Key Battleground States Offer Snapshot Of Bitter Political Divide Over Reopening Country
Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are all electoral battleground states that voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 and will again be crucial in the 2020 presidential election. The fight over reopening in those particular states, which can swing both blue and red, is particularly heated because of those underlying politics. But leaders across the country are struggling to strike a balance as they start to lift restrictions.
The New York Times:
In 3 Key States That Elected Trump, Bitter Divisions On Reopening
In Wisconsin, residents woke up to a state of confusion on Thursday after the conservative majority on the State Supreme Court sided with the Republican majority in the Legislature on Wednesday night, overturning a statewide stay-at-home order by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. In Michigan, hundreds of protesters, many of them armed, turned out at the State Capitol in a drenching rainstorm. The state closed the building in advance and canceled the legislative session, rather than risk a repeat of an April protest in which angry protesters carrying long guns crowded inside. (Nolan, Bosman and Robertson, 5/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Divide: Reopening Debate Increasingly Partisan
Urged on by President Trump, Republican officials in several battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, are ramping up pressure on Democratic governors to move faster on reopening their economies, despite experts’ warnings of a surge in infections and deaths. The mounting pressure comes as the number of jobless Americans continues to grow across the nation. Nearly 3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to new figures released Thursday by the Labor Department, bringing the total number of claims to 36 million since the economic shutdowns in response to the coronavirus outbreak began. (Etehad, 5/14)
The New York Times:
Coronavirus In Pennsylvania: G.O.P. Defiance Of Lockdown Has 2020 Implications
It was a stunning rebuke by a governor. As resistance to lockdown orders flares around the country, often with a partisan overtone, Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, reached for a military metaphor to accuse Republican officials of desertion in the battle against the pandemic. “To those politicians who decide to cave in to this coronavirus,” Mr. Wolf said on Monday, addressing county lawmakers who have defied his stay-at-home directives, “they need to understand the consequences of their cowardly act.” (Gabriel, 5/14)
Politico:
'They Are Angry': Pandemic And Economic Collapse Slam Trump Across Rust Belt
The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November. The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans’ lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral. The confluence of a ferocious pandemic, deepening economic turmoil and rising political tensions is more pronounced here than anywhere else in the country. And it sets the stage for a combustible campaign season that is testing President Donald Trump’s efforts to move on and insulate himself from the crisis—and Joe Biden’s ability to blame him for the fallout. (Cadelago, Cassella and McCaskill, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Tensions Rise As Texas Governor Readies To Lift More Rules
Two weeks into the reopening of Texas, coronavirus cases are climbing. New outbreaks still crop up. And at Guero’s Taco Bar in Austin, which offers the occasional celebrity sighting, a log of every diner and where they sat is begrudgingly in the works. “It seems like a huge invasion of privacy,” said owner Cathy Lipincott, who is nonetheless trying to comply with Austin’s local public health guidelines by asking, but not requiring, customers to give their information. (Weber and Vertuno, 5/15)
Reuters:
Hundreds Protest Michigan Stay-At-Home Order
Hundreds gathered to protest Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order on Thursday in Lansing, the third but smallest major demonstration at the state’s Capitol since businesses were shuttered in March due to the coronavirus. (Martina and Herald, 5/14)
The New York Times:
De Blasio Relies On Aide Who Saw ‘No Proof’ Closures Curb Coronavirus
As Mayor Bill de Blasio was resisting calls in March to cancel large gatherings and slow the spread of the coronavirus in New York City, he found behind-the-scenes support from a trusted voice: the head of his public hospital system, Dr. Mitchell Katz. There was “no proof that closures will help stop the spread,” Dr. Katz wrote in an email to the mayor’s closest aides. He believed that banning large events would hurt the economy and sow fear. “If it is not safe to go to a conference, why is it safe to go to the hospital or ride in the subway?” he wrote. And, he said, many New Yorkers were going to get infected anyway. (Rashbaum, Goodman, Mays and Goldstein, 5/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Orlando Is Reopening. Persuading Tourists To Come Back Is Harder.
Florida has begun reopening for business, but this tourist mecca faces a grinding road to recovery. The coronavirus pandemic has pummeled the economy of the Orlando metro area, where legions of theme-park attendants, waiters, maids and bellhops rely on the 75 million visitors a year who produce $75 billion in revenue. The tourists are gone, and the prospect of their return uncertain. (Leary and Campo-Flores, 5/15)
The Associated Press:
Surf’s Up And So Are New Beach Rules To Prevent Virus Spread
They arrived at the beach by car, skateboard and on bare feet. They carried Frisbees, cameras and surfboards. They wore running shorts, yoga pants and wetsuits. Many wore masks. That was the starkest difference this week apart from a moment in time in March that seems hard to conjure now — before beaches closed and face masks seemed like an extreme and maybe even ineffective protection from coronavirus. (Melley, 5/15)
Politico:
Demand For Covid Screening Was Falling As New Jersey Rolled Out Testing, Tracing Plans
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy this week said the state was on track to test around 20,000 people a day for coronavirus by the end of May, roughly double the number it was testing at the end of April. Data presented to state health officials, however, showed the numbers going in the opposite direction. (Sutton, 5/15)
The Washington Post:
Rural Florida County Worries About Reopening As Coronavirus Cases Spike At Nursing Home
The annual Blueberry Festival is the high point of the year here. Thousands of people visit the grounds of the Wellborn Baptist Church on the first Saturday in June, where they can get blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry preserves, and cartons of freshly picked blueberries from nearby farms. For nearly 30 years, the festival has ushered in the warm season and showcased a major industry in this rural county 40 miles south of the Georgia state line. (Rozsa, 5/14)
Reuters:
Why The United States Might Not Open Up To International Travelers Any Time Soon
The U.S. government largely shut down international travel to the United States in March with a series of rapid-fire moves, but restarting it will likely be a longer, more piecemeal process that could be complicated by rising tensions with China. (Hesson, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Auto Workers' Tenuous Return A Ray Of Hope In Jobs Crisis
Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. Until now, it was mostly hair salons, restaurants, tattoo parlors and other small businesses reopening in some parts of the country. But the auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine. (Krisher, 5/15)
