2020 is an election year. 2020 is also an unprecedented year in our government with the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. Less than 4 months ago I was worried about the nomination for the Democratic Party, now I am worried about the health and safety of my grandmother in an assisted living facility that has been hit with COVID-19. This makes me wonder if fear will tamper with the election?
For those of you who don’t realize the November elections will be for many different state, local and federal positions. I will be speaking about federal positions because there are fifty states with many local municipalities in each state with individual elections. Every member of the House of Representatives is up for election because they have a two-year term. Thirty-three members of the Senate are up for election in November. Of course, we also know this is a presidential election year.
Looking at the future of this country, nothing is certain. We don’t know when the cases will plateau, we don’t know when each state will feel safe for their businesses to reopen, we don’t know. What we do know is how each member of the House and Senate voted and what they say on TV and social media. With everyone home these words are taken more seriously, not just because everyone wants to go back to work, but because they are bored.
Anxiety is going to be the deciding factor for many people. But where a person’s anxiety lies is probably going to determine how they vote. I personally am anxious about my toddler, my mother, and my grandmother contracting this illness and will be voting for people who use gradual and scientific-based measures to either keep governments closed or open their governments slowly. Other people do not care about public safety and just want life to get back to normal and go back to work, and will vote for people who are on that side.
COVID-19 and the ability for campaigns to run a campaign from social media and other electronic means will determine this election. Did Joe Biden learn anything from President Obama about using Twitter to increase voter engagement? Will President Trump continue to parley his followers into pushing his political agenda online. Will fear tamper with the election? It’s April, I pray that by November I will be able to walk into my polling place and cast my ballot, but I don’t know. And that is what this election will be about, the unknown.
