Abrupt End Of Democratic Primaries Due To COVID-19

From speeches in front of thousands to the loneliness of their living rooms: the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders’ election campaigns, forcing Democratic nomination contestants to reinvent themselves in an unprecedented race at the White House.

Each in front of his library flanked by the American flag, in a dark room of their house, the favorite favourite Joe Biden, 77 years old and his rival Bernie Sanders, 78 years old, answered questions about COVID-19 this week at tables rounds broadcast live on the Internet.

Solemn speeches but also a relaxed happy hour: the two almost octogenarian candidates try all the options offered by the internet to try to remain audible.

But “right now, Biden and Sanders have no way of really being heard. The pandemic is the only story that matters, with the deterioration of the economy, “analyzes Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia.

Everything changed in a few moments, on March 10, when, suddenly, Bernie Sanders then Joe Biden announced that they were cancelling their big election night rallies planned in Ohio, on the advice of local authorities to avoid the spread. coronavirus.

Since then, the candidates have no longer given a speech in front of the crowds, the journalists following each of their trips for months have suddenly returned home, and several primaries have been postponed.

Already more present on the internet before, independent senator Bernie Sanders then occupied the online space more quickly, thanks also to his famous supporters accustomed to social networks, like the young elected representative of the Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But when a series of overwhelming victories had just installed him firmly in the status of ultra-favorite, the former vice-president Joe Biden disappeared him a few days from the front line of the campaign.

Behind the hashtag #wheresjoe, the wildest rumors then ran on Twitter, some even claiming that the former right-hand man of Barack Obama was sick.

Then Monday, its communications director Kate Bedingfield tweeted: “We spent the weekend building a television studio in the basement of Joe Biden’s home” in Wilmington, Delaware. “He doesn’t have coronavirus, but he now has a camera. So hang in there! ”

In a press conference on Wednesday, Joe Biden admitted that he had initially feared he could no longer be heard.

“But I discover that […] the new technologies are quite effective,” remarked the septuagenarian, assuring that if the big television channels had not broadcast the presentation of his plan to fight the pandemic, “3,8 millions of people “followed him online.

If I were President, here's what I would do right now:

– Use all available authorities to turn the tide on this epidemic
– Launch a task force to ensure money rapidly gets to people who need it
– Bring leaders of Congress together to build the next deal https://t.co/F14kf8MRUF

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 26, 2020

“I tremble”

This former senator for over 35 years also admitted his frustration at not being able to act more directly against the coronavirus crisis.

“Like everyone else who cares, I am stamping,” he said.

His opponent, however, is still in Congress, where he has participated in recent tough negotiations on an economic recovery plan of historic scale. And his passionate speech just before the vote went viral.

The coronavirus relief package must help working people, not large corporations. Join me for the latest update as Congress debates emergency legislation. https://t.co/8e7ckjEEms

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 25, 2020

For days, Bernie Sanders has focused his message on the coronavirus crisis and has avoided talking about his presidential campaign.

It must be said that on March 18, after further bitter defeats, his campaign announced that he was returning home to Burlington, Vermont, to “assess” his chances of being the one to face Donald Trump on November 3.

“Sanders will not be the candidate” Democrat, slice Larry Sabato. “It is too far behind and Biden is a favorite in most states that have yet to vote” and is expected to win the nomination, except “health problem or scandal”.

Meanwhile, Republican Donald Trump, who is running for a second term, is also deprived of the crowds he loves so much.

But his role as president offers him a privileged forum, which he seized with long daily press conferences on the coronavirus.

And his popularity rating goes up, pushing some to argue that the crisis could favor his re-election.

For Larry Sabato, however, “nothing can be predicted”.

“What happens is unprecedented,” he says. “What matters is the evolution of the economy and the pandemic. Both are uncertain at this stage. “