The Wall Street Journal - 14.03.2020 - 15.03.2020

A4| Saturday/Sunday, March 14 - 15, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

POLITICS

WASHINGTON

WIRE

Dispatches from the

Nation’s Capital

BYGABRIELT.RUBIN

litical support for Medicare

for All, the single-payer sys-

tem he has proposed. He

pledged this week to press Mr.

Biden on what he would do to

expand health-insurance cov-

erage to all Americans.

How does the new format

affect the dynamics?

The DNC has pulled the live

audience from the debate

structure, citing the pandemic.

Messrs. Biden and Sanders

have criticized each other’s

policy proposals, and the Ver-

mont senator said earlier this

week that he would press his

opponent to explain his posi-

tions on a range of issues. But

he also described the former

vice president as “my friend

Joe Biden.”

One dynamic to look for is

how the candidates react to

one another without real-time

audience engagement to help

them understand how certain

jabs or jokes are playing.

How does Mr. Biden perform?

Mr. Biden started off his

campaign with rocky debate

performances that many Dem-

misconduct by Mr. Trump, in-

cluding whether he obstructed

special counsel Robert Muel-

ler’s investigation into Russian

interference in the 2016 U.S.

presidential election.

Mr. Trump has denied any

wrongdoing. The White House

instructed Mr. McGahn not to

appear.

A central question in the

case is whether the House has

legal standing to ask a court

to force White House compli-

ance. The White House sepa-

rately has argued that close

presidential advisers, like Mr.

McGahn, enjoy absolute immu-

nity from appearing before

Congress. The court’s Febru-

ary ruling never addressed

that issue because it said the

case didn’t belong in court.

That ruling said Congress

had other tools to use against

the Trump administration,

such as holding officials in

contempt.

The Judiciary Committee

asked the D.C. Circuit to re-

consider the case, which

prompted Friday’s court order.

DONALD TRUMP JR.and Kim-
berly Guilfoyle collected $5 mil-
lion in four days for President
Trump’s re-election bid, including
a personal record $1.4 million
lunch at a private club in San
Antonio, Republican officials tell
the Journal’s Mike Bender. The
fundraising swing through Cali-
fornia and Texas also included a
$1 million dinner with about 125
people in Sacramento.
The event at the Argyle in
San Antonio also featured for-

mer Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who

served as Trump’s energy secre-

tary. California Republican Chair-

woman Jessica Patterson at-

tended the Sacramento

reception. The younger Trump

and Guilfoyle also hosted Califor-

nia events in Danville and San

Francisco and, in Texas, in Lub-

bock, Plano and at a rodeo in

Houston.

First lady Melania Trump was

scheduled to make a rare fund-

raising trip to Beverly Hills next

week, but it was canceled amid

coronavirus concerns. On Thurs-

day, Trump’s campaign was still

sending out emails encouraging

supporters to donate for a

chance to meet Trump at “a

very important dinner coming

up.”

CORONAVIRUS FEARShit mili-

tary and national security

worlds. An in-person symposium

on air and missile defense fea-

turing Army generals was can-

celed for Friday, though it will

continue by webcast. The Asso-

ciation of the United States

Army canceled its Global Force

Symposium and Exposition,

which had been scheduled to oc-

cur in Huntsville, Ala., from

March 17 through 19. The annual

conference features presenta-

tions from uniformed and civilian

leaders, as well as the defense

industry.

Military laboratories continue

to work “feverishly” to try to

come up with a vaccine, the De-

fense Department said. Com-

manders are still assessing

which military exercises should

go forward and which should be

canceled, like the U.S.-South Ko-

rean joint exercise that was can-

celed late last month. Even

press conferences have been

changed to deal with the virus:

“Out of an abundance of caution,

the Public Affairs team spaced

out the chairs in the Pentagon

Briefing Room,” a Defense De-

partment spokeswoman said.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

communications are again de-

scribing the Obama administra-

tion as the “Obama-Biden” ad-

ministration, with former Vice

President Joe Biden now the

clear front-runner for the Demo-

cratic nomination. That phrasing

went out of style in the fall with

Biden’s standing in the polls suf-

fering in favor of candidates

such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren

and Bernie Sanders and former

Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But this

week the president referred to

the “Obama/Biden administra-

tion” as “most corrupt Adminis-

tration in the history of our

country” in a tweet. Press secre-

tary Stephanie Grisham boasted

in a statement that Trump’s

health-records policies would ac-

complish what “the Obama/Bi-

den Administration spent $

billion of stimulus dollars to

achieve.”

The Trump strategy is puz-

zling to Democrats, including the

Biden campaign. Biden not only

doesn’t seem to mind tying him-

self to Obama, that is a core as-

pect of his strategy. Biden’s

stump speech includes a line

about being a “proud Democrat,

an Obama/Biden Democrat,” and

how Obama was “one of the

most successful presidents of

our lifetime.” Even Sanders, de-

spite his occasional criticisms of

Obama policies, ran ads before

this week’s primaries touting the

former president’s praise for

Sanders.

ERIC GREITENS, the former

Missouri governor who resigned

his office in 2018 as he faced

criminal charges related to an

extramarital affair he admitted

to, has been on a media blitz in

recent weeks. In February, he

took to the conservative radio

and TV airwaves to discuss a

state ethics commission sanc-

tion of $178,000 for campaign

finance violations, findings he

portrayed as “total exoneration”

because the commission didn’t

find evidence he personally com-

mitted wrongdoing. And this

week he appeared on Fox News

to discuss Missouri’s presidential

primary. When asked, he doesn’t

rule out the possibility of a polit-

ical comeback, though he hasn’t

made any moves yet.

JOHNNIE WALKERsigns up to

be the first brand sponsor of the

Equal Rights Amendment Coali-

tion as part of an effort to get

corporate America to support

passing the ERA. The sponsor-

ship is part of the brand’s “Jane

Walker”-branded Scotch that

features “the first-ever female

iteration of the brand’s iconic

Striding Man logo.” Virginia this

year became the 38th state to

ratify the ERA, but Congress

would need to remove a ratifica-

tion time limit in order for it to

be added to the Constitution.

ELIZABETH WARRENended

her presidential run, but you can

still buy her campaign merchan-

dise for a limited time. “We

wanted to give you a chance to

commemorate your place in our

fight together,” the campaign

told supporters in an email this

week, under a “Closing Soon”

banner. It isn’t clear exactly

where the money will go, but

campaigns cost money to close

down, and Warren’s cash situa-

tion was bleak in her last report

filed just before the Iowa cau-

cuses. Plus, if she wants to run

again, she can save any leftover

money for then.

MINOR MEMOS:Quarantined

Rep. Paul Gosar uses his raised

profile to promote his cryptocur-

rency legislation....Hawaii Sen.

Brian Schatz bans handshakes in

his office and recommends using

the common Hawaiian greeting

of a Shaka sign, also known as

the “hang loose” gesture....Rep.

Matt Gaetz sleeps in Walmart

parking lot to avoid infecting

others after being photographed

with person stricken with coro-

navirus.

forms to register voters, but

the outbreak prompted it to

focus its strategy solely

around that, Mr. James said.

Traditional fundraising has

been drastically changed, with

Mr. Biden’s campaign shifting

to “virtual fundraisers.” The

campaign canceled in-person

events that had been scheduled

for Chicago, Miami Beach, Fla.,

and New York in the next week.

Donors who had planned to

attend a fundraiser on Monday

at the Miami Beach home of Al-

exander and Tiffany Heckler, for

example, received an email tell-

ing them that Mr. Biden wanted

to hold a conference call to

thank them and “answer some

questions from the group.”

Mr. Sanders doesn’t hold

large fundraisers, preferring in-

stead to focus on raising money

online from small donors. That

tactic and digital marketing are

taking on more prominent roles

in the campaigns. But political

consultants said campaigns

should be mindful of how they

raise money.

“Even though there are can-

didates and organizations that

are still fundraising, we want

to be careful of our phrasing so

that we’re being sensitive to

the situation, not increasing

anxiety or causing misunder-

standings, and also not being

tone deaf,” said Loren Merchan,

a partner at the political firm

Authentic Campaigns, which

worked on California Sen. Ka-

mala Harris’s presidential bid.

“We’ve really never seen

anything like this in the era of

digital,” Ms. Merchan said.

Mr. Brinkley, the presiden-

tial historian, said the focus

on the virus likely would ele-

vate public health as a cam-

paign issue, along with Mr.

Trump’s handling of the crisis.

It may also change the nature

of retail politics, at least for

now, he said.

“The days of kissing babies

and shaking hands are over for

a while,” he added.

—Tarini Parti,

Joshua Jamerson, Aaron

Zitner and Sabrina Siddiqui

contributed to this article.

moving virtual from in-person,

said Alfred Johnson, the firm’s

chief executive and co-founder.

In-person events typically

account for three-quarters of

activities. But Mr. Johnson

said that 85% of volunteer or

supporter sign-ups on Friday

have been tied to virtual

events, such as phone banking

or virtual town halls.

The candidates haven’t held

in-person campaign events

with voters since Tuesday.

The virus also has scram-

bled the work of voter regis-

tration. Quentin James, presi-

dent of Collective Future, a

group focused on registering

black voters, said he has put

hiring field staffers on hold.

The group, which recently re-

ceived $2 million from billion-

aire former presidential candi-

date Michael Bloomberg, had

planned to use digital plat-

to work from home. Mr. Biden

has been based at his home in

Wilmington, Del., since

Wednesday and addressed the

pandemic Thursday at a hotel

near his residence.

Mr. Sanders has remained

at his home in Burlington in

recent days, but plans to stay

at his Washington, D.C., resi-

dence after Sunday’s debate to

work in the Senate, said his

wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders.

The campaigns are no lon-

ger conducting door-to-door

canvassing. Mr. Biden’s cam-

paign said in a memo Thurs-

day that it would organize

voters through “phone-bank-

ing, text messaging, virtual

events, other distributed orga-

nizing models.”

Digital organizing firm Mo-

bilize, which is used by both

Messrs. Biden and Sanders,

has seen an increase in events

The virus has disrupted the

Democratic campaign as Mr.

Biden has built a delegate lead

of 878-725 over Mr. Sanders,

according to a Wall Street

Journal delegate tracker, giv-

ing the former vice president

an inside track to the party’s

nomination.

The campaigns are prepar-

ing for primaries Tuesday in

four states: Arizona, Florida,

Illinois and Ohio. Georgia’s pri-

mary is planned for March 24.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders

are scheduled to appear in

Sunday’s 11th presidential de-

bate, which was moved from

Phoenix to Washington, D.C.,

because of the virus. The de-

bate will be held at CNN’s stu-

dios near the U.S. Capitol with-

out a live audience.

Both Mr. Biden and Mr.

Sanders are shuttering their

headquarters and asking staff

holding his signature large ral-

lies. “It has radically changed

our campaign,” the Vermont

senator said.

President Trump has can-

celed some events and doesn’t

have his next major campaign

rally scheduled. He isn’t facing

serious opposition to winning

the Republican nomination to

seek re-election in November.

The Trump re-election cam-

paign said Friday evening it

would build on its existing dig-

ital tools and would train new

volunteers using call-from-

home applications next week.

Mr. Sanders also said he

hadn’t been tested for the vi-

rus and hadn’t displayed any

symptoms. He called upon Mr.

Trump—who had contact re-

cently with a Brazilian official

who tested positive for the vi-

rus—to get tested and to re-

lease the results publicly.

WASHINGTON—No rallies.
No handshakes. No in-person
fundraisers. And a whole lot of
uncertainty.
The coronavirus pandemic
fundamentally has altered the
2020 presidential race, forcing
Democratic presidential cam-
paigns to prepare for weeks of
out-of-the-box appeals to vot-
ers, a reliance on digital events
and a major adjustment to the
national shutdown of daily life.
The spread of the virus,
which has closed schools and
workplaces and roiled financial
markets, prompted Louisiana
to postpone its April 4 primary
until June 20. The decision an-
nounced Friday coincided with
the campaigns of Joe Biden
and Bernie Sanders curtailing,
for the foreseeable future, the
kind of retail politics that has
marked every modern White
House campaign.
“In the annals of U.S. his-
tory, the 2020 presidential
campaign and coronavirus cri-
sis will be deeply intertwined,”
said Douglas Brinkley, a presi-
dential historian at Rice Uni-
versity. “You’re not going to
be able to extract one from
the other.”
Mr. Biden, the former vice
president and front-runner for
the Democratic presidential
nomination, planned to con-
duct his first “virtual town
hall” with supporters in Illi-
nois on Friday in what his
team expects to be a “reimag-
ining” of events aimed at
maintaining his momentum. It
followed decisions by his cam-
paign to scrap public events
this week in Ohio, Florida and
Illinois.
Mr. Biden hasn’t been
tested for the coronavirus and
hasn’t displayed any symp-
toms, his public-health advi-
sory committee said Friday
night in a statement.
Mr. Sanders said Friday in a
live-streamed speech in Burl-
ington, Vt., that the virus had
significantly affected his cam-
paign, preventing him from

BYKENTHOMAS
ANDEMILYGLAZER

Presidential Campaign Events Go Virtual

Volunteers for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign called voters in Florida on March 11 ahead of the state’s primary election.

WASHINGTON—A federal

appeals court announced it

will reconsider whether for-

mer White House counsel Don

McGahn must testify in a con-

gressional investigation of

President Trump, withdrawing

a February ruling that de-

clined to enforce a subpoena

issued by a House committee.

The U.S. Court of Appeals

for the District of Columbia

Circuit said it would hear the

case again, this time with

more judges participat-

ing. Oral arguments will take

place April 28.

The court issued an order

saying it was vacating a Feb.

28 ruling by a divided three-

judge panel that said courts

shouldn’t get in the middle of

disputes between branches of

government like the McGahn

subpoena battle between Con-

gress and the White House.

The Democratic-led House

Judiciary Committee issued

the subpoena last year as it

was investigating possible

BYBRENTKENDALL

Court to Reconsider

ocrats have said undercut no- Subpoena Decision

tions that he was the best pre-

pared to take on Mr. Trump in

the fall. His performance has

steadied in more recent de-

bates, but rivals had slowed

their attacks on him.

Now that Mr. Biden will un-

doubtedly have more speaking

time, many Democrats will be

watching to see whether the

former vice president can

withstand such sustained scru-

tiny—and they’ll likely be pic-

turing how he’d perform next

to Mr. Trump.

Can Mr. Sanders shake

up the race?

Mr. Biden doesn’t want to

shake up the race. After all,

he’s ahead and is poised to do

well in a diverse set of states

coming up that Mr. Sanders

lost during his 2016 presiden-

tial bid.

Mr. Sanders, meanwhile, is

looking for a standout moment

that might cause more Demo-

cratic voters to reconsider

supporting him. If he can’t get

one, he would likely settle for

convincing Mr. Biden to move

to the left on some issues.

WASHINGTON—The Demo-
cratic National Committee’s
debate will be broadcast on
CNN at 8 p.m. E.T. Here is a
guide for what to watch:

How do the candidates
address virus concerns?
Former Vice President Joe
Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders
have tried to contrast Presi-
dent Trump’s response to the
coronavirus with their own,
calling the president’s handling
of the matter haphazard and
not guided by science. Both
men are hoping they can dem-
onstrate how they would man-
age such a health crisis and
any ensuing economic turmoil.
The former vice president
said in a speech Thursday that
the U.S. should lead a coordi-
nated global response that
prepares hospitals and public-
health workers and manages
the economic fallout.
Mr. Sanders told reporters
in his hometown of Burlington,
Vt., on Friday that the lack of
access to health care during
the pandemic would build po-

BYJOSHUAJAMERSON

What to Watch in Sunday’s Debate

Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden will

face off one-on-one Sunday evening in Washington, D.C.

JIM WATSON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

KYLE GRILLOT/REUTERS