The Jaffe Briefing - November 10, 2020

STATEWIDE – Is that a glimmer of sunlight peering through the trees? For the moment, let’s all jump on the Pfizer bandwagon, as the company seems to have the inside track in the race to get a COVID 19 vaccine to market. Pfizer says its shots could be 90% effective, offering some hope that this whole thing could just vanish in 2021. Of course, there are other companies huffing and puffing right behind Pfizer – all promising that millions of Americans could get doses by the first or second quarter next year if the feds give their seal of approval. The goal is to get the right vaccine, not the first vaccine, as we also need to be convinced it is safe, lasting and effective. There are many devils in the details here; Dr. Fauci’s opinion will be as important as ever.

OFF THE RAILS – Word is already trickling out about winter events being canceled. One of significant note: The annual “Walk to Washington” train trip, in which state politicians, influencers and the business community jam together on a schmooze-fest down to DC. This state chamber event, taking place every year since before World War II, won’t happen Feb. 18, as scheduled. Chamber officials are quick to realize: How are they expected to safely host a closed-quarters event that puts 1,000 people on a train, carting them to a full range of close-range cocktail parties and other networking events in DC? While it would have been a bustling year for the trip – with the governor and all members of the state Legislature up for re-election, it just can’t happen.

NEW BRUNSWICK – The Rutgers football team is getting very interesting to watch, as the team is actually favored to beat up on Illinois this weekend. What can make this team even more interesting is a proposal in the state senate that would lift the ban on in-state betting of college sports. Right now, you can’t bet in New Jersey on Rutgers, Princeton, Seton Hall or any of the other Jersey schools, nor can you bet on college sports played at the Prudential Center, the Meadowlands, etc.  But with the 2025 men’s NCAA basketball East Regionals to be held in Newark, maybe now is the time to lift this senseless restriction. Like marijuana legalization, this question may also be going to the voters – appearing as a 2021 ballot question. Odds are it passes.

BRIEFING BREATHER

Two places on Earth where you can’t buy a Coke: Cuba and North Korea.

STATEWIDE – Sympathy abounds for restaurants and bars in New Jersey, struggling to stay afloat with crushing restrictions since March. Gov. Phil Murphy – in a desperate effort to control this spike in the pandemic – is now shutting down all inside service by 10 p.m. Of course, business owners are apoplectic, and rightfully so. But with the seven-day average of new daily positive tests now at 2,276, up 40% from a week earlier, what other choice is there? More restaurants and bars will close their doors; others will limp along until the widespread distribution of a vaccine.  How about some take-out tonight?

STATEWIDE – You may not find an open restaurant, but maybe you can hit the late-night drive-thru for a “McPlant.” And what the heck is this latest concoction of McDonald’s? The fast-food burger giant is salivating to dominate the meatless market, as it is aggressively testing plant-based burgers, chicken and breakfast sandwiches to trick your taste buds. A McPlant burger "delivers our iconic taste in a sink-your-teeth-in (and wipe-your-mouth) kind of sandwich. It’s made with a juicy, plant-based patty and served on a warm, sesame seed bun with all the classic toppings," a company official says.  Perhaps the McPlant can market itself as “50% delicious; 50% fern.”

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

LAKEVIEW, Mich. – At last. A Michigan family who really, really wanted a daughter has finally made it happen – on the 15th try.  The effort began with 14 straight boys, after nearly three decades of active birthing in rural Michigan. Finally, a very weary mom gave birth to little Maggie Jayne on Thursday, ending the ordeal for this determined 45-year-old couple. They say they are “overjoyed” for something new, as the rest of their kids already encompass two competing basketball teams, with reserves, for the driveway games. The family also has a live-streaming program, called “14 Outdoorsmen” that obviously needs to be modified for Maggie, the Detroit Free Press reports. Another silver lining: The family can now throw out those well-worn, hand-me-downs.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this date, in 1775, that the U.S. Marines were formed in Philadelphia, beginning with two Continental battalions.

WORD OF THE DAY

Bailiwick – [BAY-lih-wik] – noun

Definition: The sphere in which one has superior knowledge or authority 

Example: It looks like this vaccine is now the bailiwick of Pfizer.

WIT OF THE DAY

“There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow.”

-Christopher Darlington Morley

TODAY'S TRUMPISM

“The @US_FDA and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later – As I’ve said all along!”

-Donald J. Trump

WEATHER IN A WORD

70s

THE NEW 60

A Jaffe Briefing Exclusive

by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun

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