Wednesday News: Russia’s “Reckless and Foolish” Vaccine; “Biden picking Harris is a statement on what it means to be American”; “We Have Never Seen a Nominee Like Kamala Harris Before”; “Kamala Harris Is the Future, So Mike Pence May Well Be History”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 12.

• Putin can have his vaccine. I’ll be waiting for the vetted one.
• UK crashes into deepest recession of any major economy
• Russia’s Vaccine Shortcut Won’t End This Pandemic
• Russia says there is ‘major information warfare’ against its coronavirus vaccine (“The news attracted widespread criticism and concern as to its safety and efficacy.”)
• Anthony Fauci Shares His Serious Doubts About Safety Of Russia’s Coronavirus Vaccine (“Having a vaccine and proving it is safe and effective ‘are two different things,’ warned the nation’s top infectious disease expert.”)
• Reckless and foolish’: Why Russia’s vaccine has experts alarmed
• China’s Xi Speeds Up Inward Economic Shift
• Putin is reckless because we allow him to be (“Trump’s refusal to confront the Kremlin over its barely-disguised espionage only emboldens the Russian ruler further.”)
• Belarus had its future stolen — again
• Intelligence Community Folds to Trump on Russia
• The U.S. can be powered 100% by renewable energy. How do we get there? (“Long story short, it’s possible for the U.S. to run 100% on renewable energy. How we get there is the long story.”)
• Is Trump destroying Social Security and Medicare by accident — or on purpose? (“Trump’s payroll-tax gambit could be the dumbest thing he’s ever done — unless it works. Either way, it’s a disaster”)
• Coronavirus-Hit State Budgets Create a Drag on U.S. Recovery
• Trump Pledges Big Tax Cuts That May End Up Nowhere as Stimulus (“His limited power means he could end up over-promising and under-delivering.”)
• Trump threatens Social Security and Medicare — and the D.C. press yawns
• Analysis: In Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s Choice Is Both Safe and Energizing (“Joe Biden’s decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running-mate was conventional by some standards, but also historic, and especially sweet for many Black women. Ms. Harris brings generational and coastal balance to the Democratic ticket and shares Mr. Biden’s center-left politics at a time of progressive change in the party”)
• Why Joe Biden’s running mate will survive the coming sexist attacks
• Joe Biden Chooses “Fearless Fighter” Kamala Harris As Running Mate
• ‘Good day for our country’: Democrats hail Kamala Harris as VP pick (“Party leaders and progressive groups appear largely united behind Joe Biden’s choice of running mate”)
• Why Joe Biden Picked Kamala Harris (“Biden’s running mate is two decades younger than he is; the potential vice presidency seems like merely a first step.”)
• Harris VP pick creates dilemma for Trump campaign, which lobs conflicting attacks (“’This really puts the Trump campaign in a box: whether you portray her as pro-police or anti-police,’ said one Republican donor and Trump supporter. ‘They are going to have to decide.’”)
• Kamala Harris Is Now the Democratic Mainstream
• Here’s what Kamala Harris brings to Joe Biden’s campaign for president (“Sen. Kamala Harris brings more to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign as his running mate than any of the other vice presidential contenders could have done. Harris’ background and biography resonate with huge swaths of the country who might not easily identify with Biden. Harris also has rare experience on big political stages, where she has shown that she can win millions of votes and raise even more millions in campaign donations. “)
• Harris pick recasts Democratic power structure for years to come
• Kamala Harris Built a ‘Digital Army’ – Now She Gets to Use It
• The qualities that hampered Harris’s campaign could be the ones that make her an ideal running mate (“She has often been criticized for being too cautious and deliberate. But those are just what a running mate should be.”)
• How Kamala Harris became Joe Biden’s running mate: Inside the selection process
• Black women express excitement, relief as Harris joins Democratic ticket
• A key factor that brought Harris and Biden together: Finding common ground on criminal justice reform
• Harris was the safest, most experienced and most tested choice Biden could make
• We Have Never Seen a Nominee Like Kamala Harris Before (“Forty-eight years after Shirley Chisholm declared ‘a new era,’ a Black woman is on the national ticket.”)
• Three Policy Reasons for Progressives to Be Happy About Kamala Harris
• Jennifer Rubin: Kamala Harris was Joe Biden’s boldest and most qualified pick
• Mike Pence Felt a Cold Chill This Afternoon. He’ll Be Debating Kamala Harris.
• How Kamala Harris’s friendship with Beau Biden united her with Joe (“Harris and Biden’s late son were longtime allies, helping to cement the relationship behind the Democratic ticket”)
• Kamala Harris: trailblazer who went from Joe Biden’s rival to running mate (“Harris became the second Black woman and the first South Asian-American person to serve as a US senator and will be the first Black vice-president if she and Biden defeat Trump”)
• In choosing Kamala Harris, Biden may have found the anti-Trump (“Biden’s VP pick ‘makes America look more like America’ – and now Harris is better placed than anyone to be the first female president”)
• Joe Biden Just Made History and Picked Kamala Harris as His VP Candidate
• 5 Takeaways On The New Biden-Harris Presidential Ticket (“Biden picking Harris is a statement on what it means to be American…His choice shows Biden is willing to listen to those who disagree or have attacked him… Trump is struggling to find an effective attack on Harris…Harris will likely hold up well in a debate with Pence…The process for picking Harris was another sign of a (surprisingly) well-run campaign so far.”)
• On Climate, Kamala Harris Has a Record and Profile for Action
• Kamala Harris: A pragmatic progressive different from Biden in many ways (“Black, Indian-American. A district attorney, an attorney general. More than 20 years younger than her running mate.”)
• How Biden decided on Harris (“… it was always Kamala and this person and Kamala and that person. She was never ever out of the picture. She was always in the mix”)
• Why Harris may prove an elusive target for Trump
• Democrat Biden and new running mate Harris to make first campaign appearance (“Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his new running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will make their first appearance as a ticket on Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, as the campaign for the White House enters a more frenetic phase.”)
• Black activists praise Biden’s pick of Harris, but warn challenges remain
• Joe Biden Sees the Future in Kamala Harris
• Donald and Ivanka Trump Once Made Campaign Donations to Kamala Harris
• Kamala Harris Gives New Meaning to the Biden Campaign (“Biden has consistently said that he is just a ‘transitional’ figure—a generational bridge. Now we know a bit more about who may come next.”)
• A Political Fighter Shaped by Life In Two Worlds
• Kamala Harris Is the Future, So Mike Pence May Well Be History (“Biden wants a campaign of contrasts — and to recapture that old 2008 magic.”)
• Right-wing media leap to attack Kamala Harris as the Democratic vice presidential candidate
• Fox News chief White House correspondent defends Trump campaign’s false claim that Harris called Biden a racist
• Mark Levin kicks off his show by ranting unprompted about Kamala Harris’ ethnicity
• Why Kamala Harris Matters to Me (“As an Indian-American professor of African-American history, I am experiencing Biden’s vice-presidential pick as a personal gift.”)
• How Kamala Harris outflanked her skeptics to become Biden’s VP pick (“Her strategy — a leak-free effort that contrasted with her undisciplined presidential campaign — and a late push by her supporters paid off.”)
• Running mates don’t usually matter. Kamala Harris might. (“Despite decades in government, Joe Biden remains less sharply defined to voters than previous presidential nominees.”)
• 3 takeaways from key primary races in Minnesota and Georgia
• ‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar defeats well-funded Democratic primary challenger in Minnesota, CNN projects
• GOP candidate who embraced QAnon conspiracy theory wins Georgia runoff, CNN projects (The Republican Party has gone completely off the rails.)
• 925 Quarantined for Covid. Is This a Successful School Reopening? (“A suburban Atlanta county opened its schools amid controversy and a growing case count, previewing a difficult national back-to-school season.”)
• Duke shifts toward renewables, storage investments in wake of $1.6B Atlantic Coast Pipeline loss
• Virginia Democrats React to Joe Biden’s Selection of Kamala Harris as His VP Pick
• WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Virginia Leaders Applaud Joe Biden’s Selection of Kamala Harris as Running Mate
• Bob Good Must Take A Stand Against Plan To Defund Social Security and Medicare
• BREAKING: North Carolina DEQ Denies 401 Certification for Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Project, Cites “uncertainty of the MVP Mainline project’s completion”
• Terry McAuliffe: 55 Years After Passage of Voting Rights Act, Disenfranchisement Still Alive and Well
• Freitas stresses military service in first TV ads for 7th District congressional race (Freitas’ military service is admirable. Freitas’ far-right, extreme ideas? Not so much.)
• Tuesday (8/11) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +996 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 101,745), +67 Hospitalizations (to 8,458), +17 Deaths (to 2,344) From Yesterday
• Solving bridge bottleneck seen as key step for Virginia’s rail renaissance (“Expanding passenger rail service in the region is expected to annually eliminate tens of thousands of tons of emissions.”)
• AG Mark Herring Outlines Priorities for Criminal Justice and Policing Reform Ahead of Special Session
• Va. attorney general outlines plans for police reform during discussion with faith leaders
• Amanda Chase Attacks “Chase for Governor 2021” Page; Administrator Responds, “the manner in which Chase has attacked private citizens in the last few months is beneath any sitting elected official”
• Elite public schools in Virginia, elsewhere seek diversity (“Virginia Education Secretary Atif Qarni has been leading a task force impaneled by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam to examine ways to increase diversity at Thomas Jefferson and the other Governor’s Schools. He expects the task force could produce recommended changes to the schools’ admissions policies as soon as Thursday.”)
• Judge orders ICE to stop transfers into Virginia facility hit hard by coronavirus
• Susan Bro Reflects on Progress Since Her Daughter’s Death
• Non-Profit Hopes to Bankrupt Unite the Right Organizers
• Stoney asks Gov. Northam to legalize marijuana during the GA’s special session
• Opinion: Virginia Democrats propose sweeping justice reform agenda
• Editorial: Include developmentally disabled Virginians in COVID relief measures
• Newport News will remove the Confederate monument from its location in Denbigh
• Editorial: Richmond should help businesses damaged during protests
• Editorial: 5 lessons from Falwell’s departure from Liberty
• Henrico school system says it needs $15M more for upcoming school year because of COVID-19
• COVID-19 testing turnarounds stretch to two weeks for some in the Roanoke region
• Poquoson votes unanimously for hybrid start for students from Pre-K to third grade
• On the Eastern Shore, locals hope a 49-mile rail trail will reinvigorate the economy
• Blacksburg Town Council passes 50-person gathering limit, restaurant curfew
• Galax has less than 10,000 residents. Why was it leading the state in new COVID-19 infections?
• D.C.-area forecast: Flash flood watch today with a daily chance of storms through the weekend (“Swamp-like humidity and an approaching cold front fuel the chance of scattered slow-moving storms with very heavy rain this afternoon and evening.”)