Archive for March, 2021

What counties that flipped to Biden from Trump tell us about Democrats’ pockets of renewed small-city vigor – MarketWatch

MANKATO, Minnesota (AP) Mary McGaw grew up in a Republican home on the rural prairie of south central Minnesota. But as she moved from her tiny town of Amboy to the nearest city of Mankato to study nursing, her politics migrated, too.

McGaw was moved by the plight of underinsured and became concerned about the viability of safety programs. She cast her vote for Democrat Joe Biden in November, and three months later she is pleased with how hard the new president is fighting for his priorities.

Hes trying to get something done, even though theres pushback from all sides, said the 37-year-old registered nurse, who now works at a Mankato branch of the Mayo Clinic.

Counties that went Bidens way in 2020 after favoring Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016 tend to be home to universities or large medical centers that draw educated and racially diverse newcomers. Their economies are better than average.

McGaws transformation is driving Democrats hopes as they charge into what the party considers its new frontier: small-city America.

As Democrats continue to lose votes in small towns, theyve seen clear gains in regional hubs that dot stretches of rural America. Biden carried roughly 60 counties President Donald Trump won in 2016, many were places anchored by a midsize or small city that is trending Democratic. They include places like Grand Rapids, Mich.; Wilmington, N.C.; Dayton, Ohio; and Mankatos Blue Earth County.

Their similarities are striking: Most include universities or, like Mankato, large medical centers that draw educated and racially diverse newcomers. Their economies are better than average. And in 2020, their voters showed a bipartisan streak voting for Biden for president and Republicans downballot in large numbers.

These voters are in line with Bidens personal brand, said Robert Griffin, research director for the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, a bipartisan demographic and public opinion team. Hes pegged as a moderate Democrat, rightly. But hes also making sure theres room for moderation in the party.

Biden won Blue Earth County by 4.5 percentage points, about the same percentage Democrat Hillary Clinton lost it by in 2016. In November, voters in the area dumped 30-year Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, arguably the most conservative Democrat in Congress, but reelected two Democratic state lawmakers.

Interviews with voters around Mankato help make sense of this partisan zigzagging.

While there remains support for Trump, voters stress that action carries more weight than ideological purity. Even devout Democratic activists who wish the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package Bidens chief legislative accomplishment so far contained more arent frustrated.

See: Biden played Sheriff Joe role in rollout of 2009s recovery package this time around he is being cast as salesman-in-chief

Sure, I wish it had contained the $15 minimum wage, said Jim Hepworth, the areas Democratic chairman. But we can have that fight another day.

Blue Earth County has long swung back and forth in presidential elections. But the demographic trends are now steady in Democrats favor.

The expansion of the Mayo Clinic to Mankato from nearby Rochester in 1996 increased the supply of medical professionals from around the country and the world. Since 2010, healthcare jobs have increased in the county by roughly 70%.

About 40% of Mankato residents have college degrees a key indicator of Democratic voting compared with 33% nationwide.

Racial diversity has accelerated another boost for Democrats. Minnesota State University, Mankato, has drawn more international students to its expanded health care programs. And manufacturing and food-processing plants on the citys outskirts have attracted immigrants from North Africa and Latin America.

The transition has not been without tension, but the area has come a long way since Abdi Sabrie, a Somali-American member of the Mankato School Board, arrived in 2009.

Then, his two daughters were the only students of North African descent in their elementary school. Today, 28% of Mankatos enrollment are students of color.The changes are welcome, but Sabrie gets frustrated.

Sometimes I want Democrats to use their control to the max, regardless of the other side, he said. But this diversity shows me we can bring back the politics of collaboration.

Annual household income in Blue Earth rose by roughly $20,000 over the past decade to nearly $60,000 in February, still below the state average of $71,300. Blue Earth housing, too, has jumped from an average home price of roughly $140,000 to $226,000. Buoyed by health care, unemployment was 3.2% in January, up slightly from 2.6% a year ago. The states was 4.5% in January.

Signs of changes are easy to find.

A decade ago, hijabs were forbidden for Mayo employees. Today, the colored head coverings worn by some Muslim women are common on campus. The nations racial reckoning has played out in a debate over whether to rename Sibley Park, whose namesake is a general who ordered the hangings of 38 Dakota warriors in 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

From near that solemn spot along the Minnesota River, Mankato grew east to its wooded bluffs. Along the river, brick hulls of grain exchanges still stand but now so does Karshe, an East African tea shop, and the arty Fillin Station coffee house, among used bookstores, spas and brewpubs.

Midway up the slope, Mayos campus sits among the tidy, middle-class homes that made the difference for Biden. In that precinct, Biden netted 500 more votes than Clinton did in 2016, a third of his winning margin in the county.

Fetching her children from school, McGaw says she and her husband, a Spanish-language medical interpreter, felt Biden was more task-oriented and less about himself than Trump. She voted straight-ticket, but groused Peterson had become too conservative for the district.

McGaw said her family has lived modestly during the COVID-19 pandemic. They qualify for $2,800 in household aid, and another $2,800 in child tax credits. McGaw sees others are more needy.

Weve been doing OK, she said. I was never nervous about my job security. In fact, I was always asked to work more. Do we need the money? Honestly, we can do without it.

McGaw isnt necessarily typical. Nationally, 53% of Democrats say they have experienced at least one form of income loss during the pandemic, slightly more than the 43% of Republicans, according to a March poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

A few blocks away, retired office administrator Jaci Lageson said she was pleased with Bidens compromise with Senate moderates who wanted to lower the income threshold for those receiving the checks.

It gets money in the pockets of people who need it to survive, said Lageson, a 67-year-old former Republican who has voted Democratic over the past 20 years. Lagesons 73-year-old husband, Larry, a devoted Trump supporter, called Biden a pawn of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The number of counties Biden flipped in November is well short of the 206 Trump flipped from Barack Obama in 2016 proof partisanship has hardened across the U.S. But the Democratic trend in these smaller, well-educated pockets looks sustainable, researcher Griffin said.

Its not surprising to have higher-education areas shifting back to the Democrats, given that educational polarization has increased, he said.

Though Mankato remains among the smaller cities in this class, it has grown by 35% since 2000 to about 44,000.

The growth has turned this sleepy rural college island into a microcosm of Democratic America, mixed with pragmatic sensibility reflected in Elizabeth Van Slyke, a progressive willing to compromise.

Im not so dead set in my ways, the 57-year-old marketing executive said. Some progress in the right direction is better than no progress.

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What counties that flipped to Biden from Trump tell us about Democrats' pockets of renewed small-city vigor - MarketWatch

Giordano: If These Threats Were Made Toward A Democrat Instead Of Van Drew, The World Would End – Talk Radio 1210 WPHT

Former Attorney General during the Trump Administration, Ken Cuccinelli, returns to the Dom Giordano Program for a discussion about whats been done to further secure voter integrity moving forward after the controversial 2020 election, and to give his thoughts on issues of the border. This week, Joe Manchin was the first Democrat to step up and say that the situation at the border is a crisis. Cuccinelli explains that he vehemently agrees, and further explains what makes the situation so dire. Then, Cuccinelli explains what the Trump administration put in place in effort to prevent a surge at the border like were currently seeing, and explains why its become such an issue under the Biden administration. Then, Cuccinelli gives an update on the continued push by Republicans throughout the country to further ensure election security in the future.

Paris Dennard, Spokesperson for the GOP, returns to the Dom Giordano Program to discuss President Joe Bidens trip to the Philadelphia region, as he comes to Delaware County to tout his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Dennard and Giordano first discuss why the President has to go on a tour to pump up the bill if its indeed as beneficial as hes making it out to be. Dennard mentions that if this bill was solely about COVID relief, they wouldnt have only 9% addressing COVID itself. Also, Dennard explains how the stimulus bill is a vessel to implement socialistic policies in the United States.

Harry Hurley, host on Atlantic Citys WPG Talk Radio, rejoins the Dom Giordano Program after breaking a huge story regarding Congressman Jeff Van Drew. For a while now, the Ocean City Sentinel has been publishing Op-Eds written by an Ocean City resident by the name of John McCall. In multiple columns, McCall has written violent threats and sexually harassed Van Drews wife. Then, McCall called Van Drew at his home and threatened the Congressman, saying, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are deposed if not dead. Hurley spoke with the Congressman earlier in the day and got an update, which he reveals to our listeners, and gives some context surrounding the newspaper in question.

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Giordano: If These Threats Were Made Toward A Democrat Instead Of Van Drew, The World Would End - Talk Radio 1210 WPHT

Rev. Al Sharpton on George Floyd familys settlement with Minneapolis: It doesnt end there – Yahoo News

The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos Cherokee Sheriffs OfficeATLANTAA Georgia man who professed a passion for guns and God was in custody on Tuesday night after a string of shootings that police said appeared to target Asian women at massage parlors and left eight people dead.Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, Georgia, was caught on video at the crime scenes and later nabbed on a highway two hours south of Atlanta following a police chase, authorities said.Police stressed that it was still much too early to announce a motive, but the horrific attacks come amid a wave of targeted violence against the Asian-American community. Details about the suspect that began to trickle out offered few clues.Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. Its a pretty good life, read the tagline on an Instagram account that appeared to belong to Long.A student who graduated from Sequoyah High with Long in 2017 who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Daily Beast, He was very innocent seeming and wouldnt even cuss. He was sorta nerdy and didnt seem violent from what I remember. He was a hunter and his father was a youth minister or pastor. He was big into religion. Shootings at two massage parlors in Atlanta and one in the suburbs have left multiple people dead, many of them women of Asian descent, authorities said Tuesday. Brynn Anderson/AP The rampage began at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth in Cherokee County, where two people were killed, one other person succumbed to their injuries en route to a nearby hospital, and one died while in treatment, according to the sheriffs office. The victims were two Asian women, a white woman, and a white man, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A Hispanic man was also injured in the shooting and was rushed to a hospital for medical treatment, a spokesman for the sheriff said. About an hour later and 30 miles away, two spas on the same Atlanta streetGold Spa and one in Aroma Therapy Spawere targeted by gunfire, and four Asian women were killed.Officers had just arrived at one of the spas to find the victims when they were summoned to the second. While at [the first location] we received another call across the street of shots fired, and responded to find another individual shot at that location, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney N. Bryant told reporters.While no details about the Acworth victims were given, Bryant said that it appears that all the [Atlanta] victims are female and it appears that they may be Asian.Two men who live just across from Gold Massage Spa who refused to give their names said their neighbors started asking them about the incident around 6:15 p.m. They said the area was very diverse, but that the spa was known to be an Asian-owned business.This is the worst shooting since 99 I think, one of the men told The Daily Beast. There was a shooting then where a guy went through his office and killed a bunch of people and he killed his family. That was 12 people I think, so this is the worst one since Ive been here.Bryant has declined to say whether police believe the shootings in Georgia Tuesday amounted to a hate crime, saying, We cant make that determination just yet. Law enforcement officials confer outside a massage parlor following a shooting on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Atlanta. Brynn Anderson/AP Cherokee County Sheriff s Capt. Jay Baker told reporters: Nothing is going to be ruled out. Wherever the investigation leads us, thats where we are going to go. Atlanta police said video surveillance of Longs car at all three massage parlors captured Tuesday night made it extremely likely he was the main suspect in all three shootings. Crisp County Sheriff's Office President Joe Biden recently condemned the surge in crimes of hate, which have included a brazen, deadly assault on an 84-year-old from Thailand who was killed on a morning stroll in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), in offering condolences to the families of the victims of the Atlanta shootings on Tuesday night, noted that many of the victims are Asian.These murders occurred at a time when anti-Asian violence has been spiking. All officials should do their part to condemn violence and not inflame further discrimination, he tweeted.The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus said it was horrified by news of the shooting at a time when were already seeing a spike in anti-Asian violence.The legal advocacy nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta released a statement saying the group was shaken by the shootings. Now is the time to hold the victims and their families in our hearts and with light.In testimony to the Georgia State Senate the day before the shootings, Michelle Au, a Democratic state senator representing Johns Creek, GA, said, In the last year, 32 incidents of hate crimes towards our Asian-American and Pacific Islander community here in Atlanta have been reported. Recognize that we need help, we need protection, and we need people in power to stand up for us against hate.Baker said that Long was arrested by Crisp County Sheriffs officers who performed a PIT maneuver, or a pursuit intervention technique, in which police force another car to plow sideways and stop.Longs family did not respond to calls for comment. His youth pastor at the Crabapple First Baptist Church confirmed he was the suspect and said elders would be releasing a statement.A 2018 video on the Crabapple Facebook page features Long discussing his Christian journey toward baptism. As many of you may remember, when I was 8 years old I thought I was becoming a Christian, and got baptized during that time. And I remember a lot of the reason for that is a lot of my friends in my Sunday school class were doing that, Long says in the clip.And after that time, there wasnt any fruit from the root that is our salvation.He goes on to say that when he was in seventh grade he attended a youth group and a speaker was discussing the biblical story of the prodigal son.The son goes off and squanders all that he has and lives completely for himself and then, when he finds hes wanting to eat pig food, he realized theres something wrong and he goes back to his father and his father runs back to him and embraces him. And by the grace of God I was able to draw the connection there and realize this is a story between what happened with me and God. I ran away living completely for myself, and he still wants me, and so thats when I was saved.with reporting by Rachel OldingRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Rev. Al Sharpton on George Floyd familys settlement with Minneapolis: It doesnt end there - Yahoo News

Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network (NAN) Statement on Judge Merrick Garland’s Confirmation as the 86th Attorney General of the United…

Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) applaud Judge Merrick Garlands confirmation as the 86th Attorney General of the United States. The Justice Department will now have an agenda-focused Attorney General to promote, reform, correct, and expand law rule with integrity and independence. We look forward to working with the DOJ to promote fairness and justice, confront racial injustice, and encourage all Americans civil rights.

Last summer over 200 thousand people joined us at the Lincoln Memorial to call on reform to harmful policing practices and misconduct much of which falls under DOJs purview. Attorney General Garland has a record of being a consensus-builder throughout his esteemed career. We immediately call on him to honor his pledge to prioritize civil rights and ensure racial equity in our justice system, keeping with a deep and abiding reverence for the rule of law to ensure that the law is applied fairly and equally, said Ebonie Riley, Washington, DC Bureau Chief of National Action Network.

This new administration has reinvigorated the American spirit and hope in a democratic society that is inclusive of all people, not just a select few. The murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others exposed inequities in our criminal justice system and a history of discriminatory police practices. Judge Merrick Garlands confirmation as the 86th Attorney General of the United States is a signal of hope that we are heading in the right direction for a Department of Justice that addresses police misconduct, advances racial equity, and creates a fairer nation for all, said Rev. Al Sharpton President of Founder of National Action Network.

About National Action Network

National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender.

For more information go towww.nationalactionnetwork.net

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Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network (NAN) Statement on Judge Merrick Garland's Confirmation as the 86th Attorney General of the United...

How Brooklyns Shirley Chisholm paved the way for women of color in politics – WPIX 11 New York

Girls and women of color around the country can look toward the White House today and see the nations first Black woman to hold the vice presidency, but Kamala Harris path was paved decades earlier by the Brooklyn daughter of Caribbean immigrants.

Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968.

That you will never regret having worked to send your humble servant, Shirley Chisholm, to fight for you on the national level, Chisholm said on the night she was elected. Because I recognize how I came, and from whence I came.

That was the night of Nov. 5, 1968. Four years later, she shook the world once more with her words.

I stand before you as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of America, Chisolm said in front of a podium at Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyns Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Jan. 5, 1972.

Chisholm took aim straight at the Nixon White House.

Leadership does not mean putting the ear to the ground to follow public opinion, Chisholm intoned that night. But to have vision of ones necessary and the courage to make it happen.

At the time, Chisholms courage attracted the ear of an 18-year-old. He was already known as the Boy Preacher in his neighborhood and in some other cities around the nation where he preached sermons. His name was Al Sharpton, and he quickly signed on as the youth coordinator for Chisholms campaign.

What attracted me was it was unusual for a woman to be able to hold her own, even against misogynistic Black politicians in Brooklyn at the time, Rev. Sharpton said from the office of his National Action Network in Harlem.

Sharpton remembers a campaign that was not well received, even by some fellow Black Americans. The discord hurt Chisholm deeply, Sharpton said.

She would discuss it very openly saying the nerve of them to talk to me like that. Women have to deal with racism and sexism, Alfred, Sharpton recalled.

Alfred was what Chisholm called Sharpton at the time.

Some, such as filmmaker Shola Lynch, did not really become familiar with Chisholms legacy until college history courses.

I had taken in the idea that as a Black person you could never be president, not in my lifetime. And as a woman, you could never be president, not in my lifetime, Lynch said.

Lynch is now curator of the Schomburg Centers Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division. She also won a Peabody Award for her 2005 documentary Chisholm 72: Unbought and Unbossed, which chronicled Chisholms groundbreaking run.

You know, when Walter Cronkite announced she was running for president, he smirked saying another bonnet was being thrown into the ring, Lynch said. To him it was a joke!

Dr. Zinga Fraser is director of the Shirley Chisholm Project at Brooklyn College, Chisholms alma mater.

Fraser said that by understanding Chisholm, you understand what it takes to be a leader.

Government isnt just about those who are in leadership, Fraser said. But its really about ways in which that leadership meets the needs of the people.

Rep. Yvette Clark now represents a portion of the Brooklyn district that sent Chisholm to Congress. She believes the fights Chisholm started on behalf of the people are still worth fighting today.

She was working with the least of these, Clarke said. And her persona made them believe that she understood what they were living with and living through and that she would fight for them.

In the last interview before her death, Chisholm said she wanted to be remembered as a woman who dared to be a catalyst for change in America.

Her favorite saying: If they wont give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.

Chisholm died on New Years Day in 2005.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 posthumously by President Barack Obama.

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How Brooklyns Shirley Chisholm paved the way for women of color in politics - WPIX 11 New York