2020 Daily Trail Markers: COVID-19 may have slowed Biden's campaign hiring

In the past when presidential candidates became the presumptive nominees of their party, they quickly hired staff to expand their operations for the general election. But this year, the COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed that process for Joe Biden. Several Democratic campaign operatives looking to join the nominee’s campaign disclosed to CBS News that they had been told a “hiring freeze” was occurring inside the Biden HQ.

It’s not unusual for the winning campaign to reach out to senior staff of former rivals to mine for hires ahead of the general election. But several senior staffers on former Democratic campaigns said they were not yet aware of wide-scale plans to bring on their former staff. Former Clinton, Romney and McCain campaign managers spoke to CBS News about the expansion process and added it may not be a bad idea to pause hiring to assess where resources should best be spent later this year.

Read much more here from CBS News campaign reporters Musadiq Bidar, Nicole Sganga and Bo Erickson.

FROM THE CANDIDATES

JOE BIDEN

Calling it “one of the worst policy mistakes any president has made in our history,” former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign is intensifying its criticism of President Trump’s leadership of the government’s response to the coronavirus by focusing on four key areas of concern. A memo obtained by CBS News political correspondent Ed O’Keefe and sent to campaign allies and leading party activists outlines how the Biden team plans to continue sowing doubts about the president’s leadership. The sharper focus comes as Biden in recent days has said that Mr. Trump “has no interest in solving this problem and saving lives” and has outlined a series of specific steps he would have taken to better organize a federal response to the pandemic. News of the memo was first reported by Axios.

Late last night Biden joined “The Late Show with James Corden” and continued to hint that his choice for a running mate could come before the end of the summer. Biden predicted the background searches into his short list of potential candidates could be completed by July, CBS News campaign reporter Bo Erickson reports.  He said his campaign is hoping to announce his vetting committee by May 1. 

But on Wednesday, the campaign pushed two endorsements to coordinate with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. First, Washington Governor Jay Inslee endorsed Biden, and then Biden was joined by Al Gore for a discussion on what could be done to combat climate change if Biden were to be elected. Gore said it was a “no-brainer” for voters if they are concerned about climate to vote for Biden because President Trump is the “face of climate denial.” Both Biden and Gore proposed that ramping up investment of green jobs, like solar panel installers and wind turbine engineers, could be an opportunity to help the economy bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic.

PRESIDENT TRUMP

As the Trump administration issues guidelines for states seeking to reopen, the president and his re-election campaign are keeping close watch of senior citizens. CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga says President Trump tweeted this morning, with a special message to “beloved seniors,” a vulnerable population amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again,” the President wrote, adding, “Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever…WE LOVE YOU ALL!” 

Recent polls are showing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is gaining ground among the 65 and older crowd. In an NBC/WSJ poll released this week, Biden led Trump by 9 points among the group, (52 to 43 percent.) The new poll stands in stark contrast to the 2016 general election, when Hillary Clinton lost seniors by 7 points to Trump (52 to 45 percent). 

“Seniors and especially those in a more vulnerable population want to see their government protecting them,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine told The Hill Wednesday. “There’s no one out their protecting the American people more than President Trump. He says day in and day out – through action and work – that the health and safety of the American people is a top priority.” According to CDC data, senior citizens over the age of 65 years accounted for over 45% of nationwide coronavirus-associated hospitalizations during the month of March.

VEEPSTAKES

STACEY ABRAMS

Stacey Abrams continues to be explicit about her desire to be Joe Biden’s running mate, and today she showed that she’s read-in on Biden’s talking points. “I think I would be very effective in restoring the soul of America,” she said on ABC’s “The View,” mirroring Biden’s signature line. 

CBS News campaign reporter Cara Korte says Abrams was asked if it would be a “slap in the face” to black female voters if Biden did not choose a black vice president. She dodged the question, saying she shared that concern, but believes Biden would make “a smart choice,” adding that the pick should reflect America. 

Most of the interview focused on Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and President Trump, whom the hosts and Abrams criticized. Abrams said that Kemp’s desire to reopen the state shows that he and others are “focused on wining the next election than focusing on the needs of the people now.” She added that Kemp is prioritizing the economy over Georgian lives.

ELIZABETH WARREN

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday led nine Democratic senators in calling for “broad investigations” into whether the Trump administration has driven decisions about the distribution of emergency supplies with “electoral concerns.” 

CBS News campaign reporter Zak Hudak says the senators questioned the motives behind the administration’s fulfillment of a request for aid from Florida, a battleground state. 

“This confusion has been exacerbated by President Trump’s public statements suggesting that governors’ political support for his administration could influence how much support they receive from the federal government,” they wrote in a letter to Inspectors General of HHS and FEMA. In a second letter to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Warren and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey asked for an investigation into reports the Trump Administration delayed stimulus payments to put President Trump’s name on the checks. They also wrote that President Trump, “has inserted crass political propaganda into his public briefings. […] Together, these incidents appear to indicate that the Trump Administration has infused political and partisan interests into its response to both the public health and economic crises.” 

GRETCHEN WHITMER

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said at her briefing this afternoon that the state will likely need another “short term extension” of the stay-home order. The current order expires at the end of the month. “We will have a plan and we will start to share that in more depth as we get closer to next week,” Whitmer said. “Michiganders will still need to stay home unless they’re doing things that are explicitly permitted by the order. We got to get this right.”

Amid speculation that she is on a shortlist to become former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, CBS News campaign reporters Adam Brewster and Jack Turman report that Whitmer’s latest challenge is working with a Republican-controlled legislature that is anxious to start re-engaging sectors of Michigan’s economy. Republicans in the state House and Senate have already released their own plans to ease stay at home restrictions.

Whitmer also addressed the contract her administration had awarded to two firms with Democratic ties, but was later canceled. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that they would contract with Great Lakes Community Engagement and EveryAction Van, which is the nonprofit arm of NGP Van. NGP Van’s website says it is the “leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive campaigns.” 

Whitmer said when she discovered this, it was her decision to cancel it. “This was an unnecessary distraction. And I think that leadership is about solving problems,” she said. Asked how much data the firms had access to, Whitmer replied, “I don’t believe that much had even gotten started at all, frankly.”

LIFE AFTER 2020

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies, of former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a new COVID-19 contact tracing program. The program will focus on testing individuals for COVID-19 and interviewing the person to identify people they may have been in contact with as an effort to slow down the spread of the virus. 

According to CBS News campaign reporter Tim Perry, Bloomberg’s organization will commit $10.5 million as well as organizational and technical support to help build and execute the program. Part of this support will go to the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, which is building an online curriculum and training program for contact tracers. 

“We’re all eager to begin loosening restrictions on our daily lives and our economy. But in order to do that as safely as possible, we first have to put in place systems to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus and support them as they isolate.” Bloomberg said in a statement. 

The contact tracing program will also be coordinated with New Jersey and Connecticut. Governor Andrew Cuomo today called the program “unprecedented” and “nation-leading” and said it will serve as a model for the rest of the nation. “The numbers indicate we are past the apex of this pandemic, and while we start our work to re-open our economy we must ensure we are doing it in a way that does no harm and does not undo all of the work and sacrifice it has taken to get here.” Cuomo said.

STATE-BY-STATE

FLORIDA

New polling shows Joe Biden leading in Florida – thanks in part to higher marks on how he would handle health care and a crisis. According to the Quinnipiac University Poll, Biden leads Trump 46% to 42%. According to voters in the Sunshine State, Biden is viewed as the candidate who would do a better job on healthcare, 54% to 39%.  

CBS News political unit associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice says the polling also finds that amid the coronavirus, Florida voters believe Biden would do a better job handling a crisis 50% to 43%. However, Trump still leads on the economy. Florida voters believed he would do a better job of handling the economy than Biden, 50% to 44%.

NEVADA

Nevada’s Republican secretary of state now faces another court challenge over its upcoming all-mail primary, with a Texas-based “voters’ rights organization” asking a federal court late Tuesday to declare the plan unconstitutional. The suit, first reported by The Nevada Independent, is funded by the same group behind a similar lawsuit in New Mexico over that state’s attempt to shift to an all-mail primary. 

New Mexico’s plans were eventually rejected by that state’s supreme court. Meanwhile in Democrats’ lawsuit against the secretary of state, filed last week, Republicans asked Nevada judge Wednesday to allow them to intervene as defendants. Only GOP candidates are facing competitive intra-party primaries on June 9, though Democrats insist expanding mail-ballot access is crucial ahead of the November election. “It’s no surprise they are now targeting Nevada in their nationwide movement to disenfranchise voters when they’ve struggled to remain relevant in our state through fair elections,” William McCurdy II, chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, told CBS News campaign reporter Alex Tin in a statement.

SOUTH CAROLINA

The South Carolina Democratic Party joined the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in filing a lawsuit with the state’s Supreme Court Wednesday, calling for provisions that the groups say would ensure the safety of millions of voters ahead of the state’s primary in June. CBS News campaign reporter LaCrai Mitchell says the lawsuit asks in part that the Court determines that voters who practice social distancing during this pandemic can qualify as “physically disabled person[s]” who are eligible to vote absentee. The lawsuit also urges the state Supreme Court to recognize that COVID-19 “severely threatens the administration of elections” and voters’ rights to free and open elections. 

“It is the height of recklessness to ask volunteers to risk their lives staffing polls and precincts when the Republicans controlling our government have the ability to take action and protect lives by eliminating the qualifications for absentee voting and transition to a mail-in voting program,” said SCDP Chair Trav Robertson in an emailed statement.

Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging a state requirement that forces voters to have a third-party witness signature on their ballot envelope in order to vote absentee. The lawsuit is also challenging South Carolina’s “excuse” requirement, which doesn’t provide an option for eligible voters to vote absentee during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

“The state’s requirement that a witness sign an absentee ballot will endanger vulnerable voters by forcing them to leave their homes and interact with others,” said NAACP LDF senior counsel Deuel Ross in a statement. “Election officials must act to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by both broadly expanding absentee voting options and making in-person voting as safe and accessible as possible.” The ACLU of South Carolina Legal director Susan Dunn added in a statement, “Without action from the courts, South Carolina’s June primaries will force people to choose between their health and their right to vote, a decision no one should have to make.”   

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin health officials have now identified 19 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 who either voted in the April 7 election or served as a poll worker. But CBS News campaign reporter Adam Brewster says it’s not clear yet if those cases were contracted at polling sites. 

“So far, 19 people who tested COVID-19 positive after April 9 have reported that they voted in person or worked the polls on election day; several of those people reported other possible exposures as well,” Jennifer Miller, a Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement on Wednesday.  

“Since we only have data on positive cases (without a comparison group of people who were not tested or tested negative), there is no way to know with certainty if any exposures at the polls that are reported are in fact attributable to COVID-19 illness.” 

Wisconsin DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk told reporters during the briefing on Wednesday afternoon that the state continues to monitor people who test positive for COVID-19 to see if they participated in the election two weeks ago. She said health officials should have a better idea of how many people may have been exposed on election day over the next week. 

“We would generally expect anyone who would have had an exposure on April 7 to have exhibited symptoms by April 21, which was yesterday,” Willems Van Dijk said. “I would anticipate that over the next week we would be clearing out any reports of positive cases that also reported voting or working as a poll worker.” Major General Paul Knapp, Wisconsin’s Adjutant General and Commander of the Wisconsin National Guard, said Wednesday that five national guard members showed symptoms of COVID-19 after working the polls. Only one of those members was tested and the results came back negative. More than 2,400 Wisconsin National Guard members served as poll workers during the April 7 election after communities around the state reported a severe shortage of election workers.