San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Biden still must close the deal with voters
It’s way too early for Democrats to feel confident about Joe Biden’s lead in the polls over President Trump.
Biden has benefited greatly from largely keeping out of sight and letting the attention stay on Trump. The idea appears to be that the more people see of Trump in times of crisis, the less they like it.
The danger is that while people know why they won’t vote for Trump, Biden has yet to give them a reason to vote for him.
He needs to get a simple message and run with it. Bill Clinton ran on bringing back the economy. Barack Obama ran on health care.
You still have to persuade people to vote for you. Just ask Hillary Clinton.
If I were Biden’s strategist, my message would be that the 2020 race is about more than just the presidency. It is about taking back the Senate and ultimately controlling the next appointments to the Supreme Court.
I’d kick off the campaign in Montana, then swing through states like Arizona, Georgia and Kentucky. I’d hit every state where there’s even a remote possibility of Democrats flipping a Republicanheld Senate seat.
Biden in the bunker is working today. But every day that passes is another day closer to an economic turnaround and an end to the health crisis.
And you can bet that if either of those happens before November, Trump will be back on his game.
Dressed for distress: Rayshard Brooks was a black man shot twice in the back running from two white Atlanta police officers, who then kicked his body and stood on him to make sure he was dead.
America should be outraged. This conduct just affirms what many of us in this country have always feared. When someone says to me, “You’re dressed to kill,” my response is I that I’m worried about being dressed to be killed.
Juneteenth: Growing up in Mineola, Texas, in the 1940s, there was no more important a day than Juneteenth, the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery.
It was celebrated in style with special events like traveling Negro league baseball games, concerts and parades, with everyone decked out in their finest clothes. There was even a rodeo.
The menu was barbecued goat and red soda, and you never got enough of either.
There would be speeches, songs and stories of slavery shared.
It was also a celebration of black heroes like Olympic star Jesse Owens, boxer Joe Louis and Doris “Dorie” Miller, the cook who manned antiaircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller was a double hero because he was from Waco.
It was a great positive for affirmation of the community and deserves to be a national holiday.
Taking it the streets: After months of being cooped up, people are so relieved just to get out that they are flocking to whatever restaurant is open, even it it means dining on the sidewalk.
I went to Original Joe’s in
North Beach the other evening. The outside was buzzing. All of North Beach was buzzing. An entire street was shut down to allow for outside tables. It was like being at the Italian American Day celebration.
Masks were as common as napkins at the table. People would mask up when going to the bathroom or any other time they stood up from the table.
Everyone was drinking and hardly anyone was talking about the pandemic.
Still, outside dining does have its drawbacks, especially when it comes to seating. One guy told me how five friends had shown up at a restaurant in San Mateo, only to be told there was a fourperson limit per party.
“So what did the other guy do?” I asked.
“He stood outside and waited.”
Dede delight: For all of her “socialite” image, Dede Wilsey is one cool political player.
There is a move afoot at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to impose term limits on those serving on the city’s many commissions. And Wilsey, who has served on the War Memorial Board of Trustees for as long as I can remember, appears to be one of the “old guard” targets.
A little while back, a supervisor who shall remain nameless asked Wilsey for a contribution to a favorite cause.
She agreed and pledged $80,000, only to later learn that the supervisor was one of the termlimit backers.
Dede being Dede, she didn’t say a word at the time. But when the supervisor called to check on her contribution, she said, “I don’t think it would be good for me to help you at this time.”
“Why not?” the supervisor asked.
“Well, I have a lot of enemies who watch everything I do. I wouldn’t want them to think the $80,000 donation was an attempt by me to influence your vote. I surely wouldn’t want such a question raised about you.”
And with that, she hung up. Now that’s political cool.