I saw Guy Benson of Townhall refer to a CNBC poll that actually dropped last week, but it was very difficult to find it anywhere. It seems no one was writing about it, but after looking at the data, it’s pretty easy to see why.
The poll, which tested top battleground states like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, shows that Trump leads Biden 46-45 in terms of handling COVID-19, as well as leading the presumptive Democratic nominee 45-43 when it comes to putting the middle class first. Considering the Democrats appear to be shaping up their narrative on the fact that 100,000 Americans died from this virus on Trump’s watch, and that 36 million people are unemployed because of it, it isn’t a good sign.
The battleground poll shows that while Trump is certainly not the most popular guy around, voters in key swing states don’t appear to have much more faith in the Democratic Party. What’s worse for Biden is that, right now, Trump holds an edge over Biden with independents in these states.
Via CNBC:
Some of the data in the survey is good news for the president.
In a hypothetical match-up, Trump holds a narrow, 48%-46% lead over Biden among all the battleground voters surveyed, including a 41%-32% lead among independents. He also leads Biden 51%-40% in who would do a better job handling the economy. The two are in a statistical tie over who would do a better job handling coronavirus.
Historically, when you have a major crisis, the American people turn to the other party and essentially tell them to do better. In this poll, we’re seeing the opposite: They don’t want Biden to come in because they think he’ll do a worse job.
There are two problems Biden will have to overcome if he wants to try and win back the independents in these states. The first is finding some way to increase his visibility. Because of his mental fatigue in television interviews, Biden’s team is carefully handpicking who interviews him and tightly controls the interviews. Even in the now-infamous “You Ain’t Black” interview from Friday, Biden’s team actually jumped into the interview to correct or clarify.
They risk overprotecting him, though it seems like an impossible choice. Biden is a walking gaffe, and has been for years. The several misspoken lines over the last few months make him look mentally weaker than Trump, and by not having him out and in media spotlights more often, there is simply no way he can overcome the media coverage that Trump gets.
And that media coverage is where everything really comes into play. The media has been very much on the side of exposing Trump and trying to tear him down, but in order to do that, their cameras have to be pointed at him all the time. You can argue whether or not Trump is playing them all like cheap fiddles, but the fact is that it works to his advantage. He is out there, and he is seen as the head of the government response because of how much the media is tying everything to him. That has the potential to backfire in a big way if America’s economic recovery is V-shaped and a second wave is nowhere near as serious as people fear.
The other issue for Biden is that independent voters, ones who remember the Obama economy, are wary about how Biden would handle things in the current climate. Trump is a known quantity in this regard. He corrected a lot of the problems that were exacerbated by Barack Obama’s regulatory policies. Even though many of them might be out of a job now, they understand that it is more because of the coronavirus and not Trump’s policies.
Biden made sure through the primaries to tie himself to Obama in virtually every way. The people who struggled to find work under Obama aren’t quite comfortable to see that time come back. If they trust Trump to get them back to work, and they are able to soon, then Biden has nothing to offer them.
Actually, It’s About Ethics In Journalism
At this point, it is clear that we are dealing with two Americas. The first America is you and me, the American citizens who do not live in the Acela corridor or New York. We are a diverse group, with diverse beliefs and the ability to live day to day making decisions for ourselves and thinking freely.
This America is where over 90% of Americans truly live. We have our lives, our beliefs, and we can disagree without being toxic. The second America, however, only sees the rest of us through the lens of that major urban, northeast context. This America is led predominantly by the national press and the politicians it loves to prop up.
The problem with this America is that it is incapable of understanding what the other America experiences. It cannot understand, for example, why some people in our America would support Donald Trump. It cannot understand why some Americans would be ready to go to work or to a bar or to a beach when there is a pandemic going on. The media’s America views things through the lens of the elite in New York City.
So, when a website like Mediaite runs a story about conservatives being appalled that CNN host Chris Cuomo would tease his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on the former’s cable news show, it is hard to respond with anything other than pointing out what journalism ethics actually are.
That piece opens with a stellar lede:
CNN’s Chris Cuomo and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo drew a great deal of criticism for what conservatives viewed as an unserious discussion between the two on the coronavirus pandemic.
I would really like to know what about a giant cotton swab being used by Chris Cuomo as a prop to tease his brother anything other than unserious. What about this does the Mediaite writer think is newsworthy?
At most media outlets around the country, you would not be allowed to interview your own family for a story in the best of times. No matter what, you are biased. The objectivity a journalist is supposed to have does not exist when you are interviewing family.
But, these are not the best of times. The guest in question is the governor of a state that performed worse than any other state in the country when it came to handling the COVID-19 pandemic. That governor’s policies directly led to thousands of elderly Americans dying in their nursing homes, and we still don’t fully know the extent of that particular aspect of the crisis.
What makes this worse is that Governor Cuomo is really not appearing on any other cable news show. He is strictly appearing on the show of his younger brother, who is providing nothing but cover for him. While cute moments of levity are fine, the fact of the matter is that Andrew Cuomo is one of the biggest newsmakers in this crisis, and not in a good way. Someone who is not his brother should be questioning him.
CNN, like any news outlet, has a code of ethics — the basic moral rules of journalism, essentially, and prior to this moment in history, you would never see this type of thing happening. But what you have now is a network that is pretty much flipped to “Defend Democrats, Attack Orange Man” all the time. There is no time to hold a powerful Democrat accountable for his absolutely abysmal performance in this pandemic when Donald Trump is joking about sending reporters to space in a rocket.
CNN and its defenders cannot see why other people might be appalled by this journalistic nepotism. They choose to believe that it is simply another partisan attack and blind themselves to the fact that it is straight-up unethical for any journalist to treat their family to special coverage the way Chris Cuomo is treating Andrew Cuomo.
It’s not partisan. It is an absolute threat to journalism, and CNN should really do better.
Homestyle: A Life Of Art (Part Two)
On this week’s episode of Homestyle, my co-host Leigh Guidry and I sat down with JP Fonte, another artist, but not one who makes their living off art.
What’s the difference between a professional and a hobbyist? That’s what we spend a lot of time talking about, along with inspirations and making art you love.
If you want to hear more, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
——————————————-
The Homestyle Podcast is a joint venture between myself and one of my best friends, education reporter Leigh Guidry. Throughout each episode, we discuss cooking, crafting, and other hobbies as well as how we make sure to spend time with our families despite how insanely busy life can be. The goal of the podcast has always been to take a moment to focus on what’s really important because, at the end of the day, family and life is more important than whatever distractions are going on in the world around us.
Recipe Of The Week: Sweet Heat Spare Ribs
As Memorial Day was this week, it would have been un-American not to barbecue something. I found a massive rack of spare ribs at Walmart and decided to smoke them until they were amazing.
I’ve been experimenting a lot with wet rubs, and this week’s recipe is the culmination of those experiments. A mix of Cajun seasoning and chipotle powder provided the heat, and brown sugar and honey provided the sweet. A little salt and olive oil added the necessary extra savoriness to the ribs, and it was off to the smoker for the ribs. They cooked for about five hours in the smoker, using oak and cherry wood for the fire, and because of rain I moved them into the oven at 350 degrees for the last thirty minutes.
Here’s the rub, although measurements are dependent on the size of the rack and how much heat versus sweet you want. Make adjustments as you go.
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
2 tbsp. chipotle powder
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. Kosher salt
Mix thoroughly and brush onto ribs. Let marinate for at least thirty minutes in the fridge.
Prepare smoker by heating it to 225-250 degrees. Add wood chunks to the hot coals 5-10 minutes before putting meat in the smoker.
Cook 5-6 hours, depending on temperature (and, in my case, weather).
Final Thoughts
I haven’t really put much thought into the Trump tweets accusing Joe Scarborough of murder, but I will say that just because Trump is a known jerk doesn’t mean we should accept that kind of behavior. I don’t know why he wants to get into a pissing match with an MSNBC commentator, except that maybe he’s holding a really bitter grudge against Scarborough, who featured Trump on his show dozens of times before turning on him after he got the nomination.
Scarborough isn’t a pure soul in all this, but that doesn’t give Trump the right to go after him the way he is. It’s stupid.