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| Super Tuesday: voting under way as Sanders bids to extend lead amid Biden surge – live | Super Tuesday: voting under way as Sanders bids to extend lead amid Biden surge – live |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Fourteen states vote on Tuesday, with Sanders aiming to pick up plenty of delegates in California and Texas – follow the latest live | Fourteen states vote on Tuesday, with Sanders aiming to pick up plenty of delegates in California and Texas – follow the latest live |
| Joe Biden is hoping his success in South Carolina can spill over into North Carolina, reports The Guardian’s David Smith reports from Charlotte. But the former vice president is facing a stiff challenge from Bernie Sanders: | |
| David and Lisa Ruch both voted for Sanders at a polling place at the Wells Fargo Sense Science Garden in rainy Charlotte on Tuesday.“I just feel we’re in a place where we need a lot of change,” said Lisa, 59, a real estate agent. “We need someone for the people, not a self-promoting president any more. We need change in health care and Bernie can get it done.”Lisa had considered Biden but admitted: “I’m not sure about his capability in the long term. There’s something a little off.”Mike Bloomberg had several signs outside the voting place but Lisa was unimpressed: “I feel like he’s a Republican trying to be a Democrat to win an election. He’s just another Donald Trump buying his way in.”Her husband David, 66, a therapist and life coach, agreed: “I don’t like him. He is certainly a poster child for money in politics.”David explained his vote for Sanders: “I’m charged by his connection with the people and how he’s trying to build a people’s movement rather than a corporate agenda. He’s been in government a long time fighting for the little guy. | |
| The president is attending a briefing and roundtable at the National Institutes of Health vaccine research center. His administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has come under sharp criticism, as health experts warn that hospitals were ill-prepared to handle the influx of cases. Under pressure from Trump, the US Federal Reserve slashed interest rates in an emergency move to protect the economy. | |
| Follow the Guardian’s live coverage of coronavirus and its impact around the world: | |
| In Tennessee, the recent tornadoes have disrupted voting... the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports: | |
| A civil rights group called on officials to extend primary voting after tornadoes significantly damaged the state Tuesday, killing at least 22 people. The letter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law came after 21 election sites were closed because of the tornado, according to the Tennessean. The outlet reported voters were being redirected to other locations to cast their ballots. Some polling sites opened an hour later than scheduled. | |
| “Given the devastation and loss of life, we urge you to immediately extend voting in the primaries through at least the end of the week to provide voters a fair opportunity to access the polls,” Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, wrote in a letter to Governor Bill Lee, Secretary of State Tre Harnett and Mark Goins, the state coordinator of elections. | |
| On a call with reporters Tuesday, Clarke said the group was considering additional action, including a lawsuit if the officials did not extend voting. | |
| What about Biden and Bloomberg? | |
| Biden’s plan calls for $20bn for the National Housing Trust Fund, and Mike Bloomberg’s plan doesn’t specify an amount. All the candidates have pushed for measures to fight housing discrimination. | |
| Diane Yentel, president of the NLIHC, said the plans were all significant: “The federal government has for decades turned its back on the funding investments needed to keep the lowest-income people affordably housed. We’ve never had a moment like this where we’ve had housing policy and the discussion of the crisis and the solutions as a major part of the presidential campaigns before.” | |
| You can read NLHIC breakdowns of the plans for Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders and Warren. | |
| Elizabeth Warren: $500bn toward affordable housing | |
| Warren’s plan calls for investing $500bn over the next ten years to build, preserve and rehab units that will be affordable to lower-income families. The senator is focused on the supply of housing and recognizes that if “we solve affordability at the middle-income level, it doesn’t trickle down”, said Noelle Porter, director of government affairs at the National Housing Law Project, who reviewed the candidates’ plans. “She’s talking about extremely low-income renters … If we solve deep affordability, it trickles back up.” | |
| The Democrats have all proposed investments in the National Housing Trust Fund, which states currently use to build and rehabilitate affordable housing. Currently, there is roughly $260m available in the fund per year, but the nonpartisan National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) recommends that it is expanded to at least $40bn a year. As senator, Warren pushed legislation that would increase the amount to $45bn. The Sanders campaign’s housing proposal calls for $148bn. | |
| Bernie Sanders: A $2.5tn “housing for all” plan | |
| Sanders’ plan is in some ways the most radical in terms of the scope of proposed funding and the kinds of regulations he is targeting, according to some tenants’ rights activists and supporters of the Vermont senator. Most significantly, he is the only candidate to propose a national rent control standard, meaning an annual cap on rent increases, and is pushing a policy that would prevent landlords from evicting tenants for arbitrary or retaliatory reasons. | |
| It’s a policy that tenant organizers have long pursued at the local level, but has never been pursued by a frontrunner presidential candidate at the federal scale. | |
| “It’s what tenants need now to just have the most basic levels of protection,” said Lacei Amodei, an advocate with the Eviction Defense Collaborative in Hayward, California, who endorsed Sanders. “With soaring rents and so many people being evicted … it is one of the most urgent issues.” | |
| Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal, a Sanders supporter and co-founder of the LA Tenants Union (a group that has not endorsed a candidate), said it was remarkable to have a candidate acknowledge that the profit motives that drive the housing market are not good for the public. National rent control, she said, could mean “incredible relief for tenants … and more stable communities”. | |
| Voters across California say that the most important issue to them is the state’s severe housing and homelessness crisis, and the Democratic presidential candidates appear to be responding. And across the country, there is a shortfall of roughly 7m homes that are affordable and available to the lowest-income people. | Voters across California say that the most important issue to them is the state’s severe housing and homelessness crisis, and the Democratic presidential candidates appear to be responding. And across the country, there is a shortfall of roughly 7m homes that are affordable and available to the lowest-income people. |
| The 2020 campaigns have all released detailed housing policy plans. Here’s what you need to know about them. | The 2020 campaigns have all released detailed housing policy plans. Here’s what you need to know about them. |
| In Oakland, California, Joe Biden was joined by mayor Libby Schaaf and hero pilot Sully Sullenberger at Buttercup Diner. The former vice president ordered a coconut cream pie, per the Guardian’s Vivian Ho. | |
| Biden, riding high off a wave of endorsements from his former 2020 rivals and Democratic politicians across the country, said he’s “feeling really good today”. | Biden, riding high off a wave of endorsements from his former 2020 rivals and Democratic politicians across the country, said he’s “feeling really good today”. |
| The moderate Democrat is divisive in Oakland. | The moderate Democrat is divisive in Oakland. |
| As Sanders supporters rallied outside the diner, Biden met with supporters inside. | |
| Mario also spoke to several Bernie Sanders supporters: | Mario also spoke to several Bernie Sanders supporters: |
| Zaira Martinez, a 24 year-old-student and mental health worker, said the issue she cares most about is healthcare – an answer that tracks with polling which shows health care, not immigrant rights, as the number one priority for Latino voters. | |
| “I really appreciate consistency, and Sanders’ record goes back so many years. He doesn’t bend,” said Martinez. | “I really appreciate consistency, and Sanders’ record goes back so many years. He doesn’t bend,” said Martinez. |
| And it may be the voice of Latinas, not Latinos, that register a bigger impact. Research shows that Latinas consistently vote at higher rates than men. | |
| The Sanders campaign has invested a lot of time and resources to reach Latino voters in this state. | The Sanders campaign has invested a lot of time and resources to reach Latino voters in this state. |
| Hello! Maanvi Singh, here taking over from the west coast. | |
| Our reporters are all over California, covering the elections in the most populous US state. In San Diego, near the US-Mexico border, the Guardian’s Mario Koran brings us a first dispatch: | |
| There’s steady foot traffic into the polling place in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood, a historically Latino neighborhood where murals tell the story of a hard-fought Chicano movement. | There’s steady foot traffic into the polling place in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood, a historically Latino neighborhood where murals tell the story of a hard-fought Chicano movement. |
| As Bernie Sanders is slated to run away with California’s delegates, he’ll look to predominantly Latino communities, where polling shows him as the candidate of choice. But even in historically brown neighborhoods, a quick visit to the polls shows no votes can be taken for granted. | |
| Augustin, 49, a Barrio Logan resident who preferred not to give his last name, said the last four years that Donald Trump has made him a believer. | Augustin, 49, a Barrio Logan resident who preferred not to give his last name, said the last four years that Donald Trump has made him a believer. |
| “I didn’t vote for him in 2016, but he’s done a good job. Against all odds, he’s gotten things done. He’s not always nice, but he says what he believes,” said Augustin, who identifies as Latino. | “I didn’t vote for him in 2016, but he’s done a good job. Against all odds, he’s gotten things done. He’s not always nice, but he says what he believes,” said Augustin, who identifies as Latino. |
| My colleague on the west coast, Maanvi Singh, will take on the blog now as Super Tuesday voting - and related drama - continues. Later, Joan Greve in Washington, DC, will helm the blog as the polls begin to close and the results trickle in tonight. | My colleague on the west coast, Maanvi Singh, will take on the blog now as Super Tuesday voting - and related drama - continues. Later, Joan Greve in Washington, DC, will helm the blog as the polls begin to close and the results trickle in tonight. |
| Here’s what’s happened so far today: | Here’s what’s happened so far today: |
| Former FBI director James Comey just endorsed Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. | Former FBI director James Comey just endorsed Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. |
| Kamala Harris: will she or won’t she? Endorse Biden and, if so, when? Rumors and reports abound. | Kamala Harris: will she or won’t she? Endorse Biden and, if so, when? Rumors and reports abound. |
| On the second most important voting day of the 2020 election (after election day itself in November), it’s a fierce battle between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with major efforts at disruption of what could become a two-horse race by Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg. | On the second most important voting day of the 2020 election (after election day itself in November), it’s a fierce battle between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with major efforts at disruption of what could become a two-horse race by Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg. |
| The Federal Reserve cut interest rates in a rare emergency move, to try to mitigate the economic effects of coronavirus. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Donald Trump. | The Federal Reserve cut interest rates in a rare emergency move, to try to mitigate the economic effects of coronavirus. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Donald Trump. |
| The Trump administration is considering using a national disaster program to pay hospitals and doctors for their care of uninsured people infected with the coronavirus. | The Trump administration is considering using a national disaster program to pay hospitals and doctors for their care of uninsured people infected with the coronavirus. |
| As concerns rise over costs of treating some of the 27 million Americans without health coverage, the government is looking for news ways to step in, a person familiar with the conversations told the Wall Street Journal. This would certainly be unexpected. | As concerns rise over costs of treating some of the 27 million Americans without health coverage, the government is looking for news ways to step in, a person familiar with the conversations told the Wall Street Journal. This would certainly be unexpected. |
| The WSJ reports that: | The WSJ reports that: |
| Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on the unpreparedness of the US health system. | Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on the unpreparedness of the US health system. |
| Just what Joe was looking for, obviously. Kamala? No Comey, James Comey. The former FBI director just endorsed Joe Biden. | Just what Joe was looking for, obviously. Kamala? No Comey, James Comey. The former FBI director just endorsed Joe Biden. |
| Comey was fired by Trump in 2017 when, effectively, the FBI director refused to pledge loyalty to the president and extricate him from the Trump-Russia investigation that Comey was in charge of. The move triggered the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to take over the inquiry. | Comey was fired by Trump in 2017 when, effectively, the FBI director refused to pledge loyalty to the president and extricate him from the Trump-Russia investigation that Comey was in charge of. The move triggered the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to take over the inquiry. |
| Comey has been very outspoken against Trump ever since, but has flaws of his own, having misjudged in the later stages of the 2016 election the situation where the FBI kept secret the fact that they were investigating Trump in what was undoubtedly a huge international scandal - while disclosing a last-minute probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer (the disgraced ex-congressman then married to Hillary Clinton’s right-hand aide Huma Abedin). | Comey has been very outspoken against Trump ever since, but has flaws of his own, having misjudged in the later stages of the 2016 election the situation where the FBI kept secret the fact that they were investigating Trump in what was undoubtedly a huge international scandal - while disclosing a last-minute probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer (the disgraced ex-congressman then married to Hillary Clinton’s right-hand aide Huma Abedin). |
| The emails turned out to be harmless, in the sense of whether they were a threat to national security, but the very disclosure of the probe at that sensitive time was a serious blow to Clinton. | The emails turned out to be harmless, in the sense of whether they were a threat to national security, but the very disclosure of the probe at that sensitive time was a serious blow to Clinton. |
| Comey also admitted in December “real sloppiness” over the handling of surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser. | Comey also admitted in December “real sloppiness” over the handling of surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser. |