7 Ways COVID-19 Has Changed US Politics

 

The coronavirus has affected¹ a lot of things, including the presidential nomination² process in the United States.

The two leading parties know that they must restructure traditional nominating events because of safety concerns during the pandemic.

This week Democratic Party delegates will officially choose former Vice³ President Joe Biden as their candidate for president. Yet Biden will never appear in the same room as the delegates.

The Republican Party plans to nominate U.S. President Donald Trump⁴ as its candidate the following week. Republican officials say Trump may make his acceptance speech not at a traditional convention, but from the White House.

Both parties have decided⁵ that holding large, indoor gatherings⁶ with thousands of delegates during the pandemic would not be a good idea. So, all the speeches and other activities are being done online.

The conventions as grand events "may be a thing of the past," says Karlyn Bowman. She is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

Here are seven ways COVID-19 -- the disease caused by the coronavirus -- has changed the U.S. elections this year.

1. The top issue

For many voters, COVID-19 is the big issue of 2020. Trump's reelection campaign began the year with a strong economy and low unemployment rates.

"He could point to positive economic numbers and peace," said Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Yet unemployment has risen to Great Depression levels, and the economy has gotten much smaller since March. The United States has over 5.2 million coronavirus cases and 170,000 deaths from COVID-19. Many voters disapprove⁷ of the way Trump and his administration have reacted to the pandemic. Without a strong economy, critics have said the president has struggled to present an argument for reelection.

2. Shrunken conventions

The usual theatrics of the party conventions will be much smaller this year, but experts say it may not make much of a difference.

The conventions usually help each presidential candidate in opinion surveys of likely voters, but the rise is most often temporary, Bowman said.

"I don't think it has much of an impact on the final outcome," she added.

That is also because many voters have already decided on a candidate, Kondik said.

3. Canceled campaigning

Big, in-person campaign events with the candidates may increase enthusiasm among party loyalists, rather than undecided voters.

"Campaigns are going to need to figure out some other means of generating that enthusiasm," said John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Losing in-person campaign events may hurt Trump more than Biden, he added. Trump enjoys and seems to get energy from them.

Not having such events, "I think, not only hurts his ability to generate enthusiasm within his base," Hudak said, "I think it actually affects him personally."

The Biden campaign may suffer less from canceled campaign events with thousands of supporters, but more from the loss of meeting individual voters face-to-face.

"He's known as being kind of a warm person and someone who gets close to people, and he just can't do that," Kondik said.

4. Virtual fundraising

Because political campaigns need a lot of money, the parties have moved to raising donations online. Until recently, donors⁸ spent a lot of money on pricey dinners with a chance to get close to the presidential candidate. Now, donors must settle for online chats with the candidate instead.

This does not seem to have slowed fundraising, however.

"I see very little impact whatsoever⁹ on fundraising," Bowman said.

Neither the Democrats¹⁰ nor the Republicans are hurting financially. National Public Radio reports that the candidates and their supporters have already raised more than $1.6 billion.

5. Get-out-the-vote drives

Normally, large numbers of campaign workers go from one house to another to meet people and ask them to vote for their candidate. These activities have been cut back.

Talking to individual voters has a small, but important effect on the number of people who go out to vote. Such one-on-one contacts can sometimes decide presidential elections, Kondik said.

6. Voter registration¹¹

Campaigns to register more people to vote have largely ended. One study showed that U.S. voter registrations¹² dropped a lot in March and April. The study noted¹³ that many people register to vote at their local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the pandemic has closed many DMV offices.

7. Vote by mail

Many state officials think mail-in ballots¹⁴ are a safer way to vote than in-person voting during the pandemic. President Trump has often claimed, without evidence, that it will lead to widespread cheating. As a result, Republican voters are much less supportive of mail-in voting.

Mail-in voting could cause confusion on Election Day.

If a lot of Republicans mark ballots at voting centers and those votes are counted first, "it may look like Donald Trump is leading in the state," when in fact, he might lose the state, said Kondik.

Counting all the votes could take days or weeks, during which time, Kondik worries, that many people could come to believe fraud was involved.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

fellow - n. a prestigious¹⁵ appointment at a university or research facility

positive - adj. the good side

impact - n. the effects of something on all things

enthusiasm - n. to desire to do something with good spirit

generate - v. to make or to create

chat - v. to talk to another person about small, pleasant topics

fundraise - v. to hold parties etc to get people to donate money to political campaigns

confusion - n. uncertainty

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

7 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

12 registrations   

n.登记( registration的名词复数 )；登记项目；登记（或注册、挂号）人数；（管风琴）音栓配合（法）

参考例句：

• In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. 除了办理住宿手续外，客房登记员按惯例还负责预约登记。 来自辞典例句
• Be the Elekta expert for products registrations in China. 成为在中国注册产品的医科达公司专家。 来自互联网

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。