带的TAKE里克·克莱因
两次竞选都说他们想要辩论。两人都坚持认为另一个候选人试图避开他们。
从现在开始，对于所有的活动取消-包括亲自出席大会-总统辩论似乎更有可能发生。
但围绕辩论的辩论比几个周期以来都更加激烈。这部分是因为它填补了一个可能被实际竞选也是因为两个竞选团队都将这一定位视为一个机会，可以让对方烟消云散。
唐纳德·特朗普总统竞选团队公开呼吁提前或增加一次总统辩论——这是他第二次试图让更多的人被记录在案——极不可能影响总统的任何计划总统辩论委员会。
但是鲁迪·朱利安尼美国给委员会的信确实成功地吸引了乔·拜登竞选团队的迅速拒绝。随着特朗普竞选团队试图将这位前副总统描绘成逃避审查和严厉质询的人，这可能会带来一笔可观的生意。
就拜登而言公开承诺六月份委员会的三次总统辩论和一次副总统辩论。特朗普并没有明确地做同样的事情——尽管朱利安尼的信暗示总统将会出现，这在拜登的圈子里被认为是一个胜利，特别是因为主持人还没有宣布。
辩论前的定位倾向于被辩论阶段实际上说的话所包含。
但这一过程现在也很重要，因为特朗普和拜登在相互保持距离和竞选活动的同时也在传递信息。
与...的关系肯德尔·胡炬雄
总统获胜了田纳西州截止到2016年的26个百分点，周四在参议院初选中竞争激烈的两大共和党人基本上都在试图击败对方。
比尔·哈格蒂是特朗普支持的前驻日大使，也是米特·罗姆尼2008年总统竞选的前国家财政主席，他将与曼尼·塞提医生对抗，后者是一名整形外科医生，得到了罗姆尼的支持特德·克鲁兹得克萨斯州，和兰德·保罗，R-Ky。作为支持特朗普的“真正的保守派”候选人。
在取代森的竞争中拉马尔·亚历山大这位共和党候选人可能会在11月与詹姆斯·麦克勒一较高下，詹姆斯·麦克勒是一名前陆军直升机飞行员和律师，目前正领导着五党民主党初选。
正如本周的情况一样，田纳西州的投票可以为今年秋天可能出现的投票问题提供重要的见解。
周四选民将有几个选择。据政府官员称，如果他们选择亲自投票，社交距离协议和口罩将有助于保证他们的安全。更有甚者，一个下级法院扩大缺席投票在该州，允许任何关心COVID-19的人投缺席票，以大流行为借口，因为田纳西州仍然需要一个。
但11月份的情况将不再如此。周三晚上，州最高法院裁定，害怕感染COVID-19不能作为在大选中通过邮件投票的有效借口。根据裁决，周四初选中以此为借口的缺席投票将被计算在内。
由于大量缺席投票国务卿办公室警告说，选举结果可能会被推迟。扫描和检查只是需要时间。这是大流行中缺席投票的现实。
小费夏安·哈斯莱特和阿什利·布朗
漫步走向八月，就像这座城市曾经梦想的一个空壳虚拟民主国民大会在密尔沃基没打多少拳。现在城市甚至不会主办被提名者。
密尔沃基市长汤姆·巴雷特(Tom Barrett)周三表示，这是该州第一次举办大型政党大会。他说:“如果我不告诉你，我对此感到非常、非常失望，无论是从专业角度还是从个人角度来说，我都是在撒谎，因为我认为我们都为被选为2020年民主党全国代表大会的东道主感到非常自豪。”
巴雷特承认，现实是，自2020年伦敦赢得焦点以来，世界已经发生了变化。甚至在民主党人决定放弃拜登的访问之前，大会就计划举行一次微观足迹估计有300人参加。但是被提名者和他的副总统候选人的明显缺席呢?拜登紧随民主党候选人之后，后者因从未访问过竞争激烈的威斯康星州而感到羞愧。
“我们从2016年吸取了教训，他们不会再犯同样的错误，”密尔沃基市议员鲍勃·鲍曼(Bob Bauman)说，他是一名民主党人，他补充说，他已经就这个问题与从国家到地方各级的党内官员进行了交谈。“所以，不，我不认为有任何危险。只要他们能在威斯康辛州进行身体上的竞选，他们就会在这里。”
The Note: Debate over debates shapes campaign messaging
The TAKE withRick Klein
Both campaigns saythey want debates. Both insist that the other candidate is trying to duck them.
As of now, for all thecampaign cancellations-- up to and including in-person convention attendance -- the presidential debates appear more likely than not to happen.
But the debate over debates is more intense than it's been in a few cycles. That's partly because it's filling a void that might be occupied byactual campaigning-- and also because both campaigns see the positioning as a chance to smoke out the other side.
President Donald Trump campaign's public plea for an earlier or additional presidential debate -- his second such attempt at getting more on the books -- is extremely unlikely to impact any planning by theCommission on Presidential Debates.
ButRudy Giuliani's letter to the commission did manage to draw a swift rejection from Joe Biden's campaign. That could make for a tidy bit of business as the Trump campaign seeks to portray the former vice president as ducking scrutiny and tough questioning.
For his part, Bidenpublicly committedto the commission's three presidential and one vice-presidential debate back in June. Trump hasn't explicitly done the same -- though Giuliani's letter implies that the president will show up, which some in Biden's orbit see as a win, particularly since moderators have yet to be announced.
Pre-debate positioning has a tendency to be subsumed by things that actually get said on debate stages.
But the process matters now as well, as Trump and Biden frame messaging while distanced from each other and the campaign trail.
The RUNDOWN withKendall Karson
The president won inTennesseeby 26 points in 2016 and the top two Republicans duking it out in the Senate primary on Thursday have basically been trying to out-Trump each other.
Bill Hagerty, the Trump-endorsed former ambassador to Japan and former national finance chair for Sen. Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, is facing off against Dr. Manny Sethi, an orthopedic trauma surgeon who has garnered support from Sens.Ted Cruz, R-Texas, andRand Paul, R-Ky., as the candidate who will be a "true conservative" who supports Trump.
In the race to replace Sen.Lamar Alexander, the Republican nominee will likely square off in November against James Mackler, a former Army helicopter pilot and attorney who is currently leading the five-way Democratic primary.
As has been the case this week, voting in Tennessee could provide key insights into possible voting issues this fall.
Voters will have a few options on Thursday. Social distancing protocols and face masks will help keep them safe if they choose to vote in person, according to state officials. More, a lower courtexpanded absentee votingin the state to allow anyone concerned over COVID-19 to cast an absentee ballot -- using the pandemic as an excuse, as Tennessee does still require one.
But that will no longer be the case in November. The state Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday night that fear of contracting COVID-19 will not be a valid excuse to vote-by-mail in the general election. Absentee ballots cast for Thursday's primary election using the excuse will be counted, according to the ruling.
Due to thelarge number of absentee ballots, the secretary of state's office warned that election results could possibly be delayed. Scanning and checking just take time. It's the reality of absentee voting in a pandemic.
The TIP withCheyenne HaslettandAshley Brown
Ambling toward August as just a shell of what the city once dreamed it would be, thevirtual Democratic National Conventionin Milwaukee wasn't packing many punches. And now thecity won't even hostthe nominee.
"I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I'm very, very disappointed in this, professionally and personally, because I think we all have had so much pride in having been chosen to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Wednesday, noting that it's the first major political party convention to be hosted in the state.
The reality, Barrett acknowledged, is the world has changed since the city was awarded its spotlight in the 2020 race. Even before Democrats decided to bag Biden's visit, the convention planned to have amicroscopic footprint, with estimates of 300 attendees. But what about the notable absence of the nominee and his vice presidential pick? Biden is running on the heels of a Democratic nominee who was shamed for never visiting the battleground state of Wisconsin.
"The lesson was learned from 2016, they're not going to make that mistake again," said Milwaukee Alderman Bob Bauman, a Democrat, adding that he's spoken to party officials from the national level to the local level about the issue. "And so, no I don't think there's any danger of that whatsoever. To the extent they can physically campaign in Wisconsin, they're going to be here."
