Wisconsin’s Decision To Hold Primaries As Usual Criticized By Some; Biden Calls For Convention To Be Postponed
Wisconsin is set to play host to the Democratic National Convention in July, which has still not been canceled or rescheduled. The state is already drawing fire from some for the decision to hold their primaries next Tuesday. Public opinion in the state is split about evenly. Meanwhile, the fact that state governors are gaining national attention over their pandemic response, could shake up the 2024 presidential race.
As Wisconsin聽recorded its largest single-day jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, national and local leaders expressed deep doubts about staging a political convention expected to bring 50,000 people to Milwaukee this summer.聽Nearly 200 more positive test results for COVID-19 were reported Wednesday, pushing the total to about 1,550. At least 32 people have died from the virus as of 7 p.m. and about 26% of the total cases have led to hospitalization, health officials said. (Luthern, 4/1)
There is a bigger question surrounding Tuesday鈥檚 Wisconsin primary balloting than the Democratic presidential nomination race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders: can an election be successfully held in the midst of a full-scale pandemic? Wisconsin鈥檚 decision to proceed, after more than a dozen other states have delayed their primaries due to the coronavirus outbreak, has caused requests for absentee ballots to soar and a scramble to find enough polling place workers. (Corse and McCormick, 4/2)
A federal judge on Wednesday slammed Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and lawmakers for not delaying next Tuesday鈥檚 primary election amid the coronavirus pandemic.聽"The state of Wisconsin鈥檚 Legislature and governor are not willing to step up and say there鈥檚 a public health crisis and make it absolutely clear that we should not be allowing poll workers and voters to congregate on April 7," U.S. District Judge William Conley said near the end of a four-hour hearing, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.聽(Klar, 4/1)
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday night called for moving the Democratic National Convention from mid-July to August, making him the most prominent member of his party to say the convention must be rescheduled because of the coronavirus outbreak. 鈥淚 doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July, early July,鈥 Mr. Biden told Jimmy Fallon on 鈥淭he Tonight Show.鈥 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to have to move into August.鈥 (Epstein, 4/2)
President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, are arranging a call regarding the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden campaign said Wednesday.聽"Our teams will be in touch and we will arrange a call," Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, said in a statement to CNN Wednesday evening. (Klar, 4/1)
President Donald Trump's approval rating is up 鈥 a little bit. In the Real Clear Politics average of all polls, it sits now at 47.3 percent, the highest mark since he took office. There are a few ways to look at this. Certainly, it's a dramatically smaller boost than past presidents have received at the onset of crises. For that matter, it's far lower than the boost that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has gotten in New York during this crisis. (Kornacki, 4/2)
Andrew Cuomo鈥檚 poll ratings are soaring. Jay Inslee is drawing more attention than his failed presidential campaign ever did. Gretchen Whitmer is burnishing her credentials as a possible running mate for Joe Biden. The daily split screen between President Donald Trump and the nation鈥檚 governors over the coronavirus pandemic is advancing the political fortunes of a handful of Democratic state leaders, by contrasting their management of a crisis with the president鈥檚 disjointed response to it. (Siders, 4/2)
