But his plea for the country to “start fresh,” leaving politics aside, is almost certainly doomed. Politics has defined the American pandemic response. Recent polls make it clear Republicans are more likely than Democrats to reject new vaccines, even as recent analysis has shown places with more GOP voters have more covid deaths.
“This year is different from the past. This year, nearly every death is preventable,” Biden said. “We can do so much now to reduce the number of people who die from this terrible disease. We have the tools. We have the vaccines. We have the treatments.”
On the surface, Biden’s decision to get an updated covid booster on camera was just a photo op with an elderly president modeling good public health behavior, trying to inspire Americans to get their shots at a time when the White House worries too few are doing so.
- But the subtext of the event was his evident frustration. “My administration is doing our part.” “My administration has left no stone unturned to make life-saving tools widely available and easily accessible.” In other words: We’ve done our part. How ‘bout you do yours?
“As we enter this new moment in the battle against COVID, let’s use it to start fresh as a country, to put all the old battles over COVID behind us, to put all the partisan politics aside,” he said. “None of this is about politics. It’s about your health and the health of your loved ones.”
Politics is not the only factor in what the White House worries is the too-slow national pace of booster-getting. A recent KFF poll found 51 percent of adults say they have only heard “a little” or “nothing at all” about the new booster dose.
But it’s definitely a factor. That same poll found six in 10 Democrats said they were already boosted or would get the shot as soon as possible, against 13 percent of Republicans. And 20 percent of GOP voters said they will “definitely not” get the new booster.
In a briefing after the event, a reporter asked White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha about Biden’s evident frustration, or exasperation, with the way politics has hampered the American response to the pandemic.
- “I wouldn’t use any of those words. What I would say is these are public health matters,” Jha replied. “This is not a political issue. This is not a partisan issue, This is a public health issue. We want to protect people. We want to protect Americans. We want to protect American lives.”
But the White House isn’t shy about sometimes weaving politics into its covid response. Declaring independence from the virus last summer wasn’t politics-free. And Gallup has said Biden’s approval ratings on managing the coronavirus tend to be higher than on other issues.
My colleague Dan Diamond has this riveting account of the internal deliberations — and, yes, frustrations — at the White House over how best to respond to a potential Winter surge of covid.
“Amid projections that tens of thousands of Americans could die needlessly this winter if they don’t get free coronavirus shots or treatments, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain summoned health officials to a meeting last week with an urgent question: What can we do to prevent this?”
“What emerged from that session was a ‘fall playbook’ to combat the virus that was timed to President Biden receiving an updated coronavirus vaccination (his fifth dose overall) on Tuesday, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment. The steps include enlisting Walgreens, DoorDash and Uber to provide free delivery of antiviral prescriptions and targeting vulnerable Americans, including seniors, for vaccinations and booster shots.”
Biden is pushing businesses to:
- Set up their own vaccination clinics
- Offer paid time off to get vaccines
- Improve indoor air quality
And health officials worry:
- Pandemic funds are running low
- Front-line health workers are exhausted
- Americans oppose new mask mandates, aren’t eager to get new vaccines, and generally want to live as though covid were gone
And, Dan noted: “The biggest unknown heading into the winter is a shape-shifting virus that is becoming more adept at evading immunity.”
Heading into winter, he reported, Biden’s team fears there could be 30,000-70,000 more American deaths from covid.
The amazing Emily Guskin contributed to this column.
Trump chief of staff Meadows ordered to testify before Ga. grand jury
“Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating Republican efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election results in the state, a South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday,” Amy B Wang and Tom Hamburger report.
- “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has said that her inquiry is examining ‘the multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.‘ Because Meadows does not live in Georgia, she could not subpoena him to testify but filed a petition in August for him to do so.”
McCarthy-aligned PAC announces another $11 million in ad funding
“The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), on Wednesday announced an additional $11 million in ad buys, seeking to bolster some candidates key to GOP hopes of taking control of the chamber as well as put some other House seats in play,” John Wagner and Mariana Alfaro report.
- Where it’s headed: “The money targets 16 districts, seven of which President Biden won by double digits in 2020.”
Lunchtime reads from The Post
How votes are cast and counted is increasingly decided in courtrooms
“The increase began after the Supreme Court decided the 2000 presidential election, and the trend reached a high in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted a host of new voting rules. The pace quickened after that election, when Donald Trump and his allies brought a slew of lawsuits that unsuccessfully sought to deliver him a second term as president,” Patrick Marley reports.
“Those battles appear to have established a new baseline for election litigation. Election experts say courts have the power to clarify vague laws or policies and resolve key questions before ballots are cast, but many also contend that the barrage of lawsuits increases the chances of last-minute rulings that can spur voter confusion.”
European allies worry U.S. could dial back support for Ukraine
“U.S. allies in Europe are growing increasingly concerned that the united front presented by the West in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could quickly unravel if Republicans are victorious in next week’s midterm elections, ceding an advantage to President Vladimir Putin just when Ukraine is making progress on the battlefield,” Liz Sly reports.
That cardboard box in your home is fueling election denial
“Much of the cardboard and paper goods strewn about our homes — the mail-order boxes and grocery store bags — are sold by a single private company, with its name, Uline, stamped on the bottom. Few Americans know that a multibillion-dollar fortune made on those ubiquitous products is now fueling election deniers and other far-right candidates across the country,” ProPublica’s Justin Elliott, Megan O’Matz and Doris Burke report.
TikTok will use your data to fuel its multibillion-dollar shopping mall — whether you know it or not
“Judging from the ByteDance Inc. social network’s pitches to potential advertisers … what executives really want TikTok to be known as is a digital shopping mall,” MarketWatch’s Shoshana Wodinsky reports.
“It’s a natural progression. The platform has shown an uncanny ability to drive offline sales of anything from leggings to containers of feta cheese with the help of its viral videos. Now TikTok is focusing on moving those offline purchases onto its own platform — and inventing new ways to track and target its user base in order to make that happen.”
Amid wave of opposition, some LGBTQ candidates eye epic wins
“A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for office, according to newly compiled data, and some breakthrough victories are likely … Yet these potential milestones, and the large cohort of LGBTQ candidates, coincide with aggressive efforts by some Republican politicians to target LGBTQ people, especially transgender Americans, with a wave of hostile rhetoric and legislation,” the AP’s David Crary reports.
Biden’s closing argument: Republicans would trash the economy
“Biden, who ascended to office on a pledge to work across the aisle and combat some of the divisiveness that dogged his predecessor, has leaned into the argument that Republicans represent a dire threat to the country’s fiscal peace and stability. With control of Congress — and by extension, the president’s agenda — hanging in the balance in the final days before the Nov. 8 elections, Biden and other leading Democrats are seizing on the fear of disorder in an attempt to turn their liabilities on the economy into a political weapon,” Toluse Olorunnipa reports.
U.S. officials had a secret oil deal with the Saudis. Or so they thought.
“As President Biden was planning a politically risky trip to Saudi Arabia this summer, his top aides thought they had struck a secret deal to boost oil production through the end of the year — an arrangement that could have helped justify breaking a campaign pledge to shun the kingdom and its crown prince. It didn’t work out that way,” the New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti, Edward Wong and Adam Entous report.
“Mr. Biden went through with the trip. But earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Russia steered a group of oil-producing countries in voting to slash oil production by two million barrels per day, the opposite of the outcome the administration thought it had secured as the Democratic Party struggles to deal with inflation and high gas prices heading into the November elections.”
Political ad spending, visualized
“Overall, the two parties have spent roughly the same amount of money saturating the airwaves in congressional races, but the issues they’ve made central to their campaigns underscore how each side is talking past the other and warning of starkly different threats to the country’s future,” Harry Stevens and Colby Itkowitz report.
Right-wing misinformation and local news mix at Illinois station
“Since President Biden’s election, the talk radio station Cities 92.9 has upended the traditional media ecosystem in this part of Central Illinois with an unusual mix of hyperlocal news coverage — crime, weather and the like — and election misinformation. Replying on Facebook to a social media post about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, the station turned its focus to the 2020 election results: ‘What about the insurrection on Nov. 3?‘” Annie Gowen reports.
“The station’s managers said in an interview that they are simply providing coverage that serves as a necessary counter to the liberal bias they see in the established local media outlets, which include a newspaper and two other news radio stations.”
The non-Trump 2024 field starts to make their moves
“Shadow campaigning more than two years out from a presidential election is not a new phenomenon. But the intensity with which it’s now taking place on the GOP side of the ledger is an indication that the presidential primary will begin in haste shortly after the midterms. It also suggests that some presidential aspirants and party bigwigs believe there is a brief window to try and define the contest before Trump himself jumps in,” Politico’s Meridith McGraw reports.
At 12:45 p.m., Biden will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Biden will meet with Defense Department leaders at 3 p.m.
At 7:30 p.m., he will participate in a virtual political reception for Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-Pa.).
Biden will participate in a virtual political reception for Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) at 8 p.m.
At 8:30 p.m., Biden will participate in a virtual political reception for Nevada Democrats.
All the times our kids spooked the %^*! out of us
“There are certain milestone moments that are forever vivid in a parent’s memory: A child’s first steps. Their first words. The first time they glance up from their dinner and casually mention, Did you know there’s an angry little boy named John who lives in the basement and he’s standing right behind you?”
Caitlin Gibson gathered stories of things kids said that left their caregivers totally spooked. Here’s a sample:
Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
