“I’ve covered these presidential elections now for decades and I’ve never seen anything – any individual factor – have so much impact on an election as COVID has,” said KCBS Radio Political Analyst Marc Sandalow.
The pandemic has changed every aspect of life across the world, and politics are no exception.
“It is obviously the number one topic on Americans’ minds,” said Sandalow. But the pandemic has also had a major impact on how the election plays out logistically.
“Trump was off the campaign trail for what seemed about three minutes but it was actually about a week when he was recovering, Joe Biden has certainly not had the kind of rallies that anybody would have anticipated,” he said.
Additionally, it is changing the way that people are voting, with a record number of votes cast ahead of Election Day already. “It’s almost certain for the first time in American history more votes will be cast before Election Day than on Election Day,” Sandalow said.
Many states, including California, have expanded mail-in voting options in order to reduce crowds at the polls and ensure that people can still vote while staying and feeling safe.
While some Americans have balked at the way the pandemic has divided the country along political lines, Sandalow says to a certain extent it is necessary to talk about the pandemic through the lens of politics.
“We need to talk about, what do we do for the next pandemic? What works? So it’s absolutely critical that they talk about it and they’re derelict in their duty if they don’t,” he said, although there is a line.
The White House said Wednesday that ending the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the administration’s biggest achievements, but the pandemic is far from over. Cases are spiking across the Midwest and the daily rate of new cases has topped 70,000 this week, a new record.
“To the extent that you are playing politics in saying something that is not genuine to help electoral chances that aren’t based in some policy truth, yeah that is absolutely shameful," said Sandalow.
While the electorate was already divided before the pandemic started, the arrival of one of the biggest crises in the nation’s history has raised the stakes far beyond what many voters have experienced before.
“There’s a broad sense that this is a far more important election than any of us can remember.”
