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To her, some of the most compelling evidence in favor of face masks comes from laboratory tests. A Florida team used mannequin heads to simulate coughing and sneezing and lasers to illuminate the tiny respiratory droplets believed to the main route of transmission. Without masks, the droplets traveled more than 8 feet. A stitched, double-layer cotton mask limited the spread to 2.5 inches...Another lab study...Yet another team used a bird flu virus as a stand in for the novel coronavirus and showed that even homemade paper and cloth masks could block penetration of more than 95 percent of virus-laden aerosols.

President Trump, after months of refusing to wear a coronavirus face mask in public, posted a photo on Twitter Monday of himself wearing a face mask, declaring “There is nobody more Patriotic than me.” “We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance,” Trump wrote. “There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!”

Suburban Democrats are bracing to defend their recent gains amid unmistakable signs of volatility among an electorate that is impatient with the pace of economic recovery. Their concerns are coming into sharp focus amid ongoing developments in Nassau County, N.Y., where County Executive Tom Suozzi, a rising star in New York politics and a prominent suburban Democratic politician, might lose his seat in a recount. Suozzi’s predicament comes on the heels of other troubling developments in some of the nation’s largest suburban counties, including nearby Democratic Westchester County, where voters tossed out County Executive Andrew Spano in a startling...

Republican presidential nominee John McCain has a slight edge over Democratic rival Barack Obama among suburban voters, drawing his strongest support from men and affluent married couples with children, according to a new poll released yesterday. Overall, 48 percent of suburban voters said they supported McCain, compared with 42 percent for Obama, according to the poll conducted for Hofstra's National Center for Suburban Studies. The spiraling economic decline ranked as their chief concern in the presidential election and their personal lives: 46 percent said it is the issue they most want to hear the candidates discuss, while 49 percent reported...

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain holds a slight edge over Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama among suburban voters, according to a new poll sponsored by Hofstra University to be released Monday. The nationwide poll, conducted for Hofstra's National Center for Suburban Studies, found that 48 percent of suburban voters said they support McCain, compared to 42 percent for Obama. By comparison, the poll found that McCain leads Obama among rural voters, 51 percent to 35 percent, while Obama is ahead in urban areas, 57 percent to 34 percent. The results of the poll are scheduled to be released at...

Battle for the ’Burbs How Republicans can compete for the upper middle class ROSS DOUTHAT & REIHAN SALAM It was only four years ago that conservatives — and a great many liberals — were convinced that the Democratic party was doomed to become a purely regional institution: “a national party no more,” to borrow the title of Georgia Democrat–turned–Bush supporter Zell Miller’s 2003 memoir. Pundits brandished county-by-county maps showing blue enclaves drowning in a sea of red; they talked up the growth of GOP-leaning regions and constituencies and the daunting demographic gaps (God, babies) facing the Democratic party; they murmured...

States Ranked By Extent To Which Suburbs Are More Republican Than State As A Whole Overall Poll Results Suburban Poll Results Extent to Which Suburbs Are More Republican Than State As a Whole How to Read this Chart: In SurveyUSA's most recent election poll from the state of New York, Kerry leads Bush by 23 points, overall. A blue 23 shows up in the "Overall" column. When SurveyUSA examines just "suburban" likely voters, and excludes "urban" and "rural" likely voters, Kerry leads by 6 points. A blue 6 shows up in the "Suburbs" column. SurveyUSA then examines the extent to...

NEW YORK - In Illinois politics, the old adage about nice guys finishing last will be turned on its head this fall. Nice guys - and women - will win the suburbs. If President Bush and Illinois Republicans hope to win Illinois, they must focus on the suburbs, say moderate GOP members. Both around Chicago and around the nation, the suburban vote is considered in play largely because the people who call the suburbs home refuse to be pinned down by politics. And the first key to winning their votes is to tone down the partisan rhetoric. That's the advice...