Welcome to today’s US election briefing for Australia.
As if a looming presidential election and escalating pandemic weren’t enough to test America’s brittle nerves this month, on Monday confirmation hearings began for supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
As my colleague Tom McCarthy explains, it’s hard to overstate how significant her appointment would be: giving conservatives a bulletproof, six-justice majority on the nine-member court and extending the conservative reach into every corner of American life.
Republicans have portrayed opposition to Barrett, a conservative Christian, as motivated by anti-Catholic bigotry, and it was notable how Democrats totally avoided discussion of her religion on the first day of hearings.
Instead, senators argued her appointment was being rushed by Donald Trump ahead of a potential legal challenge to the election results, and would jeopardise so-called Obamacare, threatening the healthcare coverage of millions of Americans. You can read our full report here.
Meanwhile, Trump returned to the campaign trail, telling a packed crowd in Florida he was feeling powerful and wanted to climb down and kiss them all. Huge yikes, to say the least.
It wasn’t business as usual though – amazingly, major news outlets including the NYT and WSJ have not sent reporters to travel with the president, 22 days out from the election, citing concerns over the lack of health protocols.
The big stories
Joe Biden campaigned in Ohio on Monday, stressing how he and Obama rescued the auto industry during the GFC at a drive-in rally of auto workers. He struck a decidedly populist note, praising unions and arguing that he represented working-class values.
Trump held his first rally in Florida, addressing a packed, largely maskless crowd at an outdoor location. It came as Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said holding large rallies was “asking for trouble”.
People reported waiting more than 10 hours to cast their ballots as early voting opened in the state of Georgia, highlighting how difficult voting is in many parts of the US. The state has a Republican governor but polls currently show a statistical tie.
A criminal investigation has been launched in California after the Republican party placed unauthorised ballot boxes in several counties. The state has sent cease-and-desist orders to the GOP, which admitted to owning the boxes.
A record number of Black women and women of colour are running for office across the US this year. The Guardian met candidates and activists in Florida demanding “a seat at the table”.
Quote of the day
I’m not going to talk through a mask.
Despite the huge coronavirus cluster at the White House, chief of staff Mark Meadows walked out on reporters on Monday after one insisted he keep his mask on at a press conference.
Election views
“What I doubt is [Amy Coney Barrett’s] ability to separate out the ‘rightness’ of her faith from decisions about the future of healthcare, reproductive freedom, and civil rights for millions of Americans,” writes her former classmate Lisa M O’Neill, who describes her own journey reckoning with her Catholic faith.
While Joe Biden would be less bellicose than Donald Trump, there is still reason to fear a new cold war with China if Democrats win in November, writes Alex Doherty. “Not being hobbled by the capricious personality and unilateralist ‘America first’ ideology of Donald Trump, the Democrats will be more able, and perhaps more willing, to build an international anti-China alliance.”
Video of the day
“I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and everybody,” Trump said as he returned to the campaign trail on Monday.
Around the web
With abortion remaining a potent political issue, a Democrat Senator from Michigan has become the first senator to share a personal story to make the case for a woman’s right to choose. Gary Peters spoke to Elle magazine about the difficult decision he and his wife made made to terminate an unviable, very much wanted pregnancy.
Noam Chomsky, looking like a leftist Gandalf, appeared on the Bad Faith podcast with former Bernie Sanders’ press secretary to make the case why leftists should hold their nose and vote for Biden (tldr: the future of the planet depends on a president who cares about climate change). It sort of broke (one section of) the internet.
And this animated graph shows how the virus is ravaging red states. The numbers are a bit of a gut punch.
This, from Dan Goodspeed, is remarkable. pic.twitter.com/SP7MZaFBRh
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) October 12, 2020
What the numbers say: 2
The overall poll bounce received by Democratic US Senate candidate Cal Cunningham in North Carolina after details of an extra-marital affair were revealed. His numbers were up even higher with men (+13) but down with women (-7).
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