24 Jun 2024

Candidates seen ‘out of touch’ by young voters

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Young voters don’t really care to vote for politicians more than 50 years their senior, and it’s enough to keep them home this November, a new CBS News/YouGov poll shows.

According to the poll, those under 30 would rather sit out the election than have to choose between a 78-year-old former president or an incumbent who will turn 82 a couple of weeks after the election.

“Talking about young voters sets up a natural contrast with the age of this year’s candidates — which for some of these young voters marks a fifty-year or greater gap in ages — and how that affects their views. Half of these younger voters feel the candidates’ respective ages — President Biden and former President Donald Trump’s — make them out of touch,” pollsters wrote.

Half of the under-30s surveyed said that neither Trump nor Biden — either of whom would be the oldest candidate in history without the other — understand what makes a member of the younger generations tick.

“Most importantly, when they feel that, they’re relatively less likely to want to vote,” pollsters wrote.

About one third of voters aged 18 to 29 reported they were unsure if they would vote this November, compared to 94% of those over 65 who said they most certainly would, and the same amount said they hadn’t given the presidential election much thought.

“Historically, younger voters don’t vote as much as older voters do, so that’s not unique to this younger generation now — it’s often about people’s life stage, putting down roots in a community, developing habits of voting, getting involved or just having more time to follow politics as one gets older,” pollsters wrote. “That said, just one in five young people feel their generation has a lot of say in the political process — even while at the same time, many of them aren’t likely to vote.”

According to the poll, if the election were held today, Trump would win the White House by a single point.

24 Jun 2024

Here’s what’s at stake for Biden and Trump in this week’s presidential debate

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By STEVE PEOPLES, AP National Political Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Rarely, if ever, has one candidate in a presidential debate had so much material to use against the other.

Republican Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts with serious charges in three other indictments still pending. As president, Trump nominated three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and erode abortion access in America, creating a backlash even in conservative-led states. And his sweeping second-term plans include promises of retribution against political enemies in both major political parties.

Yet the big question for President Joe Biden, fairly or not, is whether he can press the case against Trump. Perhaps nothing matters more than the level of energy and strength the Democratic incumbent projects on stage.

Both men have glaring flaws that present their opponent with tremendous opportunity and risk. They will face a huge national audience that will include many people tuning into their 2020 rematch for the first time and who won’t see another debate until September, magnifying each success or mistake.

Biden and Trump will face off Thursday at 9 p.m. ET for 90 minutes inside a CNN studio in Atlanta.

Here are some key questions we’ll be watching:

Can Biden perform?

Biden’s seeming low bar for success has been created, at least in part, by Trump and his Republican allies, who have relentlessly mocked the Democratic president for apparent stumbles connected to his age for years. Trump’s allies have questioned whether the 81-year-old Biden can even stay awake and stand up for the entire 90 minutes — even as Trump, 78, has had his own flubs in his speeches at rallies. Trump defended himself Saturday about a moment during the Republican primary when he apparently confused former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He told a crowd Saturday that liberals had misconstrued what he called a moment of “pure genius.”

Democrats are hopeful that Biden can bring the same energy he did in his State of the Union address earlier in the year. But a face-off on live television against an opponent who delights in verbal combat is very different from a scripted speech before Congress.

Biden’s team is aware that he cannot afford to have a bad night with the nation watching.

Can Trump tone himself down?

Having already locked up his base, Trump has an opportunity with persuadable swing voters and moderates who fueled Biden’s victory four years ago and now express concerns about both candidates.

But to win over the so-called “double haters,” Trump cannot simply lean into the red-meat talking points, personal insults and conspiracy theories that typically dominate his public appearances. Instead of more talk of retribution or lies about the U.S. election system, he’ll need to offer an optimistic vision for the future and a clear contrast with Biden on traditional kitchen-table issues like health care and education.

He was widely panned for his outbursts in the first 2020 debate with Biden, badgering the then-Democratic nominee and repeatedly interrupting him. Their second debate took a milder tone and focused on their sharply different governing visions.

Can he stay disciplined Thursday night? Some allies are hopeful. History may suggest otherwise.

Navigating the criminal records

Trump’s extraordinary legal baggage creates opportunity and risk for both candidates on stage.

Biden’s campaign has signaled an increasing willingness to lean into Trump’s criminal record in recent days. But aside from a few jabs, Biden himself has largely distanced himself from Trump’s prosecutions to avoid the appearance of political interference.

Trump, who has been alleging for years without evidence that Biden is responsible for prosecuting him, won’t make it easy for the president to toe that line.

Recent polling shows that about half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s New York conviction. And if voters don’t think the specific convictions are troublesome, Trump’s attempt to conceal an alleged affair with a porn actress is hardly bumper sticker material.

Meanwhile, Biden is aware that Trump may go after his son, Hunter, as the then-president did on the debate stage four years ago. Hunter Biden was recently convicted on three felony charges related to the purchase of a gun while allegedly being addicted to drugs. Trump has also raised questions about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings when his father was vice president.

Muted mics and moderators

As is often the case, the moderators and the ground rules will likely shape the debate’s outcome. And the ground rules for this debate, the first of two scheduled meetings, are unusual.

It’s worth noting that the candidates are bypassing the traditional structure determined by the Commission on Presidential Debates and instead relying on a set of mutually agreed rules and conditions.

Biden and Trump will debate at a CNN studio in Atlanta with no audience. There will be no opening statements. Each candidate’s microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak. No props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage. The candidates will be given only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

A coin flip determined that Trump would deliver the final closing statement.

The event will be moderated by CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, two well-respected anchors who have not been shy about calling out Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories.

While Bash and Tapper have led critical coverage of Biden at times as well, Biden’s camp is no doubt hoping that they’ll play an active role in rejecting Trump’s potential falsehoods in real time. While Biden’s microphone will be muted when Trump is speaking, for example, the moderators’ mics will not.

Abortion versus immigration

While style sometimes matters more than substance on the debate stage, both candidates have serious policy challenges to navigate.

For Trump, no issue looms larger than abortion. His Supreme Court appointments while president enabled the court to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which triggered an avalanche of abortion restrictions across the nation. Trump has repeatedly said he was proud of his role in overturning Roe. And Biden will be eager to highlight Trump’s role.

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Trump, of course, has said he would not support a national abortion ban if reelected. But given his track record on Roe, he may have more work to do if he hopes to convince women he can be trusted on a key health care issue.

Biden’s greatest political liability, meanwhile, may be immigration. The Democrat’s administration has struggled to limit the number of immigrants entering the country at the U.S.-Mexico border. His allies privately acknowledge the issue is a major political liability heading into the fall.

Trump loves nothing more than highlighting illegal immigration, so expect him to pound Biden on the issue.

At the same time, Biden will face tough questions about his leadership in the war between Israel and Hamas. The president has alienated some would-be supporters on both sides given his staunch support — and occasional criticism — of Israel.

He’ll have a major opportunity to defend his record on the complicated issue Thursday night. It won’t be easy.

24 Jun 2024

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal

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By TIA GOLDENBERG and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza was cast into doubt on Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease-fire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he has said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest cease-fire proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease-fire proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes and mistrust persist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent cease-fire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal last month, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out an Oct. 7-style assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said that the current phase of fighting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conflicts, including with Hezbollah.

During the initial six-week phase, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary cease-fire would become permanent.

Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable confirmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations’ Security Council.

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In a statement late Sunday after Netanyahu’s lengthy TV interview, Hamas said his position was “in contrast” to what the U.S. administration said that Israel had approved. The group said that its insistence that any deal should include a permanent cease-fire and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces out of the entire Gaza Strip “was an inevitable necessity to block Netanyahu’s attempts of evasion, deception, and perpetuation of aggression and the war of extermination against our people.”

Netanyahu shot back and in a statement from his office said Hamas opposed a deal. He said Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until all 120 hostages are returned.

Hamas welcomed the broad outline of the U.S. plan but proposed what it said were “amendments.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to the region earlier this month, said some of Hamas’ demands were “workable” and some were not, without elaborating.

Netanyahu and Hamas both have incentives to keep the devastating war going despite the catastrophic toll it has had on civilians in Gaza and the mounting anger in Israel that after so many months Israel has not reached its aims of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.

The families of hostages have grown increasingly impatient with Netanyahu, seeing his apparent reluctance to move ahead on a deal as tainted by political considerations. A group representing the families condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, which it viewed as an Israeli rejection of the latest cease-fire proposal.

“This is an abandonment of the 120 hostages and a violation of the state’s moral duty toward its citizens,” it said, noting that it held Netanyahu responsible for returning all the captives.

In its Oct. 7 cross-border assault, Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 250 people captive, including women, children and older people. Dozens were freed in a temporary cease-fire deal in late November and of the 120 remaining hostages, Israeli authorities say about a third are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. It has sparked a humanitarian crisis and displaced most of the territory’s 2.3 million population.

Magdy reported from Cairo.

24 Jun 2024

Minnesota falls to 19th in education in state ranking

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ROCHESTER — As Minnesota falls in a national education ranking, Rochester Public Schools is making an effort to turn the tide for students in its own corner of the state.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual report, Minnesota ranks 19th in education among the 50 U.S. states. The state’s ranking is down from the 10th-place position it held in the organization’s 2019 report and the sixth-place position it held in 2014.

“Educational outcomes are not only affected by what happens in the classroom,” Alisha Porter, state director of the Minnesota Children’s Defense Fund, said in a statement. “That’s why it was so important that in 2023 Minnesota enacted universal school meals and made historic new investments in housing, child care, health, family economic stability and education. To do well in school, thrive overall and experience the joy in growing up, our children need their basic needs met.”

In addition to education, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s ranking measures overall child well-being, economic well-being, health and family and community.

There is some lag between the report’s findings and the current work underway since the ranking measures information from 2022, which is the most recent data available.

The report notes that multiple factors contributed to the state’s overall score. One is that 68% of the state’s fourth graders are not proficient in reading. The report also considers the number of 3- and 4-year-olds in school, the number of high school students graduating on time and the number of eighth-grade students proficient in math.

Information independent of the Annie E. Casey Foundation indicates that Minnesota’s schools struggle with preparing their students for the future. In 2023, the state’s education officials reported that 49.9% of students are meeting or exceeding their grade level. That same report indicated that the results of each assessment area remained roughly 10 percentage points below their pre-pandemic levels.

In addition to simply diagnosing the issue, the foundation’s report included steps educational leaders should take to bolster their students’ learning: Increase access to tutoring, address chronic student absence, and invest in community schools, among others.

Despite the fall in the rankings, the state has put heavy emphasis on education, including the passage of the 2023 Read Act, which is meant to increase literacy through screening, support systems, and monitoring. Since, school districts have been in the process of implementing the new legislation.

The Rochester School Board reviewed the district’s literacy efforts during a meeting on June 11. Board member Justin Cook, who has long advocated for increasing the district’s literacy rates, praised the work being done and described it as having the potential to move the city’s students forward.

“What we are doing now truly is cutting edge,” Cook said. “This is rocket science in education.”

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