The Wall Street Journal - 09.03.2020

A4| Monday, March 9, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

The Rev. Jesse Jackson after endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Sunday.

LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS

state of California went for Mr.

Sanders.

Ms. Harris has been men-

tioned as a potential running-

mate for Mr. Biden despite a

complicated history.

The two clashed during a

summer debate when Ms. Har-

week but hasn’t yet made an

endorsement.

The other candidates backed

Mr. Biden after his 28-point

win in South Carolina on

Feb. 29. Mr. Biden went on to

win 10 out of 14 states on

Tuesday. Ms. Harris’s home

did, which pressed Mr. Obama

also to come out in favor of it.

“We are disappointed but not

surprised by this kind of cam-

paigning from Sen. Sanders. It’s

telling that his campaign is re-

sorting to recycled and false at-

tacks following the Vice Presi-

dent’s resounding win on Super

Tuesday,” TJ Ducklo, a spokes-

man for Mr. Biden, wrote in a

statement.

Aides to Mr. Sanders say the

campaign isn’t changing strat-

egy in reaction to the shift in

the race, instead saying it is a

natural progression as it has

become a two-man campaign.

“He’s talking about Social

Security, trade, all things he’s

talked about the entire time,”

Mr. Casca said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden isn’t

expected in Michigan until

Monday, where aides say he

will likely emphasize his role in

the 2009 bailout of General

Motors and Chrysler.

—Sabrina Siddiqui

and Alexa Corse

contributed to this article.

ing with him, taking the oppor-

tunity to reiterate his attacks

on Mr. Biden’s vote in favor of

the 1994 North American Free

Trade Agreement and his past

openness to freezing Social Se-

curity benefits, two topics

aides believe resonate with

Michigan voters.

Mr. Sanders has also begun

to bring up positions Mr. Biden

took during his decadeslong

career in the Senate, such as

his support for the Hyde

Amendment barring federal

funds from being used for

abortions and for the “Don’t

Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring

lesbian and gay troops from

serving openly in the U.S. mili-

tary. Mr. Biden has since re-

versed his support of the Hyde

Amendment.

During a CNN forum in Oc-

tober, Mr. Biden said he never

supported the “Don’t Ask,

Don’t Tell” policy but voted for

it as part of a larger bill. Mr.

Biden also publicly backed

same-sex marriage be-

fore President Barack Obama

When Mr. Sanders did ad-

dress the mostly white crowd,

he gave his standard stump

speech. The panelists at the

event then spoke more specifi-

cally about issues affecting

black communities.

On Sunday, Mr. Biden at-

tended services at New Hope

Baptist Church in Jackson,

Miss., where he credited the

African-American community

for resurrecting his campaign.

“You’re the reason I’m back.

Nobody else, no other reason,”

Mr. Biden told the majority

black congregation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sanders also

has started speaking more fre-

quently to the reporters travel-

fact that we have strong sup-

port from the African-American

community, the Muslim com-

munity, in Michigan and in ev-

ery state in the country,” Mr.

Sanders told reporters in Burl-

ington, Vt., last week.

Saturday morning,

Mr. Sanders held a rally with a

diverse crowd in Dearborn,

Mich., a city with a large Arab-

American population. But that

evening, Mr. Sanders scrapped

a planned speech intended to

make his case to black voters

in Flint, Mich., after discussing

it with local black activists, his

spokesman said.

In discussions backstage

ahead of the event, Mr. Sand-

ers and the activists “decided

it was probably better to let

the people of color who were

on the panel discuss instead of

him giving a traditional

speech,” spokesman Mike

Casca later told reporters

about the change.

“He does not have those ex-

periences,” Mr. Casca said. “He

is a white Jewish man.”

ris, who is black, told Mr. Bi-

den that while she didn’t be-

lieve he was racist, his warm

recollection of working with

two deceased segregationist

senators was hurtful.

She also questioned his op-

position to federally ordered

busing to integrate schools

during the 1970s. At the time,

Mr. Biden said he supported

local busing efforts and said

he didn’t “praise racists.”

“There was a little girl in

California who was part of the

second class to integrate her

public schools, and she was

bused to school every day, and

that little girl was me,” Ms.

Harris said during that debate.

Ms. Harris spoke to Mr. Bi-

den on Saturday after making

her decision, according to a

person familiar with her think-

ing.

The senator had previously

held back from endorsing a

candidate in large part be-

cause she didn’t want to go

against Ms. Warren and Ms.

Klobuchar, two of the remain-

ing women in the race, the

person said.

California Sen. Kamala Har-
ris endorsed former Vice Pres-
ident Joe Biden for president
Sunday.
“I believe in Joe Biden and
will do everything in my
power to help elect him the
next president of the United
States,” she said.
Ms. Harris said she would
campaign with Mr. Biden in
Detroit on Monday. Michigan
and five other states will vote
Tuesday.
She joins other major presi-
dential candidates including
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobu-
char, former South Bend, Ind.,
Mayor Pete Buttigieg and for-
mer Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
in backing Mr. Biden.
The endorsements over the
past week have been a rapid
consolidation of the party
around the former vice presi-
dent as the race has come
down to two major candidates,
Mr. Biden and Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders. Massachusetts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sus-
pended her campaign last

BYELIZACOLLINS

Harris Endorses Ex-Rival Biden

Joe Biden speaking with then-candidate Kamala Harris after a

Democratic primary debate in Houston in September.

MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

DETROIT—The future of
Bernie Sanders’s presidential
campaign could come down to
Michigan, and the Vermont
senator is going all in.
Mr. Sanders’s once-solid po-
sition as the front-runner dis-
solved in the past week after
former Vice President Joe Bi-
den consolidated the moderate
wing of the Democratic Party
behind him and romped
through South Carolina and the
March 3 Super Tuesday states.
To reinvigorate his cam-
paign—his second run for the
Democratic presidential nomi-
nation—Mr. Sanders is barn-
storming Michigan and calling
in prominent progressives in-
cluding the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
of New York and Rep. Rashida
Tlaib of Michigan to rally
young, working-class and mi-
nority voters.
“I’m feeling good about the
momentum we have,” Mr. Sand-
ers said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Mr. Sanders overtook the
former vice president in na-
tional polling in early February
and proceeded to effectively tie
in Iowa and win solidly in New
Hampshire and Nevada. But
Mr. Biden pulled out a 28-point
victory in South Carolina on
Feb. 29 in large part because of
overwhelming support among
the state’s black voters. Then

BYELIZACOLLINS

last Tuesday, he beat Mr. Sand-

ersin10of14statesafterre-

ceiving endorsements from two

erstwhile rivals: former South

Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Butt-

igieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy

Klobuchar. On Sunday, Califor-

nia Sen. Kamala Harris said

she, too, was backing Mr. Biden

and would campaign with him

in Michigan on Monday.

Michigan is the biggest prize

among the six states that vote

on Tuesday. Winning that state

and a significant chunk of its

total 125 convention delegates

on Tuesday would help keep

Mr. Sanders competitive, but

should he lose, his path nar-

rows significantly. The Vermont

senator also needs a resound-

ing victory to back up his case

that he alone can build a coali-

tion to win general-election

battleground states, like Michi-

gan, that President Trump won

in 2016. So far, it is Mr. Biden

who has expanded the Demo-

cratic electorate, vote results

and exit polls have shown.

Mr. Sanders said on Fox that

he “certainly would not con-

sider dropping out” if he loses

in Michigan on Tuesday.

In 2016, Mr. Sanders pulled

off a surprise victory here

against Hillary Clinton, and

polling shows this year’s race

is competitive.

On Thursday, Mr. Sanders’s

aides rewrote his schedule and

canceled a visit to Mississippi,

which also votes Tuesday, and

added more events in Michigan.

The campaign also dis-

patched top aides to Michigan

at the end of last week, accord-

ing to aides.

“We’re very proud of the

Sanders Looks

For a Lifeline

In Michigan

Biden’s surge has the

senator barnstorming

the state in need of a

big win on Tuesday

Times on Saturday. The lunch is

scheduled for Thursday at the

Capitol.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman

for Mrs. Pelosi, said, “There has

never been stronger support in

the Congress and in the coun-

try for the U.S.-Ireland bilateral

relationship. One would think

that the White House could set

petty, partisan politics aside for

this historic occasion.”

The lunch has been held

around St. Patrick’s Day each

year since 1983, when Speaker

Tip O’Neill hosted President

Ronald Reagan in an effort to

improve relations between the

two Irish-American leaders.

The following year, the two

decided to invite the Irish

prime minister, or taoiseach.

From 1987 through 2019 a

president has only missed the

event four times, said a Demo-

cratic aide.

The president and the Dem-

ocratic speaker have clashed

since Democrats took control of

the House in 2019.

WASHINGTON—President

Trump plans to skip an annual

St. Patrick’s Day luncheon on

Capitol Hill this week, with the

White House citing tensions

with House Speaker Nancy

Pelosi in his decision to opt

out of a longstanding biparti-

san celebration of U.S. ties to

Ireland.

White House spokesman

Judd Deere said Sunday that

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.)

has “chosen to tear this nation

apart with her actions and her

rhetoric,” and said the president

“will not participate in moments

where she so often chooses to

drive discord and disunity.”

“The relationship between

our two countries has never

been stronger, and the president

looks forward to welcoming the

prime minister of Ireland for

the annual Shamrock Bowl pre-

sentation,” Mr. Deere said.

The president’s plans were

first reported by The Irish

BYCATHERINELUCEY

Trump to Skip Lunch

For St. Patrick’s Day

So far, it’s Mr. Biden

who has expanded

the Democratic

electorate.

FROM PAGE ONE

bow Machine, $229, makes gui-

tars sound like Saturday morn-

ing cartoons.

The pedals have earned the

Akron, Ohio, company a pas-

sionate following among musi-

cians, as well as applause from

the federal government. Earth-

quaker Devices was named the

U.S. Small Business Administra-

tion’s 2019 exporter of the year.

Guitar pedals have been a

bright spot in the music busi-

ness. Gibson Brands Inc. and

Guitar Center Holdings Inc.—a

storied guitar maker and a

ubiquitous retailer, respec-

tively—have struggled with

debt and weak sales. Sales of

effects pedals were $125.5 mil-

lion in 2019, double what they

were a decade earlier, accord-

ing to Music Trades magazine.

Like craft-brewed beers, the

pedals are produced by an

eclectic mix of small and large

makers. Buyers include pro mu-

sicians, weekend amateurs and

stay-at-home guitar nerds. Like

beer, one pedal usually leads to

another.

“There are guys I know that

have 60 overdrive pedals,” said

Justin Norvell, executive vice

president of products at Fender

Instruments Corp., maker of

the iconic Stratocaster and

Telecaster guitars.

Some musicians string to-

gether a dozen or more effects

pedals when they play. Mr.

Stillman used 17 pedals, plus a

tuner. The most popular pedals

replicate the sustain and gritty

texture of a vacuum-tube amp

turned up to 10. Others make a

guitar sound like an organ or

replicate particular amps.

Avant-garde New York

groups Uniform and Show Me

the Body use so many pedals

that they are arranged on ta-

bles and manipulated by hand

as instruments. In many bands,

including Mr. Stillman’s Re-

laxer, guitarists do a lot of toe-

tapping and mid-song squatting

to twist knobs for fine-tuning.

Fender CEO Andy Mooney

was backstage at a U2 concert

in 2017 and noticed the Irish

rock group’s guitarist, The

Edge, had 21 guitars, four am-

plifiers and too many effects

pedals to count. Maybe 150 of

them, he said.

Mr. Mooney, who made a

name at Nike Inc. and later de-

veloped Walt Disney Co.’s prin-

cess franchise, said punk rock

helped expand the pedal mar-

ket. The genre elevated style

and texture over technique.

Pedals were sonic paint

brushes that layered effects to

create unique sounds.

The biggest selling pedals

include a lot of oldies. Electro-

Harmonix’s Big Muff fuzz pedal

came out in 1969. The name is

trademarked but not the cir-

cuit, which doesn’t qualify as

intellectual property. There are

many knockoffs—hundreds,

said Electro-Harmonix founder

and Chief Executive Mike Mat-

thews.

Mr. Stillman started out as

one of the copycats. He made a

version of the Big Muff for

Black Keys’ guitarist Dan Auer-

bach while he was the band’s

tour manager and guitar tech-

nician. “I had to fix one of mine

that broke,” he said. “Then I

went into a rabbit hole.”

Some shaky video from a

2006 Black Keys performance

in Boston kick-started Mr. Still-

man’s career. Soon, he was sell-

ing handmade pedals on eBay,

adding ones of his own design.

The orders came in faster than

he could fill them, and he hired

a band of buddies to build them

in his basement.

The company now has an-

nual sales of about $5 million

and about 50 employees.

star for his pedals, some of
which rest at the feet of the fa-
mous.
A standing-room crowd
filled Brooklyn heavy-metal bar
Saint Vitus in December to hear
Mr. Stillman shred with Earth-
Quaker’s house band, Relaxer.
The musicians made liberal use
of Mr. Stillman’s made-in-Ohio
pedals, which were for sale by
the bar.
While touring bands usually
have so-called merch tables to
sell their T-shirts and the like,
Mr. Stillman set up three dozen
models of his pedals. They
were connected from a guitar
to a pair of headphones for
showgoers to try.
The lineup included two of
EarthQuaker’s hits: Avalanche
Run, an echo device that has
the patent-protected feature
that lets players swish between
forward and backward delays
and sells for $299. The Rain-

ContinuedfromPageOne

Heavy

Sounds in

Tiny Boxes

Reba Meyers of the band Code Orange uses her pedal board while playing in Philadelphia.

ANGELA OWENS