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Jaime Harrison, the Democratchallenging Senator Lindsey Gra-ham of South Carolina, raised anastonishing $57 million from Julythrough September, the highestquarterly fund-raising total forany Senate candidate in U.S. his-tory and part of a flood of Demo-cratic money remaking the battlefor control of the Senate.

From South Carolina to Maineto Arizona, anger at PresidentTrump and his Republican allieshas fueled a steady flow of cash toDemocratic challengers all year.But Senate Republicans’ pledge toquickly replace Justice Ruth Ba-der Ginsburg on the SupremeCourt, despite their blockade ofPresident Barack Obama’s nomi-nee in 2016, has enraged the Dem-ocratic base, and donations havesurged to extraordinary levels.

Mr. Harrison’s fund-raisinghaul heightens the stakes of theSupreme Court confirmationhearings that Mr. Graham will be-gin overseeing on Monday as thechairman of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee, as Republicans rushto seat Judge Amy Coney Barrett,Mr. Trump’s nominee, before theelection.

Across the map, the RepublicanParty is mounting expensive de-fenses of seats it once thoughtwere safe, stretching its resourcesto hold on to a Senate majoritythat it hopes will check the powerof Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Demo-cratic presidential nominee, if hewins in November. Polls show Mr.Biden with a consistent lead, andRepublicans are growing increas-ingly worried about the possibilityof unified Democratic control of

DEMOCRAT’S HAULSHATTERS RECORD

FOR SENATE RACE

A $57 MILLION QUARTER

National Surge in GivingLifts Rival to Graham

in South Carolina

This article is by Maggie Astor,Shane Goldmacher and Trip Gabriel.

Jaime Harrison, the challengerto Senator Lindsey Graham.

KHOLOOD EID FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A15

On a winter afternoon in 2018,Judge Amy Coney Barrett rose tospeak in Notre Dame LawSchool’s wood-paneled courtroomand thanked the people gatheredthere for joining her for her officialinvestiture as a judge on theUnited States Court of Appeals forthe Seventh Circuit.

In the audience were her par-ents, in town from her childhoodhome in New Orleans, and herhusband, who had described heras a kind of superwoman, alongwith six of their seven children,who led the group in the Pledge ofAllegiance. And there were manyfriends — from law school, her Su-preme Court clerkship and herCatholic parish in South Bend,Ind.

Also in attendance were a num-ber of prominent conservative le-gal figures, mentors who hadhelped make this moment hap-pen. But perhaps the most impor-tant was a Notre Dame graduatewhose eyes were on the future, notthe past.

That graduate, Donald F. Mc-Gahn II, President Trump’s WhiteHouse counsel, was known for hissingle-minded focus on remakingthe federal judiciary according tohis own conservative views. Con-tacts at his alma mater had laudedMs. Barrett, then a professor, andeven before Mr. Trump’s inaugu-ration he had envisioned someonelike her as a new kind of power-house on the Supreme Court — anoutsider of unbending convictionon social issues.

“We now affectionately call herJudge Dogma,” Mr. McGahn jokedwhen he got up to speak at the cer-emony, a reference to a remark bySenator Dianne Feinstein, Demo-crat of California, at Judge Bar-rett’s confirmation hearing ques-tioning her ability to separate herreligion from the law with wordsthat were immediately embla-zoned on mugs and T-shirtsproduced by conservative groups.

Like many of Mr. Trump’s origi-nal aides, Mr. McGahn has left theWhite House, and was not at theRose Garden event last monthwhere the president announcedhis selection of Judge Barrett tofill the vacancy created by thedeath of Justice Ruth Bader Gins-burg. At that announcement, Mr.Trump, who in 2016 promised to

Court NomineeIs ConservativeRooted in Faith

Barrett Followed RarePath to the Bench

This article is by Elizabeth Dias,Rebecca R. Ruiz and Sharon LaFra-niere.

Continued on Page A16

DIEGO IBARRA SANCHEZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Sursock Palace, built in the 19th century, was rocked with much of the city in an Aug. 4 blast. Its owners vow to restore it. Page A9.In Beirut, Daring to Dream of Rebuilding

When the Guilford CountySchools in North Carolina spentmore than $27 million to buy66,000 computers and tablets forstudents over the summer, the dis-trict ran into a problem: Therewas a shortage of cheap laptops,and the devices wouldn’t arriveuntil late October or November.

More than 4,000 students in the

district had to start the schoolyear without the computers theyneeded for remote learning.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said AngieHenry, the district’s chief opera-tions officer. “Kids are excitedabout school. They want to learn.”

Millions of children are encoun-tering all sorts of inconveniencesthat come with digital instructionduring the coronavirus pandemic.But many students are facing amore basic challenge: They don’t

have computers and can’t attendclasses held online.

A surge in worldwide demandby educators for low-cost laptopsand Chromebooks — up to 41 per-cent higher than last year — has

created monthslong shipment de-lays and pitted desperate schoolsagainst one another. Districts withdeep pockets often win out, leav-ing poorer ones to give out printedassignments and wait until winterfor new computers to arrive.

That has frustrated studentsaround the country, especially inrural areas and communities ofcolor, which also often lack high-

Schoolchildren Stalled for Months by a Growing Laptop ShortageBy KELLEN BROWNING Poorer Districts Lose

Out in Battle to Buy

Continued on Page A6

DOUGLAS P. DEFELICE/GETTY IMAGES

LeBron James won his fourth N.B.A. championship, powering Los Angeles past Miami. Page D1.Lakers Are Golden

OLYPHANT, Pa. — PresidentTrump’s narrowing path to vic-tory in Pennsylvania, and thecountry, runs through small townslike Olyphant, where DaveMitchko’s street might be quieterif not for the large sign he put onhis front lawn urging supportersof the president to honk when theypass.

Trump signs are Mr. Mitchko’sthing, and his front yard has be-come something of an informalsign depot for Republicans ingreater northeastern Pennsylva-nia. He estimates that he’s givenaway more than 26,000 signs this

year. And his efforts were re-warded by the campaign with tar-mac invitations for recent visits tothe region by both Mr. Trump andVice President Mike Pence, aswell as a spot driving in the presi-dential motorcade. Mr. Mitchkowore a suit and a Trumpian red tiefor the occasion.

“Your area — this has alwaysbeen a Democrat area, and yet the

votes for Trump here are throughthe roof,” Mr. Trump bragged thatAugust day.

Mr. Trump was right. Mr.Mitchko was among the defectors.A 53-year-old lifelong Democratwho used to work at the local com-pact-disc factory, which has sinceshuttered, and who had a lawn-care business until health troublesput him on disability, he votedtwice for Barack Obama. For2020, he registered as a Republi-can for the first time.

“I opened my eyes,” Mr.Mitchko explained.

With Mr. Trump trailing JosephR. Biden Jr. in Pennsylvania innearly every poll — a New York

Can Trump Wring More From His White Base?By SHANE GOLDMACHER Around Pennsylvania,

a Potential Routeto Re-election

Continued on Page A13

After contracting the coronavi-rus in March, Michael Reagan lostall memory of his 12-day vacationin Paris, even though the trip wasjust a few weeks earlier.

Several weeks after Erica Tay-lor recovered from her Covid-19symptoms of nausea and cough,she became confused and forget-ful, failing to even recognize herown car, the only Toyota Prius inher apartment complex’s parkinglot.

Lisa Mizelle, a veteran nursepractitioner at an urgent careclinic who fell ill with the virus inJuly, finds herself forgetting rou-tine treatments and lab tests, andhas to ask colleagues about termi-nology she used to know automat-ically.

“I leave the room and I can’t re-member what the patient justsaid,” she said, adding that if shehadn’t exhausted her medicalleave she’d take more time off.

“It scares me to think I’m work-ing,” Ms. Mizelle, 53, said. “I feellike I have dementia.”

It’s becoming known as Covidbrain fog: troubling cognitivesymptoms that can include mem-ory loss, confusion, difficulty fo-cusing, dizziness and grasping foreveryday words. Increasingly,Covid survivors say brain fog isimpairing their ability to work andfunction normally.

“There are thousands of peoplewho have that,” said Dr. Igor Ko-ralnik, chief of neuro-infectiousdisease at Northwestern Medi-cine in Chicago, who has alreadyseen hundreds of survivors at apost-Covid clinic he leads. “Theimpact on the work force that’s af-fected is going to be significant.”

Beating Covid,Only to Be LeftWith Brain Fog

By PAM BELLUCK

Continued on Page A6

JERUSALEM — He moved theAmerican Embassy in Israel to Je-rusalem, breaking with those whosaid it would ignite the Muslimworld.

He withdrew from the Iran nu-clear deal and ordered the killingof a top Iranian general, defyingthose who said those moves wouldlead to war.

He brokered treaties betweenIsrael and two Arab states, dis-proving those who said such dealscould only follow the creation of aPalestinian state.

Again and again in the MiddleEast, where volatility has bur-nished or battered previous presi-dential legacies, President Trumphas run roughshod over conven-tional thinking, advancing key

policy aims or fulfilling campaignpromises in ways that expertswarned could set off a conflagra-tion or blow up in his face.

Not only did the predicted dis-asters not materialize, but inmany cases his policies produceddemonstrable achievements.

The Arab treaties with Israeldoubled the number of countriesin the region that have relationswith Israel. The killing of the Ira-nian commander, Maj. Gen. Qas-sim Suleimani, eliminated theleader of a network of dangerousmilitias. And the embassy move,rightly or wrongly, was a step pre-vious administrations had shrunkfrom despite claiming to supportit.

But the bold moves often hadmajor drawbacks: The Iraniansresumed their nuclear project,and experts believe they may

By Defying Mideast Truisms,Trump Got Wins and Setbacks

This article is by David M. Halb-finger, Ben Hubbard and FarnazFassihi.

Continued on Page A11

Remote work during the pandemic hasgiven chief executives with children ataste of a different way to live. PAGE A7

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-7

C.E.O.s Savor a Family RitualA picturesque French region desper-ately needs more jobs. But environmen-talists see a looming blight. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-8

Split Over Amazon ProjectWe go to the farm with the actressIsabella Rossellini as she prepares astreaming theater piece with help fromsome of her animal friends. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Cuddling Up to a Co-Star

As at least 10 countries on the continentface presidential elections, some incum-bents are changing constitutions andbending rules to stay in power. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A8-11

Bypassing Term Limits in AfricaRafael Nadal rolled past NovakDjokovic to win his 13th French Opencrown and tie Roger Federer for mostmen’s major singles titles. PAGE D2

SPORTSMONDAY D1-6

Nadal’s Clay Masterpiece

The city issued fines and more than 60summonses to people, businesses andhouses of worship in hot spots. PAGE A4

New York’s New LockdownsPeople are getting defrauded as theyturn to payment apps to do more onlinebanking in the pandemic. PAGE B1

Fast Payments and ‘Fast Fraud’

The Babylon Bee, a conservative com-edy site, jabbed at Donald J. Trump inthe 2016 race. That’s changed. PAGE A15

NATIONAL A12-19

Satirizing the LeftQuino drew the comic strip of the 6-year-old Argentine girl, who was curi-ous about the world and finely attunedto its injustices. He was 88. PAGE D8

OBITUARIES D7-8

Creator of Beloved ‘Mafalda’

Reports of violent crime are posinganother challenge to regaining theconfidence of passengers. PAGE A19

Safety in the Subways

Mary B. McCord PAGE A21EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21

BATTLE LINES Republicans andDemocrats offer clashing imagesof Amy Coney Barrett. PAGE A18

VOL. CLXX . . . No. 58,844 © 2020 The New York Times Company MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020 Printed in Chicago $3.00

Mostly cloudy. Spotty midday show-ers and thunderstorms. Breezy.Mostly cooler. Highs in the lower tothe middle 60s. Mainly clear tonight.Weather map appears on Page A22.

National Edition