San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Biden needs bigger lead to ensure victory
Those of you who think President Trump is politically dead and buried, think again. By my reckoning, Trump still has a 5050 shot at winning reelection come November.
Democrats are gleefully quoting a recent Quinnipiac University national poll that showed Joe Biden with a 15point lead over Trump. An NBC NewsWall Street Journal poll had Biden with an 11point lead.
Given Trump’s missteps and mistakes on everything from his handling the coronavirus pandemic to his racially charged rhetoric, however, Biden should be ahead by much more.
Plus, as we know, there is often a disparity between what people tell pollsters and what they do when they actually fill out their ballots.
So knock Biden’s lead in the polls down by half.
And Trump’s base is still firm. They voted for him in 2016 when he leaned hard on race, crime and immigration, and they will vote for him again.
Put it together and it’s still a five to sevenpoint race.
In other words, a tossup.
Vice squad: Word is, the Biden campaign has narrowed the vice presidential list down to five candidates: Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.
What a great group. Any one of them could wipe the floor
with Vice President Mike Pence in a debate.
The Biden camp is taking its time making the pick. It’s a good move. Going slow allows for plenty of media speculation and scrutiny, and thus plenty of time for any skeletons to fall out of a candidate’s closest.
Kids’ lives matter: When we say Black Lives Matter, let’s not forget to include Black and Latino children’s lives as well, especially when it comes to schooling this year.
San Francisco Unified’s decision to open the school year with distance teaching will have a devastating effect on kids in the Bayview, Hunters Point and Mission. Many of them don’t come from families with a lot of technological advantages. Trying to teach them via computer is a joke and will put them further behind in their learning.
Plus, keeping atrisk kids at home will have a terrible impact on the mental, physical and economic health of both the children and their families.
Think about it. No school means a parent has to stay home. And a lot of parents cannot telecommute.
That means either a parent can’t work, putting the family behind economically, or Mom and Dad still have to go to work and leave an older child to be day parent.
There is no way the older child can manage the kids and manage their own Zoom learning as well.
If we can’t fully open the schools for learning, let’s at least try to open the school playgrounds and gymnasiums and maybe even a classroom or two for the kids to have a supervised and safe place to go.
Maybe even do a bit of teaching there.
Keep it warm: My item last week on takeout meals generated a great number of suggestions. I can’t share them all, but I did learn that you can buy containers on Amazon that keep food warm for up to 30 minutes.
One reader tried it at Westlake Joe’s and said it works perfectly.
Given the length of the pandemic, it might be worth the investment.
Happy time: Another reader suggested that if I was looking for a break from all the bad news, I should check out the Hallmark cable channel.
So I did, and while the shows are on the sappy side, she was right on one point. At the end of every show, I smiled.
Hey, there’s not much else on TV these days that ends in a smile and joy.
Step out: The best walk in the park may be the Salesforce Park atop the Transbay Transit Center.
The walking path takes you on a swerving circular trip of about six blocks, with an amphitheater on one end and a sitting area on the other. All is clean as a whistle and maintained daily. It’s the perfect place to escape the streets of the city while still being in the city.
Friendly distance: I was on the phone with a friend the other day who said, “I found the perfect way to ensure social distancing among friends.” “What’s that?”
“Lend them some money. I guarantee they won’t come within 6 feet of you for a long time.”