Writing from beautiful San Jose on the southern edge of San Francisco Bay, where today the sky is blue and the air is much clearer than it has been recently.
Trump told his handlers to take him out to the street to wave to his supporters on Sunday afternoon.
As of this writing, we still know very little with clarity about Trump's medical condition, and what we are being told continues to be contradictory. Some information indicates he is getting better; other reports indicate he is still in danger.
All signs point to an increasing lead in the presidential election to the Democrat, Biden. I'm not sure I trust these poll numbers, but they must give heart to the party diehards. One note of caution I feel I must state to my many liberal friends who believe defeating Trump will solve our most pressing problems.
It won't.
The underlying pressures of the pandemic on our economy and our divided society will remain mater who is President. One of the myths political figures try to sell you is *they* can manage the economy better than their opponent.
The President can do a few limited things on his or her own to affect the national economy. But the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank has more influence, to name one official, than the President, and the other branches of government -- Congress and the courts -- influence things as well.
Technological innovations and advances in efficiency have impacts and these are largely within the province of the private sector, which in our time is dominated by large global corporations.
In fact, the national economy is not a standalone entity but part of a global economy that is as influenced by developments in India and China every bit as much, or more, than in the U.S. and Europe.
And in our time, it is my contention that climate change is impacting economic growth as profoundly as any other single factor -- and that is hardly under the control of any individual President.
None of this is to say that your vote doesn't matter. it matters a lot, and is one of the few concrete things any of us can do to be proactive members of society. But your vote is likely to be more important down-ballot than at the top. Which party controls Congress is significant, as are the outcomes of the various local races and propositions on your ballot.
It can take time and effort to make your voice heard on those measures, which can be frustrating indeed. I'm currently studying my ballot, which will be cast in Contra Costa County, in order to educate myself on how to vote.
In this endeavor, ideology is of little use, but common sense and a list of priorities can be helpful. How do you feel about issues like the minimum wag, homelessness, your local school board, various bond issues?
*Those* are the decisions that matter most.
On to the news cycle:
* Biden Scores 14-Point Lead Over Trump in Poll After Debate -- Democrat draws support of 53% of registered voters, as GOP incumbent’s backing falls to 39%, new Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey finds (WSJ)
* Workers Face Permanent Job Losses as the Virus Persists -- Soon, a wave of people will have been out of work for more than six months, the threshold for long-term unemployment. (NYT)
* Bernie Sanders Urges Supporters to Vote for Biden -- After months of virtually encouraging his supporters to vote for Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Bernie Sanders held a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday for his one-time rival. (Reuters)
* The plan for governing if multiple leaders are incapacitated: There isn’t one. (WashPo)
* U.S. faces shortage of up to 8 billion meals in next 12 months, leading food bank says (WashPo)
* Trump campaign adviser claims Biden's mask is a 'prop' as President hospitalized with Covid-19 (CNN)
* Nearly 3 in 4 think Trump did not take appropriate virus precautions: POLL (ABC)
* Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday that he has not been contacted by the White House about potential Covid-19 exposure in his state after President Donald Trump tested positive for the virus days after his Cleveland debate. (CNN)
* Biden is favored to win the election -- We simulate the election 40,000 times to see who wins most often. The sample of 100 outcomes below gives you a good idea of the range of scenarios our model thinks is possible. Biden 81%; Trump 19%. (538)
***
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories
Remember the good times that we had?
I let them slip away from us when things got bad
How clearly I first saw you smilin' in the sun
Want to feel your warmth upon me
I want to be the one
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories
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