Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The New Mask?: Pence Agrees To Plexiglass Dividers At VP Debate
The Washington Post: Pence, Harris Teams At Odds Over Plexiglass At Debate
The Commission on Presidential Debates said Tuesday night that Vice President Pence had dropped his objections to a plexiglass barricade on his side of the stage for Wednesday’s debate after viewing the setup during a walk-through of the debate hall. The disclosure, by commission co-chair Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., came after a long day of posturing between the Trump and Biden campaigns over whether the barriers were needed to protect the participants from the coronavirus. Advisers to Pence maintained that there was no need for a barrier on his side of the stage. (Scherer and Dawsey, 10/6)
Politico: Another Political Fault Line In The Era Of Coronavirus: Plexiglass
Plexiglass is the new mask when it comes to pandemic-inspired precautions dividing Republicans and Democrats. The campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are faced with an unprecedented problem. After a coronavirus outbreak at the White House, the president is ill with Covid-19 and many of his closest allies have been exposed or even tested positive. But time is running out to quarantine and postpone debates ahead of the Nov. 3 election. (Murray, 10/6)
AP: Viewer's Guide: Virus Response On Stage With Pence, Harris
Expect Pence and Harris to have starkly different assessments of the way the Trump administration has responded to the virus that’s killed more than 210,000 Americans. Pence has led the White House’s coronavirus task force, taking a high-profile spot at White House briefings, projecting an aura of calm and empathy rarely made by his boss. Harris, the former California attorney general, is likely to cross-examine Pence on the early response to the virus, the Trump campaign’s decision to resume holding large rallies and the president’s frequently cavalier attitude toward the disease. (Price, 10/7)
In other news from the Democratic campaign —
The New York Times: Kamala Harris And The Push To Cut Hospital Bills In California
As a former state attorney general, Senator Kamala D. Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, has received significant scrutiny of her record on law enforcement, facing questions and criticism about uneven prosecutions of killings by police officers. But she is less known for another role she took on, opposing the consolidation of institutions in the health care industry, which has become a major force driving the cost of medical care higher for consumers. She challenged proposed mergers between industry behemoths and anti-competitive behavior by powerful hospital systems and drug makers. (Abelson, 10/6)
