US 2020 Election Turns Virtual In The Coronavirus Crisis
US 2020 Election: Former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden is hoping to completely transform his campaign, which, like most of public and professional life in the US, has been upended by the spread of the coronavirus.
To reclaim some visibility and launch his campaign into the virtual world, Biden, the Democratic frontrunner, on Monday launched a new podcast entitled, “Here’s the Deal.”
“Why am I doing this?” Biden said at the start of the first episode. “Well, first, so we can keep talking with each other. We can’t hold rallies anymore, but we’re not gathering in large public spaces. We’re living in a new normal.”
The podcast episode, the first in what the campaign said will be a series of discussions on pressing topics, addressed Biden’s vision on how to deal with the pandemic – including building more field hospitals, producing more ventilators and protective medical equipment, boosting social security benefits, forgiving some student loan debt, and expanding family and medical leave during the crisis.
The move, observers say, highlights the efforts of the Biden campaign to reclaim relevance as the coronavirus developments have eclipsed public interest in the 2020 presidential campaigns. It is a multi-faceted challenge addressing various issues, from local to national, as they scramble to rethink their strategies and draw up new playbooks for an election cycle unlike any other in US history.
At least 14 Democratic primaries have been delayed because of the pandemic, essentially freezing the process of nominating a candidate to take on President Trump in the November election. Rallies, town hall meetings, and public events have been canceled, too.
Simon Rosenberg, a Democratic strategist, based in Washington, DC, said the process of picking a Democratic nominee had been turned entirely on its head.