*stands If the rate of infection and the resultant public response to it continue the rest of the year, poll attendence will likely be very poor as folks increasingly (and wisely) avoid public spaces and risk of communicable infection. If this is the case come November- should the election be postponed?
Long time between now and November Like the old story of the prisoner who made a bargain with the King for release if he could get the kings horse to talk in one year. The King agreed on the condition that if the horse did not talk the prisoner would be beheaded. A guard smirked and said “well you tried to get out but now you are in bigger trouble”. The prisoner answered “My friend a year is a long time. I might die, the King might die or the horse might talk”
Most likely the virus will have run its course before fall, more efficient than a Fuller Brush sales force in covering all fifty states. If the deaths are equal or less than ordinary flu in an average season it won't be an issue.
I didn't ask how likely it is or whether you thought it might happen... I asked if it happens... If you're certain it won't, then theres a lot of other threads to hang out in.
I'm voting no matter what. Soldiers died so I get to vote, and we're willing to die to vote. Same same even if it was Ebola. Voting day would be the one day we come out of isolation and risk disease. I can only speak for us.
People tend to get numb about this type of thing after the novelty wears off. 6 months from now, even if the virus is still around, I would expect people have gotten used to it and have returned to their normal lives. The biggest impact will be economic. Goldman Sachs is already predicting zero economic growth for the next twelve months and the market will probably be sideways for awhile - hiring is going to slow and there will be heavy lay-offs in tourist and travel related industries. Trump relies on good economic numbers for the bulk of his popularity. The elderly might stay home from the voting booths, which would hurt the Republicans, and the twenty somethings who think they are invincible might come out in force ... or we might see a huge upsurge in vote by mail.
The other scenario is the vaccine is proven effective and available say, by September. The economy resurges, America rejoices and Trump takes rightful credit for it.
To late. Economic numbers are like a traveling oil tanker - takes awhile to slow things down or make corrections.
No. The stock market needs but an indicator of direction, and it’ll rebound. The public needs an assurance that it is safe to go out, and they will. We’re in it but fo a few months.
Yup, almost everyone will get it, symptoms or not, and develop natural immunity to it. Some will get sick, and some will die, but that's the way nature always goes.
I think by the time we get to November, COVD-19 will be done with. It will have either burnt itself out, been contained, or so many people will have already had it that it's not crippling the world any longer.
"The city of Wuhan, epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, could see zero new infections by the end of March, said a member of the central government expert group in Wuhan. Other cities in Hubei Province, which governs Wuhan, are estimated to realize that goal by around the middle of March. The estimate was made by Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a member of the central government expert group in Wuhan, when he was recently asked about China’s containment measures for COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. Data released by China’s health authority shows Wuhan recorded 126 new infections on Thursday, while all other cities in Hubei saw zero new infections. Zhang said that outside Hubei, people can take off their masks and resume normal life by the end of April. In Hubei and particularly in Wuhan, however, people will have to wait one additional month. “Zero reported new cases is not absolute. Sporadic new cases will emerge,” he said. He pointed out that at this stage, the situation remains severe as numbers of infections have jumped outside of China, and we now have to prevent imported cases." https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1181775.shtml It's going well for China, all with just quarantines and lockdowns, no immunizations and little science applied -- and it will go well for the USA, too. People will develop natural immunity to COVID-19. As always, some will get sick, and a few of the weak will die. That's nature's way.
Even in the incubator environment of the cruise ship, only 1/3rd of passengers caught the virus. On the poll question... I don't think we will shut down entire cities like China did, but if that is the question, then people would still be able to vote I suspect. Even in Wuhan, groceries and other shops stayed open. People left their homes to restock food and supplies. There is no reason we couldn't have polling locations open. We have grocery stores here already which are county polling locations. Get your food and vote! Some states might extend early-voting days, but that would be a state-by-state decision. I vote early and the polling place is usually far less crowded than a trip to the grocery store...except when I vote early at the grocery store. Even then, voting lines are short while food checkout lines are long. So, no, voting should not be postponed because of the virus.
if polls suggest that trump is winning, then the dems will scream bloody murder & demand a recall and/or postponement of the election... it's how they roll...
This is bizarre, it’s very similar to a flu virus and can’t survive the warm season, just like various other viruses before it that killed like 1,000 times as many people without this level of panic.
left, right, center. Doesn't matter. Keep the vote date. Make early voting or vote by mail easier if human to human contact is still a concern.
moderpaladin, how did you come up with some of the choices in this poll? I mean really, "If elections are postponed it is because Trump is a dictator?"
Politics has become a flipping circus in this country. Regardless who is selected by the Electoral College, said person will be POTUS, meaning OUR PRESIDENT; the President of the ENTIRE country!
And if Trump loses he will demand a recount because of all the voter fraud. He'll not get it but will still refuse to leave