Peter Schorsch
Good Thursday morning. This is an abbreviated, not entirely edited version of Sunburn. Power here in St. Petersburg flickered on and off throughout the night. Other than that, no problems. We hope that you and yours are safe.
— That’s a lot of votes: President-elect Joe Biden‘s lead in the popular vote has now grown to more than 5 million votes. Consider Trump lost to Hillary Clinton four years ago by about 3 million votes and you might imagine that number is making the now President an unhappy man.
— Biden/Harris swag at the White House: President Trump might be contesting election outcomes in several states based on baseless claims of election fraud, but the White House gift shop isn’t buying it. The official store for White House memorabilia is now selling commemorative Biden/Kamala Harris coins. Who wants to tell Trump?
— Tune in: Former Tampa Bay Times Political Editor Adam Smith hosted Rep. Anna Eskamani on his podcast, Political Party, this week to discuss Democrats’ drubbing last week. What do Democrats need to crawl out of the basement they just landed in? Tune in to find out.
— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —
—@RealDonaldTrump: Everyone is asking why the recent presidential polls were so inaccurate when it came to me. Because they are FAKE, just like much of the Lamestream Media!
—@JamesHohmann: Imagine being a diplomat in another country, sending a cable to Foggy Bottom about what’s happening. Would be grim. Unpopular leader won’t accept election defeat. Parliament not challenging him. Defense minister fired, replaced by loyalists. Justice minister weaponizing law. Etc. Foreign minister insisting that there will be no transition, even in the face of other countries congratulating the opposition leader. Etc, etc, etc. Democracy is fragile. Institutions are only as strong as the people who lead them.
—@RepMikeRogers: Our adversaries aren’t waiting for the transition to take place. @JoeBiden should receive the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) starting today. He needs to know what the latest threats are & begin to plan accordingly. This isn’t about politics; this is about national security.
—@Steve_Vladeck: Here are President-Elect Biden’s margins in the five key states as of this morning: MI: 148,645 PA: 47,591 WI: 20,539 GA: 14,112 AZ: 12,813 The largest statewide recount swing ever was 1247 votes in Florida in 2000 — less than 10% of the margin in the *closest* state right now.
—@AriBerman: Biden’s lead is now 50k in PA & growing In 2016, Trump won MI/WI/PA by 70,000 votes & HRC conceded on election night Right now Biden is leading MI/WI/PA by 218,000 votes
—@NateSilver538: So Trump operatives are bragging about how the news media has called Alaska and North Carolina for them… while refusing to accept that the same news organization have called Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and the presidency for Biden.
—@NickRiccardi: The Democrats are becoming the Republican Party. The Republican Party is becoming the Democratic Party. Very slowly but it’s happening.
Tweet, tweet:
Absolutely zero social distancing at this indoor @marcorubio rally in Marietta, GA on behalf of the Republican U.S. senate candidates. (Aides took temperatures at the door.) pic.twitter.com/bloidxjvIj
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) November 11, 2020
—@UFAlert: UF Alert UF classes canceled, campus offices closed Thursday, Nov. 12 because of TS Eta. Will re-open Friday, Nov. 13. Check ufl.edu for details.
—@Fineout: FSU’s train wreck of a season is getting worse. Who’s ready for basketball?
— DAYS UNTIL —
NBA draft — 6; Pixar’s “Soul” premieres — 8; College basketball season slated to begin — 13; Atlantic hurricane season ends — 18; Florida Automated Vehicles Summit — 20; the Electoral College votes — 32; “Death on the Nile” premieres — 35; NBA 2020-21 opening night — 40; “Wonder Woman 1984” rescheduled premiere — 43; Greyhound racing ends in Florida — 49; the 2021 Inauguration — 69; Super Bowl LV in Tampa — 87; “A Quiet Place Part II” rescheduled premiere — 98; “Black Widow” rescheduled premiere — 112; “No Time to Die” premieres (rescheduled) — 141; “Top Gun: Maverick” rescheduled premiere — 232; Disney’s “Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” premieres — 239; new start date for 2021 Olympics — 253; “Jungle Cruise” premieres — 261; St. Petersburg Primary Election — 295; St. Petersburg Municipal Elections — 355; Disney’s “Eternals” premieres — 358; “Spider-Man Far From Home” sequel premieres — 361; Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” premieres — 393; “Thor: Love and Thunder” premieres — 457; “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” premieres — 510; “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” sequel premieres — 691.
— PRESIDENTIAL —
“Nearly 80% of Americans accept Joe Biden won presidential election with just 3% saying Donald Trump was re-elected, poll shows” via Jessica Kwong of the U.S. Sun — A whopping 79% of American adults think Biden won the Nov. 3 election, including more than half of Republicans – according to a Reuters/Ipsos national opinion survey conducted from Saturday to Tuesday. Meanwhile, only 3% believe Trump won, 13% said the election has not been decided yet and 5% said they do not know. Most media organizations called Biden the winner on Saturday after he garnered 279 Electoral College votes of the 270 needed, compared to Trump who had 214 electoral votes, according to Edison Research.
“More than 8 in 10 Trump voters think Biden’s win is not legitimate” via Philip Bump of The Washington Post — There are probably a number of reasons that Trump is so insistent that he won the presidential election which he lost. One is psychological: He is insistent that he’s a winner, and losing is not something winners do. Another is financial: By claiming that there’s still a fight, he can continue to wring contributions out of his base. Part of it is also obviously about the power. His autocratic tendencies have never been more pronounced than in this effort to reject the results of a democratic election. That being president shields him from criminal inquiry is probably itself a strong motivation.
“The Times called officials in every state: No evidence of voter fraud” via The New York Times — Election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the Presidential race, amounting to a forceful rebuke of Trump’s portrait of a fraudulent election. Over the last several days, the President, members of his administration, Congressional Republicans and right-wing allies have put forth the false claim that the election was stolen from Trump and have refused to accept results that showed Biden as the winner.
“Trump lawyers suffer embarrassing rebukes from judges over voter fraud claims” via Aaron Blake of The Washington Post — By now, it’s well-established that most of the arguments put forward by Trump’s reelection campaign in its challenge of the results of the 2020 election are baseless and highly speculative. Even Trump allies acknowledge the apparent futility of the effort. Others have reasoned that there’s no harm in going through the motions, with one anonymous GOP official asking, “What’s the downside for humoring him” for a little while? But as scenes in courtrooms nationwide in recent days have shown, there is indeed a downside for those tasked with pursuing these claims. Repeatedly now, they have been rebuked by judges for how thin their arguments have been.
“Trump’s hail mary election fraud claim: The polls were actually illegal” via Joe DePaolo of Mediaite — With his evidence-free claims of election fraud getting no traction, Trump is lobbing a Hail Mary in an effort to back up his talk of the race having been stolen from him: The polls may have been illegal. In a Wednesday morning tweet, the president took aim at ABC News and the Washington Post over a poll published on Oct. 28 which showed him trailing Biden by 17 points in Wisconsin. The final results were much closer, as Trump lost by less than one percent. Undoubtedly, the survey badly missed the mark. But the president is going many steps further than that with an absurd claim that the poll may have broken the law.
“Matt Schlapp’s baseless claim that 9,000 Nevada mail ballots are illegitimate” via Bill McCarthy of PolitiFact — As supporters of Trump ramp up their efforts to delegitimize the election with unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud, one high-profile Republican ally claimed that 9,000 Nevada ballots were fraudulently cast by nonresidents. “We have literally 9,000 people who voted in this election who don’t live in Nevada,” American Conservative Union chair Schlapp told Fox News on Nov. 8, wrongly claiming the election has seen widespread “fraud” and “illegality” but offering no proof to support his allegations. Schlapp also cited the 9,000 figure during a press conference the same day, telling a crowd of Trump supporters that many “non-Nevadans” had been caught illegally voting in the state.
“Georgia audit to trigger hand tally of presidential vote” via The Associated Press — Georgia’s secretary of state announced an audit of presidential election results that he said would be done with a full hand tally of ballots because the margin is so tight. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference that his office wants the process to begin by the end of the week and he expects it to take until Nov. 20, which is the state certification deadline. “It will be a heavy lift, but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for our state certification,” Raffensperger said, flanked by local election officials on the steps of the state Capitol.
“The Electoral College play” via Margaret Talev and Glen Johnson of Axios — As the weaknesses of Trump‘s legal cases to overturn Biden‘s win become clearer, Republicans are talking more about the Electoral College, hinting at an extreme last-chance way for Trump to cling to power. In this long-shot scenario, Trump and his team could try to block secretaries of state in contested states from certifying results. That could allow legislatures in those states to try to appoint new electors who favor Trump over Biden. “It’s basically hijacking the democracy,” one lawyer familiar with the process tells Axios. “They’ve got nothing else; you’d be trying to deny Joe Biden 270.”
“Why GOP superlawyer Ben Ginsberg is bucking his party and blasting Trump’s baseless election claims” via Michael Kranish of The Washington Post — In “Recount,” the made-for-television film version of the 2000 presidential election standoff that gripped the nation, Republican superlawyer Ben Ginsberg is portrayed as a bare-knuckled brawler with a jaded view of his adversaries. While Ginsberg doesn’t recall uttering those exact words in real life, he has made plenty of enemies among Democrats for his tactics over the years. Today, with tension rising over the results of a presidential election, Ginsberg is once again on the front lines but playing an unfamiliar role: Democratic ally.
“As Trump gained latino support in Florida, Biden’s campaign ignored warnings” via Stephania Taladrid of The New Yorker — Four years after Clinton won Miami-Dade by thirty percentage points, Biden performed dismally, beating Trump by only 7%. Democrats lost two House seats, along with key races at the county and state levels. To the shock of many Democrats, Trump improved his standing in Miami-Dade in majority Latino, Black, and white precincts alike. E-mails and documents show that the campaign’s state leadership did not respond to dozens of requests and warnings raised over the final three months of the race by members of its Latino-outreach team.
— TRANSITION —
“The life-threatening costs of a delayed transition” via Andy Card and John Podesta of The Washington Post — The two of us have had the privilege of serving as chief of staff for a U.S. president. One of us served in President Bill Clinton’s White House while the other served under President George W. Bush. We happened to find ourselves on opposing ends of the historic Bush v. Gore dispute in Florida in 2000, one of only four times in U.S. history when the outcome of a presidential election was too close to call. While we disagreed about many issues then and have disagreed since, we do agree on one thing: The 2020 election is not like 2000 and should not be treated as such. Election night in 2000 was a blur of confusion. Each candidate had nearly enough electoral college votes to win.
“Biden world fears Trump will bring ‘weird shit’ to their inauguration” via Sam Stein and Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast — President-elect Biden’s team is confronting a logistical headache as it prepares for his formal inauguration on January 20, 2021: How can you hold a mass-attended event in the midst of a pandemic while also preventing it from becoming a Trumpist counterprotest? At issue is a potentially combustible mix of complications owing to the likelihood that both COVID-19 and President Trump’s hurt feelings will persist into the time when Biden is scheduled to be sworn into office. Officials who have been involved in talks around inauguration planning said public safety would be top of mind.
“Michael Cohen predicts Trump will abandon White House, hide out at Mar-A-Lago through inauguration: He can’t be there knowing ‘world is looking at him as a loser’” via Reed Richardson of Mediaite — Cohen predicted that the president will quit the White House early in a fit of pique over his loss and hide out at his Florida home, Mar-A-Lago, instead of attending the inauguration of President-elect Biden. As Trump continued to cast baseless doubt on the result of the 2020 presidential race and push baseless claims that widespread fraud cost him the election. Speaking with MSNBC host Ari Melber about Trump’s possible endgame scenarios, Cohen was dismissive that the president would put up any kind of actual fight.
“Biden and Mitch McConnell, old sparring partners, hold key to cooperation” via Siobhan Hughes and Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal — In December 2010, when then-Vice President Biden initiated back-channel conversations with then-Senate Minority Leader McConnell over a looming tax deadline, he had one condition for negotiating. “I’m not going to tell you your politics, and you’re not going to tell me my politics,” Biden told McConnell, according to Rohit Kumar, the Republican senator’s senior policy adviser at the time. “If I tell you I can’t do something, you’ve got to take me at my word. If you tell me you can’t do something, I’m going to take you at your word.”
“Biden’s choice of Ron Klain to run White House signals rejection of Trump-era chaos” via Michael Scherer of The Washington Post — President-elect Biden has chosen longtime Washington operative Klain as White House chief of staff, sending an early signal that he intends to rely heavily on experience, competence and political agility after a Trump presidency that prized flashiness and personality. Klain, 59, has been a senior adviser to Democratic Presidents, Vice Presidents, candidates and senators. His appointment marks a homecoming of sorts, since Klain served in the late 1980s as a top aide to Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ran Biden’s office when he first became Vice President.
“Republicans who could serve in a Biden government” via Scott Wong and Mike Lillis of The Hill — Bill Clinton had Republican William Cohen. George W. Bush had Democrat Norm Mineta. Barack Obama had Republicans Ray LaHood and Chuck Hagel. Now President-elect Biden, who called for ending this “grim era of demonization in America,” is likewise signaling he might reach across the aisle to name Republicans to a Cabinet post and other key slots in his administration. It would be a return to bipartisanship, tradition and normalcy that has been missing in the Trump administration. President Donald Trump, who vilified his Democratic opponents and still has not conceded his defeat to Biden, did not name any Democrats to his Cabinet during his four years in office.
“Biden plans sweeping reversal of Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, from deportations to asylum policy” via Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News — While the COVID-19 public health crisis and its impact on the U.S. economy will preoccupy President-elect Biden during his first weeks in office, the incoming Democratic administration is also expected to quickly start dismantling President Trump‘s immigration agenda. After Biden is sworn-in in January, his administration will move to fully restore an Obama-era program that shields 640,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, halting Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to end it, people familiar with the plans told CBS News.
“Biden transition chief proposed limiting size of biggest U.S. banks” via Andrew Ackerman and Paul Kiernan of The Wall Street Journal — A decade ago, Ted Kaufman sought to rein in big banks. Now he will have a significant role in picking the people who supervise them. In 2010, during a brief stint in the Senate, Kaufman led a push to limit the size of U.S. lenders—a move that would have led to the breakup of the biggest banks had it been successful. Kaufman is leading President-elect Biden’s transition team, giving him a voice in choosing appointees to fill positions across the government, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
What Nikki Fried is reading — “‘I’ve been very, very loyal’: Marcia Fudge makes play for Ag secretary” via Natasha Korecki, Helena Bottemiller Evich, Liz Crampton of POLITICO Pro — Ohio Democratic Rep. Fudge is making an overt play for Agriculture secretary, arguing she’s best positioned to take on a cabinet post that has never gone to an African American woman. It’s a move that sets up a battle with former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, long seen as the frontrunner for the post in the Biden administration. In her first public remarks about her interest, Fudge said as an African American woman, she represents a crucial segment of the electorate that helped fuel Biden’s victory over Trump.
“Biden presidency imperils key oil pipelines” via Rebecca Elliott and Vipal Monga of The Wall Street Journal — Biden’s campaign promise to phase out oil probably signals the end of the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline and threatens the future of Dakota Access, another major crude conduit. Obstructing pipeline projects is one way Biden could accelerate America’s shift toward renewable energy, by making oil more difficult and expensive to move around. Other policies that require legislative signoff would be more challenging to implement unless Democrats won control of the Senate. “In the absence of legislation, you’re going to try to do what you can through administrative action,” said Christine Tezak, managing director at energy research firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC.
— 2020 —
Sen. Rick Scott won’t be taking over the National Republican Senatorial Committee for a few more weeks, but he’s already assuring that it’ll be his domain for the 2022 election cycle.
Scott has named his chief of staff Jackie Schutz Zeckman to be the new NRSC executive director. Scott’s communications director Chris Hartline will take that post at the NRSC.
Schutz Zeckman has been with Scott almost from the start of his political career, joining the governor’s staff as a deputy press secretary in mid-2011, and moving up through the ranks to become his chief of staff there. When he moved to the Senate, so did she.
Hartline also has been with Scott a long time, though it has been a little off and on. He first joined Scott’s reelection team in 2013, then worked in the Governor’s Washington D.C. office for a while. He left for a couple of other gigs, but returned in time for Scott’s 2018 Senate campaign. He, too, then joined him in Washington.
Scott will succeed Indiana’s Sen. Todd Young. Schutz Zeckman will step in for NRSC executive director Kevin McLaughlin, who came in with Young from a private-public affairs position in January 2019. Hartline will replace NRSC communications Jesse Hunt, whose background includes a stint with Gov. Jeb Bush.
The current team will oversee the NRSC’s campaigns on behalf of the two Republican Senators running in the Jan. 4 special elections. Scott, Schutz Zeckman, Hartline and perhaps more fresh troops will transition in shortly after that.
“Florida’s Rick Scott aims at Chuck Schumer in TV ad for Georgia runoffs” via Paul Steinhauser of Fox News — Sen. Scott of Florida is taking to the airwaves in neighboring Georgia. The former Florida governor and first-term Senator stars in a TV commercial for Georgia’s twin Senate runoff elections that attacks the Senate’s Democratic leader, Sen. Schumer of New York. The runoffs for the Republican-held seats will take place Jan. 5, and they will determine whether the GOP holds on to its majority in the chamber, or if the Democrats will control both houses of Congress and the White House. The ad features comments by Schumer made this in early November, when the minority leader said, “Now, we take Georgia. Then, we change America.” Scott, speaking to the camera in his ad, says, “That’s Democrat leader Chuck Schumer. You heard him. They plan to take Georgia so they can change America.”
“Georgia Dems clamor for Barack Obama — not Biden — to help win Senate seats” via Marc Caputo and James Arkin of POLITICO — Georgia Democrats want Biden’s campaign and donors to do everything they can to help win a pair of Senate races that could shape the success of his presidency. But there’s one thing they’re not clamoring for: the president-elect himself. Though Biden is leading in Georgia by 14,149 votes, Democrats would rather he stay in his proverbial basement by tending to his transition and portraying himself as an above-the-fray government-fixer. Instead, they say, send any Obama to help motivate the base in the two Jan. 5 Senate runoffs. The Democrats’ posture is a far cry from Georgia Republicans’ view of help from Washington.
“Marco Rubio says the GOP needs to reset after 2020” via Alayna Treene of Axios — After the 2020 election, Republicans need to rebrand their party as the champions of working-class voters and steer away from its traditional embrace of big business, Sen. Rubio said in an interview with Axios. Rubio told me he is leaving the door open for a 2024 presidential run, so his comments are some of the earliest signals of how the GOP contenders may try to acknowledge President Trump’s successes while finding their own path. “The future of the party is based on a multiethnic, multiracial working-class coalition,” said Rubio. The election wasn’t the full-scale repudiation of Trump that many people expected. He got 70 million votes and the party made gains in the House.
“Rubio says Democrats are controlled by ‘crazy people’ and Donald Trump is 2024′s GOP front-runner” via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel — Rubio called Democratic Party officials “crazy” in a Fox News interview, continuing the Republican senator’s embrace of Trump even after his defeat by Biden. The appearance with Sean Hannity on Tuesday night also came after Rubio called Trump the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, despite still not recognizing Trump’s loss in 2020. Rubio said the future of the Republican Party was as a “multi-ethnic, multi-racial working-class party” whose members won’t be afraid that “they are going to be called a racist because they wear a MAGA hat or have a sticker on their car.”
“Machine recount in tight Miami state Senate race ends, as margin narrows further.” via Samantha J. Gross of Miami Herald — The machine recount in the race for Senate District 37, the very last state race to be called in Florida’s 2020 election cycle has come to an end, and the margin has grown even smaller. Republican Ileana Garcia now leads Democrat incumbent Sen. José Javier Rodríguez by just 28 votes, prompting a certain hand recount that Miami-Dade elections supervisor Christina White expects will begin Thursday. After 10 hours of counting Tuesday, the margin widened to 33 from 31 the day prior, after two overseas ballots came in Tuesday with votes for Garcia. But Wednesday’s final count put the candidates just 28 votes apart.
—“Winners and losers: The ups, downs and draws of the 2020 Leon elections” via the Tallahassee Democrat
— CORONA FLORIDA —
“Florida plans to ration first allocation of COVID-19 vaccine” via Mary Ellen Klas of the Tampa Bay Times — About 3.5 million Floridians, mostly healthcare providers, medically vulnerable and first responders, could be given priority status when the first doses of the long-awaiting coronavirus vaccine arrive in the state. Will the state even get that many doses and if not who decides where the first ones go? Optimism over a vaccine to provide protection against the deadly COVID-19 virus grew Monday when Pfizer announced it will pursue expedited approval from the Food and Drug Administration after preliminary and incomplete results showed its coronavirus vaccine was 90 percent effective.
“House Speaker-designate won’t require COVID-19 testing for members during Organizational Session” via Florida Politics staff reports — Florida legislative leaders are taking different approaches to the return of lawmakers, lobbyists and visitors to the state Capitol for next week’s one-day organization session. Incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson is requiring all senators to take a COVID-19 test prior to entering the Senate chambers on Nov. 17. But House Speaker-designate Chris Sprowls is not asking for the tests. “Members are constitutional officers who have a right to be in the chamber,” Sprowls’ spokeswoman Jenna Sarkissian said in an email Tuesday, when asked about a testing requirement. “The expectation is that our members take advantage of all of the precautions being offered to them.”
“School Board bans student groups from participating in Christmas parades” via Joe Callahan of the Ocala Star-Banner — The Marion County School Board rained on all of the local Christmas parades on Tuesday, voting 4-1 to forbid school-based groups from participating due to COVID-19 concerns. That means groups like bands, JROTC units and cheer squads will not be allowed to participate in the 65th annual Christmas parade in Ocala, which is themed “A Heroes’ Christmas” and scheduled for Dec. 12. The decision also means school-based groups cannot participate in Christmas parades in Belleview on Dec. 13 and in Dunnellon on Dec. 5.
“FAMU cancels delayed football season, other sports due to COVID concerns” via Rory Sharrock of the Tallahassee Democrat — Florida A&M Vice President/Director of Athletics Kortne Gosha confirmed on Wednesday that the fall sports schedule for football, volleyball and women’s cross country for the spring has been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus. Although it’s a winter program, the indoor track will also be wiped off the schedule for the 2020-21 year. The university originally planned to have truncated schedules with limited travel for these programs. However, officials cited fears of further spreading of the virus for student-athletes, coaches and fans as the foundation for this heartbreaking choice.
— CORONA NATION —
“Dr. Anthony Fauci: Working with Trump administration has ‘been very stressful’” via Oriana Gonzalez of Axios — Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Wednesday interview that working alongside the Trump administration to combat the coronavirus in the U.S. has been “very stressful.” Although Fauci, who considers himself apolitical, is among the most trusted voices in the country on the coronavirus, he has faced attacks from Trump loyalists and the president himself, who recently called him a “disaster.” Fauci’s interview comes a week after former Trump administration chief strategist Steve Bannon suggested on his podcast that Fauci’s and FBI Director Christopher Wray‘s heads should be put on pikes, per the Washington Post.
“Pandemic invades nursing homes again” via Rachel Roubin of POLITICO — The coronavirus is surging in nursing homes once again, despite President Donald Trump’s promise to keep vulnerable residents of care facilities safe while encouraging most people to work, play, shop and attend school normally. COVID-19 cases in nursing homes saw a more than 40 percent increase from mid-September to Oct. 25 after seven weeks of steady decline, according to the most recent data. Nursing home operators and experts on long-term care say it’s basically impossible to keep the coronavirus from seeping in as cases spike in communities across the country.
“How Eli Lilly developed COVID-19 drug in pandemic’s long shadow” via Peter Loftus of The Wall Street Journal — When COVID-19 struck, drug companies around the world began racing to find vaccines and treatments. One factor has gummed up their efforts: They have to work in an environment transformed by the very problem they are trying to tackle. At Eli Lilly & Co., the chief of a laboratory, quarantining at home after he contracted COVID-19, had to use a robot equipped with an iPad to patrol his lab. When shipping constraints threatened to delay testing of an experimental drug, Lilly repurposed its corporate jet to get vials to test sites. Lab technicians had to relearn basic procedures. The rush to fight COVID-19 is intense. On Monday, Pfizer Inc. revealed promising results in its work on a vaccine.
— CORONA ECONOMICS —
“Millions face loss of jobless aid: ‘Without it, I’m dead in the water’” via Ben Casselman of The New York Times — Two critical unemployment programs are set to expire at the end of the year, potentially leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to eviction and hunger and threatening to short-circuit an economic recovery that has already lost momentum. As many as 13 million people are receiving payments under the programs, which Congress created last spring to expand and extend the regular unemployment system during the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of both major parties have expressed support for renewing the programs in some form, but Congress has been unable to reach a deal to do so.
“Future of business travel unclear as virus upends work life” via Dee-Ann Durbin and David Koenig of The Associated Press — Brian Contreras represents the worst fears of the lucrative business travel industry. A partner account executive at a U.S. tech firm, Contreras was used to traveling frequently for his company. But nine months into the pandemic, he and thousands of others are working from home and dialing into video conferences instead of boarding planes. That trend could spell big trouble for hotels, airlines, convention centers and other industries that rely so heavily on business travelers like Contreras. Work travel represented 21% of the $8.9 trillion spent on global travel and tourism in 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
— MORE CORONA —
Short cruise stocks — “Positive COVID-19 result halts first Caribbean cruise since shutdown” via Richard Tribou of the Orlando Sentinel — The first cruise ship to sail with passengers in the Caribbean since the coronavirus shutdown just had a report that one of its passengers tested positive for COVID-19. Gene Sloan who covers the cruise industry for travel website The Points Guy, is sailing on the SeaDream Yacht Club’s SeaDream 1 and reported that the captain announced shipwide that a passenger had tested positive for the virus on a preliminary basis. The yacht, which had already been sailing in Europe, was making its first planned sailing from new homeport Barbados. It was not a ship with U.S. sailings in its near future. Sloan reported the captain said the passenger who tested positive had reportedly felt ill before the test.
“College has become a quandary as COVID-19 complicates upcoming holidays and spring semester” via Danielle J. Brown of Florida Phoenix — As the first fall semester of college classes wrap up in a COVID-19 world, an unclear narrative has emerged on how Florida colleges and universities should function for the remaining fall semester and the upcoming 2021 spring semester. The complicated issues revolve around the benefits or downfalls of online or in-person instruction, pushback from faculty against more in-person classes and students traveling home over the holidays, which could lead to COVID-19 infections. Many campuses have chosen to finish in-person instruction by Thanksgiving break, expecting students to finish their classes online for the rest of the semester. For other schools, that’s not a requirement.
“The strange and twisted tale of hydroxychloroquine” via Adam Rogers of Wired — Viruses aren’t alive, exactly they’re just genetic material wrapped in fat, starch, and protein. But because they use living things to reproduce and spread, evolutionary forces effectively shape them, synchronizing viruses with the specifics of their targets. Hydroxychloroquine interferes with the biochemistry that lets the virus’ landing gear touch down, a process called glycosylation. And it seems like the drugs change the acidity of the elevator shaft, of that bit of involuted membrane bubble, making it inhospitable to a virus and preventing infection.
“Vikings drop plans to seek larger crowds as virus spirals” via Steve Karenowski of The Associated Press — The Minnesota Vikings have given up on trying to host larger crowds and said the team will no longer seek permission to sell tickets to fans for their remaining home games, as the state blew past its daily record for new deaths. The Vikings said in a statement that while players, coaches and staff have missed the energy and passion that fans bring on game day, the team would no longer seek approval to host more than 250 fans for the remaining games at U.S. Bank Stadium, the state-mandated maximum crowd size for indoor gatherings. The team had been talking all year with stadium, state and city officials about devising a way to safely and responsibly open the gates.
— STATEWIDE —
“Florida agency will ask for overhaul of troubled website” via Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times — Florida’s unemployment agency is asking lawmakers for $5 million to hire 108 new employees to handle increasingly complex unemployment claims, part of an overall legislative request that could include spending millions more to overhaul the state’s beleaguered unemployment website. The Department of Economic Opportunity’s new executive director, former state Rep. Dane Eagle, said Tuesday that he’s hired an outside company to find out how and why the unemployment website, known as CONNECT, failed this year amid a crush of pandemic-related jobless claims. “We can’t ask for the moon,” Eagle said Tuesday. “We’re trying to be reasonable
— LOCAL NOTES —
“Environmentalists press Orange Mayor Demings to pick a Split Oak supporter for toll-road board” via Jason Garcia and Stephen Hudak of the Orlando Sentinel — Orange county voters this month overwhelmingly approved a measure that supporters hope could thwart plans to run a new toll road through the Split Oak Forest nature preserve. Now, those supporters say that referendum should send a strong message to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings — who is about to make a big decision of his own that could impact the future of the controversial toll road. Demings is about to choose a new county commissioner to serve on the board of the Central Florida Expressway Authority.
“Virus-related delay could push Jacksonville City Council vote on Lot J into December” via DavDavid Bauerlein of the Florida Times-Union — The cancellation of this week’s Jacksonville City Council meeting because a council member got the COVID-19 virus will push back by two weeks the schedule for a decision on the Lot J development deal with Jaguars owner Shad Khan as council President Tommy Hazouri circles Dec. 8 as a possible date for a vote. “The goal should be Dec. 8 but if it’s not, we’ll have a happy holiday and come back after the first of the year,” Hazouri said Tuesday. “I don’t see why we should have to rush it, and we’ve demonstrated we’re going to give it our full fiduciary duty and transparency.”
“Top firms eager to lead Florida State University’s presidential search” via Byron Dobson of the Tallahassee Democrat — Four national executive search firms, whose base fees range from $90,000 up to $145,000, are vying for the contract to lead the effort to identify Florida State University’s next president. Each firm has an extensive record in higher education presidential searches and has previously worked on various Florida State University searches. The four firms were selected out of 10 submitting applications. Representatives of the firms made their pitches Tuesday to FSU’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee. The panel members will submit their ranking by Friday to Kyle Clark, vice president for finance and administration at FSU.
“International Paper’s environmental guidelines challenged in court by Perdido Bay resident” via Kevin Robinson of the Pensacola News Journal — A judge is weighing a Perdido Bay resident’s concerns that the new environmental standards proposed for International Paper’s mill in Cantonment are not enough to stop pollution. Jackie Lane, a retired marine biologist who has lived on the banks of the bay for decades, filed an administrative challenge to a state “consent order” outlining what steps IP is expected to take to reduce chronic toxicity and other concerns associated with mill wastewater known as effluent. Lane contends that IP’s effluent never has been in full compliance with Florida Department of Environmental Protection standards.
“Live ordnance with active fuse uncovered by Tropical Storm Eta in south Indian River County” via Corey Arwood of TC Palm — A beachgoer called 911 to report finding what looked like the “tip of a rocket” uncovered by rough surf from Tropical Storm Eta Monday. A Patrick Air Force Base explosives disposal team confirmed the 3-foot long object was a live ordnance with an active fuse, likely leftover from World War II, according to Indian River County Fire Rescue officials. The device was reported at 9:15 a.m. on shore in the 1900 block Ocean Ridge Circle, and emergency records showed Indian River County Fire Rescue confirmed the 911 caller’s discovery just before 9:30 a.m. A fire rescue hazardous material crew decided an explosive ordnance disposal team was needed, a fire official said.
— TOP OPINION —
“Dear Florida Democrats: Stop whining, threatening. Start winning.” via Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel — You had nothing to do with this victory. Biden got trounced in Florida by nearly 400,000 votes. All 29 of Florida’s electoral votes will go to Trump. I’m not done. Stop already with the “You’re next!” declarations for Ron DeSantis, Rubio and Scott. The threats are emptier than a skeleton’s rib cage. Before somebody can be next, there has to be a first. And you guys haven’t bounced a Republican out of statewide office since “The Golden Girls” was on TV and Gov. Lawton Chiles took office.
— OPINIONS —
“A president speaks as a president should” via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board — A president spoke to the American people this week as a president should, candidly, constructively. He explained what he will be doing and what citizens can do to control the coronavirus pandemic that has already infected at least 10 million of us and killed more than 240,000. He announced the 13 expert physicians and other scientists who will advise him on COVID-19. Their credentials are awesome. When they say a vaccine is safe and effective, it will be safe to believe them. Most of all, he appealed to everyone to help save lives now by simply wearing face masks.
“Donald Trump’s election challenge looks like a scam to line his pockets” via Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — President Trump isn’t really trying to overturn the election. He’s simply running one more scam before he leaves office that would enable him to enrich himself. That’s the way it appears, at least, from the scores of fundraising emails his campaign has sent out since the election. He seems to be asking for funds to challenge the election, but the fine print shows that the money could let him line his own coffers. The tin-pot-dictator routine looks more as if it’s about passing the tin cup. Sixty percent of the contribution, up to $5,000, goes to “Save America,” Trump’s newly created leadership PAC. And 40 percent of the contribution up to $35,500, goes to the Republican National Committee’s operating account, its political fund.
“Beware of the consequences of supporting Donald Trump’s lie” via Joe Henderson of Florida Politics — Trump’s mind meld about election fraud sucks in more Republicans every day. Some of those playing the part of duped parrots are leading Florida politicians, including DeSantis and Sens. Scott and Rubio. In perpetuating this fantasy, they may believe it’s just politics as usual. It’s just how they play the game, right? Perhaps, but repeating a lie to the point where even the liar begins to believe it can have a lasting impact on legacies. History is cranky to those who believe they’re above the truth. Consider baseball great Pete Rose, for instance.
“It’s time for Marco Rubio and Rick Scott to publicly accept Joe Biden as our President-elect” via Mike Fasano for the Tampa Bay Times — Many of my friends, neighbors, and fellow Republicans were heartbroken when the Presidential election was called for Joe Biden on Saturday. Losing hurts, especially after President Donald Trump and his passionate supporters performed so well and won Florida. But now it’s time to come together as Americans and help tackle the very serious challenges facing our country. Trump and his closest allies have been trying to sow doubts about the outcome of the election through baseless claims and investigations. In America, the voters alone decide who will represent us and govern in our name.
“The Sun-Sentinel contributed to the Republican resurgence in Florida” Erica Manfred of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — While celebrating Biden and Harris’ win, I’m simultaneously mourning the loss of Democratic seats in South Florida. We all know Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell lost in Miami-Date, bad news for Florida Democrats. What many may not know is that Democrat Linda Thompson Gonzalez lost a seat in Broward that she should have won. She was trying to flip the last Republican seat in the statehouse in overwhelmingly Democratic Broward County, a tossup House district that she lost to Republican incumbent Chip LaMarca.
“DeSantis goes full fringe, fighting his own health experts and American democracy” via Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel — Late last week, DeSantis went on Fox News and suggested that GOP legislators in states where Biden won should maybe override their citizens’ votes and just declare Trump the winner anyway. It was like listening to a third-world dictator … if the dictator fawned over Laura Ingraham and the third world was Tallahassee. The next day, the Miami Herald revealed that DeSantis’ office had enlisted a conservative blogger to try to downplay Florida’s COVID-19 death count — and discredit the state’s own data. Because why listen to health experts during a health crisis when you can get a blogger with 12,000 Twitter followers to say something else?
“DeSantis turns to quacks, bloggers and deniers to spin COVID-19 strategy” via Randy Schultz of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Apparently, DeSantis knows as much about constitutional law as he does about public health. During an interview with Fox News, the governor urged Electoral College members in Michigan and Pennsylvania to ignore their states’ popular vote for Biden and choose Trump. He cited Article II of the U.S. Constitution. DeSantis is a lawyer, but don’t call him for advice. Those states don’t allow “faithless electors” to ignore the will of the people and this year, the Supreme Court upheld such laws. So the governor, who supported the self-proclaimed “law and order candidate,” called for lawbreaking in the name of a Trump victory.
— ALOE —
Not Ron Book — “‘Lamborghini or submarine?’ Watch this luxury car glide through Fort Lauderdale flood” via Madeleine Marr of the Miami Herald — During South Florida’s massive, almost Biblical floods on Sunday night from Tropical Storm Eta, an onlooker captured video of a drenched street in Fort Lauderdale. In the tweet, the user with the handle @WFOJoe jokingly posed the question: “Lamborghini or submarine?” In the clip, two cars, a black and red sedan, are stopped, completely stalled, inundated with water. Suddenly, a yellow Lamborghini emerges from behind, slicing effortlessly through the massive puddle, drives around the vehicles and then peels away, despite also being engulfed with water.
“Veterans plant coral off Florida as NFL pursues environmental projects around Super Bowl” via Zachary T. Sampson of the Tampa Bay Times — The coral project is a continuation of work started for the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami. Some of the corals come from the Florida Aquarium. The Florida Reef Tract is the third-largest barrier reef in the world, but it has been ravaged by disease and is threatened by the effects of warming seas and ocean acidification. The Tampa aquarium grows what scientists hope are more resilient corals. The goal is to restore the reef tract, which forms a key habitat for marine life and a natural bulwark to tropical storms.
— HAPPY BIRTHDAY —
Celebrating today are former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Taylor Biehl, state Rep. Nick DiCeglie, Shawn Frost, Lindsay Harrington, and Gray Rohrer.
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Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, A.G. Gancarski, Renzo Downey and Drew Wilson.
