The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everything in every aspect of life and now it could strongly impact the campaigns for the upcoming presidential election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Stephen J. Chapman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, stated that the upcoming election will be approached very differently from both candidates. He stated that sitting presidents are going to want to shift the message away from anything that does not make them look good or professional.
“This will be Trump’s focus moving into the general election by emphasizing the rising stock market and ignoring other economic indicators or the persistent COVID-19 cases. Biden, on the other hand, will want to attempt to act as a leader on those issues to convince voters he has the ability to be ready on day one if elected,” said Chapman.
Chapman explained that Biden has already started to announce what he would be enforcing if elected. Chapman said, “He’s already discussed a national facemask mandate and has emphasized his role in the Obama administration during the ‘09 recession. He’s also been building a strong network of leaders that would ultimately become part of his cabinet.”
Phillips-Anderson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Communication, also believes that the pandemic will have more of a negative impact on Trump’s campaign. “More people disapprove of his handling of the pandemic than disapprove of him overall. That means that even some of his supporters think he’s done a bad job. The thing that Trump is most skilled at is agenda setting,” he said.
Phillips-Anderson continued, “The fact that he’s running a ‘Law & Order’ campaign rather than a ‘I did a great job with the pandemic’ campaign means that they know it is a losing issue for them.”
Conversely, Jason Spinello, is a juvenile diabetic from Bridgewater, New Jersey, believes that President Trump has handled this pandemic well, and he is not confident that Biden would handle this pandemic effectively. He explained that when Trump restricted traveling and ensured that medical supplies were available, it had became the two key factors in combatting the virus.
Spinello explained how this is the most important election he will ever vote in because of the pandemic. “Being a diabetic I’m at a higher risk of getting COVID and at a higher risk of having severe complications from it. It’s important to me to carefully examine both candidates to see who has a better approach to protecting high risk individuals,” he said.
“I also really like the notion that President Trump is trying to eliminate red tape in order to get a vaccination available more quickly. So there are things he could have done better, I would say yes but considering all of the uncertainty I feel President Trump has done a fairly good job,” Spinello continued.
Still, Phillips-Anderson believes that our leader in America (during this global crisis) should reveal the truth to the public, console the public during this time, and declare a straight-forward and effective plan to help our nation get conquer this. “Trump has not done any of these well. He mischaracterizes or simply lies about the level of infection. He rarely displays empathy for the victims of COVID when not reading from a teleprompter. He has put resources into developing a vaccine, but undercuts mitigation efforts by arguing that the economy should ‘reopen’,” he said.
Celine Powell, a senior Communication student and President of College Republicans, agreed that Trump needs to be more sympathetic towards the people.
Powell explained how Trump would be able to gain more trust from his supporters. She believes that Trump should take more efforts moving forward to ensure safety in the country, such as wearing a mask and being more emphatic to the families who have lost people to COVID-19.
“Joe Biden of course has been cautious and taking advantage trying to win voters over. However, Biden seems more likely to take action moving forward. With that being said, Trump might realize where he went wrong and try to make things right to hopefully show his supporters that he is trying his best to assure their safety,” Powell concluded.
He continued, “I feel the need to be a little more selfish this election and select a candidate that will best serve protecting high risk patients.”
Spinello also believes that since it is an election year, it was easy for the pandemic to become politicized. He said, “I feel both sides are looking at the pandemic through partisan lenses rather than making decisions based on facts. I wish the pandemic was not politicized. I feel strongly all responsible Americans should weigh all factors then make their own decisions and change their behaviors as they see fit.”
IMAGE TAKEN from ABC News
