The Associated Press declared Joe Biden the victor in his native Pennsylvania on November 7th at 11:25 a.m. EST, pushing him over the 270 electoral-vote threshold and capturing him the presidency. Regardless of your political leanings, this election has created historical moments for diversity in the political system. The nation has elected its first female vice president, first openly transgender state senator, and the youngest congressman since 1965. These history-making spotlights aren’t isolated to Election Day and we can expect to see more paramount events as COVID-19 continues to have an effect on political campaigns. COVID-19 has led to the decline of in-person rallies and replaced them with virtual alternatives, creating a new environment for campaign managers to operate in. A national survey created by Digital Commerce 360 reported that 72% of the interviewees had an increase in media consumption during this pandemic, which opens up opportunities for local politicians to gain exposure and tap into key issues. I reached out to Dishary Hossain, a political field representative in the DFW area, to discuss how this pandemic will have a lasting impact on local political campaigns.
Between February 1st and October 31st, Donald Trump hosted more than 50 rallies in over two dozen states. Joe Biden, in contrast, had shunned rallies and instead held online and drive-in events. Does the transition from live rallies to virtual alternatives hurt certain candidates and what traits have been noticeable in candidates who transition well into virtual events?
Let me tell you a bit more about the company that I worked for, and why I joined it. To get my feet wet with more grassroots work, I joined a political consulting company called Grassroots Advocates. They specifically complete door-to-door canvassing projects for local conservative candidates. The candidates that I worked with were Republicans running for the Texas State House in the Dallas Fort-Worth districts, specifically.
During our canvassing efforts, we respected the COVID-19 public health measures like wearing a mask and standing 6 feet away. I noticed that we were pretty much the only ones on the field. The Democrats, at least in the districts that I worked in, purposely did not want to canvass door to door due to the pandemic and they resorted to other campaigning alternatives like phone banking or text campaigns. I believe canvassing is more effective than virtual outreach because people remember conversations vividly. If someone rings your doorbell, you’re kind of forced to interact with them and it can leave a lasting impression, whereas anyone can easily ignore a text or email. Texas was reported as a swing state before the decision came out for all the elections. A lot of the Republican incumbents that were running to keep their seats were scared because they won by narrow margins last election cycle. Certain seats were heavily contested for two reasons: Dallas has increasingly turned more “blue” due to demographic changes and frustration towards then-president Trump led to individuals wanting to vote out all republicans in office. All of the candidates that I worked for won their seats and I definitely think it’s because of the canvassing efforts.
I know Kamala Harris and Biden did a good job in their virtual events because they can be distributed through multiple channels, whether it’s through Twitter, Facebook, or other platforms. People who can’t physically attend a rally have the additional opportunities to watch them live. However, I think in terms of increasing voter turnout and voter participation, you would need to do in-person outreach.
An October 6th survey by Pew Research showed that registered voters in both parties had significant priority differences when it comes to their vote. From your interactions with local canvassers, has there been any shift in what causes local citizens care about and do you see this shift continuing post-COVID?
I do see a big shift continuing post COVID only because I think the virus has had such a big impact in every way possible politically, socially, and economically. This creates a new perspective for us as a country because (on a GDP standpoint) we are developed, but our divisive and delayed response to the pandemic shows how our federal government has been fractured for the longest time. Republicans tend to view the economy as the greatest indicator of our country’s well-being. So that was number one on their docket of things that matter the most to them. But I did talk to a few Democrats, and they prioritized healthcare and education as their top issues. There have been some concerns vocalized amongst voters about the riots that were going on during the Black Lives Matter protests. Overall, I would say that there has been a shift in what voters care about due to COVID-19. These shifts are in public safety, healthcare, economy, and education.
Joe Biden, with over 77 million votes, has reached the historical record of most votes in United States’ history. In Texas, a record-breaking 66% of registered voters casted their vote for the 2020 presidential election with 87% of these being casted early. Is there any key lessons to learn from the increased voter turnout and is there any potential strategies to keep that momentum?
I guess the biggest lesson is the crisis can be necessary for democracy to restore itself. Crisis allows people to reconsider the state of their country, which heightens the level of community involvement and awareness. A lot of people coin 2020 as the worst year ever and I think that’s a weird categorization only because we’ve had these issues since the country’s founding. We just needed to realize it through a pandemic, if that makes sense. That’s why a lot of countries, especially in Europe, were able to recover so quickly while we’re approaching a third spike. This pandemic has made people angry but I want them to stay angry. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for people to care about the political process. I hope that people realize my vote is instrumental, not only on a national standpoint, but also through local elections, because a lot of the times there’s propositions that affect our daily lives that people perceive as less important only because it’s not as sensationalized as the presidential race. Local propositions are a lot more “mundane” in comparison, so people often forget about what their local tax dollars are supporting. I hope the political momentum we’ve witnessed this year continues, particularly through a combination of grassroots field outreach and social media marketing.
