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Wendy’s Says It Won’t Use Surge Pricing After Internet Backlash

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The fast food chain Wendy’s clarified that it has no plans to use “surge pricing” during its busiest hours. The announcement, made on Tuesday, followed reports in multiple media outlets suggesting the business is considering experimenting with dynamic pricing that changes throughout the day in response to customer demand.

In a statement, the company asserted that the dynamic pricing model was being misinterpreted. The chain says it intends to reduce prices during slower periods rather than increasing them during busy ones.

“We said these menu boards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items. This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most. Any features we may test in the future would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members. Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren weighed in on the issue on her X account, suggesting the new strategy is exploitative.

“Wendy’s is planning to try out ‘surge pricing’— that means you could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy’s stays exactly the same. It’s price gouging, plain and simple, and American families have had enough.

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The company is already the most expensive fast-food restaurant among competitors like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Chick-fil-A.

In an earnings call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner highlighted that upselling and dynamic pricing were key strategies for driving sales growth. “We will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and day-part offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling,” he said.

“As we continue to show the benefit of this technology in our company-operated restaurants, franchisee interest in digital menu boards should increase further supporting sales and profit growth across the system.”

Many businesses, including rideshares like Uber and Lyft and ticket distributors like Ticketmaster, employ dynamic pricing models to charge higher rates in response to user demand.

In an email to CNN, the company reiterated that it will not employ a similar system.

“Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. This was not a change in plans. It was never our plan to raise prices when customers are visiting us the most.”

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Juan Castillo, assistant professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN that “surge pricing” was a poor choice of words to describe the pricing strategy.

“Whoever called it surge pricing made the worst marketing mistake you can think of. Surge pricing sent the message to everybody that this is mostly about increasing prices. That created a very negative reaction from the public.”

According to Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of the trade publication Restaurant Business, the introduction of dynamic pricing to Wendy’s may lead to other fast food restaurants adopting the technology.

“If Wendy’s idea works, it could get others to do something similar, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another chain or two test the idea themselves, given what Wendy’s is doing.”

In response to Wendy’s announcement, Burger King is giving out free burgers from Feb. 28 to March 1 on purchases of $3 or more.

“We don’t believe in charging guests more when they’re hungry,” Burger King wrote in a press release announcing the limited-time deal. “Surge pricing? Well, that’s new,” the company added. “Good thing the only thing surging at BK is our flame!”

In order to implement digital menu boards at all of its restaurants in the United States by the end of 2025, Wendy’s intends to spend approximately $20 million. Over the next two years, another $10 million will be set aside to bolster digital menu upgrades internationally.

Democratic Party

New York Times Endorses Both Warren and Klobuchar for Democratic Nominee

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Just days before the first votes are due to be cast in Iowa, the New York Times has announced that, in an unusual move, the editorial board has decided to endorse two candidates for the Democratic nominee. The two candidates, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren, are the only two women candidates remaining in the race, and while their policy platforms differ in a number of ways, the editorial board has come to the conclusion that both candidates are equally qualified to beat Donald Trump in November and serve in the office of the presidency for the next four to eight years.

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The editorial board arrived at their conclusion by holding interviews with each of the major candidates vying to become the Democratic nominee, and found that although the public perceives the contest as being split between progressives and moderates, in reality the different candidates’ views on fundamental issues are strikingly similar. All of the top candidates, for instance, want to expand access to health care far beyond what the government has provided in the past, and each candidate has a vision for the federal government that differs sharply from the way it is run today. Indeed, as the Republican party increasingly slides towards authoritarianism in deference to Trump, the Democratic party as a whole has moved to the left, as positions that were once considered radical like Medicare-for-All have become mainstream.

While the editorial board acknowledges that the issue at the forefront of most voters’ minds is the question of who is able to beat Mr. Trump, it also believes that no one really has the ability to foretell which candidate is most able to do so. Instead, the editorial board focused on which candidates would be most effective at repairing the Republic and embracing new ideas, and the most competent candidates in these two regards were considered to be Klobuchar and Warren. Though both Sanders and Warren represent the progressive wing of the party, the editorial board considers Sanders’ age and health to be a major concern, and considers his approach to his policies to be too ideologically rigid. While the editorial board recognizes Sanders’ contribution of progressive ideas to the party, it feels that Warren has a better understanding of the fundamental issues that plague the country and how best to approach them.

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The second endorsement, Amy Klobuchar, was picked for her experience and effectiveness as a politician. According to the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Klobuchar is the most productive senator in the Democratic field when it comes to bills passed with bipartisan support, and while she is billed as a moderate by most voters, the editorial board feels that Amy Klobuchar might have the best chance of enacting a progressive policy agenda as president. Despite being labelled a moderate by the media, Klobuchar embraces a number of progressive policies, including transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. While the editorial board was concerned about reports of how Klobuchar treats her staff, it nonetheless considers Klobuchar to be the most competent and effective “moderate” candidate in the field.

2020 Presidental Election

Tonight’s Democratic Debate Last Before Voting Begins in Ohio

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In what may very well make for one of the most contentious nights of the primary process thus far, six of the country’s top Democrats will share a stage in Des Moines tonight, each debating to convince the American voter that they are the most qualified candidate to beat Donald Trump in November. The debate comes amid multiple, highly consequential stories surrounding the Trump administration; not only is Nancy Pelosi planning to hold a vote to send impeachment managers and the articles of impeachment to the Senate tomorrow, but the president recently made perhaps the most significant foreign policy decision of his presidency by ordering the death of the Iranian general Qasem Suleimani, taking Iran and the United States to the brink of war. 

And as if that weren’t enough, the debate follows accusations that Sanders told Warren in a 2018 meeting that a woman can’t win the presidency, a claim that Sanders vehemently denies as he accused Warren’s staff of lying and contradicted Warren’s retelling of events. Questions about the details of this meeting and the stark divide between the two candidates’ claims on the subject will likely emerge tonight among questions on a bevy of other topics.

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As the primary process has continued, the field of Democrats who qualify for the debate stage has narrowed to just six, including two women and no one of color. Andrew Yang, the only non-white candidate who qualified for the last debate, did not meet the requirements for this one, resulting in a field totally lacking in racial diversity, much to the chagrin of progressive members of the party. Questions concerning racial justice are likely to arise tonight, and while Democrats onstage will surely lament the lack of candidates of color among them, their comments about race are likely to be considered with scrutiny among non-white voters, many of whom are disappointed about the lack of diversity remaining among the front-runners.

Given the questions about the potential for conflict in the Middle East and the country’s desire to avoid war with Iran, Sanders and Biden are likely to butt heads over their differing votes in 2002 about the invasion of Iraq; Biden voted for the attack while Sanders, famously, voted against it. The decision to invade Iraq was based on the false claim that there existed weapons of mass destruction in the region; none were found, and the Iraq war is now largely considered to have been a mistake. Biden has previously defended his decision to vote in favor of the Iraq War, arguing that it was the best decision to make given the information that was available at the time. Sanders has accused the former vice president of having poor judgment in his decision on Iraq before and will likely do so again, and Biden will likely attempt to justify his choice rather than admit a mistake and apologize for it, in keeping with his prior comments on the matter.

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At this relatively-early point in the primary, Biden remains the clear leader, with Sanders gaining momentum thanks to strong poll numbers in Ohio and a massive fundraising haul of $34.5 million last quarter. While Biden consistently polls better than any other candidate, Sanders has perhaps the most loyal and energized coalition of voters, many of whom contributed small-dollar donations to the campaign, allowing for more ad buys, staff, and local organization. Biden’s performances in recent debates have been given mixed reviews, and although he’s consistently been placed center-stage as the unambiguous front-runner, he has failed to make himself the center of attention in past debates, with that honor going to contenders like Senator Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg. 

Given the presence of billionaire Tom Steyer on the debate stage, who has gained popularity by investing his massive personal fortune into his presidential campaign, the question of campaign finance reform is likely to be introduced. The two progressive candidates have made a point of demonstrating that they are not beholden to wealthy donors by refusing to accept their contributions. Sanders has spoken consistently of the importance of not taking money from large corporations, instead relying on small individual contributions, a strategy that has proven financially successful for him, and Warren has called out Buttigieg for meeting with wealthy donors in “wine caves,” a comment that led the former South Bend mayor to accuse her of hypocrisy. Given the fact that former candidate Senator Harris has cited a lack of funds in her decision to drop out of the race, Steyer is likely to be looked at with extra scrutiny tonight as he may be called on to justify the financial aspect of his campaign.

Vote Pins

FiveThirtyEight Model Gives Biden 40% Chance of Winning Nomination

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As the first votes in the 2020 Democratic nomination process have not yet been cast, it’s impossible to predict with certainty who will emerge as the democratic nominee to face Trump in the general election, particularly considering the historically large field of candidates running for president this year. That being said, pollsters have worked tirelessly since the beginning of the primary season to measure voters’ preferences towards each of the candidates, generating a tremendous amount of data for analysts at organizations like FiveThirtyEight to sift through. Accordingly, FiveThirtyEight just published the first iteration of its forecast simulating the outcome of the primary season, which claims that Biden has a 2 in 5 chance of winning the nomination and Sanders has a 1 in 5 chance of winning, whereas Warren has a 1 in 8 chance and Buttigieg has a 1 in 10 chance, with all other candidates having just a 1 in 40 chance of winning the nomination.

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The results of the study, which are based on computer simulations of the primary season that are run thousands of times based on data collected from polling organizations and models generated from an analysis of previous presidential nominations, were published in an interactive format that allows users to view the calculated probability of victory for each candidate in each state. Though FiveThirtyEight has analyzed political polls for more than ten years, this year marks the first time the ABC News-owned organization has published a “complete back-to-front model of the presidential primaries.” Despite the number of complexities involved, such as the difficult-to-predict impact of the winner of one state primary or caucus on future ones, the organization feels confident enough in the accuracy of its simulations to publish its findings even at this early stage in the process. One of the factors that led to the organization’s confidence this year is the amount of data collected on the primary processes of 2008 and 2016, which helps analysts understand the nuances of how presidential primaries tend to play out. The outcome of the Iowa caucuses, for instance, has historically had a tremendous impact on voters in the other 49 states.

The race is still very much up in the air

That being said, FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver stresses that their model is a “forecast, … not an estimation of what would happen in an election held today” and that the forecast is “probabilistic” with a high degree of uncertainty. As more political events shape voters’ opinions on the candidates, more polls are conducted, and the first states begin to hold primaries and caucuses, the organization will continue to refine their predictions and update their forecast. Silver also stresses that FiveThirtyEight’s predictions should be taken literally, meaning that although Biden is currently calculated to have the best chance of any of the candidates of winning the nomination, the probability of his victory is only 40%, making it actually more likely than not that one of the other candidates will win instead.

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Although Trump’s surprise victory in 2016 led many observers to feel as though poll data is not to be trusted, as organizations like the New York Times had predicted with 85% certainty on the eve of the election that Clinton would win, FiveThirtyEight has a better track record than most organizations when it comes to the accuracy of its predictions. In 2016, FiveThirtyEight was far more pessimistic than most news outlets about the likelihood of a Clinton victory, giving the former First Lady a two-in-three chance of winning. As Nate Silver once commented, “one-in-three chances happen all the time;” when viewed from this perspective, it’s no surprise that Trump won in 2016, provided one has a realistic understanding of how to interpret the results of statistical models of probability. Accordingly, while Joe Biden has consistently led opinion polls since announcing his candidacy last year and has by far the highest probability of any candidate of winning the race for Democratic nominee, the race is still very much up in the air, as three other candidates stand a decent chance of victory as well.

Your Vote Matters

Former Democratic Candidate Julián Castro Endorses Elizabeth Warren

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Just days after ending his presidential campaign, Mayor Julián Castro has endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren for president. Warren, a former frontrunner whose popularity has waned in recent weeks, met with the San Antonio mayor to produce a campaign video in which Castro pledges his support and the two discuss the problems facing America today and potential solutions. Castro, a close friend of Warren’s, will join the senator at campaign rallies and events over the coming weeks and months as she continues her fight for the Democratic nomination, with the first votes being cast in Iowa less than a month away. Castro, who focused his campaign on a message of social justice, contextualized his endorsement by alluding to the women in his life, including his mother and grandmother, who worked hard to provide him with the opportunity to achieve the success he enjoys today. Though the Democratic field has narrowed considerably to include very few candidates of color, Warren remains among the highest-polling candidates, meaning she has the potential to become America’s first female president.

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Despite her early popularity, Warren has fallen to third place in the race for the Democratic nomination, trailing Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders by several percentage points. Currently, the Democratic party appears to be split between those favoring a progressive political approach and those favoring a moderate one, with Warren and Sanders representing the progressive wing of the party and Biden and Buttigieg representing the moderate wing. Part of Warren’s struggle likely has to do with the fact that the progressive vote is split between her and Sanders; while Sanders benefits from name-recognition from his 2016 run for president and from being known for popularizing radical ideas like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, Warren has gained support through her calls for “big, structural change,” her detailed policy proposals, and her economic expertise. While Biden continues to enjoy frontrunner status thanks in large part to his reputation as Obama’s vice president, Warren’s political acumen is arguably unparalleled, as she is an expert in US Bankruptcy law who established the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. 

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As Castro struggled in the polls, failing to meet the requirements to participate in the next Democratic debate, it is unclear to what extent his endorsement will benefit Warren’s campaign. That being said, Castro’s minority status may draw nonwhite voters to support Warren, who has struggled with minorities particularly in the aftermath of her dubious claim of Native American ancestry. On Twitter, Warren thanked Castro for his endorsement, saying she was “honored” to have his support. Though Castro failed to gain widespread support, he has contributed ideologically to the primary process by calling attention to reparations, decriminalization of border crossings, and housing inequality, among other issues of particular interest to minority groups. Additionally, Castro is known for his criticisms of the primary nomination process, arguing that it favors white voters as the first votes are cast in states with predominantly white populations. With several months remaining before the Democratic National Convention during which the Democratic nominee for president will be formally announced, only time will tell whether Castro’s support will give Warren the boost she needs to win the nomination.

Bernie for President Sign

Bernie Sanders Wins Support From Nurses Union In Major Boost For His 2020 Presidential Campaign

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Senator Bernie Sanders has received a major boost to his 2020 presidential campaign from the country’s biggest nurses’ union.

Following their endorsement of Mr. Sanders in 2016, National Nurses United have chosen to support him ahead of Elizabeth Warren, who has also laid out her own Medicare for All plan as part of her own campaign.

Members of National Nurses United have been keen advocates in Democratic politics since they started supporting Mr. Sanders and have attended his rallies and events in red t-shirts as well as canvassing neighbourhoods in swing congressional districts. This is mainly due to Mr. Sanders’ plan for a nationalized health insurance system.

There was never any real doubt that the nurses’ union were going to endorse any other candidate after being so loyal to Mr. Sanders in 2016, however he was also the only candidate to attend an in-person interview with them asking for endorsement; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, sent a three minute video, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts spoke with them via a video call while former Vice President Joseph R Biden Jr and Senator Kamala Harris of California both declined the union’s offer to interview completely.

Mr. Sanders’ biggest rival, Ms. Warren, has also announced plans for a single-payer health insurance but despite her plans the union has decided they actually prefer the original layout of Medicare for all and therefore have stayed true to Mr. Sanders.

Who are National Nurses United?

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Created from a merger of three smaller unions in 2009, National Nurses United has around 155,000 members and is a major advocate of the liberal policies Mr. Sanders is proposing. They also played a large part in providing healthcare to the Occupy Wall Street protesters who were situated in Lower Manhattan in 2011, as well as campaigning for a financial transaction tax and single-payer health care.

And it’s not just the union that has endorsed Mr. Sanders. It also comes with the support of the union’s super PAC, a difficult situation seeing that Mr. Sanders disavowed support from super PACs, as have most of the Democrats seeking the party’s 2020 nomination.

During the 2016 campaign the union’s super PAC spent $5 million backing Mr. Sanders in his campaign against Hillary Clinton, which although it sounds like a great sum Jeb Bush had $87 million spent supporting him during the same campaign.

Bonnie Castillo, the union’s Executive Director said the super PAC ‘will be activated’ on Mr. Sanders’ behalf, however none of the union members nor the super PAC would attack or criticize any of his Democratic presidential nomination rivals.

“We’re not going negative. We are a very positive force. It’s a reflection of who we are as a profession. We are healers.”

Mr. Sanders has vowed to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened the door to the super PAC era, rallying against the influence of money in politics. And thanks to Mr. Biden dropping his resistance to accepting support from these groups recently, Mr. Sanders has become even more vocal.

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At a recent event in Marshalltown, Iowa, he was quoted as saying, “I don’t need a super PAC. I am not going to be controlled by a handful of wealthy people. I will be controlled by the working people of this country.”

He backed this up by saying ‘We don’t have a super PAC’ while attending a rally in Coralville, Iowa.

Yet Mr. Sanders has not denied any support from the nurses’ unions’ super PAC in 2016, although he has repeatedly pointed out that he does not have one of his own. In fact last Monday he was eager to thank National Nurses United for their support while ignoring its super PAC.

“What the nurses understand is that the current healthcare system is not only dysfunctional but extraordinarily cruel. Together we are finally going to do what should have been done decades ago and make sure that every man, woman and child in this country has quality health care as a human right.”

Currently there have not been many major labor unions endorsing and of the 2020 presidential candidates although Mr. Biden has received the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters, while The National Union of Healthcare Workers have not only endorsed Ms. Warren but also Mr. Sanders – with Mr. Sanders also receiving the backing from The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

National Nurses United co-president Deborah Burger has confirmed that they will continue to fight for the winner of the party’s nomination against President Trump, even if that is not Mr. Sanders, stating, “We have made a commitment to endorse Bernie Sanders, but in the end we have made a commitment to our communities that we live in that we will do whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump.”

Microsoft

Following Criticism, Elizabeth Warren Offers to Speak with Bill Gates

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Bill Gates, who is known not only for his humanitarian work and his pioneering role at Microsoft but for having amassed massive amounts of wealth, recently sat down with columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times DealBook Conference to discuss matters of finance, philanthropy, and politics. In response to a question about taxation on wealthy individuals, Bill Gates said that he had paid over $10 billion in taxes, and that he’d be happy to pay $20 billion, but he is skeptical of tax rates higher than that. Gates insinuated that under Warren’s plan, he’d have to pay $100 billion in taxes, which he considered unacceptable. (He clarified that he meant that statement as a joke immediately after.) The interviewer then asked Gates if he had ever spoken with Warren about the topic, and he replied that he hadn’t, and that he didn’t know whether she’d be willing to “sit down with somebody, you know, who has large amounts of money.”

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Gates’ comment about Warren’s tax plan, as well his comments about the election more generally, received a lot of attention in the media, potentially damaging Warren’s campaign. In response, Elizabeth Warren tweeted yesterday that she’d be happy to sit down with Gates, and that she’d “love to explain exactly how much [he’d] pay under [her] wealth tax.” She promised him it wouldn’t be $100 billion. Gates responded to Warren’s tweets by applauding her commitment to proposing solutions to many of the world’s greatest problems, including climate change and global poverty, and said that he respected her ambition despite their disagreements. Gates added that he’s “always willing to talk about creative solutions to these problems,” suggesting a conversation between the two may be in the works.

Gates is one of several billionaires who has recently expressed doubts about tax plans like Warren’s

Gates, who said during the recent interview that he wasn’t going to make any “political declarations,” stated nonetheless that he is likely to vote for the more “professional” candidate. This comment was criticized as a tacit endorsement of Trump, as many commentators felt that it should have been easy for Gates to denounce the sitting president. However, Gates is known for choosing not to give political endorsements, as he doesn’t want to influence the political process in that way. In fact, Gates’ preference for the more “professional” candidate could easily be read as an implicit criticism of Trump, who defies conventions of professionalism at every opportunity.

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If Warren’s tax plan were passed into law, Gates’ taxes would surely go up, though not to the levels he suggested. Under Warren’s plan, fortunes over $1 billion would be taxed at 6%. As Gates is worth roughly $107 billion, this would mean he’d pay at least an additional $6.42 billion in taxes, a far cry from the $100 billion tax he joked about. Nevertheless, while Gates asserted that he supports progressive tax policies, he voiced skepticism and concern about Warren’s plans specifically, asserting he’d prefer “a middle-ground approach.” Notably, Sanders’ tax plan was not discussed, even though his plan calls for even greater taxes on the wealthy than Warren’s does. Perhaps a more significant source of disagreement between the two results from Warren’s proposal to break up big tech companies, which Gates opposes, though he has admitted his bias in favor of Microsoft.

Gates is one of several billionaires who has recently expressed doubts about tax plans like Warren’s; the prospect of paying more taxes drove one billionaire to tears on CNBC, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon worried that Warren “vilifies successful people,” and expressed concern about her use of “harsh” language.

Twitter

Twitter to Ban All Political Ads

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As social media rapidly replaces traditional journalistic forms of disseminating information, regulators have been slow to catch up with the new form of communication, as the appropriate legal boundaries on free speech on social media platforms remain an open question. Recently, Facebook has drawn criticism for allowing demonstrably false political advertisements to run on its platform, and the company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, defended the decision to do so by citing free speech concerns. In an apparent response to Zuckerberg’s decision, Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey announced that all political ads from around the world would be banned on Twitter, neatly avoiding the problem of politicians spreading disinformation through sponsored posts. Though Dorsey didn’t mention Zuckerberg or Facebook by name, it’s pretty clear that the company’s decision was made in the context of its rival’s position of allowing politicians to lie using advertisements, and it effectively functions as a commentary on Facebook’s policy.

Already, politicians have taken advantage of Facebook’s almost-nonexistent restrictions on paid political speech by running advertisements that contain falsehoods. The Trump campaign, for instance, ran an ad on Facebook falsely accusing rival Joe Biden of “[offering] Ukraine $1 billion to fire the prosecutor investigating a company affiliated with his son.” In response, the Biden campaign asked Facebook to remove the ad from its website, citing a lack of evidence supporting that claim, and Facebook declined to do so, reiterating its policy and defending it by arguing that removing political advertisements constitutes censorship. Elizabeth Warren, one of the leading Democrats in the race for the presidential nomination, ran an ad falsely suggesting Mark Zuckerberg endorsed Donald Trump in order to draw attention to Facebook’s political ad policy and point out how easily it can be abused. The Trump campaign has already spent millions of dollars on Facebook ads containing disinformation, including video ads that have been rejected by CNN and MSNBC for containing falsehoods, which nevertheless have been seen by millions of people.

“A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people. We believe this decision should not be compromised by money.” — Jack Dorsey

Recently, Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress with the intent of discussing his crypto-currency service, Libra, but instead found himself being grilled by lawmakers over Facebook’s stance on misinformation. One exchange which grabbed headlines recently involved freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who questioned Zuckerberg about the boundaries of the company’s restrictions on ads, and posed a hypothetical question: under Facebook’s policy, would she be allowed to run ads in Republican districts claiming that her Republican opponents had endorsed the Green New Deal? Zuckerberg replied that he didn’t know, but that she probably would be allowed to do so. Facebook doesn’t run ads for political campaigns through independent fact-checkers except in rare circumstances, so in all likelihood, Ocasio-Cortez would be permitted to run such an ad if she so chose.

Recently, Zuckerberg revealed that political ads make up only 0.5% of the company’s revenue, suggesting that banning all political ads on the site would have little impact on Facebook’s bottom line. Nonetheless, Facebook remains steadfast in its position, even after receiving significant controversy from the media, Congress, and the general public alike. Zuckerberg also recently drew criticism for having lunch with Republican politicians and conservative commentators, a decision that he defended by stressing the importance of getting along with people from different political stripes. In an apparent rebuke of Zuckerberg’s take on political speech, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey opposed the idea that allowing political ads to run indiscriminately is necessary to avoid censorship and ensure free speech, saying “A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people. We believe this decision should not be compromised by money.” This difference in opinion is at the core of the argument about free speech on social media platforms, and may very well one day manifest in the form of regulations about using advertising to spread misinformation on social media platforms, like the ones that already exist for other forms of media.

Debate

Moderates Take On Elizabeth Warren at Fourth Democratic Debate

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While most polls still show Joe Biden as the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Elizabeth Warren has been gaining momentum, and trend lines show that she’s likely to maintain a lead over the former Vice President in the following months. As such, many of the candidates in last night’s Democratic primary debate took the opportunity to attack Warren for her more progressive proposals, competing amongst one another to position themselves as a sensible and moderate alternative to the two leading progressives in the race, Warren and Sanders, as well as the leading moderate, Joe Biden. While this tactic among many members of the historically crowded debate stage was to be expected, it nonetheless poses a challenge for Warren, who must struggle to maintain her narrow lead amidst concerns about the electability of such a radically progressive candidate in the general election.

Perhaps the most notable takeaway from Warren’s performance last night was her steadfast refusal to answer a question about whether or not the middle class would see an increase in taxes to pay for her Medicare-for-all plan. Despite being asked the question multiple times by moderator Anderson Cooper, and thereafter by fellow contenders Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, Warren evaded a direct answer, instead insisting that her policies would not raise “costs” for the middle class and that she would not sign a bill that would make healthcare more expensive for working families. 

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Her failure to directly answer this question was made even more jarring by the fact that Bernie Sanders, who reiterated his famous quip that he “wrote the damn bill,” readily acknowledged that while premiums and deductibles would be eliminated under his plan, bringing down costs overall, taxes on the middle class would be increased to pay for it. Warren’s evasiveness on this issue, while strategic, stands in stark contrast to her normally thorough and detailed descriptions of her policy plans for which she has become well-known. Rivals Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Biden wasted no time in calling Warren out, commenting that this politician-like evasiveness was exactly what voters hated about Washington and opining that her Medicare-for-All plan is not convincing if she can’t explain how to pay for it.

Despite heated disagreements among the dozens candidates displayed during the three-hour debate, the competitors were in near-unanimous agreement on a number of issues. The moderators, forgoing opening statements due to time constraints, opened the debate by asking each candidate for their views on impeachment. All twelve Democrats on-stage voiced their support for impeaching Donald Trump, with Elizabeth Warren pointing out that she supported impeachment in the immediate aftermath of the release of the Mueller Report for its description of numerous instances of obstruction of justice. 

Notably, none of the candidates took the opportunity to attack Joe Biden for his son’s business dealings in Ukraine, instead focusing on the impropriety of a sitting president asking a foreign power for election assistance. Most, if not all of the candidates described Trump in damning terms, describing him as some variant of “the most corrupt president ever.” Joe Biden responded to a question about whether it was appropriate for his son to conduct business overseas while he was the Vice President by asserting that neither he nor his son ever did anything wrong and claiming that his son’s statement on the matter speaks for itself. Though many of the candidates have voiced their support for Biden in this matter in other venues since news broke of the whistleblower’s complaint, none did so last night, instead choosing not to address the topic.

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Last night’s debate was not only the first debate since the beginning of formal impeachment proceedings, but also the first since Bernie Sanders’ heart attack, for which he received emergency surgery and which amplified concerns about the impact of his age on his ability to effectively carry out the duties of the president. Sanders preempted a question about his health by saying he was feeling great, and last night the Vermont senator appeared as vigorous and energetic as ever. Whereas in previous debates, candidates like Julian Castro attacked their older competitors for age-related concerns, this line of attack was not on display last night. Joe Biden, facing questions about his age, promised he would release his medical records before the first votes would be cast. Notably, the three most popular candidates — Warren, Sanders, and Biden — are all in their 70’s, as is Donald Trump, whose unhealthy lifestyle Cory Booker criticised last night.

Overall, last night’s historically crowded three-hour debate offered few surprises, but instead reflected the realities of a hotly contested primary to choose who should run against a uniquely vicious and corrupt incumbent president. Buttigieg pointed out that, due to the extent of Trump’s corruption, the next President would have the unenviable and tremendous task of healing a historically divided populace, as well as rebuilding damaged governmental institutions and relationships with allies around the world. The enormity of this task, as well as the urgency of selecting a candidate with the widespread appeal necessary to defeat Trump, is surely on Democratic voters’ minds. 

American Flag

Warren Overtakes Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary Race

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Ever since he announced his intention to run for President, former Vice President Joe Biden has led the race, often by double-digit percentage points. However, following a series of embarrassing gaffes and questions about his conduct in Ukraine amplified by the President, Biden’s favorability in the polls has subsided, and in recent days a poll from The Economy/YouGov has shown the far-more left-leaning Elizabeth Warren as the frontrunner. Although Biden benefits tremendously from the name-recognition factor created by eight years as Barack Obama’s Vice President, his moderate positions on a number of issues important to Democrats, a party which has grown increasingly progressive over the past several years, suggest his dominance among the field of 2020 contenders is not as certain as it once seemed. Since the start of the race Biden has remained the favorite of black voters, a caucus of critical importance in the early stages of the Democratic Primary, owing to perceptions of his electability among a constituency disillusioned by an electorate who put Donald Trump in the White House.

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Historically, black voters have tended to be near-unanimous in their support of a particular candidate this early in a presidential primary, but new reports indicate their preference for Biden is beginning to shift in favor of Elizabeth Warren, whose progressive position on policies from health care to maternal mortality rates to racial justice appeal to this critical demographic. A Quinnipiac University Poll released on September 25th showed a nine-point jump in Elizabeth Warren’s favorability among black voters, and although she continues to trail Biden among this demographic, she has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of her campaign. Biden’s favorability, on the other hand, has remained relatively static since his campaign started, and while he remains virtually tied with Warren, with several polls showing just a single-digit lead, her gradual climb in the polls is sure to worry Biden’s campaign.

At this point in the primary process, name-recognition is of critical importance, as most of the current candidates were virtually unknown prior to announcing their candidacy, barring perhaps Biden and Sanders. Warren’s unique approach to her campaign has generated a lot of news, from her practice of taking hundreds of selfies with supporters at campaign rallies to her detailed policy proposals on a wide range of issues. Recently, leaked audio from a staff meeting at Facebook portrayed CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggesting Warren’s candidacy as an “existential threat” to the company, and he claimed he would “go to the mat to fight” her. Warren, whose policy proposals include a pledge to break up big tech companies like Facebook, welcomed this fight, and doubled down on her commitment to take on companies like Facebook. This high-profile fight has generated a lot of attention for the candidate, whose representation of the of the progressive wing of the Democratic party is fairly evenly split with that of Sanders.

The recent announcement by Nancy Pelosi that the House of Representatives has opened an impeachment inquiry into President Trump is sure to have a significant impact on the democratic primary, though given the unprecedented nature of current events, it is difficult to predict exactly how this impact will manifest. The very suggestion of corruption on Biden’s part, as unsubstantiated as these claims may be, is likely to hurt perceptions of his electability among primary voters, which in turn is likely to hurt his chances of winning the nomination as primary voters list electability as among their primary concerns when selecting their preferred candidate. Many commentators have observed that the phrase “electability” seems to be a code for “white and male,” as the popular image of a President remains somebody who fits that description. Nevertheless, perceptions of Warren’s electability are on the rise, as she is broadly well-liked among Democratic voters, who increasingly view her as capable of defeating Donald Trump in a general election.

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Still, Warren has to contend with superdelegates, who tend to prefer the establishment candidate, as they did in 2016 with their overwhelming support of Clinton over Sanders, although the influence of superdelegates has been dramatically reduced since the last primary. And if Warren maintains her lead over Biden, she is sure to be the subject of vicious and personal attacks from Donald Trump and the Republicans, who have recently shown to be relentless in their hostility towards political opponents, acting without regard to the law in their smearing of potential rivals. As such, it is uniquely difficult to make predictions about the outcome of presidential politics at this juncture, but Warren’s calls for “big, structural change” may just be the rallying cry the Democratic Party needs to win the presidency in 2020.

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