The coronavirus and the accompanying economic crisis that it triggered are remapping not only everyday life in countless ways, but also the the terrain, not least the issues, on which the elections will be contested.

I believe this primary process should come to a close asap. But on the face of it, it appears unlikely. If anything because of the coronavirus, it is could be extended into late June and whatever steam and energy that existed — and there was a lot — will dissipate, a casualty of the pandemic. But what if the remaining primaries were clustered together and scheduled for a day in late April. And instead of voters going to their voting site, they send in their mail ballot specifying which of the two presidential candidates they support.

The convention could still take place, conditions permitting in July or August and its normal business could proceed ahead. But in the meantime, the nominee and the Democratic Party, even with the limitations imposed by a spreading pandemic, could begin the process of unifying the party and turning its full attention to defeating Trump and gang. And its urgency has only been magnified by his gross mishandling of this spreading virus in recent weeks.

Trump and team have in place an election juggernaut, and it isn’t waiting for Labor Day to start its engines. They are humming now. Time for Democrats and the larger movement against Trump to get busy too. Obviously Tom Perez isn’t asking me for my opinion, but I do hope that such conversations are going on among Democratic Party leaders and the two remaining contenders for the nomination.

According to reporting, the Trump stimulus plan has payroll tax relief at its center. That is nothing but another handout to corporations and businesses. It will marginally help the rest of us. For many Americans, it won’t even help on the margins. Moreover, it won’t reflate the economy. In the circumstances in which most people find themselves, such a proposal crosses over from cynical to criminal. I hope everybody calls/emails/texts their representatives in Congress.

There is evidence that some of Bernie’s supporters are reacting in a sectarian spirit to Biden’s surge and his near lock on the nomination. They apparently have forgotten, if they ever learned, that this is a democratic moment, not a socialist moment. And it calls for a particular strategic approach that accents a broad, diverse, and multi-class alliance against right wing authoritarian rule. Such an alliance doesn’t preclude struggle, but its accent is on unity in the face of an existential threat — a second Trump term.

But Bernie and many of his supporters don’t seem to understand this. They fight the Democratic Party Establishment (read the moderate and liberal wing of the party) as much as Trump. And why not? In their understanding, the task is to usher in a political revolution and plunge a stake to the heart of neoliberalism once and for all. Thus the problem in this phase of the elections in their rendering isn’t so much Trump as weak kneed Democrats who won’t drink the socialist Kool Aid.

But here’s the problem with this approach, it isn’t just Establishment Democrats who aren’t on board with a political revolution. Tens of millions of other Democrats have said No Thank You as well. That’s the meaning of the Michigan primary and other recent primaries where voters cast vote for Joe Biden in large numbers. Later tonight we will see if primary voters in Fl, AZ, and IL do the same. Realism has a place in politics.

Stitching together a new daily routine at the homestead. More time for reading books I’ve been wanting to read for some time and listening to music (LOUD). Thanks to my step daughter and her father I have a new windfall of cds, including jazz, a genre of music that I’ve been wanting to become more acquainted with. Listening to Bruce now, who I’m a big fan of. I love and connect to the stories he writes and sings, the energy he brings to his craft, and his decency and humanity. And of course, love the E-Street band as well, although miss Clarence.

One challenge will be to retrofit my workout regime from the Y, where I went 6 days a week, to my home and outdoors. Might buy a bike or stationary bike, perhaps with the help of a subsidy from my daughters. Will also do stretching and some yoga poses in my living room as well as climb nearby hills, and they are STEEP.

Finally, I will have more time to get on the horn, an expression I learned from the indefatigable and upbeat Lasker Smith, to talk to my friends around the country. I find such conversations a form of therapy that invariably brings a laugh or a lift. Usually both.

To paraphrase a song by the Boss, “Better Days will shine on through.”