In 2016, Michigan gave Sen. Bernie Sanders one of the most surprising primary wins in U.S. political history.In 2020, the self-described democratic socialist will need another boost from Michigan to revive his campaign to secure the Democratic presidential nomination over his lone remaining major rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.  With 125 delegates, Michigan is the biggest prize up for grabs among the six states holding primaries Tuesday. Sanders signaled the importance of Michigan to his campaign, abandoning a planned rally in Mississippi to hold five campaign events in the state over the weekend, including one in Dearborn, where the nation’s largest Muslim community strongly supports him.Dearborn was one of the areas that helped Sanders secure his 2016 victory in the Michigan primary over eventual Democratic party nominee Hillary Clinton by a narrow margin of 49.8% to 48.3%. After trailing Clinton significantly in the polls, Sanders won by just 17,000 votes.   Sanders aims to improve on that narrow margin of victory in 2020, even though in some states to date, he has struggled to turn out voters in the same numbers he did in 2016. A Detroit Free Press poll released Monday does not look promising for him. The survey of 400 Michigan voters shows Biden outpacing Sanders by a significant margin — 51% to 27%.”If Bernie doesn’t score a big victory in Michigan, you’re really starting to see the end of the possibility of his candidacy,” said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president at public policy think tank Third Way, and former legislative director for then-Congressman Charles Schumer.Watch: Michigan Primary Looms as Showdown for Biden and Sanders  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders greets supporters after speaking during a rally in St Louis, Missouri, March 9, 2020.African American voteSanders’ weakness with African American voters could be the blow that kills his chances in Michigan.  Democratic delegate math in Michigan is anything but straightforward. Democrats allocate their delegates according to the statewide vote and the vote by congressional districts. Because of this weighting system, winning boils down to securing large population areas such as the predominantly African American city of Detroit. Sanders failed to win the city in 2016, and his poor 2020 performances in southern states with African American electorates does not bode well for his chances in the Motor City.  Hutchings said African Americans make up about 15% of the Michigan electorate overall, and an even larger share of the Democratic voters controlling the results Tuesday. “I would be very surprised, extremely surprised, if Sanders were to win the black vote in the state. And because that vote typically votes in the bloc fashion, that means that it’s going to be difficult, not impossible, but difficult. If that remains the case, it’s going to be difficult for Sanders to win,” said Hutchings.Meanwhile, Biden heads into the primary with major endorsements from two former African American presidential candidates, senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, who were campaigning with him Monday in Detroit.The impact of endorsements  In addition to the Harris and Booker endorsements, Biden also gained the support of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Sanders endorsed Whitmer’s progressive Democratic challenger, Abdul El-Sayed, in 2018, but campaigned for her in the general election.  Analysts differ on the impact of endorsements. Conventional political wisdom holds that endorsements usually do not dramatically alter political races. That appears to have been upended this election cycle with the boost Biden received from Congressman James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina who gave the former vice president his stamp of approval just days before the do-or-die primary in his home state, which Biden won handily.Biden had pinned his hopes on his ability to mobilize the African American vote in South Carolina after severely disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, two smaller states that do not reflect the demographic diversity of the United States.  Both Dulio and Hutchings said Whitmer’s endorsement of Biden in Michigan was significant.“It certainly is a highly visible endorsement for the Biden campaign, and it can’t hurt him,” Hutchings said. “It probably helped him increase the (vote) margins.”  Trade warsSanders’ campaign does have a strength that is uniquely suited to Michigan: outreach to blue-collar factory workers, which has been a central point of his presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. Nowhere is that more important than in Michigan, the center of the auto industry.  Sanders has been savaging Biden’s record on trade, citing his support for NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) on the campaign trail and in numerous advertisements airing locally, according to Dulio.  He said that argument could resonate with the all-important suburban women demographic, swinging some of their votes to Sanders. “Michigan is a unique place, because so many people are tied to the auto industry. Whether it’s in a place like Macomb County, where you’re talking about folks who work in manufacturing and do the manufacturing at Ford, GM and Chrysler plants, or part of the auto manufacturers supply chain, or if you’re talking about folks in, say, Oakland County right next door, who are part of the white-collar contingent of auto company employees,” said Dulio.If Sanders can convince those key voters their livelihoods are at stake in this election, his campaign may be able to survive past Michigan. 
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Relatives of victims in last year’s Ethiopian Airlines crash have arrived in Addis Ababa to commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy and to get answers.  An airline industry final report on what caused the Boeing 737 MAX to crash is expected this week. Families of the 157 victims on board Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 are holding memorials in Addis Ababa Monday before traveling Tuesday to the crash site, about 45 kilometers outside the capital, for a private ceremony.  A monument for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 Boeing 737 Max plane crash is seen during a memorial ceremony at the French Embassy in Addis Ababa, March 9, 2020.At a small gathering at the French Embassy Monday, relatives of the 10 French citizens killed in the March 10 crash commemorated their lost loved ones.   There were no survivors when the nearly new Boeing 737 MAX crashed, just minutes after takeoff.   Virginie Fricaudet is president of the victim’s association ET302 Solidarity Justice.  She lost her 38-year-old brother Xavier, a teacher at the French School in Nairobi.
“I would say that we have created a community between all families — the French families on one side and the other global families on the other side.  It’s a big and huge moment of being all together because we are linked by the same tragedy and destiny.  It’s a moment that we should live like a big family,” she said.Surviving relatives have asked for Boeing not to be involved in the anniversary memorials and have filed lawsuits against the company to seek compensation.Their visit to Ethiopia comes as air safety investigators are expected to release an interim report on the roles played by Boeing, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Ethiopian Airlines.  A woman draws a cross with oil on the forehead of another woman during a memorial ceremony at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 airplane accident in Tulu Fara, Ethiopia, on March 8, 2020.Relatives and friends of victims are still waiting for answers and remain critical of how the aftermath of the crash was handled, including by Ethiopian Airlines.  Yeshiwas Zeggeye was president of Arline Pilot’s Association of Ethiopia at the time of the crash.“What’s quite interesting up to this point is that the company did not have a consultation with pilots and cabin crews at all after the crash.  That is not something that I would have expected.  I would expect the company would engage more with its pilots, especially those who flew on the Boeing 737 MAX at the time,” he said.Zeggeye also criticized Ethiopian Airlines for not acting after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, also a 737 MAX, that took place months earlier.   Relatives of the Ethiopian Airlines crash victims agree the 737 Max should have been grounded soon after the Lion Air crash.  Aviation engineer and vice president of ET302 Solidarity Justice Matthieu Willm says Boeing needs to explain why the 737 MAX aircraft were allowed to continue flying.FILE – Rescuers remove body bags from the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, March 10, 2019.“After the first crash in my opinion, Boeing should have said ‘hey, we do have a real problem with the design,” he said. “It was not the case, and, in my opinion, Ethiopian Airlines is very different.  First, it never should have occurred and secondly, the preliminary report shows that the pilots applied Boeing’s procedure and it didn’t work.  So now we have to explain why Boeing didn’t ground the fleet and why their procedure didn’t work.”A U.S. congressional report last week into the crash accused Boeing of concealing crucial information from the FAA, making faulty assumptions about critical technologies, and production pressures that jeopardized aviation safety.  
Boeing did not immediately reply to a request for comment.   But in public statements, the company has said it will review the report, continue to cooperate with investigators, and that its thoughts and prayers are with the relatives who lost loved ones.Boeing last year set aside $100 million to assist the families of victims and communities impacted by the crashes, which killed 346 people in total.The funds are not part of any compensation the aircraft maker might have to pay to those who are suing the company for damages.Boeing has said it is strengthening safety measures and estimates it will be able to re-certify the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for use around the middle of this year.   
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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker voiced support Monday for former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, his latest former challenger to endorse him just ahead of six state primary elections he faces Tuesday against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.Booker, who dropped out of the party’s presidential contest in January before voting began a couple weeks later, said in a Twitter comment, “The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. @JoeBiden won’t only win – he’ll show there’s more that unites us than divides us. He’ll restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. That’s why I’m proud to endorse Joe.”Booker’s endorsement came a day after California Sen. Kamala Harris, who dropped out of the contest in December, endorsed Biden, saying that she felt that he was best prepared to “steer America through these turbulent times.” Harris, often mentioned by U.S. political analysts as one of several possible vice-presidential running mates with Biden, said the U.S. needs a president “who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people, a president who speaks the truth; and a president who fights for those whose voices are too often overlooked or ignored.”Several former rivals have now endorsed Biden, a list that also includes former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. They both dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination just ahead of last week’s Super Tuesday voting, when Biden won 10 of the 14 state party nominating elections over Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who lost all 14 states to Biden and Sanders after spending more than $500 million of his own money on his campaign, also endorsed Biden last week.The Democratic contest is to face Republican President Donald Trump in the November national election as he seeks a second term in the White House.Biden on Sunday praised Harris as a political figure who has “spent your whole career fighting for folks who’ve been written off and left behind.”Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson endorsed Sanders, saying that “with the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate. A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path.””The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Sen. Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path,” Jackson said.On Tuesday, Biden and Sanders face voters in Michigan, the auto-manufacturing hub in the U.S. and the state with the most delegates at stake this week to July’s national Democratic presidential nominating convention. The fivethirtyeight.com political forecasting site is predicting that Biden will win 69 of the state’s 125 pledged delegates to 56 for Sanders.The fivethirtyeight site gives Sanders a slight edge in the western state of Washington, where 89 delegates are at stake, with Biden ahead in the Midwestern state of Missouri and the Southern state of Mississippi. Forecasters say the two candidates are virtually even in two smaller states, Idaho and North Dakota.Just a week ago, before the Super Tuesday voting, FiveThirtyEight.com  predicted that no Democratic candidate would be able to win the party nomination with a majority of delegates on the first convention ballot to face Trump.Now, however, it predicts that Biden will cruise to victory on the first ballot, although neither Biden nor Sanders is close yet to a majority of delegates.Sanders predicted on the “Fox News Sunday” show that he would win the Michigan vote.”Joe Biden is a friend of mine,” Sanders said. “Joe Biden is a decent guy.”But Sanders said the contest with Biden comes down to “which candidate is stronger in defeating Trump.” He said he expects to win the key Michigan vote Tuesday and “certainly would not consider dropping out” if he loses.”We won California, the biggest state in the country,” Sanders said of last Tuesday’s vote.Sanders attacked Biden’s vote as a senator for the American war in Iraq and trade deals with Canada and Mexico and another with Pacific Rim countries that Trump abandoned when he became president.Biden and Sanders are scheduled to debate each other next Sunday.
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Some of Virginia’s scores of Confederate monuments could soon be removed under legislation state lawmakers approved Sunday.The Democratic-led House and Senate passed measures that would undo an existing state law that protects the monuments and instead lets local governments decide their fate. The bill’s passage marks the latest turn in Virginia’s long-running debate over how its history should be told in public spaces.The legislation now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he supports giving localities — several of which have already declared their intent to remove statues — control over the issue.After white supremacists descended on Charlottesville in 2017, in part to protest the city’s attempt to move a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, many places across the country quickly started taking Confederate monuments down. But Virginia localities that wanted to remove monuments were hamstrung by the existing law.In the two legislative sessions that followed the rally, Republican lawmakers defeated bills like the one that passed Sunday. But Democrats recently took full control of the statehouse for the first time in a generation.One of the bill’s sponsors, Del. Delores McQuinn of Richmond, said she feels great about letting local leaders decide what’s right for their community. But she said she thought many places would opt to keep the monuments.“I think more of them are going to be interested in contextualizing, you know, making sure that there is a sense of truth told and shared with the public,” she said.As for Charlottesville, city spokesman Brian Wheeler said staff would review the new legislation and determine the steps needed to carry out previous City Council votes to remove the Lee statue and another of Stonewall Jackson from its public parks.Virginia, a state that prides itself on its pivotal role in America’s early history, is home to more than 220 public memorials to the Confederacy, according to state officials. Among those are some of the nation’s most prominent — a collection of five monuments along Richmond’s Monument Avenue, a National Historic Landmark.Critics say the monuments are offensive to African Americans because they romanticize the Confederacy and ignore its defense of slavery.“My family has lived with the trauma of slavery for generations. … I hope that you understand that this is a situation that’s so much deeper than a simple vote on simple war memorials,” Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who presides over the Senate, said earlier in the week.Others say removing the monuments is tantamount to erasing history.Republican Amanda Chase said during the same Senate debate that slavery was evil.“But it doesn’t mean that we take all of these monuments down,” she continued. “We remember our past, and we learn from it.”The House and Senate initially passed different legislation, with disagreements about what hurdles a locality must clear before taking down a statue. A conference committee hashed out the differences.The compromise measure says a locality must hold a public hearing before voting to remove or otherwise alter a monument. If it decides to remove one, it must be offered to “any museum, historical society, government or military battlefield,” although the governing body ultimately gets the say on the “final disposition.”The measure, which passed largely but not entirely along party lines, wouldn’t apply cemeteries or the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, which has a prominent statue of Jackson.Northam, who last year was embroiled in a scandal over a racist photo that appeared in his medical school yearbook, announced at the start of the legislative session what he called a historic justice agenda aimed at telling the accurate and complete story of Virginia’s past.In addition to the monuments bill, lawmakers also have advanced bills removing old racist laws that were technically still on the books, substituting the state’s holiday honoring Lee and Jackson for one on Election Day and creating a commission to recommend a replacement for a Lee statue Virginia contributed to the U.S. Capitol. They have also passed legislation that provides protections and funding for historic African American cemeteries.Another bill introduced this year took aim at a controversial statue on Capitol Square, one of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a former Virginia governor and U.S. senator who’s considered the architect of the state’s “massive resistance” policy to public school integration.Republican Del. Wendell Walker introduced the bill that would have removed the bronze figure with the aim of needling Democrats on the larger monuments issue, saying “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Byrd, a Democrat, led a political machine that dominated Virginia politics for decades.But when met with some agreement from across the aisle on removing the statue, Walker asked that the bill be killed.
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From Miami to Seattle, nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly are stockpiling masks and thermometers, preparing for staff shortages and screening visitors to protect a particularly vulnerable population from the coronavirus.In China, where the outbreak began, the disease has been substantially deadlier for the elderly. In Italy, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Europe, the more than 100 people who died were either elderly, sick with other complications, or both.Of the 21 deaths across the U.S. as of Sunday, at least 16 had been linked to a Seattle-area nursing home, along with many other infections among residents, staff and family members. The Seattle Times reported that a second nursing home and a retirement community in the area had each reported one case of the virus.That has put other facilities in the U.S. on high alert, especially in states with large populations of older residents, such as Florida and California. About 2.5 million people live in long-term care facilities in the United States.“For people over the age of 80 … the mortality rate could be as high as 15 percent,” said Mark Parkinson, president of the nursing home trade group American Health Care Association.The federal government is now focusing all nursing home inspections on infection control, singling out facilities in cities with confirmed cases and those previously cited for not following protocol.Federal rules already require the homes to have an infection prevention specialist on staff, and many have long had measures in place to deal with seasonal flus and other ailments that pose a higher risk to the elderly.Even so, facilities’ response to the coronavirus has varied across the country.In Florida, where about 160,000 seniors live in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, mandatory visitor screening is not in place “because we’re not at that stage,” said Kristen Knapp, a spokeswoman for the Florida Health Care Association.But elder care centers are posting signs urging visitors to stay away if they have symptoms, and are looking into alternate ways for families to connect, such as through video chats, Knapp said.Concierges in the 14 Florida nursing homes run by the Palm Gardens corporation are now giving all visitors a short questionnaire asking about symptoms, recent travel and contact with others, said company Vice President Luke Neumann.Neumann said the nursing homes also have purchased extra thermometers in case they need to check visitors’ temperatures and stockpiled preventive supplies, including medical masks, protective eyewear and gowns. In the laundry rooms, they are making sure to use enough bleach and heat to kill any lingering virus germs, he said.At the South Shore Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center south of Boston, patient Leo Marchand keeps a container of disinfecting wipes on a shelf by his bed that he uses several times a day. The 71-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that makes it difficult for him to breathe. The possibility of contracting the coronavirus scares him.“It’s a concern,” Marchand said. “It really is.”Many facilities across the country have said they were having trouble getting medical masks and gowns because of shortages.More intensive screening of visitors, meanwhile, is not sitting well with some.“Some of the visitors have been quite reluctant to comply, and that has been stressful,” said Janet Snipes, executive director of Holly Heights Nursing Center in Denver.Under federal regulations, nursing homes are considered a patient’s residence, and the facilities want to keep them connected with family, especially when they are near death.“I don’t think you can flat-out prevent visitors,” said Dr. David A. Nace, director of long-term care and flu programs at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine. He oversees 300 facilities in Pennsylvania.For now, facilities in most states are stressing basic precautions, including hand washing and coughing etiquette.Centers throughout the country are also trying to prepare their staffs for the worst.An adult day care center in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood bought long-lasting prepared meals in preparation for possible shortages. The Hebrew Home in Riverdale, New York, is running nursing staff through drills to see how they will handle situations at the 750-bed facility if the virus progresses. Their IT department is setting up infrastructure for staff to work remotely if they become sick.“If one of our sites has an outbreak, we quickly will deplete the staff in that location,” said Randy Bury, CEO of The Good Samaritan Society, one of the largest not-for-profit providers of senior care services in the country, with 19,000 employees in 24 states.Some families are considering pulling their loved ones out of facilities.Kathleen Churchyard said her family has decided to move her 80-year-old mother out of her retirement community near Jacksonville, Florida, and into her sister’s home nearby if the virus is confirmed in the area.Churchyard, who lives in Concord, North Carolina, worries her mother is not taking it seriously, and is particularly worried about her dining hall.“I tried to get her to buy some stuff to prepare. … She said, ‘No. If (the virus) takes me, it takes me,’” Churchyard said.
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