Inside the Beltway: Coronavirus jitters brings a Democratic debate with no audience

NEWS AND OPINION:

It was inevitable. Along with inspiring the entire nation to wash their hands a lot, the coronavirus is influencing official election activities. The next Democratic presidential debate will be staged with no live audience to cheer and jeer throughout the bout, no fans to seek that precious candidate handshake. Such interactions have long been a prime driver of drama and contention in these televised events.

But not this time. On Tuesday, the debate — hosted by CNN and Univision — is down to bare bones. It’s candidates and cameras.

“At the request of both campaigns and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience at the Arizona debate taking place on Sunday, March 15th,” says Democratic National Committee communications director Xochitl Hinojosa, who adds that safety of staff, campaign personnel and local voters is the party’s top priority.

This development may not be a bad thing, however. Perhaps voters will be treated to genuine policy dialogue rather than squawking, carefully calibrated talking points and posturing. But we shall see.

MEANWHILE ON THE BORDER

Some promising news from the southwest, this from U.S. Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott.

He reports that 131 miles now have been completed on the southwestern “border wall system” — while another 208 miles are under construction, with 414 miles in a “pre-construction” state. Of note: The project has now used 174 tons of steel and 269,000 cubic yards of concrete.

Mr. Scott’s brave, determined and compassionate border agents have been busy during this fiscal year.

Nationwide, they have arrested 1,040 illegal aliens with previous criminal convictions and another 1,038 wanted by other law enforcement agencies, or with outstanding warrants. In addition, during that period, the agents have seized 6,028 pounds of cocaine: 5,564 pounds of methamphetamine: 281 pounds of heroin, 2,014 pounds of fentanyl and 96,704 pounds of marijuana.

WHOOPS: NETWORKS IGNORE CLIMATE CHANGE

Despite the outcry of green-minded activists, major U.S. broadcasters are not particularly interested in climate change according to a new report from Media Matters, a non-profit press watchdog which analyzed a year’s worth of news coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC.

“The conversation around climate change was a minuscule part of overall corporate broadcast coverage in a year of extreme weather incidents and heightened activism worldwide. Climate change coverage on the corporate broadcast nightly and Sunday morning news shows made up less than 1% of overall coverage in 2019. What’s especially stunning is that the tiny amount of time devoted to climate change in 2019 marks a 68% increase from 2018, when coverage cratered,” the report said.

Uh-oh.

In 2019, broadcast networks covered the climate “crisis” 0.7% of the time, offering 238 minutes on the subject throughout 2019. They spent 33,000 minutes on “everything else.” But that’s better than 2018, when broadcasters offered a mere 142 minutes of climate fare.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and President Trump were featured in 2019, each appeared nine times on the issue across the three networks. The Green New Deal was second in the most mentioned, followed by concerns about plants or wildlife, extreme weather events or abnormal weather trends.

“While these issues helped bolster the volume of broadcast TV news coverage when compared to 2018, in many cases, the quality of this coverage was still lacking,” the study said.

The Media Matters research was based on coverage of climate change on nightly news programs and Sunday talk shows from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IMAGE TAKES A HIT

The impeachment effort and the public displays of animosity towards President Trump were perhaps seen by some members of the Democratic Party as a sign of power and focus in the political arena. The public may not agree.

“More Americans approve of the job congressional Republicans are doing than of congressional Democrats’ performance — 40% vs. 35%. The rating for Republicans in Congress has risen six percentage points since late October, before the impeachment of President Trump in the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the same period, congressional Democrats’ approval rating has edged down three percentage points and disapproval has climbed five points, from 57% to 62%,” writes Gallup analyst Megan Brenan, citing a new poll conducted Feb. 17-28 and released Wednesday.

“Just as the public’s assessments of congressional Republicans appear to have benefited from Trump’s impeachment, so too has President Trump. In January and February, the president’s job approval rating rose to his personal best of 49%; it remains elevated from where it was before his impeachment. Likewise, Trump’s favorability rating, which was 41% in October, reached 48% in January and is currently 46%, including 89% favorable among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents,” Ms. Brenan said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s ratings are up six percentage points to 33% approval in the same time period.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 39% favorability is about the same as it was in October, but her unfavorable rating has climbed — from 50% in October to 55% now. Meanwhile, 31% of Americans approve of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — while his 46% unfavorable rating is his highest of the last five polling measurements.

POLL DU JOUR

• 24% of Americans are “very happy” with their job; 32% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 25% of Democrats agree.

• 33% of Americans say they are “happy” with their current job; 34% of Republicans, 32% of independents and 35% of Democrats agree.

• 30% are “neither happy nor unhappy” with their job; 27% of Republicans, 36% of independents and 24% of Democrats agree.

• 8% are “unhappy” with their job; 6% of Republicans, 7% of independents and 12% of Democrats agree.

• 5% are “very unhappy”; 2% of Republicans, 7% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree.

Source: AN ECONOMIST/YOUGOV POLL of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted MARCH 1-3.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin