A Tiger King GOP Convention & An Overlooked Biden Allegation

Both parties are pressing forward with their national conventions despite coronavirus concerns, with likely nominee Joe Biden now saying Democrats could delay theirs by a month. But the get-togethers may well have to go online. And to get viewership (and that sweet convention bump) without the usual visuals of excited, patriotically dressed delegates, they will need to get creative — and borrow from our favorite quarantine pastimes. President Donald Trump could dramatically pardon Joe Exotic of Tiger King fame, who would then join his big cats to perform a scathing country ballad about Hunter Biden. For the capstone of the remote Democratic National Convention, Biden emerges from a “Love Is Blind” pod … to meet his vice presidential running mate Oprah Winfrey for the first time. Who doesn’t tune in?

In the early Tea Party days, this mom who grew up waterskiing in Minnesota was in Washington protesting the Obama presidency. But it wasn’t until a friend mentioned that her technology company was “perfect” for politics that the Republican activist realized she could join the fray herself. This month, her company is launching SwipeRed — the first relational organizing app for the right. As social distancing forces people into their homes, this could help the GOP reach webs of friends and families organically through texting, Facebook, email and other platforms. City council, state senate and congressional candidates are already on board … and Schneegans hopes the president could add it to his November arsenal too.

Campaigns are notoriously slow to adopt new tech — don’t forget we’re just a few weeks into our new coronavirus-addled reality. So while recent “innovation” hasn’t amounted to much more than video conferences and digital town halls, true advances will begin in the next month or two. Expect campaigns to turn to automated messaging tools, from Chatbox to Khoros, to make one-sided text outreach into meaningful, two-sided conversations. And they will adapt marketing tools from private-sphere companies like Salesforce and Sprout Social to meet their own needs. Campaigns “eventually dig in and figure it out. Baptism by fire,” as GOP digital strategist Adam Meldrum puts it.

America has already lost more citizens to the coronavirus in three months than it has in either of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars that have lasted for almost two decades. But it could get a lot worse (see graphic).

We have been surprised by the lack of coverage of former Biden staffer Tara Reade’s accusation that the former vice president and Democratic frontrunner sexually assaulted her in 1993. Some argue Reade should be taken seriously, others say that doing so is playing into conservative (or Russian) hands and will ensure Trump wins reelection in 2020. So what do you think … should Reade’s complaint be damning, and, if so, who would you replace Biden with to top the ticket? Email us at politics@ozy.com and we’ll include the best (or worst) answers in the next newsletter.

Last week we asked for your recommendations to fight the pandemic-induced recession. Jennifer Price advises: “Forgive all federal student loan debt and require credit card companies/banks to lower the interest rates charged to all cardholders to a flat 10%, regardless of credit score.” Herman Hasselbrack proposes to “temporarily nationalize medical facilities and manufacturing until this pandemic subsides, so supply distribution and manufacture can be coordinated.”

When the Netherlands’ health minister Bruno Bruins collapsed from exhaustion during a parliamentary debate on the coronavirus in late March and then quit, the country’s prime minister, Mark Rutte, did something extraordinary: He appointed an opposition member of Parliament in his place. Leaders around the world — including Trump — could learn from this savvy political tactic, as the coronavirus pandemic is sparking unusual cooperation among rivals. If Trump swapped in, say, Obama-era Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to fight the pandemic, he’d have a valuable buffer against partisan criticism. Still, we’re not holding our breath.

Companies are slamming consumer inboxes harder than a political candidate at the end of a fundraising deadline, and frankly, we’re just so thankful that Taco Bell, Party City and the period underwear brand Thinx care so much for our safety. Slate has helpfully compiled some of the zaniest coronavirus brand outreach efforts, so check it out.