Monmouth College Political Science Lecturer Robin Johnson who also hosts a radio show featuring political candidates on KBUR in Burlington says the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the 2020 elections thus far:
“It involves handshakes, knocking on doors, getting close to people. For local races, going door to door now is really kind of frowned upon. Right now I think some campaigns are starting to do that a little more with precautions in place, for instance gloves and masks. President Trump made use of rallies very effective in 2016 when he ran. I went to one in Burlington and took some students. That has limited his abilities here to gather large crowds together which really used to generate excitement in volunteers. It has had an important impact and as we are loosening up, I mean large event certainly, I don’t see those regulations changing or suggestions changing much,” Johnson reports.
Johnson says we could potentially see more early voting with less crowds or mailing in absentee ballots for the 2020 general election.
Meanwhile, Johnson said another serious concern is false or fake news circulating. He’s very concerned about this type of false content:
“This has been an ongoing concern, but it has magnified now. When you think about it, just in this year, we have had the worst health care crisis in this country since the great flu of 1918. We’ve had the worst economic conditions now since 1933. We’ve had the worst civil unrest after the George Floyd murder by police in Minneapolis since 1968. All in one year. A somebody who gets on social media quite regularly, the false information that is put out is just appalling. We are dependent on educated citizens and it makes it harder for even somebody like me,” states Johnson.
Johnson says it will be up to organizations like Monmouth College to help emphasize the importance of leadership in all organizations to help stop the spread of false information in the future.
