PRESIDENT TRUMP, JOE BIDEN, COVID AND OTHER CAMPAIGN ISSUES

As the 2020 election enters the home stretch I have a few observations.

1. Biden’s campaign strategy of confining himself to his basement is beginning to backfire. In my opinion, at first, it made sense as he was able to avoid non-scripted speeches and random questions that would have exposed his cognitive weaknesses. Also, COVID concerns gave him a plausible excuse. As long as he was maintaining a comfortable lead in the polls there was no reason to campaign actively. As I wrote in a previous blog, so-called “porch politicking” had been successful for other presidential candidates in the past, such as James A. Garfield and Calvin Coolidge, but that was 100 or more years ago, and the country is very different now.
2. As the race has tightened Biden has been forced to engage in real campaigning, and it has not gone well for him. His speeches have been lackluster; he has been drawing sparse, unenthusiastic crowds; and he still has not demonstrated an ability to answer unscripted questions. On the other hand, President Trump’s crowds have been sizeable and very enthusiastic, and he routinely answers difficult and hostile questions. One cannot help but notice the contrast.
3. As I have discussed in previous blogs the Dems are on the wrong side of most issues, such as law and order and the economy. Most of them have refused to condemn the rioters, and many of them have openly expressed support for them. Pre-COVID, Mr. Trump built the best economy the country has ever had, and most people have confidence he can do it again.
4. They have been having some success with portraying Mr. Trump as a “racist.” Many Trump-haters and far left Dems agree with that characterization. However, they have been levelling this accusation for four years now. During all that time they have been unable to support this accusation with hard proof and examples, and voters are beginning to recognize it for what it is – baseless, and a desperate argument one makes when he doesn’t have facts or logic on his side.
5. The Dems have had the most success in portraying Mr. Trump’s response to the CV as slow and inadequate. According to the latest Hill-HarrisX poll, which was conducted from 9/18 – 9/21, only 45% of Americans approve of his performance with respect to COVID. Why is his approval rating so low? I’m not sure, but, perhaps, the volume of false and exaggerated criticism from his various critics has taken its toll. In any event, perhaps a review of the COVID timeline would help clarify matters. Perhaps, it will help expose Biden and other critics for the second-guessers and disingenuous liars they are.

a. January 9, 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed the appearance of a “mysterious” virus originating in Wuhan Province, China. This was the first inkling Americans had of its existence. Very little was known about the CV, including its origin, virulence, degree of contagion, and how to treat it.

b. January 21 – The CDC confirmed the first US case.

c. January 31 – WHO declared a global health emergency.

d. February 2 – President Trump issued a travel ban with respect to travel from China. A couple of days later he expanded the ban to include several European countries. You may recall he was vilified in the media and elsewhere. Even most of his advisors thought it was unnecessary. As it turned out, this action saved many lives, according to some estimates as many as 1 million or more.

e. What were the Dems doing at this time? They were focused on impeaching Mr. Trump. Many people, including me, denigrated it as a “fool’s errand” and a distraction. How right we were!

f. Joe Biden ridiculed the travel bans, calling Mr. Trump a “racist and “xenophobic.” Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo and Bill De Blasio, among others, were “pooh poohing” any dangers and urging people to come to their cities to enjoy and to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

g. As the year went on and the CV pandemic got worse Mr. Trump provided strong support to various state governors as needed including masks, ventilators, testing equipment and even hospital ships to handle any overflow of CV patients. Many states were ill prepared to fight the pandemic. Even the Federal government had inadequate medical supplies, but that was the fault of the Obama-Biden administration, not Mr. Trump. Many governors have been effusive in their praise for his assistance. Others have played the “blame game.”

h. He has cajoled private businesses into providing the above mentioned needed equipment.

i. Most importantly, he has gotten various drug manufacturers to fast-track the development of a vaccine, a few of which are now in final trials. A safe, viable vaccine might be ready as early as the end of the year. Many medical experts have praised this quick turnaround.

j. Yes, some 200,000 Americans have died, and that is tragic. But, it is now apparent that were it not for Trump’s quick decisive actions many more would have.

k. Through their use of revisionist history Biden and the Dems have managed to convince the public that Trump is culpable, but it was they who were late to address it. I would like to know what they would have done differently at the time. None of them has told us yet.

CONCLUSION

I give points to the Dems for the political effectiveness of their “blame Trump for COVID” campaign. However, as I have demonstrated, it is a false narrative. In my view, it is doing the country a grave disservice.

As I said, Biden and company have not explained what they would have done differently. Moreover, it’s not as though they made recommendations at the time that were ignored. Remember, for the first several months there was much contradictory and false information being disseminated from the medical experts, from WHO and, most of all, from China. In reality, no one understood the CV, its virulence and level of contagion and how to treat it. The real villain in this debacle is China, not Trump, but Biden is in China’s pocket, and, therefore, will not criticize it.

Hopefully, the public will wake up to the real facts regarding Trump’s response to COVID. Perhaps, they will come to light during the debates.