Views: And Then There Were Two...
And then there were two. The race for the Democratic nomination clarified itself in ways that seemed impossible this time last week. It’s down to Biden vs. Bernie.
Joe Biden’s 30-point victory in South Carolina last Saturday night opened the floodgates, forcing Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar out of the race and generating momentum for what turned out to be a Super Duper Tuesday for his campaign. Biden, it seems, has the Big Mo!
So where are we now? Ten more states will hold contests over the next 10 days including Michigan, Missouri, Florida, and Washington state. Biden is once again the front-runner and Bernie is on his heels.
The biggest remaining obstacle — a mano a mano debate between Bernie and Biden in Phoenix on March 15. This is must-see TV. Biden doesn’t have to win, but he does need to survive.
One final note: over the past seven days, we saw very gracious exits from Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren. Each of these candidates made a major mark on the campaign. They should be congratulated, and I expect we’ll be seeing them in leadership roles soon.
Tech Takes
Remember when Marissa Mayer of Yahoo! curtailed the company’s work from home policies?
That notion is long gone in the era of Coronavirus. Large tech companies in the Bay Area and Seattle including Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and Google have sent their employees home to use collaboration tools to connect. We fully expect this trend to continue, especially given the legitimate public health concerns and the (much greater) fear that has set in. Perhaps this is why Zoom’s stock is up over 50% since the start of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced this week that he’s introducing legislation to ban the popular social networking app TikTok from all government devices. The State Department and DHS have already instituted such bans out of fears of tracking by the Chinese government.
On Section 230, Tony Romm of the Washington Post reports that Democrats and Republicans are banding together to force tech to take more steps to stop content that harms children. The fairly explicit threat — do more or Congress will chip away at the Section 230 protections that hold companies harmless for the content that appears on their online platforms.
Cyber Corner
Courtesy of Josh Zecher
OMB, We Have A Problem!
The cyber industry’s increased focus on third-party risk management and supply chain security is one that is practical and easy to understand. Organizations are only as strong as their weakest link.
But federal agencies don’t appear to be following this philosophy. The Government Accountability Office warned yesterday that a new narrowed definition of a data center will mean that more than 250 federal data centers no longer need to report security metrics to the Office of Management and Budget.
The risk? Federal IT access points without oversight or accountability will leave back doors open for hackers and other bad actors.
Keep your friends close and your fingers closer
Experts at the RSA Conference warned about the perils of biometrics and lost fingers. No, really. Watch out and beware!
The Musts – Read, Watch & Listen
- Nate Silver’s updated “forecast” makes Biden the heavy favorite going forward.
- Analysis on the EU’s White Paper on AI on the Lawfare blog
- A July 2019 story in Vogue on what it would take to shatter the highest, hardest glass ceiling
Maybe Don’t Watch…
- MAYBE DON’T LISTEN…
Elizabeth Warren’s walk-up song – 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton… It might just make you sad.
Listen
- Check out “Epidemic” a podcast from Dr. Celine Gounder and Ron Klain (Ebola Czar) that provides the straight scoop on coronavirus
- The new Bond movie may be postponed, but the Theme Song for No Time to Die from Billy Eilish is out
- Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
Must Watch
- Hillary Clinton takes a “Shotsky” on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
- Jill Biden protects the Veep from those super aggressive vegan protestors
- New research shows the majority of CBD products don’t measure up