What A Day - DeJoy Division

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

The DNC was set to begin today in Wisconsin, but instead, it’s beginning in Zooms across America. We talked to Wisconsin Democrats Senator Tammy Baldwin and party chair Ben Wikler about the state’s recent electoral history and how Biden can win there this year. The USPS warned that it may not be able to accommodate last minute mail-in ballots. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to call the House back early to counter recent changes at the Postal Service, and is calling for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify next Monday.And in headlines: more people are facing food insecurity, pro-Democracy protests in Thailand, and Apple angers gamers.

It's Monday, August 17th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we spent our entire weekend protecting defenseless mailboxes. Yeah, I had like a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it, and I don't know if I was actually helping, but they didn't take the mailbox. I was dressed like Freddy Krueger and I made a child cry. On today's show, the state of the state of Wisconsin,

then some headlines. But first, the latest. Oh yes, wait a minute, Mr. Bozeman. Wait, wait, hey, hey, hey, Mr. Bozeman. I'm down for the whole song The conversation surrounding the United States Postal Service reached a fever pitch this weekend As people saw examples of the whole slowing down the mail and holding up funding thing But let's get into some updates on where we stand with Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who is a Trump mega donor who was appointed in May. Yeah, so the next part of the saga will be congressional hearings. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats want DeJoy to testify next Monday, August 24th, which is sooner

than his previously scheduled September testimony. And this comes after Trump's comments, which we talked about last Friday, but then also a warning from the Postal Service to 46 states that it may not be able to accommodate last-minute mail-in ballots in the middle of a pandemic. The General Counsel for the Postal Service urged those states with tight schedules to require that residents request ballots at least 15 days before an election to ensure that they get returned with enough time to be processed. Yeah, it seems like it's going to be important to do it as soon as possible. All right, so Democrats have been speaking out about this, as have voters. But in terms of actual action beyond hearings, is there a plan just yet?

So the answer is kind of. On Friday's show, we talked about funding that the Democrats proposed for the USPS this year, which is billions of dollars in their stimulus package dedicated to helping fund the Postal Service and protections for vote-by-mail. But there's also another bill from New York Representative Carolyn Maloney that would require the USPS to maintain current service operations until next year, meaning that all of these bizarre, cheating, adjacent changes, like getting rid of overtime, would be blocked until next year or the end of the pandemic, effectively kneecapping DeJoy. Nancy Pelosi said she is going

to call back the House from its summer recess to vote on that or something similar this coming week. Outside of Congress, there are potential lawsuits in the works from at least six state attorneys general to block the administration from reducing mail service between now and the election. The inspector general of the USPS is also reviewing the changes made by DeJoy. And there are also protests calling for DeJoy's resignation. So all eyes are on the mail, I guess. We'll keep track of this. And in the meantime, Pots of America will be doing a deeper dive on this later today

and their next episode. But switching gears here, the Democratic National Convention kicks off today. It will mostly take place on the Wi-Fi streams of some of the most important people in the party. Good luck. Rather than a massive in-person event in Wisconsin. Yeah, before the pandemic arrived, the convention was set for Milwaukee and was intended to activate a crucially important part of the country that Democrats lost in 2016, but hoped to gain back this year. So Gideon,

let's talk about Wisconsin past and present. Let's do it. So this is a state where, of course, Hillary Clinton narrowly lost in 2016. We don't need to relive it for everyone, but it was just 22,000 votes, less than a percentage point overall. And it was part of what was talked about as this sort of crumbling of the blue wall in the Midwest called a crumbling because President Obama won the state by nearly 14 points in 2008, then around seven points in 2012. And then it swings to Trump in 2016, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania. So many things came together for that to happen, including Clinton herself not visiting the state. But there were also some trends that held true in other parts of the country that we saw in Wisconsin. As the Washington Post newsletter, the trailer notes, you had some

switches in these more rural white areas from Obama to Trump, something like 20 plus counties, though you also had some suburban white voters, something like 20 plus counties, though you also had some suburban white voters shifting in the direction of Clinton, though not enough for her to win. And then you start to kind of see that being replicated in other places across the country. Then there was also lower turnout in cities like Milwaukee, which typically go blue, following the implementation of voter ID laws for the first time in a presidential election, which disproportionately disenfranchised black voters in the state. So now in 2020, when you talk to any Democrat that has anything to do with Wisconsin, they talk about it with a certain level of nervousness to panic,

maybe, even as polls currently show former Vice President Joe Biden leading Trump by an average of six points. And both sides are acutely aware of how important the state is. Trump is actually paying a visit this week while the DNC goes on. Yeah, darn, he gets to go to the DNC that's not happening. Well, so that was obviously 2016. But there's also more recent elections and midterms in the state. So what can we tell from those races about how voters might be feeling? Yeah, so if you look at 2018 across the country, it's a great year for Democrats. It marks a referendum on Trump that sweeps a lot of Democrats into the House. It was pretty overwhelming. And the same was kind of true in Wisconsin. Democrats won all the statewide races, including for Senate and for governor. But Republicans ended up with a majority in the state legislature due to a gerrymandered map that had been drawn to essentially lead to that outcome.

And more on the importance of that in a second. But yeah, in 18, you have Democrat Tony Evers ousting this kind of Republican boogeyman and Governor Scott Walker. And you have Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin easily winning reelection by over 10 points. I spoke with Baldwin yesterday about how she approached that race.

And she talked about making sure that she campaigned everywhere, not just the big cities, and also focused on the traditional pocketbook issues. I talked about healthcare and the economy. And I also think that I focused less on, let's call it red versus blue, and more on real people versus the special interests that carry way too much weight and influence in Washington, D.C. when it comes to things like tax policy, by way of example. And so, you know, in all of those areas, reaching out to not just Milwaukee and Madison, but all across the state. Democrats are doing that. The Biden campaign is doing that. And talking to the

issues that are kitchen table issues that every Wisconsinite is worried about, and even more so in a pandemic. Yeah. And then that brings us to 2020 and the ultimate curveball to any plans for elections or otherwise, the coronavirus. So let's do a rundown of Wisconsin so far this year. Right. So they had primary elections in April, which were a mess with last minute mail-in voting and drastically fewer polling locations in heavily Black and Latino Milwaukee, as an example. And that brings us back to that point about Republican control of the state legislature. So they refused Governor Evers' request to mail all voters absentee ballots or to delay the primary outright. And the state Supreme Court also

overturned a decision to delay that primary. And more generally, over the past two years, these state Republicans have basically waged all out war trying to diminish Evers power. So logistically and morally, this primary was a catastrophe. But if you look at the results, the liberal backed Jill Karofsky easily won her state Supreme Court race by over a 10 point margin. That's similar to Baldwin and the kind of spread that has been pretty rare for Democrats in the state, which they often see as being on a knife's edge. So leading up to that election, Democratic organizers and campaigners had to quickly switch over to virtual organizing, which was hugely daunting at the time and remains so. But one other update is that last week, there were more local primaries

held in the state. So those elections went much smoother than April, though, with a smaller turnout than we'll see in November. All right. So looking ahead then to November, there are still challenges around digital campaigning, plus that fun new one, the mail. That is right. Not enough things on one person's plate. But that is something that current Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wickler is keenly focused on. Here's some of what he had to say about this current battle. People are very concerned about voting. We saw this in the spring election, too. They want to understand how things are changed. They don't want to be at risk. I was making phone calls this last weekend. I talked to someone in Green Bay who had requested his absentee ballot, and it was sitting there on his table. He's trying to figure out what to do because he'd read about

Trump slowing down the mail system. And I told him that he could go turn it in in person. So that was his plan. And I think everyone's trying to figure out how to stay safe and do the things that they need to do. Voters don't want to be disenfranchised. They get mad when someone tries to take their vote away. So our job as Democrats is to make sure people understand their options to have their ballot count and stay safe. That's right. And Wickler said the focus has shifted a lot to voter education and that organizing matters more this year than ever when it comes to doing that.

I also talked to Baldwin about the USPS situation. I am as angry as I can be. First of all, I've been contacted by literally hundreds upon hundreds of constituents who are experiencing delays in getting needed prescription medication, in getting social security checks, in getting small businesses who use the U.S. Postal Service to get their products to their customers. And so the delay disruptions are very serious, even before we get to the question of vote by mail. Yeah, and Baldwin supports oversight hearings in the House and the Senate and said DeJoy should be subpoenaed if he doesn't show up. Yeah, by the way, if you want to get more

information on voting in your state, head over to VoteSaveAmerica.com to get that. You can also find volunteer opportunities to get involved in voter education in swing states around the country, including Wisconsin. And that's the latest for now. It's Monday WOD Squad, and for today's temp check, we're talking about food again, specifically Good Humor Ice Cream, which debuted a new song for ice cream trucks that it produced in collaboration with RZA from Wu-Tang Clan. Apparently, the ice cream truck song we all remember has a very racist history, as pretty much everything you investigate. It was often played at minstrel shows, so RZA and Good Humor's replacement song will be sent to ice cream truck drivers nationwide, and it sounds a Wow. You know what, Giddy?

Now that ice cream trucks aren't problematic anymore, what's your favorite thing to get in an ice cream truck? I haven't been to one. You won't get canceled for saying so now, I guess, is what I mean to say. I know. I am glad that RZA was looking out for us there. I haven't gone to one in a long time, pandemic, but the last thing that I was starting to get into

was just like the simple chocolate dipped vanilla where you get like the, you know, molten stuff going on, kind of cracks everywhere. It doesn't really work in terms of like walking and eating, but it's really fun. i you know what i'm surprised to hear you say that i was almost certain you were going to pick one of those like monster powerpuff girls or ninja turtles so like i'm really proud i'm really proud that you're choosing the actual ice cream well the spongebob one can we talk about the sponge have a... Yeah, let's talk about its melty face that is off-putting to me.

Like, I love Spongebob, but I cannot, I can't stand. I, well, okay, so it's a different energy, right? Like, if it's very, very hot, I feel like that is like a little bit of a nicer thing to have, because it gives you that sort of like cool fruit flavor type thing going on. You get little... More refreshing. Yeah, more refreshing. You get like gum balls to go with it. Like when you eat the eyes.

Ew. It's gum. It's gum. Yeah. They put gum in the ice cream. It's like, they're just trying to make SpongeBob even worse for me. All right.

Well, fine, fine. I'll allow it. You're not rolling with SpongeBob. What are you getting when you go to the RZA approved ice cream truck? You know, like RZA would say I'm protecting my neck.

I'm going with old faithful. I'm getting the chocolate dip, but with like the sprinkles too like before it solidifies they can put the sprinkles on there that is unbelievable but I will say I've tried the blue dip I don't know if you've ever tried this it's like a blue raspberry I've seen thinking it would be horrible but it was delicious so truly any of the dip choices can't go wrong i just love like i don't understand science and i never will but i love that there is something that can happen chemically that it doesn't just all fall off it's like when the people at dq like flip the blizzard upside down and like lock eyes with you and it's not falling out of the cup wowed every single time

yeah if they don't look you in the eyes it does fall out that's actually the sign i and it's not falling out of the cup wowed every single time yeah if they don't look you in the eyes it does fall out that's actually the sign i know it's i well i mean it's never happened and so i know that that correlation is causation there there you go well just like that we've checked our temps they are icy cold like the ice cream we're gonna get from the not racist ice cream trucks stay safe and we will check in with you all again tomorrow. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. More and more people in the country are facing some form of food insecurity, and according to recent data from the Census Bureau, 12% of adults lived in a house that

did not have enough food last month. That number rose from 9.8% in May, and the same data also revealed that 20% of people with kids at home could not afford to give their children enough food. Food banks have been reporting a surge in demand and the number of people receiving food stamps has gone up by 16%. Experts say these numbers are expected to grow without the $600 federal weekly benefits that unemployed people have been receiving. If you are experiencing food insecurity, calling 2-1-1 will connect you to service professionals in your area who can help. If you're not, you can donate to an organization like Feeding America to help get meals to people who need them. Yeah, shout out to everybody who's doing those community fridges. That's awesome. All right, so over 10,000 people in Thailand came together over the weekend for pro-democracy

demonstrations. In one of the largest recent rallies the country has seen, protesters called for constitutional change, a drastic government overhaul, and protection for people who speak out against the monarchy. Right now, anyone who criticizes Thailand's king faces up to 15 years in prison. The country currently operates as a constitutional monarchy, which critics say does not provide enough checks on the king's powers. Protesters also want to dissolve the country's heavily royalist and military parliament and form a government that better represents the people. This pro-democracy movement was kicked off by student activists last month and has been gaining momentum ever since. Right on. The NBA's bubble playoffs begin today with 16 teams facing off in the biggest showdown to happen at Disney World since I tried to get my mom to buy me a Woody costume

in 1999 despite already owning several. Yeah, you're my favorite deputy, Gideon. Thank you very much. That is what I was searching for. LeBron has a chance to lead the Lakers to victory. That would be his fourth ring. Kawhi Leonard could score his third championship win and his first playing for the Clippers. Then there's our good friend Giannis in the East and also the Toronto Raptors. So much fun stuff. The bubble hasn't just produced great basketball, though, and social media content. It's also helped produce great science. On Saturday, the FDA approved the saliva direct test for COVID-19, which was used in the bubble and developed using NBA funding. The inexpensive tests can produce results in less than three hours and could change the face of testing in the US.

Now, I'm usually reluctant to let people get their hands on my saliva, but this seems like it could be worth it. Yeah, I'm a little bummed because saliva direct was my startup for where I could go and just spit in people's faces that I don't like. So, you know, you win some, you lose some. All right. Well, Apple has never been the preferred tech company of gamers apart from players of a game called graphic design. But in the past

month, that relationship has become even more strained. It began when Apple said its app store won't approve cloud gaming apps like Microsoft xCloud and Google Stadia, which will process games on servers and then beam them to devices because those services will not let Apple review every game users can access. Critics said Apple's real reasoning has more to do with squashing competition and making money. I describe this behavior as very I'm a PC. Epic Games stood in solidarity with cloud gamers by updating its game Fortnite to include an in-game payment system so that Apple wouldn't get its customary 30% of all iOS transactions. This led Apple to kick Fortnite off the App Store and in doing so,

piss off all our Gen Z cousins and nephews. Now, Epic has an antitrust suit against Apple that makes a pretty strong case and is now trolling Apple online. For what it's worth, my favorite game to play on my phone is competing to see how much of my day I can spend looking at it. It's a lot. It's the hardest game in the world and we can't win it. Nope. And those are the headlines. Before we go, one more thing. The Democratic National Convention starts later today. We're streaming the whole thing live each night this week on crooked.com slash convention. So join us there starting at 9 p.m. Eastern or 6 p.m. Pacific. We'll be doing group threads with some of the hosts and staff here at Crooked, and that is crooked.com.

That is all for today. If you like this show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, help us defend our mailboxes, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just self-examination-inducing screen time reports from your iPhone like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes.

I'm Gideon Resnick. I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC. I want to be both. What A Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long.

Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.