Here’s what Washington is currently obsessed with:
Why did the Biden White House continue to promote Neera Tanden’s nomination long after it was obvious that his caustic tweets would sink it? With the Senate accepting Covid’s huge aid bill, will the use of reconciliation by Democrats break relations with Republicans? And will the House have to vote again after the Senate fails to include an increase in the minimum wage?
And here’s what most Americans care about:
When will I be able to take my photo?
All the arguments in the process make the eyes of most people glazed. And, frankly, they don’t care if Tanden runs the budget office or gets some other job at the White House. How many could name Donald Trump’s last OMB chief, or any of them under Barack Obama?
But the maddening, time-consuming and frustrating vaccine registration program remains the subject of the city in almost every city.
So President Biden’s statement on Tuesday that all Americans who want a coronavirus vaccine will be able to get it by the end of May is crucial.
This follows a wave of mixed messages. Biden said the vaccines would be available in late July, then in April and then in July.
DR. SEUSS FLAP: THE IMPOSSIBILITY TO IMPOSE THE ELDER IN THE PAST
But if there are actually enough doses sent in less than three months, no one will remember the rhetorical stumbles. Biden will receive credit for overcoming the biggest challenge of his presidency. Of course, states, cities and counties will have to straighten the messy patchwork of programs and actually put the photos in people’s arms – while convincing Americans who are reluctant enough to roll up their sleeves too.
Biden was encouraged to make his prediction after the FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and he was able to urge Merck to help his rival increase production.
Donald Trump also deserves some credit (as he proclaimed in the CPAC) for the rapid success of Operation Warp’s speed, although most media downplay it. It is difficult to understand, however, why he obtained his own particular vaccine before leaving the White House, instead of using it as an opportunity to encourage people to become immunized.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement that he is abandoning all Covid restrictions, including a mask mandate, once again crystallizes partisan debate about the virus. Biden yesterday called this, and a similar Mississippi move, “Neanderthal thinking”. But Republicans, including Trump and Abbott, have always been lukewarm in their masks and slow to recommend or demand them. And while the average of 76,000 new cases per day is much lower than in January, it is still higher than in the spring or summer waves – with Texas among the top 10 states for the spread of Covid.
Meanwhile, one of the pandemic’s first media heroes, Andrew Cuomo, was talking about Covid yesterday, but cable news networks didn’t start live coverage until he switched to another topic.
Addressing allegations of sexual harassment that undermined his government, Cuomo said in a neutral tone: “Now I understand that I acted in a way that made people uncomfortable. It was not intentional. And I really, deeply, apologize for that. I feel terrible And, frankly, I’m ashamed of it. “But, he added,” I never touched anyone inappropriately. “
Cuomo had to stop the political bleeding. But judging by the journalistic reaction – and harsh comments from Charlotte Bennett’s lawyer, who said the governor wanted to sleep with her – he hardly changed the tide.
SUBSCRIBE HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE HOTTEST STORIES OF THE DAY
Ironically, while Cuomo is in serious trouble because of his conduct with young women, the biggest scandal is how he dealt with Covid in nursing homes and withholding a much more serious death toll.
I’m not sure how average New Yorkers feel about Cuomo’s heartless misconduct with helpers in their early twenties. An Emerson College poll has its approval rating dropping to 38 percent, up from 71 percent last spring. Perhaps they will not accept this. But, as with the lack of public interest in the Beltway maneuvers, many may be more outraged by the nursing home scandal, especially those whose lives have been touched by the more than 15,000 deaths.
But we know which story is consuming the media.