The Economist - USA (2021-01-30)

The EconomistJanuary 30th 2021 United States 21

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reach the elderly black, Hispanic and Asian

residents in his community, Mr Marte has

joined local organisations, such as food

banks and pensioners’ centres, to walk the

hallways, slide flyers under doors and call

landlines. Trust has built over time. People

“started to know people who went to the lo-

cal testing sites and had a good experi-

ence,” Mr Marte says.

He is optimistic that getting vaccines to

interested people will help reduce hesita-

tion, too. But only if they can get to where

the jabs are being offered. Mr Marte says

some pensioners are a 20-minute walk

from the nearest vaccination centre. For an

elderly person, this could become an hour-

long walk in below-freezing weather.

For those who remain distrustful, edu-

cation from respected figures is vital. Ofole

Mgbako, a black physician at Columbia

University Medical Centre, explains that

his minority clients are sceptical at first.

But they become open to getting the vac-

cine when given information from some-

one they trust who understands their wor-

ries. “I have the ability to review the science

myself...to look at all the data and make my

own decision,” explains Dr Mgbako. “And

that’s where representation is important,

because if more people like me are able to

do that, then we can disseminate [the in-

formation] and have reasonable conversa-

tions with people in our communities.” 7

A

fter givingan early signal that he ap-

proved of Donald Trump’s looming im-

peachment for inciting an insurrection—

and indeed viewed it as a good opportunity

to purge the former president from his

party—Mitch McConnell did an odd thing.

Instead of pressing ahead with the im-

peachment trial in order to begin it while

Mr Trump was still president, as the Demo-

crats wanted, the then Republican majority

leader sent the Senate on holiday.

Mr McConnell claimed this was a practi-

cal matter: the trial could not be concluded

until after Mr Trump had left office, so it

might as well not start. Seasoned observers

of the senator from Kentucky, who rarely

does anything without a partisan motive,

suggested he wanted to see which way the

wind was blowing in his conference. With

the impeachment trial now set for the week

beginning February 8th, it is not blowing

against Mr Trump.

To convict the former president—and

probably then bar him from public of-

fice—17 Republicans would need to turn on

him, assuming all 50 Democratic senators

voted to convict, as they probably will. Yet

on January 26th all but five Republican sen-

ators—including Mr McConnell—voted to

scrap the impeachment. Put up by Rand

Paul, the motion alleged it was unconstitu-

tional to impeach a former president.

Some conservative legal scholars have

argued that. The constitution is vague on

the issue and there is no precedent to draw

on. Most experts consider this unproble-

matic, however—as Mitt Romney of Utah,

one of the five Republican senators who

voted for the trial, underlined. It defies rea-

son that the framers would have denied

Congress recourse to take action against a

criminal president in the last days of his

term. The opposing 45 Republicans, in-

cluding Mr McConnell, of course know

that. Many share his desire to see the back

WASHINGTON, DC

Senate Republicans prepare to

exonerate Donald Trump

Impeachment 2.0

Getting away

with it

I

n 1965 threefathersinWashington

state faced a dilemma familiar to belea-

guered parents in 2021: how to keep their

restless children entertained. They threw

together wooden paddles, a badminton

net, and a perforated plastic ball. The

sport “pickleball” was born, deriving its

name—according to one legend—from a

dog named Pickle, which kept running

away with the ball.

Today pickleball, which is a hybrid of

tennis, badminton and ping-pong, is the

fastest-growing sport in America. In the

five years to the end of 2019, pickleball

participation grew by more than 7%,

while Americans’ overall activity level

stayed flat, according to the Sport &

Fitness Industry Association. Although

data from 2020 have not yet been re-

leased, the sport has picked up more

swing thanks to covid-19. Last March,

when quarantines went into effect and

gyms closed, portable pickleball nets

temporarily sold out. Players set up

courts, which are half the size of tennis

courts, in driveways. “It’s the new thing,”

says Derek Heil, an employee at Dick’s

Sporting Goods in Dallas, who has seen a

sales spike for pickleball equipment over

the last year, including for higher-end

paddleswhichsellforaround $100.

The 3.5m Americans who play pick-

leball are about one-tenth the number

who golf and one-fifth the number who

play tennis. Yet there are reasons to bet

on the sport’s spread. Like many outdoor

activities, pickleball is social, but it is

easier to learn than tennis and faster and

less expensive than golf. Country clubs

and recreation centres across the country

are converting some of their tennis

courts into pickleball courts to meet

demand. The more places there are to

play, the more players will try the sport.

Hoping to predict where the ball is

going to land, manufacturers of tennis

racquets are starting to make pickleball

kit too. “Pickleball was seen as a threat in

the tennis community,” says Stu Upson

of usaPickleball, the sport’s national

governing body, who used to work for the

International Tennis Hall of Fame. But

now, he insists, it is viewed as an oppor-

tunity. Tennis pros are adding pickleball

lessons to their repertoire. As more

people take up the sport, demand for

televised matches and sponsorships will

increase. Mr Upson hopes that one day

pickleball will become an Olympic sport,

although that may be a long shot.

Thenew,oldthing

Pickleball

DALLAS

America’s fastest-growing sport has kept a low profile