is part of a pre-existing buy running in Syracuse and Rochester markets.

Republican Andrew Garbarino, who is running in the open seat race in NY-02, released his first television ad of the cycle. The ad notes that hes backed by the retiring GOP Rep. Pete King, and goes after his primary opponent.

Republican Stephanie Bice, who is running in OK-05, is asking supporters to pick her next TV ad. Her campaign released a pair of ads and are asking supporters to vote for which should run. (As best I can tell, the only difference is the background music.)

POLL POSITION A poll from the Republican pollster Cygnal ahead of Tuesdays Democratic Senate primary in Georgia has Jon Ossoff in a strong position. In the poll, Ossoff is at 49 percent, to 16 percent for Teresa Tomlinson and 8 percent for Sarah Riggs Amico (510 likely Democratic primary voters; May 28-30; +/- 3.34 percentage point MOE). Cygnal doesnt have any Georgia Senate campaigns or IE groups as clients.

The aforementioned Fox News poll in Arizona also has a ballot test for the Senate. (Thank you!). Democrat Mark Kelly has a wide lead over GOP Sen. Martha McSally, 50 percent to 37 percent.

And we have some North Carolina numbers, courtesy a poll from the conservative Civitas Institute conducted by Harper Polling. In the Senate rate, GOP Sen. Thom Tillis is at 38 percent to 36 percent for Democrat Cal Cunningham. For the gubernatorial race, Democratic Gov. Dan Cooper is at 49 percent and Republican Gov. Dan Forest is at 37 percent. The presidential race is also close: Trump is at 47 percent to Bidens 44 percent (500 likely voters; May 26-28; +/- 4.38 percentage point MOE).

THE MOVEMENT? Long-simmering tensions among aides of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are now in full public view. As election results across the country rolled in on Tuesday evening, current and former aides to Bernie Sanders abruptly laced into each other on social media, trading accusations of being tone-deaf, not giving a shit about the base, and even stealing infrastructure from the 2020 campaign, POLITICOs Holly Otterbein wrote. For progressives and ex-Sanders staffers worried about how to keep the movement alive after the Vermont senator dropped out of the primary, the feud set off a round of soul-searching since it came against the backdrop of nationwide civil unrest and protests against police brutality.

STAFFING UP Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is announcing his campaign staff for his Senate bid: Megan Simpson is is his campaign manager, Brandon DeMars is political director, Becky Kuntz is research director, Olivia Bercow is comms director, Bailey Mohr is digital director, Lily Ross is finance director and and Ella Wodin is operations director.

CODA QUOTE OF THE DAY: I was just informed, too, that weve had a large earthquake. As if things couldnt get worse. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti during a press conference.

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Republicans try to pick their candidate in top flip opportunity - Politico