Week In The News: Final Campaign Stretch As COVID-19 Infections Climb

Published October 23, 2020 at 9:00 AM CDT

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden take the stage for the final presidential debate at Belmont University on October 22, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the last debate between the two candidates before the election on November 3. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Days before the end of voting — COVID infections are climbing. What are the campaigns focusing on, and what does that tell us about their vision for the future?

Guests

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News. Host of Kaiser’s “What the Health?” podcast. (@jrovner)

Lisa Lerer, New York Times reporter who covers campaigns, elections and political power. She writes the “On Politics With Lisa Lerer” newsletter. (@LLerer)

From The Reading List

New York Times: “What We Know About the Election From Early Voting” — “As loyal readers of this newsletter know, I have a doomscrolling problem. My bad-news bingeing often kicks in late at night, just in time to cannibalize good sleep with the blue light of disaster.”

CBS News: “Final presidential debate: Fact checking Trump and Biden” — “In their second and final debate President Trump and Joe Biden argued about handling COVID-19 and reopening the country, the economy and immigration, among other topics.”

Kaiser Health News: “Biden’s Big Health Agenda Won’t Be Easy to Achieve” — “If Joe Biden wins the presidency in November, health is likely to play a high-profile role in his agenda. Just probably not in the way he or anyone else might have predicted.”

New York Times: “Why Things Are Different This Time” — “By all the measures that political strategists, pundits and operatives use to forecast elections, Mr. Biden should be heading toward victory on election night.”

Washington Post: “Senate Republicans fume as Mnuchin gives ground to Pelosi in search of deal” — “Senate Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as he makes what they see as unacceptable compromises in his quest for a stimulus deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, multiple people familiar with the talks said Thursday.”

New York Times: “Can Trump Win? Yes. But the Path Is Narrow and Difficult.” — “President Trump’s victory in 2016 is remembered for defying polls and stunning Democrats. But in many ways, it was not a surprise.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.