The Wall Street Journal - 21.03.2020 - 22.03.2020

A4| Saturday/Sunday, March 21 - 22, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WASHINGTON

WIRE

Dispatches from the

Nation’s Capital

BYGABRIELT.RUBIN

POLITICS

Source: L

Note: Data are modeled

Likelyrace/ethnicity

Black

White

Other

TheAfrican-Americanpopulationmakesup

44.5%ofPeachCounty.Mostliveinand

aroundFortValleyandareDemocrats.

PeachCountysitsinacrescentoffarmlandstretchingacross

theDeepSouth.WhilepredominantlyAfrican-American

countiesinthisregionusuallyvoteDemocrat,somewith

largerwhitepopulationshaveswungbetweenthetwo

parties.MajoritywhitecountiesintheruralSouthhave

usuallyvotedRepublican.

Thewhitepopulationmakesup45%ofthecountyandis

centeredinandaroundByron.ManyareRepublicans,

thoughtherearealsoanumberofindependents.

Likelypartyaffiliation

Democrat

Republican

Non-partisan

PEACH

COUNTY

PEACH

COUNTY

PEACH

COUNTY

PEACH

COUNTY

BByronyron

FFortValleyortValley

BByronyron

FFortValleyortValley

primaries held on Tuesday, in

Florida, Illinois and Arizona,

all by double-digit margins.

In doing so, he effectively

ended the argument that his

last competitor, Sen. Bernie

Sanders, might catch him.

But a primary that wasn’t

held, in Ohio, told an equally

big tale. Ohio canceled its

primary out of fears citizens

turning out to vote might

spread the coronavirus. In so

doing, Ohio didn’t merely

raise doubts about how and

when remaining primaries

will be conducted; it also

demonstrated how heavily

the coronavirus cloud hangs

over the presidential contest.

Although it’s now clear

thevotethisfallwillpitMr.

Biden against President

Trump, the country’s corona-

virus defensive crouch effec-

tively banishes both from the

campaign trail. In a sense,

both are all dressed up for a

general-election campaign,

but with no place to go.

Like so many things in

American life now, that situ-

ation is unprecedented, and

neither campaign has a play-

book for dealing with it. One

thing is clear: Mr. Trump’s

handling of the crisis will be-

come a central, if not the

central, issue of the contest.

Mr. Biden already was try-

ing to portray himself as a

candidate with a combina-

tion of experience, compe-

tence and compassion, and

now, with the crisis in mind,

figures to double down on all

those themes. Outside Demo-

cratic groups, meanwhile,

geared up to attack Mr.

Trump’s handling of the cor-

onavirus pandemic.

Yet, the week ended with

some good news for Mr.

Trump on the coronavirus

front. Although he has been

criticized for not responding

more quickly, an ABC News/

Ipsos poll found that during

the past week the share of

Americans who approve of

his management of the crisis

shot up to 55% from 43%.

The delayed start to the

general-election campaign

“suits both sides, really,”

said Larry Sabato, director

of the Center for Politics at

the University of Virginia.

For Mr. Trump, the delay

means “he can be president”

and campaign from within

the confines of the White

House. And it is “a godsend”

for Mr. Biden, who needs

time to raise money, which is

in short supply.

In the course of one week,
the 2020 presidential cam-
paign has transformed into
something new and unex-
pected: A gen-
eral-election
contest that
will start late
and unfold in
a crisis atmo-
sphere.
Normally, this would have
been a week that marked a
shift from primary season to
general-election footing. For-
mer Vice President Joe Biden
swept the three Democratic

BYGERALDF.SEIB

A Week That Transformed the Presidential Campaign



THIS

WEEK

PEACH COUNTY, Ga.—Gar-
rett Milton rarely talks poli-
tics these days. All the vot-
ers in this rural community
already have made up their
minds, he says.
“It’s like the Bible, two
people can read it but you
aren’t going to
have the same
view,” said Mr.
Milton, 61
years old, who
owns a hair salon in the
county’s predominantly Afri-
can-American Fort Valley.
Even as the coronavirus
pandemic reshapes the na-
tion’s outlook and economy,
President Trump is expected
to do well in rural America
this fall. But the margin of
turnout in Peach County and
places like it in Georgia,
North Carolina and else-
where—joined with votes
from urban and suburban ar-
eas—could shape whether
Democrats have a chance to
win in the Deep South.
In Georgia, Democrats are
ratcheting up efforts to
reach rural voters after re-
cent elections have shown
that it isn’t enough for the
party to win Atlanta and its
suburbs without also picking
up rural support. The key to
victory here isn’t persuading
the unconvinced, but turning
out the base. And as in much
of the rural South, the par-
ties’ bases tend to group
along racial lines, with most
African-Americans voting
Democratic and most whites
voting Republican.
This agricultural area in
central Georgia, two hours
southeast of Atlanta, is
evenly split between Demo-
crats and Republicans. That
divide is most clearly seen in
its two main towns: Byron
and Fort Valley.
Republicans here, many
living in and around the city
of Byron, say the economy
improved under President
Trump and are eager to have
him back for another term.
Democrats, most of whom
live in and around Fort Valley,
say a majority of the jobs of-
fered these days are low-pay-
ing with fewer benefits. They
also worry that excitement
for their candidates is lacking.
Both parties will be trying
to track down every possible
Peach County voter they
know will support them, us-
ing phone banks, canvassing
and other efforts. But the
Republicans have a much
better get-out-the-vote effort

in rural counties, with stron-

ger party networks and more

activists than Democrats,

said Chris Grant, a political-

science professor at Mercer

University in nearby Macon.

“When Barack Obama has

not been on the top of the

ticket, there has been a

problem getting African-

Americans to the polls,” Mr.

Grant said. “It’s Trump’s

county to lose. He can lose

it, but it depends on a really

strong effort by Democrats

to get people out.”

Peach County was one of

206 counties across the

country—and 19 in the Deep

South—that favored Barack

Obama in 2008 and 2012, be-

fore flipping for Mr. Trump

in 2016, according to the

nonpartisan Ballotpedia.com,

which tracks election data.

But Mr. Trump’s margin of

victory was much smaller in

Peach than other counties:

Just under 3%, compared

with an average of 11.45%.

Any moderation in rural

Southern Republican voters

or increase in their Demo-

cratic peers could prove criti-

cal in increasingly competitive

states such as North Carolina

and Georgia. In 2016, Mr.

Trump lost metro Atlanta—

which now constitutes well

over half of the state’s popula-

tion—but made up for it with

a big uptick in rural Georgia,

winning about 90,000 more

votes there than Utah Sen.

Mitt Romney did in 2012.

Metro Atlanta is “the base

of the base” of the Demo-

cratic Party, “but you win

elections on the margins,”

said Nikema Williams, a state

senator and chairwoman of

the Georgia Democratic Party.

This election season, the

party has been holding fund-

raisers and other meetings in

rural parts of the state and is

campaigning more aggres-

sively on issues like rural

health care and the impact of

proposed state budget cuts

on services, she said.

The state GOP didn’t re-

spond to requests to comment.

Bobby Vinson, a 55-year-

old Byron resident who runs

an excavation business, said

he and his friends plan to

back Mr. Trump even more

enthusiastically than they

did in 2016 because of the

president’s efforts to reduce

regulations for businesses,

fight for better trade deals,

combat illegal immigration

and challenge entrenched in-

terests in Washington.

Shanita Bryant, 43, a Dem-

ocratic county commissioner

from Fort Valley, said getting

Democratic voters excited

will be hard because many

are struggling and aren’t fo-

cused on politics. “What we

are fighting in Peach County

is apathy,” she said.

Political discussions that

do take place at meetings or

on social media tend to be

nasty, said Wade Yoder, 50,

an at-large Republican

county commissioner who

has a business in Fort Valley.

“Between Republicans and

Democrats, it is pretty tough

down here and I hate it,” he

said. “It’s very, very partisan,

and the elections, seesawing

is the best description. It

seesaws back and forth.”

BYCAMERONMCWHIRTER

ELECTION

22

AUTO INDUSTRY PLEADSfor
delay in North American trade-
deal implementation due to cor-
onavirus pandemic. Now that
Canada has ratified the U.S.-
Mexico-Canada Agreement, the
Trump administration is eager to
see the pact enter into force as
soon as possible. President
Trump wants to tout the impact
of the new agreement, which

will replace Nafta, in the 2020

election campaign. But the auto

industry wants its new regula-

tions delayed until next year.

“When you add to that the

Covid-19 crisis, this is really be-

yond understanding that the ad-

ministration is trying to do this,”

Ann Wilson, senior vice president

at the Motor & Equipment Man-

ufacturers Association, told the

Journal’s William Mauldin. “If you

force us to try to comply by

June 1, we will not comply, and

tariffs will be unnecessarily paid.”

If cars and auto parts don’t

follow a raft of new rules—in-

cluding regulations designed to

ensure that much of a car is

built with high-wage labor—then

companies will have to pay tar-

iffs when those vehicles or com-

ponents cross the Mexican or

Canadian border. Those border

crossings were tightened this

week because of the pandemic,

but not in a way that should af-

fect commercial trade.

The auto industry has a pow-

erful Republican ally on its side:

Senate Finance Committee

Chairman Chuck Grassley said he

believes the industry has “a good

argument” for a delay. Supply

chains are badly disrupted be-

cause of the pandemic, and nu-

merous auto makers are closing

their North American factories.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS’cam-

paign organization urges its can-

didates to “exercise increased

sensitivity” while campaigning

during the coronavirus outbreak.

An internal memo this week ac-

cused Democrats of politicizing

the crisis and cable-news net-

works of allowing attacks to go

“largely unchecked,” seemingly a

reference to Sunday’s Demo-

cratic presidential debate. For-

mer Vice President Joe Biden,

Sen. Bernie Sanders and other

Democrats have been critical of

congressional Republicans and

the Trump administration’s ap-

proach to the crisis.

The memo from the National

Republican Congressional Com-

mittee encouraged candidates to

continue fundraising, but not to

connect it to the crisis. Their ad-

vice to candidates to “ask your-

self if your press release or

snarky comment are in poor

taste” raised the most hackles

from Democrats who have been

on the receiving end of the

NRCC’s attacks. In recent months,

those have included putting the

name of an African-American

congresswoman from Georgia on

a “For Sale” sign and placing

“moving boxes” outside House

Democrats’ offices following the

impeachment vote, prompting a

U.S. Capitol Police probe.

TULSI GABBARDhas ended her

presidential campaign, but she

has a new cause to promote:

universal basic income, which

had been the signature proposal

of fellow campaign dropout An-

drew Yang. Gabbard, who isn’t

seeking re-election to her Hawaii

congressional seat, introduced a

resolution last week to provide

$1,000 a month to American

adults during the pandemic, a

cause that has caught fire with

Republicans and Democrats alike.

Gabbard has sent out numerous

tweets and videos promoting

the plan: “Glad to see @TomCot-

tonAR @MittRomney @AOC &

others joining my efforts,” she

tweeted on Tuesday.

CONSERVATIVE ECONOMISTS

and some business groups scold

bipartisan fiscal-stimulus propos-

als to deal with the fallout of

the coronavirus pandemic, wor-

rying they could have permanent

consequences. Economist Arthur

Laffer, commentator Stephen

Moore and businessmanSteve

Forbes put out a statement de-

crying proposals to “expand wel-

fare and other income redistribu-

tion benefits like paid leave and

unemployment benefits that will

inhibit growth and discourage

work.” The conservative Club for

Growth urged members of Con-

gress to vote against the coro-

navirus legislation that passed

the House last week for similar

reasons. Their opinion was

mostly ignored, with the legisla-

tion passing 363-40.

LOBBYISTS RALLYto support

their favorite D.C. restaurants.

Lyndon Boozer, a telecommuni-

cations sector lobbyist, started

an online fundraiser with other K

Street and Capitol Hill fixtures

to support the staff of Bobby

Van’s Grill, which like other res-

taurants is closed during the

pandemic. “It’s a familiar water-

ing hole for us,” Boozer said.

“We have to come together so

these establishments survive.”

The fund had raised about

$7,000 as of midday Thursday,

far exceeding the initial $2,

goal. Other lobbyists and trade

association executives have en-

couraged their friends and asso-

ciates to order delivery from

other Washington-establishment

hot spots, including mid-Atlantic

fare favorite Equinox.

MINOR MEMOS: National Can-

nabis Festival at Washington’s

RFK stadium postponed until

September because of coronavi-

rus....Former California Gov. Ar-

nold Schwarzenegger films pub-

lic-service coronavirus video with

pet pony Whiskey and donkey

Lulu encouraging people to stay

home....Twitter uses a photo of

deceased author Philip Roth in-

stead of Biden in its election

coverage.

Michael Bloomberg said he

would transfer $18 million

from his presidential cam-

paign to the Democratic Na-

tional Committee, boosting the

party’s operations instead of

forming his own super PAC.

The investment is aimed at

strengthening the DNC’s battle-

ground program, which includes

12 states and is run in coordina-

tion with the state party com-

mittees. Mr. Bloomberg also has

offered to transfer the owner-

ship of many of his field offices

to state party committees, ac-

cording to a Democratic official,

who said the former New York

City mayor’s contributions

would help speed up their hir-

ing for positions in organizing,

data and operations.

The multimillion-dollar

boost to the party’s field-orga-

nizing program could serve as

a major asset to the Demo-

cratic nominee. Former Vice

President Joe Biden is leading

the delegate count and has

struggled to amass a large

campaign war chest. Sen. Ber-

nie Sanders is still in the race,

but Mr. Biden’s campaign is

preparing to expand his staff

for the general election, while

grappling with the new reali-

ties of campaigning during the

coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump’s team has

built a large campaign organi-

zation and is planning an ex-

tensive operation of field orga-

nizers and digital outreach to

voters. Mr. Trump and the Re-

publican National Committee

had more than $225 million in

the bank at the end of February.

After launching his White

House bid in late November,

Mr. Bloomberg committed to

keeping his staff on the pay-

roll and field offices open in at

least six competitive general-

election states, even if he

wasn’t the party’s nominee.

The billionaire dropped out

after giving his own campaign

more than $935 million, an un-

precedented amount in just 100

days, according to reports filed

with the Federal Election Com-

mission on Friday that show

his spending through the end

of February. He earned only 61

delegates on Super Tuesday,

meaning he spent at least $15.

million for each delegate.

Since he exited the race,

Mr. Bloomberg’s advisers had

been working on a way to ab-

sorb his campaign operations

into an outside entity that

would boost Mr. Biden.

“While we considered creat-

ing our own independent entity

to support the nominee and

hold the President accountable,

this race is too important to

have many competing groups

with good intentions but that

are not coordinated and united

in strategy and execution,” Mr.

Bloomberg wrote in a memo to

DNC Chairman Tom Perez.

BYTARINIPARTI

ANDKENTHOMAS

Bloomberg

Will Give

$18 Million

To D N C

The investment is

aimed at bolstering

Democrats in

battleground states.

Trump Relies on Rural Turnout in South

President is expected to do well outside of cities and suburbs, as Democrats struggle with voter apathy