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The high-profile capstone of downtown revitalization is the Riverwalk. Now there is real “there there,” to paraphrase Gertrude Stein. It’s great for visitors and locals as well as tourism ads and media priorities for those covering a Tampa event. But the revitalization agenda is more than a downtown upgrade for hipsters and cool ESPN optics. West bank and West Tampa revitalization matter, and the Riverwalk ripples are real. And now, thanks to a $24 million federal transportation grant, even closer mobility and economic links loom. Riverwalk synergy can literally pave the way for more green space, affordable housing and sustainable living. The project will pay for 12 miles of contiguous multi-modal paths connecting the University of Tampa, West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Bayshore, Hyde Park and Ybor City. It will include under bridge/over water segments, new pavements, guard rails, lighting, landscaping and repaired seawalls.

It’s also a reminder that such grants are not just “pork.” They can impact diverse lives for the better. They can also be one of those all-too-rare occasions when across-the-aisle political cooperation can occur—because it’s win-win. This $24 million grant–an acknowledgement that infrastructure need not be a partisan political issue–was a joint effort of Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Republican Senators Marco Rubio and, yes, Rick Scott.

• “With all due respect, it’s time to start asking what your country can do for you.” That was Sen. Ed Markey, 74, the Massachusetts Democrat who successfully fought off a primary challenge from 39-year-old Rep. Joe Kennedy—a rising star of scion fame. This was how Markey’s ultimate campaign ad ended: A working-class hero playing–not without obvious risk–to a new generation’s political expectations in the land of Kennedy lore. 
• “Mark (Zuckerberg’s) influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government. … Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebook’s algorithms to determine what people see in their News Feeds, what privacy settings they can use and even which messages get delivered. He sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech from the merely offensive.”—No, that wasn’t a pundit or a politician, but a better-informed insider. That was Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who at a gut level likely knows that Facebook, no democratic bulwark, is more of a monetized Faustian deal than America’s zeitgeist.

• U.S. Open: What with no spectators, microphones pick up much more sound around the players themselves. Grunting is louder, for sure. But in the semi-final match between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, it also made an Azarenka F-bomb audible–as the commentators diplomatically acknowledged.
• “We’ve got a lot of things to correct.”That wasBucs coach Bruce Arians after the disappointing Saints loss. Tom Brady would agree—and that corrections damn well better be evident against Carolina.

• “Very concerned about announcements from the British government on its intentions to breach the Withdrawal Agreement. This would break international law and undermines trust.”—European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in response to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s threat to override elements of the painfully negotiated Brexit deal.
• “Trump has become a savior figure, a sort of great redeemer for the German far right.”—Miro Dittrich, a far-right extremist expert at the Berlin-based Amadeu-Antonio-Foundation.
• “The last four years have revealed the fragility of our democratic institutions and our overreliance on norms rather than enforceable law. If American democracy is to endure, we need to strip a future demagogue of the power to abuse the presidency.”—Susan E. Rice, former national security adviser under President Barack Obama.
• “These are near perfect conditions for a proto-fascist like Trump who seeks a disoriented populace.”—Roger Cohen, New York Times.
• “I think the fact that (Trump) didn’t go out and scream, ‘We’re all going to die,’ is more than okay.”—South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
• “President Donald Trump is running the most openly racist campaign since George Wallace in 1968—a repellent ploy that will damage the nation even if he loses.”—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post.
• “From Day 1, C.I.A. officers are drilled on the nonpartisan nature of their mission. There is no greater sin than politicization of intelligence.”—John Sipher, former chief of station for the C.I.A.
• “Trump covets the power of murderous dictators such as Mohammed bin Salman, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, who use their countries’ resources as their own and answer to no one. All Trump needs is a close election he can contest.”—Ann McFeathers, Tribune News Service.
• “Never underestimate Congress’ ability to ratchet up an investigation 60 days out from a presidential election.”—White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, in response to House Democrats saying they would investigate whether Postmaster General Louis DeJoy encouraged employees at his former business to contribute to Republican candidates and then reimbursed them in the guise of bonuses—a violation of campaign finance laws.
• “We only knew one speed and one direction: Sell the fear.”—Joshua L. Powell, former chief of staff to NRA leader Wayne LaPierre.
• “(The recent Dow drop of 800 points) showed investors that tech stocks and growth stocks can fall just as easily as they rise.”—Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research and the author of “The Seven Rules of Wall Street.”
• “Joe Biden stands with unions, and he knows that American workers and working families must be treated as essential at all times, not just times of crisis. Florida’s working people can count on Joe.”—Mike Williams, Florida AFL-CIO president.
• “No one is fooled by an executive order that can be rescinded at any time.”—Congresswoman Kathy Castor, on President Trump’s announcement of an extension of the moratorium on new offshore oil drilling in much of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
• “Every young person deserves a chance to change their past and move in the right direction without having to face long-term consequences.”—Sheriff Chad Chronister, on further expansion of the county’s Juvenile Arrest Avoidance Program.

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• “Women for Trump”: Among those on its advisory board: Becki Falwell, wife of Jerry Falwell Jr., the, uh, disgraced Liberty U president. Mrs. Falwell has even appeared in a campaign video promoting traditional family values.
• What’s next? “Pool Boys for Trump”?
• Stop and start: Upon further reflection, Donald Trump bordered on the perversely prescient during his inaugural speech. He almost said, “This American carnage starts right here and starts right now.” Out of the mouth of knaves.
• Imagine a law-and-order president with so many criminal connections: Eight (so far) Trump associates have already pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes.
• Trump has had legal issues throughout the life of his brand—from bankruptcies and income taxes to porn-actress pay offs, Hatch Act scenarios and an impeachment trial. But the prosecutor, literally, he likely fears most is Kamala Harris. 
• The Trump campaign has referenced Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as a “Trojan horse” for Fidel Castro-style authoritarianism. And this on behalf of a candidate right out of a Benito Mussolini casting call.
• “Nobody outside of the beltway really cares.”—That was White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, on how Hatch Act conflicts—as in political manipulation of government—are perceived within the administration.
• According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, “Right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the attacks and plots in the United States in 2019 and over 90 percent between January 1 and May 8, 2020.” Context still matters.
• “Could not be more wrong.”—How HUD secretary Ben Carson, the only black member of Trump’s cabinet, characterized those who called the president a racist.
• “I’ve been, frankly, more than a bit surprised by how accommodating and acquiescent he’s been.” That was former Republican Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent, referring to evangelical sell-out Vice President Mike Pence.
• In 2012, who would have predicted that the 2016 Republican ticket would include Donald Trump? So, literally nothing’s off the table anymore, especially for a party that knows it’s still demographically challenged. Which means a 2024 ticket of former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, the African-American senator from South Carolina, could seem downright viable. It would certainly carry South Carolina.

#AloneTogether

• Russia has now joined the U.S., India and Brazil with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.
• India recently recorded a global record 91,000 infections for a single day. The previous record was 77,638 in July in the U.S.
• The German COVID death rate is one forty-eighth that of the United States. Maybe it helps to have a scientist, in this case Angela Merkel, in charge.
• “The Trump administration is responsible for the single worst public health failure in the last 100 years.”—Peter J. Hotez, global health expert and dean at the Baylor College of Medicine.
• African-Americans ages 65 to 74 died of COVID-19 five times as often as whites.
• North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois: states that are “at risk for surging,” according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
• 8.4 percent: U.S. unemployment rate in August. 10.2 percent: Unemployment rate in July.
• “We hear the pain and concerns of our neighbors and are acting to bring much-needed solutions to bolster this bedrock economic engine for Florida and the nation.”—Congresswoman Kathy Castor, who recently introduced H.R. 8122—the bipartisan Protecting Tourism in the United States Act (with Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton) that directs the Department of Commerce to study the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry.
• 3,400: People across Florida who are hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of the coronavirus. 520: Those hospitalized in the Tampa Bay area.
• 25: Number of early voting sites in Hillsborough County—including Amalie Arena.
• “If there is a safe and effective vaccine, I think that the most vulnerable population should have priority.”—Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• “Is the state coming to us because they want everyone to be safe, or are they coming to the black community because they want them to be your lab rats? That’s the message that is out there on social media.”—Black Democratic State Rep. Shevrin Jones, one of four legislators who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

“Yes, we can.”

• Biden on the hustings: Keep him (as) scripted (as possible), prudently and symbolically masked and on the offensive–as well as the empathetic. Juxtaposition matters, especially in key swing states. Biden and Trump are the very definition of contrast–from character to competence–and incumbency isn’t the advantage it typically is. Not when so much of what is wrong and worrisome right now would not be part of the “new normal” were it not for the commander-in-carnage. Life is manifestly fraught—but the only thing we have to fear—is the fearmonger-in-chief if he gets another four years. November is a zero-sum referendum on existential hope or epic fear. Keep playing the hope and not fear-card, Joe, along with a normalized foreign policy and a domestic agenda that keeps the Bernie Bros. on board—especially on climate (note how that worked for A.O.C-supported Sen. Ed Markey in his surprise Massachusetts primary win over Rep. Joe Kennedy)–as Trump doubles down on law-and-order optics and anarchist riffs that drive his consummate wedge issue while placating and motivating QAnon.
• It’s a given that the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential candidacy ultimately helped thwart Hillary Clinton. A lingering sense of grievance over a “rigged system” led to hardcore-progressive hissy fits that eroded the Democratic vote. Sanders’ disciples could tell that his late, lukewarm endorsement of Clinton was nominal. It was never a secret that Sanders got along a lot better with Biden, a friend, than with Clinton.

Nothing that Bernie Sanders has said since Biden became the de facto and then official Democratic nominee has resonated more with the Biden campaign than when Sanders recently leavened his progressivism with political pragmatism. “At this moment, what we need to do is engage in coalition politics with the goal of defeating Trump,” said Sanders. Exactly. What good is being an egalitarian, humane, zero-sum progressive—if you’re not doing everything to thwart another term for this regressively odious regime?

• The Biden campaign netted a record-shattering $364 million in August.
• The public outrage over President Bone Spurs’ myriad episodes of military disparagement—and scathing commentary from prominent members of the military and intelligence communities—has obvious election implications. Polls now show a notable drop in Trump approval ratings among the military rank and file. It could certainly be a factor in Florida. The Sunshine State has 20 major military installations and is home to more than 1.5 million veterans–none of them identifying as “losers” or “suckers”–the nation’s third largest vet population.
• If Barack Obama’s legacy, already diminished because of Trump’s shocking victory, is to include more than winning the (previously lily) White House, it will have to happen via a Biden win.
• Douglas Emhoff, 55, Kamala Harris’ husband, could make history along with his wife. He would be the first Second Gentleman. By all accounts, the Brooklyn native is smart, engaging and friendly. No, he won’t be a difference maker, but, yes, he’s no ToddPalin.
• “They’re going to vote for Joe Biden, because he is a remedy of what ails folks right now.”—Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC.

• To no one’s surprise, the 2020 virtual political conventions attracted fewer television viewers than the 2016 version. But one set of new-normal numbers still stands out—at least from the ego-driven perspective of Donald Trump. According to Nielsen TV ratings, Trump’s 70-minute, White House-backdropped, acceptance speech to a live, tightly-packed and largely unmasked crowd of more than 1,000 was seen by about 23.8 million live viewers. Joe Biden’s virtual version was seen by 24.6 million viewers.
• “I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.” Still a favorite anti-Trump, Women’s March sign.
• For fans of the 1980s high school-hoops classic, “Hoosiers,” how disappointing to see “The Way Back,” the Ben Affleck-starring version of the feel-good, underdog genre. “Hoosiers” featured Gene Hackman as a coach with a problematic past and Dennis Hopper as the town drunk. “The Way Back” Affleck character awkwardly combines them both. “The Way Back,” an exercise in languor and clichés, pales. Even during a feel-bad pandemic.

• A recent Rays-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium was held up for a while as a result of the “new normal” we now live in. But it had nothing to do with COVID or BLM. Umpires cleared the field and sent all players into their dugouts—as a result of a drone flying over the field.
• “We simply couldn’t play football and look parents in the eye and say, ‘We’ve got your kids’ best interest in mind.’” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, addressing his conference’s bottom-line rationale for canceling fall football.
• How ironic. Baseball is taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus–while message-sending, 101-mph pitches aimed at a batter’s head are still part of the game.
• Sports teams love their nicknames—often derived from an actual surname: think “Stammer” and “Kuch” for the Bolts. But the Rays’ surprisingly successful, rookie pitcher Josh Fleming arguably deserves better than, uh, “Flem.”
• “We don’t like them; they don’t like us.”—Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier, in reference to the Rays-Yankees relationship.

• “We know how to win these (arms) races, and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion.”—Marshall Billingslea, U.S. special envoy for arms control.
• “Russia is likely to continue amplifying criticisms of vote-by-mail and shifting voting processes amidst the COVI-19 pandemic to undermine public trust in the electoral process.”—Memo of warning from the Department of Homeland Security to election officials.
• “As a system designed to bolster the power of rural whites at the expense of black Americans, the Electoral College continues to work exactly as designed.”—Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post.
• “Our Constitution does not secure the peaceful transition of power, but rather presupposes it.”—Lawrence Douglas, Amherst College law professor and author of “Will He Go?”
• “He is who he is. I think what we know now is that Donald Trump cannot rise to the occasion, he cannot grow into the job. He is someone who stokes controversy and conflict and outrage. It’s who he was in his reality TV days, and who he is as president of the United States.”—Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard who ran in the Republican presidential primary in 2016.
• “Biden keeps everyone on board for two reasons. First, he does not sound like a ranting left-winger out to destroy capitalism. … Second, when Trump threatens democracy, tries to incite racial violence, lies constantly and runs a kleptocratic administration that would make Russian oligarchs blush, voters will put aside a whole lot of issues that simply are not as important as preserving representative democracy.”—Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.
• “Too much of the evidence points to the Trump administration pressuring the FDA to approve a vaccine by Election Day to boost the president’s re-election campaign.”—Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
• “A lot of people that voted for President Trump did so because they did not like Hillary Clinton. I don’t see that happening with Joe Biden—how can you not like Joe Biden?”—Florida Republican Congressman Francis Rooney.
• “President Trump represents the last primal shriek of retrograde white men afraid to lose their power. He’s a dinosaur who evokes a world of beauty pageants, ‘suburban housewives,’ molestation, cheating on your wife when she’s pregnant, paying off porn stars, preferring women to be seen and not heard, dismissing women who challenge you as nasty, angry and crazy.”—Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
• “(I’ll) take my wheelchair and my titanium legs over Donald Trump’s supposed bone spurs any day.”—Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee Army vet.
• “Surely, many of Trump’s supporters know they’re getting played. And they don’t mind, so long as they can ‘own the libs.’”—Timothy Egan, New York Times.
• “Vice President Biden has an excellent chance to beat this guy. And I think Biden has the qualities and values to clean up this mess that President Trump has gotten us into.”—Former New York Republican Congressman Jim Walsh.
• “We have just been through a colossal test case in how you corrupt and incapacitate a great democracy. And failing to learn these lessons is a disservice to that democracy.”—Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
• “Each and every time (Trump) has violated a law or a norm and received no pushback from his party, he has made further violations of law and custom more likely.”—Mona Charen, The Bulwark.
• “There is a deep belief by not just Obama, but many people who have worked for him, that we can recover from four years of Trump, but the damage from eight would be irreversible.”—Jen Psaki, former White House communications director under President Barack Obama.
• “Hillary Clinton would be running for re-election right now if African-American turnout in 2016 had been higher in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Milwaukee.”—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post.
• “Inflation that is persistently too low can pose serious risks to the economy.”—Jerome H. Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, saying the central bank will focus on fostering a strong labor market while tolerating higher inflation.
• “Social media is like the wall on Plato’s Cave. Selective facts cast shadows we mistake for reality.”—Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch.
• “In-state travel is an important first step in our long-term recovery plan.”—Visit Florida president and CEO Dana Young, on the launch of a $13 million ad campaign that will encourage Floridians to first explore the state before making other travel plans.
• “Clearly, people aren’t happy. We can’t continue to do the same things and expect the same results.”—Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, on his department adapting to a changed policing climate.
• “The City Council apologizes for any and all past participation in sanctioning segregation and systemic discrimination of African Americans.”—The non-binding resolution–passed unanimously by Tampa City Council–that officially apologizes for the city’s racist history.
• “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to transform Tampa’s most desirable undeveloped block.”—Justin Weintraub, executive vice president of the Daniel Corp., which announced plans for a 19-story residential tower at the corner of E Twiggs Street and Channelside Drive—near Water Street.
• “My motto through this whole thing has been, I need to be a better listener, and police in general need to be better listeners.”—Police Chief Brian Dugan.
• “You can never over-communicate.”—Mayor Jane Castor.