Category: Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠

With only a month left until Election Day, Vice President Harris is navigating a pair of external challenges in the month of October that pose risk to her campaign.

At home, there’s the recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene — including in the vital swing states of North Carolina and Georgia. And abroad, there’s the real risk of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The twin crises present a unique challenge for the Biden administration and, by extension, Harris — who is a key part of that team. So her campaign and the White House are pulling out the stops to try to show voters they’re on top of things, even as Harris pushes ahead on the campaign trail.

For Harris, there’s the fear that these “October surprises” go sideways and she gets some blame. In a race this close, every vote matters.

But these kinds of high-profile crises also present an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, said Democratic political strategist Ian Russell.

“What she has to do, and what she is doing, is showing up and showing that she’s engaged, showing that she’s capable of stepping up to the challenges that the country and the world face and I think she’s doing that very well,” Russell said.

How Harris has been responding to these October surprises

Harris took a break from the campaign on Wednesday to visit a Georgia neighborhood ravaged by Hurricane Helene where more than half of residents don’t have power and many don’t have running water.

“The president and I have been paying close attention from the beginning to what we need to do to make sure the federal resources hit the ground as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “That includes what was necessary to make sure that we provided direct federal assistance. And that work has been happening.”

President Biden also surveyed Asheville, N.C., where some of the most severe storm damage occurred, as he and Harris try to reassure voters in the critical state that their administration is up to the task. Harris’ campaign has said she plans to tour storm damage in North Carolina soon, too.

Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, is slated to be it the state on Friday for a town hall.

Another crisis was averted: the economic fallout from a strike

The International Longshoremen’s Association decision to go on strike on Tuesday had been another challenge for Harris, threatening to upend the economy heading into the election.

But on Thursday, the union dockworkers and port operators reached a tentative agreement on wages and agreed to extend their contract to Jan. 15. Harris and Biden had sided firmly with the union, and on Thursday Biden said both sides had acted “patriotically” to reopen the ports to ensure supplies were available for hurricane rebuilding efforts.

Trump sees opportunity in these crises

The Trump campaign is on the lookout for anything they can use against Harris in the closely contested race — including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Trump told his supporters that he was the person to take on Iran after it attacked Israel. “We have a nonexistent president and a nonexistent vice president, who should be in charge, but nobody knows what’s going on,” Trump said.

Harris made sure to get out in front of cameras this week to reaffirm her support for Israel. “As I have said, I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias,” she said.

“And let us be clear: Iran is not only a threat to Israel; Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and -backed terrorist proxies.”

How the White House, Harris and her campaign are able to navigate these “October surprises” is critical in a race this close, with only a month left.

“There’s always going to be something that could go wrong at home or abroad,” Russell said. “And our leaders need to be able to step up and deliver while also being politicians.”

An invasion of dangerous three-foot rat-like creatures with orange teeth is wreaking havoc across California, threatening the safety of residents and the state’s economy.

Nearly 1,000 nutria – one of the largest rodent species – had already been hunted down in the Bay Area this year.

But the creatures have now made way into Contra Costa County’s California Delta – which is one the state’s most crucial water sources and ecological sites, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Also known as Coypu, the animals, which weigh around 20 pounds, pose a threat to humans, livestock and pets, and cause widespread destruction across wetlands. 

They are known to carry tapeworms and are hosts for potentially deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and septicemia. They are also carriers for blood and liver flukes that can lead to infection through exposure to contaminated water, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Nutria look similar to beavers, with the distinction of highly arched backs and ‘long, thin, round, sparsely haired tails rather than wide, flat tails like that of a beaver,’ according to the CFWD. 

The rodents are usually found near permanent water sources and have large bright orange teeth as well as a white muzzle and whiskers. 

Since the first nutria, a pregnant female, was discovered on a private wetland in March of 2017 in California, 5,042 of the species have been killed in the state. 

Officials are urging locals to ‘immediately’ report and photograph any sightings or potential signs of their presence to their state wildlife department. 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told SFGate: ‘We cannot have nutria reproducing in the delta. The threat to California’s economy is too great.’

The spread is particularly alarming due to the animal’s prolific reproductive rate – with females giving birth to as many as 27 offspring per year. 

They also breed all year round, producing two to three litters each with two to nine young per litter. 

On top of this there is no natural predator keeping its population in check. 

In some states, including California, the rodents are listed on the prohibited species list, which outlaws their importation, possession, exchange, purchase, sale and transportation. 

It is legal to shoot the animal outside of city limits or wildlife control officers can kill them using humane euthanasia. 

The highly destructive species is known to cause significant losses in crops and weaken levees due to their burrowing. 

Their effect on ecosystems also poses a threat to rare and endangered species and plants that rely on the marshland.

Each nutria is able to consume up to 25 percent of its body weight per day. But Krysten Kellum of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said they ‘waste and destroy up to ten times as much’, according to SFGate.

The CFWD added: ‘Nutria do not construct dens, they burrow, frequently causing water-retention or flood control levees to breach, weakening structural foundations, and eroding banks,’ reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

The California Delta, where the nutria are now starting to inhabit, helps to channel water to cities and farms across the state, making it easier for rodents to spread into yet more regions. 

Tides push salt water into the Delta from the Pacific, and freshwater travels into the Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and then through the leveed channels into San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. 

United States Geological Survey said that, when necessary, water from the Sacramento River is diverted and pumped through leveed canals toward California Aqueduct and the Delta-Mendota Canal. 

This water ends up being consumed by humans and used for agricultural purposes throughout Central and Southern California.

Since the aquatic invasion of the rodents, the California Department of Water Resources issued a dire – and equally hilarious – warning about the nutria.

Pitting the creature as a ‘two-faced creature’ straight out of a horror movie, the DWS created a movie-like poster that said that although the animal was ‘so cute,’ the rodent was a ‘monster’.

‘Behind that cure exterior lies a monster. Beware of the dark side of the nutria. They may look harmless, but they are invasive rodents that have the ability to destroy wetlands and damage levees,’ the DWS wrote.

Nutria are also causing problems beyond California, with reports of issues in Oregon.

In fact, feral populations have now become established in 17 states, including Louisiana, Washington, Oregon and California.