�������ýҕ�l

Donald Trump has made clear he will attack Joe Biden unmercifully in order to ensure the election is a choice between him and Joe Biden — rather than an up-or-down vote on the president’s handling of the coronavirus. Scott Walker has a different view, at least when it comes to Trump's chances in the all-important battleground of Wisconsin. (Isenstadt, 5/18)

Almost a month ago, as the coronavirus exacted an outsized toll on vulnerable groups across America, President Donald Trump turned to an under-the-radar White House council to quickly determine how the federal government “can best support minority and distressed communities.” Little has come of it. The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, repurposed by Trump on April 22 to confront the pandemic’s disproportionate damage to communities of color, is still assembling proposals to reduce racial health disparities that have been magnified by the coronavirus outbreak, according to four people familiar with the planning. (Orr, 5/15)

Three months before their national convention is to kick off in Milwaukee, Democratic Party officials are planning for three scenarios depending on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic at the time. But the planners face a substantial problem in putting on the quadrennial event that is recognizable to Americans as the traditional launch of the presidential general election campaign: Many of the delegates don’t want to go. Interviews with 59 members of the Democratic National Committee and superdelegates who will formally nominate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in August found that the vast majority of them don’t want to risk their own health or the health of others by traveling to Milwaukee and congregating inside the convention facilities. (Epstein, 5/18)

The presidential campaign is taking shape in the new realities imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, complete with ads, tweets and even campaign-style events -- real-life ones as well as the new "virtual" variety. But what that shape looks like depends on which campaign you focus on. President Donald Trump's campaign is focused on seemingly everything -- hoping that it will play separately from the very big thing consuming the country. Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign is focusing on that big thing -- hoping that it remains the only thing that matters. (Klein and Parks, 5/18)

More than two months into the depths of the coronavirus crisis, it is obvious the issue will be the central one in November’s presidential election. But there are still numerous uncertainties. Here are five that will be pivotal to the election’s outcome. (Stanage, 5/17)