Go back 4 months and it's still unclear who might have won this election. As it stands, there was no blue wave, Dem lost seats in the house, are trying extremely hard to win senate seats ( no republican has ever lost runoff in Georgia - as its stand 48 to Dem and 50 to Rep ) Republicans picks up state legislatures seats, and have tightened their grip on many other places around the USA, No one expected that.
Even in swing states Joe has only won those by 50'000 to 75'000 votes combined, ( he did what trump did last time and go to place that have never voted for the other side in 30 years)
Ohio went for trump and its the first time since 1960 that Ohio has not voted for the person that wins the presidency ( in 1960 that was also when the US got its 1st catholic president) florida hasn't done this since 1992, and trump won majority there as well.
It's a Very strange election, once people start looking at all the states, It's clear people liked Trump/Republicans policies, but just hate that man, while at the same time there's just no enthusiasm for Joe. Is it possible if Trump had toned it down a little he would have been back in for 4 more years?
The margin wasn't big for a country with America's population. The Democrats should be concerned about the prospect of better Republican candidate standing against them in 2024. Marco Rubio would be very dangerous for instance. The right candidate could purge the Republican party of the most toxic elements of Trumps agenda but keep the nationalist element. The Democrats have won the opportunity of four years to sort themselves and workout how to broaden their support. Biden is a transitional figure who realistically isn't going to run in 2024. They need to work out what they transiting to. Hopefully Biden can work with Harris to have a clear platform for her to win nomination and then the presidency.
Rubio isn't good enough for 2024 and nor is half the old guard, They are hated from the view point of the new supporters. They need someone who isn't linked to the old guard, that's the tricky part, you need someone that can keep the current support while only picking up another 100'000 votes in the swing states. There is a few Trump-esk people around who can keep their mouths shut. With the Democrats will ... joe and harris have bigger problems because the people on the left will be pushing big time for certain policies.
I will see if I can dig out the link and post it here shortly.
I personally would have done anything to vote Trump out however I would have found it extremely off-putting to vote for anyone who supports lockdowns. So I can absolutely see how the pandemic resulted in more votes for Trump.
Conversely I think the opposite would have been the case of the election was held (say) four months ago.
I dont believe any president is able to put in a national lockdown as that would override the states,
The president has said such an event is "pretty unlikely," but does he have the authority?
www.cbsnews.com
It would seem no one can agree if joe said he would do it, so it possible people voting because of a lockdown could will be minimal.
Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.
uk.reuters.com
Biden’s comments represent the strongest potential action the Democratic presidential nominee has proposed to stanch the spread of the virus.
www.politico.com
Mind you Neither side are following the rules with all these mass public gatherings etc Trump people at his rallies, the democrats out in the streets dancing and popping champagne.
I have read that some members of Biden's team really hate Boris Johnson, mostly because of what he said about Obama in the past and also his Trump support. Should make 2021 interesting.
Just give them this clip, mind you boris did the same, he saw an issues run with it and got in,.