NEWS AND OPINION:
Creative campaign strategists have depicted Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden as the “normal” candidate who will bring back “normal” America if he wins the White House. This political branding has been going on for months, and was once lauded by the press as a savvy common man approach.
But now? A new CNN analysis cautions Mr. Biden not to campaign as the “normal” candidate — which could backfire should he win and then have to face the huge challenges of pandemic, national security and the economy.
“Sorry, there will be no return to normalcy under Joe Biden,” writes Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a columnist for USA Today.
“As the presidential campaign enters its final phase, one of the messages of the Biden campaign is that putting him, a 47-year veteran of national politics, into the White House will return us to something approaching normal. With Biden in charge, all the Trump craziness will expire, and things will be safe, sane and familiar. In fact, there’s no chance of this happening,” Mr. Reynolds says.
Voters appears to agree. A new Yahoo/YouGov poll of voters finds that 9-out-of-10 think the nation is not “normal” right now. Only one-third say that America will return to its “normal” state if Mr. Biden is elected — before pandemic, social unrest and other factors took hold of the nation. See more numbers in the Poll du Jour at column’s end.
A COMMON SENSE SOLUTION
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama introduced Tuesday the Commitment to American Security Act.
“For months, we have seen rising crime rates result in threats to Americans’ lives, liberties, and property. House Democrats’ demands to defund the police have only stood in the way of helping law enforcement serve and protect our communities. But House Republicans have put forward a plan to keep Americans safe in their communities and at our nation’s borders,” Mr. McCarthy told his peers Tuesday.
Funding would be increased for local police, providing better training and 500,000 body cameras — a key to “more transparency, more accountability, and better performance,” he said.
“It includes nearly 40 provisions to protect the homeland by strengthening our border security, cyber security, and transportation security. Through our priorities and actions, Republicans continue to follow through on our Commitment to America agenda to restore the American way of life,” he noted, deeming the legislation a “common sense solution to improve public safety.”
TIMELY ADVICE
Days whisk by, and time seems to be speeding up in our restless world. Time measurement, however, is getting more accurate. Please consider the newly discovered “zeptosecond,” the shortest unit of time ever measured.
It is complicated. Here’s a handy advisory from Space.com for all the mathematically challenged.
“Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule. That time, for the record, is 247 zeptoseconds. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1,” the news organization explained.
Yes, well. So how many zeptoseconds until the presidential race is decided? That’s best measured in days, weeks — or even months.
MEDIA BIAS LIVES ON AND ON
The country’s major broadcast news media outlets have never been more biased against a sitting president than President Trump, a conservative media watchdog has concluded. A Media Research Center study released Tuesday reveals all.
“Four years ago, the Big Three broadcast evening newscasts tried to destroy Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with historically negative press coverage. This year, those newscasts are doubling down, with coverage that is even more hostile to the Republican,” wrote research director Rich Noyes.
“Meanwhile, his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, is enjoying mostly positive coverage and a friendly media that’s virtually ignoring all topics — such as the scandal swirling around his son, Hunter Biden — that might harm his prospects,” he said.
The new study analyzed all coverage of the two contenders on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from July 29 through Oct. 20. It found that Mr. Trump received 839 minutes of coverage — and 92% of it was negative in content and tone. Mr. Biden received 269 minutes of airtime, and two-thirds of it — 66% — was positive.
“The three evening newscasts have been relentlessly negative throughout Trump’s presidency. From Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, through October 20, 2020, our analysts have tallied 16,755 evaluative comments, 90.5% of which (15,161) have been negative. While the topics have shifted from the Russia-collusion investigation to Ukraine and impeachment to this year’s coronavirus pandemic, the networks’ hostility has been incredibly consistent,” Mr. Noyes said.
FOXIFIED
Fox News is now marking 226 consecutive months — almost 19 years — as the top-rated cable news network, drawing 4.9 million prime-time viewers, compared to 2.7 million who favor MSNBC and 2.5 million who chose CNN.
Fox News is also notching 52 consecutive months as the most-watched network in the entire cable realm as audience numbers throughout October were a record high for the network. Prime-time host Tucker Carlson remains the ratings king with 5.3 million viewers — “earning the highest-rated monthly viewership of any program in the history of cable news,” Fox News said in a press release.
Mr. Carlson’s ratings are up 66% since this time last year, the network said.
POLL DU JOUR
• 89% of registered U.S. voters say that things are not “normal” in the U.S. right now: 79% of Republicans, 91% of independents and 94% of Democrats agree.
• 46% of this group say that things will not “get back to normal” if Joe Biden is elected president; 95% of Republicans, 53% of independents and 10% of Democrats agree.
• 35% say things will get back to normal if Mr. Biden is elected; 3% of Republicans, 24% of independents and 64% of Democrats agree.
• 19% are not sure; 2% of Republicans, 23% of independents and 26% of Democrats agree.
Source: A Yahoo News/YouGov poll of 1,500 registered U.S. voters conducted Oct. 23-25.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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