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MILWAUKEE Long before the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn and the recent protests over racial inequality, the Black men of Milwaukees North Side had experience with crises converging all at once.

In one ZIP code of mostly Black residents 53206 more than half of the children live in poverty. The neighborhood records terrible health outcomes, according to experts. And among Black men, one study estimated that from 2000 to 2017, about 42 percent of those ages 25 to 34 were incarcerated or on probation.

The men in the area who are eligible to vote can expect long lines and strict voter identification laws at the ballot box. Still, many vote consistently, calling it an electoral act of defiance in an imperfect democracy.

Ive voted in every election, said Charles Huley, 75, a church elder who lives on the North Side. What changes is who I can convince to come with me.

For Democrats, who rely on Black voters to power their electoral advantages in Americas urban centers, the difference between good and great Black voter turnout is often dependent on how many Black men go to the polls.

Black women are the partys most loyal demographic base often referred to as its backbone but motivated Black male voters were a crucial distinction between former President Barack Obamas record-setting Black turnout in 2008 and 2012 and the diminished performance of Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In states like Wisconsin, which was decided in 2016 by less than 23,000 votes, that dip was one of the causes of a Democratic night to forget, proof that the nominee had problems motivating the base, not just among swing voters.

In deep-blue Milwaukee County, where statewide Democrats run up the score to offset more conservative rural areas, Mrs. Clinton had one of the largest drop-offs in raw votes of any county in the country, earning more than 40,000 fewer votes than Mr. Obama did four years earlier. Pew Research estimated that in 2016, 64 percent of eligible Black women said they had voted compared with 54 percent of eligible Black men, a much larger gender gap than for white or Hispanic voters.

Four years later, as Joseph R. Biden Jr. seeks to build the coalition Mrs. Clinton could not, he operates with several personal and structural advantages.

In interviews with a dozen Black men in Milwaukee during the recent Democratic National Convention, and with several of the states most visible Black male elected officials, they predicted that Black turnout in November would look more like it did for Mr. Obamas victories than for Mrs. Clintons loss, fueled by a leap in enthusiasm from Black men.

Little of this is because of Mr. Bidens personal appeal, they said, though he benefits from his close relationship with Mr. Obama and an absence of the sexism that many women running for office face.

The interviewees isolated other, more important factors: the constant chaos of President Trumps administration, a backlash to the presidents demonization of minorities to win over white suburbanites and even Mr. Bidens selection of Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.

Four years ago, I dont think a lot of Black men felt directly connected to that campaign, said Mandela Barnes, who became Wisconsins first Black lieutenant governor in 2019. But in 2020, he said, people are more desperate people need solutions and need answers.

Cavalier Johnson, the president of Milwaukees Common Council, the citys version of a City Council, said another advantage for Mr. Biden was that his campaign and voters were less likely to take victory for granted.

There was this strong assumption based on the past presidential elections about this blue wall that was impenetrable, said Mr. Johnson, who is known as Chevy, referring to the commonly repeated fact that Mrs. Clinton did not hold an in-person event in Wisconsin during the run-up to the general election.

He said that courting turnout from Black men was the same as for any other group: You have to come out and you have to ask. And then you have to address the issues that are of concern to them.

The die is not cast, however, and Mrs. Clintons fate still holds warning signs for Mr. Biden and his campaign. They are both Washington insiders who struggled with younger Black voters in the primary a key demographic in Mr. Obamas general-election coalition but won older Black voters handily en route to the nomination.

Throughout her race, Mrs. Clinton faced skepticism for her association with the 1990s expansion of the federal prison system, an overhaul that Mr. Biden helped craft. He has recently embraced the language of acknowledging systemic racism, and released a sweeping policy meant to close the racial wealth gap and improve education in Black communities. Still, as with Mrs. Clinton, the matter of trust remains.

In November, it could be Mr. Bidens improvements with white voters throughout the state not his prowess with motivating infrequent Black voters that powers his electoral success.

These people locked up a lot of my brothers, you know, Adi Armour, 49, said, adding that he did not vote for Mrs. Clinton in 2016 but planned to vote for Mr. Biden in 2020. He called the decision a tough one.

Itll be more of a vote to get Trump out of there than a vote for Biden to get in, he explained.

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have zeroed in on the importance of Black male voters in swing states like Wisconsin, and have made some concerted efforts to pry them away from Democrats.

Their efforts are twofold: to argue that Black voters loyalty to Democrats has not been rewarded effectively asking them, in Mr. Trumps famous words last election cycle, What do you have to lose? And to focus less on persuading Black men to vote for Republicans and more on creating an environment for low turnout over all.

In a leaked audio recording recently published by Politico, Mr. Trump said days before his inauguration: Many Blacks didnt go out to vote for Hillary cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great.

He has said similar things publicly, and allies have argued that the administrations restrictive immigration policies could appeal to some Black voters who share a nativist instinct that outsiders are to blame for their communitys woes.

State Representative David Bowen, a Democrat from Milwaukee, said he was confident that Mr. Trumps campaign efforts would not take root, considering how much the president had done to inflame racial tension. Mr. Bowen said he worried more about the pandemics effects on reaching infrequent Black voters, as normal canvassing tools like door knocking and registration drives become more difficult.

The in-person organizing that would be there, and that the Black community is used to, isnt at the same level, Mr. Bowen said. Being on the safe side is important. But how do we balance that with the need of meeting people where they are? Because thats important, too.

Mr. Bowen is part of a cohort of Black leaders and activists who have protested racial inequality for more than 85 days straight, an effort that began after George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police in late May. Mr. Bowen said the group had shown no signs of slowing, and wanted to sustain its momentum and force Democrats including Mr. Biden to be more responsive to its concerns.

He said that although Mr. Biden could win without robust young voter turnout, a Democratic Party that was not responsive to the current flood of activism risked creating a disaffected generation for years to come one that includes Black men.

Younger voters supported that Bernie Sanders agenda because they wanted big change, Mr. Bowen said. Older Democrats are more moderate, and some of them feel like incremental change is enough right now. But the people who are closest to the pain are the younger ones, and theyre calling for substantial change in agenda. They have real demands.

According to the Pew data from 2016, Black men vote at comparable rates to other minority groups. Even for Mrs. Clinton in 2016, Black turnout returned to its levels during the pre-Obama Democratic Party, not a drop-off that was historically unprecedented.

In recent weeks, several political organizations have announced initiatives targeted at improving the political process in Black communities, and at motivating less frequent Black voters to come to the polls. More Than a Vote, a collective of athletes headlined by the basketball star LeBron James, said it would invest millions to try to recruit poll workers in Black communities. The N.A.A.C.P. announced a campaign called Black Voices Change Lives, which will seek to expand peer-to-peer organizing in Black communities. Its stated target is a 5 percent increase in Black voter turnout in the general election from 2016.

Gaulien Smith, who owns Gees Clippers, a barbershop in Milwaukee, said he thought sexism had played a role in some Black male apathy for Mrs. Clinton. He posited that there had been a different reaction to Ms. Harris on the ticket, because she is seen more as someone who understands the Black experience and can be a champion for Black men.

In her, we see history, Mr. Smith said.

At Gees Clippers, on the citys Near North Side, the health crisis might have changed the social nature of the barbershop, but it could not destroy it. With people wearing masks and chairs spaced apart, a gaggle of Black men watched an afternoon game of the N.B.A. playoffs, hours before Mr. Biden was to accept the Democratic nomination.

The flow of customers and barbers stretched the gamut of the citys Black male electorate: businessmen, church elders, teenagers and activists. And while there was universal distaste of Mr. Trump, even from some who said they had expressed interest in his candidacy four years ago, there was a sense that 2020 was not 2016 a mantra that has been reflected in polling, fund-raising and other measures of a countrys political health.

Even if Kamala wasnt the vice-presidential candidate, I still feel that we will come out in droves because of what weve experienced these last four years, Mr. Smith said.

Kenny Paskel, 24, sat silent in a corner. When prompted, he said that Mr. Biden would probably be his choice, but that a felony conviction on his record since the age of 17 prevented him from voting. He cannot vote in this election, or any election in his lifetime, unless state law changes.

I guess I dont know what Im missing, he said.

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Biden Wants Black Voter Turnout Similar to Obamas. Hell Need Black Men. - The New York Times

The service announced that series creator Aaron Sorkin and the cast would unite for a staged theatrical presentation of the "Hartsfield's Landing" episode from the Emmy-winning drama's third season.

According to HBO Max, the event -- which will be shot in a Los Angeles theater over several days in October -- will be directed by Thomas Schlamme, who masterminded the White House drama's walk-and-talk style. The program is expected to air on an as-yet-unspecified date prior to the election in November.

Sorkin also has a theatrical background, including the play "A Few Good Men" and the acclaimed recent Broadway revival of "To Kill a Mockingbird." He's writing additional original material as part of the special.

"The West Wing" aired on NBC but was produced by Warner Bros. Television, which, like CNN, is a unit of WarnerMedia, which will make a donation to When We All Vote in conjunction with the effort. When We All Vote is a nonprofit organization, created to inspire increased voter participation in every election.

Rob Lowe, Dul Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen will reprise their roles for the special, which will include additional guest appearances and a message from co-chair Michelle Obama.

Originally broadcast in 2002, the episode focuses on a tense moment in US-Chinese relations over Taiwan, while Whitford's character, Josh, worries about a small town in New Hampshire whose voting results are believed to predict who will win the state's primary.

The full seven-season run of "The West Wing," which premiered in 1999, is currently available on Netflix. But all the studios have used their own libraries to beef up their streaming services, and the series is expected to shift to HBO Max at some point in the future.

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'The West Wing' cast will reunite to benefit Michelle Obama's When We All Vote - CNN

A new tell-all book about First Lady Melania Trump includes several surprising allegations, including one about how she demanded showers and toilets used by President Barack Obama's family be replaced before the Trump family moved into the White House. The book, written by Trump's former senior advisor and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, also details the icy relationship with President Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump. That relationship came to the forefront on Thursday night when a video of Melania scowling at Ivanka went viral.

In Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, Winston Wolkoff claimed that one reason why Trump stayed in New York City was that she waited for the White House bathrooms to be renovated, reports The U.S. Sun. A book insider told the outlet that Trump "just flat our refused" to move to the White House until it was "completely redesigned and revamped," adding that Trump "was not prepared to use the same bathroom as the Obamas or anyone else for that matter - it wouldnt matter if it was the Queen of England." Trump reportedly believed that as the wife of a president she did not "expect she should have to make do with second hand or previously used facilities."

One of the main themes in Winston Wolkoff's book is the relationship between Trump and Ivanka. She claims Trump did not want Ivanka's face to be seen in photos of President Trump taking the oath of office, a plan they called "Operation Block Ivanka." Another source told Politico Trump was "not a fan of Ivanka trying to make the East Wing a family office." Another White House source disputed this though, saying Ivanka "always wanted to be in the policy office of the West Wing between the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council."

Winston Wolkoff worked as a fashion and society party planner before she was asked to help plan President Trump's inauguration. She left the White House in February 2018 following a New York Times report about her role in the event. She said the two often had lunch together until a falling out two years ago and no longer speak, reports Politico. Trump's chief of staff Stephanie Grisham called Winston Wolkoff's book "wildly self-aggrandizing" and "just not truthful." The book will be released on Tuesday.

The book includes details on the inauguration planning. She claims President Trump told her to "make it look like North Korea" with "tanks and choppers." She wrote, "He really wanted goose-stepping troops and armored tanks? That would break tradition and terrify half the country." White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere called this claim "absolutely not true." The Apprentice creator Mark Burnett approached the Trumps with the idea of lighting the "sky with drones," which were not used.

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Melania Trump Allegedly Demanded Showers and Toilets Used by Obamas Be Replaced Before She Moved Into White House - PopCulture.com

Two of the documentaries to earn the most Emmy nominations this year come from Netflix and Higher Ground Productions, the production company established by former President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama.

The Oscar-winning American Factory claimed three nominations; Becoming did one better, claiming four, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, and directing and cinematography nominations for filmmaker Nadia Hallgren.

For the documentary, Hallgren followed the former first lady from North America to Europe as Mrs. Obama made promotional appearances for her bestselling memoir, Becoming. She says the project began with an unexpected call.

I was just home one day, sitting at my kitchen table, my phone rang, and it was Priya Swaminathan, who runs Higher Ground Productions, the Obamas production company, Hallgren recalls. She tells me that Mrs. Obama is getting ready to go on this worldwide book tour, and that they thought it could be a great opportunity to document it. Wasnt sure yet if it would be a film or something that just lived in Mrs. Obamas archive, but they wanted to see if Id be interested and, of course, I was.

Related Story'Becoming' Trailer: Michelle Obama Is An Open Book In Her Netflix Documentary

There were other layers to get through, Hallgren adds, like a crucial face-to-face with Mrs. Obama. She hired me on the spot, which was incredible. And then the tour was starting relatively quickly, so I got really thrown into the deep end of this endeavor.

The film contains moments on stage and behind the scenes from about two dozen of the tour dates, at venues filled to capacity with 10,000 or more fans.

It was so incredible to be in those arenas with Mrs. Obama during that timeYoure in these crowds where everyone is so thrilled to be there, and just full of this excitement, Hallgren recalls. The whole idea for the film was having this extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime experience and, How do I get an audience to feel the way that Im feeling right now?

At each stop a different celebrity interviewed Mrs. Obama, ranging from Oprah to Reese Witherspoon, Tracee Ellis Ross and Stephen Colbert. Mrs. Obama revealed what it was like for the eight years her husband was president and she was first lady, to be constantly scrutinized, often through a prism of race and gender. Her attire generated endless commentary (she drew some rebukes for going with a bare-armed look for her first official White House photo); right-wing commentators often tried to portray her as an angry Black woman, and even before they got into office a fist bump the Obamas exchanged on stage caused a furor, with some conservatives labeling it a terrorist fist jab.

Its hard to wake up every day and maintain that level of perfection that was absolutely required of me and Barack as the first Black president and first lady, Mrs. Obama says in the film. Barack and I lived with an awareness that we ourselves were a provocation.

The idea that the Obamas were held to a different standard in the White House was not only important for me to tell that story, but it was important for Mrs. Obama as well, Hallgren shares. Part of what she hoped to do with writing her book, as well as making this film, was to really just be transparent about the experience that she had, and speak about it very honestly.

There is a prescient section of the film where Mrs. Obama discusses the heartache of being in office when so many unarmed African-American people were killed by police, in custody, or by armed white civilians: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, among numerous others.

Thats something that I had personally never thought about, while those events were unfolding on the ground in America. I never thought to myself, Oh, what does Mrs. Obama think about this, as a Black American? Hallgren comments. For me, that was also something really important to include, not just her as a public figure, but her emotional, personal life in the White House and what that experience was like for her.

Last week on her podcast, Mrs. Obama disclosed she has experienced low-grade depression in recent months, during the coronavirus pandemic. She attributed feeling too low at times to the isolation of quarantine, but also two other factors: seeing racial strife in the wake of protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, and the dispiriting effect of watching news out of the Trump administration.

Ive gone through those emotional highs and lows that I think everybody feels, Mrs. Obama said on the podcast, where you just dont feel yourself.

Filming well before the pandemic lockdowns, Hallgren also encountered a reflective Michelle Obama, who was facing a transitional moment in her life.

She talks about it in the film, shes an empty nester. Her beautiful childrenthat are young women right now, theyre in college, Hallgren notes. And shes just like us, trying to figure out whats important to her and whats next in her life.

Hallgren describes the editorial process putting together the film as a smooth one.

I definitely did get notes from Mrs. Obama, but they were often really helpful, the director comments. What she actually did was help me be able to expand the emotional experience that she was having during those times, and other than that, I can honestly say that there wasnt any real disagreement in terms of the direction where I wanted to take the film.

Becomingbrought Hallgren the first Emmy nominations of her career, and something to make her the envy of manythe rare chance to spend extensive time with Mrs. Obama.

Shes one of the most down-to-earth and warmest people that Ive ever been around, Hallgren says. The first time that I met hershe knows that when people meet her for the first time that its a very nerve-racking experienceshe worked to make me comfortable. She gave me a big warm hug when I walked in the roomsaying, Its okay, its just us. Were here. Sit down, lets have a conversation.

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Becoming Director Nadia Hallgren On Traveling The World With Michelle Obama For Emmy-Nominated Documentary - Deadline

Why? There's no part of politics and campaigns more dictated by arcane conventional wisdom than the veepstakes.

That conventional wisdom goes like this: The presidential nominee is primarily guided by the electoral map when making his (or her) pick. The person who winds up as the choice is someone the presidential candidate believes will help him deliver a particular swing state or an area that the ticket badly needs in order to win.

That pick, which is six decades old at this point, remarkably continues to dominate the way that many people -- including many political types -- think about the vice presidential selection process. But even a cursory look at recent history suggests that making a geographic, political pick isn't really a thing anymore.

Let's go through the last seven elections, shall we?

* 2016: Donald Trump picks Mike Pence, who is from Indiana, a state that the Republican presidential nominee had carried in every election but one since 1964. Hillary Clinton picks Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, from a once-swing state but one that by 2016 had moved solidly toward Democrats.

* 2008: Barack Obama selects Joe Biden from Delaware, a reliably Democratic state at the presidential level. John McCain picks Sarah Palin of Alaska, which is not a swing state.

* 2000: George W. Bush picks Dick Cheney of Wyoming, one of the most conservative states in the country. Al Gore picks Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a state that hasn't voted for a Republican for president since 1988.

* 1996: Bob Dole picks Jack Kemp, a Congressman from New York. Dole/Kemp lose New York.

See what I mean? With the possible exception of Gore in 1992, there simply isn't an example of a VP candidate either being chosen to deliver a single state (or region) and then delivering that single state (or region). (In the case of Clinton picking Gore, I would argue that pick was much less about Gore being from Tennessee and the Clinton campaign's desire to win the Volunteer State than it was about doubling down on Clinton's image of a new sort of Democrat emerging from the South.)

So if VP choices aren't really made based on geography anymore, then what are they based on, you ask?

"Number one, is this a person who could be president literally tomorrow? Secondly, is this a person that I could work with, that I would want to work with day in and day out, in good times and hard times, inside the White House to serve our country? And third, can this person help me win? And with Tim Kaine, I answered all three of those questions affirmatively."

Notice the order Clinton put the priorities of picking a running mate?

1. Could this person be president

2. Personal relationship

3. Political considerations

What Clinton reveals here is that, contrary to the way most of the public thinks about the VP pick, it tends to be a governing decision rather than a purely political one. (Notice I said "purely" political. Because of course, there are politics in it.) And seen through that lens, the recent VP picks make sense.

Trump goes with Pence because he believes Pence, a former member of Congress, can work with the Washington establishment (and serve as a validator for Trump among that skittish group). Clinton picks Kaine because he is a competent bureaucrat who has spent time in the executive and legislative worlds and who, not for nothing, shares a deep religious faith with her. Romney picks Ryan to help him deal with Congress but also because they are both part of the fiscal-first wing of the GOP. Obama chooses Biden as a trusted Washington hand. Ditto Bush and Cheney. Even McCain's pick, which was a total disaster in retrospect, was about his affinity for another fellow "maverick" who had stood up to the establishment.

What all of these presidential candidates have realized is that vice presidential picks don't really get you into the White House. The simple fact is that people -- or at least the vast majority of people -- do not vote for the second-in-command. Think about it in your own life. If you need surgery, what matters more to you: The surgeon who will be doing the actual procedure or the person who is the trusted assistant? If your kid is a gifted athlete, do they choose what college they go to because of the head coach or because of the assistant coach? Right. So why would voting be any different?

To the extent that VP picks matter, it's in what they can bring once you are already in the office. Biden, for his part, seems to see things through that lens.

What we tend to forget -- and what Biden's quote is a useful reminder of -- is that people running for president are still, well, people. In picking a coworker, they want to find someone who, first and foremost, they believe is able and who they can get along with day in and day out.

Who, then, does that suggest Biden might pick? Susan Rice, the former national security adviser in the Obama administration, certainly jumps out to me -- if Biden sticks to the idea of making a pick based on relationships -- and governing.

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Everything you've heard about picking a vice president is wrong - CNN