Recent polls have shown difference between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of “opening up the country” during the coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) harked back to Trump calling the coronavirus a “hoax” back when both Democrats and Republicans doubted that the Wuhan-based epidemic would spread to the U.S. let alone the world. Pelosi reveals as clear as day the coronvirus has because the cause célèbre for Democrats heading into the November election. Most polls show Trump doing a good job managing the coronavirus crisis, prompting Democrats to change the narrative. But no matter how Democrats wish to use the epidemic for politics, you’d think that unemployed Democrat have the same incentive as Republicans to go back to work, considering the U.S. Gross Domestic Product [GDP] affects everyone the same.
Accounting for differences in polls, where Democrats favor “shelter in place” orders by some 20% more than Republicans, it can only be accounted for by Democrat Party propaganda during the crisis. Most strategists believe that a weak economy helps the opposing party, something Democrats could only pray for heading into November’s election. If they have any chance of ousting the incumbent, the SARS CoV-2 crisis is the perfect storm since most people think the current U.S. recession, declining GDP, will continue for the remainder of 2020. Trump’s caught in the sticky wicket, not knowing how to get the economy functioning again. Protests erupted around the country, demanding that ordinary citizens be allowed to return to work. Pelosi called the protests a “distraction,” siding with medical authorities who prefer to keep businesses shuttered until the conronavirus epidemic weakens.
Trump antagonized his critics tweeting, “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA!” drawing ire from Democrat governors, especially Mich. Gov. Gretchen Witmer who’s had her run-ins with Trump. It’s no accident that Michigan becomes one of the key battleground states in the 2020 Presidential Election. Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, helping him secure the Electoral College victory Nov. 4, 2016. Trump tweeted that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining,’” something that drew fury from Cuomo. Cumos said Trump “hasn’t done anything” for New York, even though he acknowledged Trump got New York more federal relief that any other state. Cuomo acknowledged April 18, that New York had turned the corner with less hospitalizations and deaths.
Cuomo said while the numbers show improvements, New Yorkers are dying in record numbers and nursing homes, with hospital admissions still seeing more cases of SARS CoV-2. “We are not at a point when we are going to be reopening anything immediately,” Cuomo said, resisting new federal guidelines for reopening parts of the country. Rallying in Austin, Texas, several-hundred protesters demanded that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reopen the state to business. “Let us work,” chanted protesters, where more that 1 million filed for unemployment benefits. Protests in Indiana carrying American flags saw a few hundred protesters demanding that Gov. Eric Holcomb let them work. Protesters in New Hampshire also demanded that Gov. Chris Sununu open up the state for workers. Public officials insist that more testing and contact tracing must be done before states can open up.
Protests broke out in major cities in Brazil, also demanding that strict “shelter in place” orders be lifted, allowing people to return to work. Democrats haven’t yet blamed Trump for protests in Brazil, as American workers suffer even with government efforts to get cash to individuals and small businesses. When you consider that most U.S. states under “shelter in place” order have lost their tax base, you’d think that Republicans and Democrat governors would be equally anxious to get people back to work. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who predicted utter catastrophe March 19 before imposing his “shelter in place” order, resisted attempts by the White House “Cornavirus Task Force” to establish conditions for reopening the country. With one of the lowest per capita coronavirus exposures in the country, you’d think Newsom would welcome the opportunity to get Californians back to work.
Differences between Democrats and Republicans on “reopening the country” can only boil down to politics. Pelosi’s blatantly political remarks today accusing Trump of ignoring the coronavirus problem shows what Democrats’ plan to do to get 77-yar-old presumptive Democrat nominee former Vice President Joe Biden elected. Keep the “shelter in place” orders in place as long as possible not to prevent citizens from getting sick but to tank the economy as much as possible before the election. There’s no other reason Democrats seek to delay reopening the country, because both parties are equally affected by SARS CoV-2 epidemic. Governors who delay reopening the country go at their own peril to states running out of cash. Washington can only do so much to save the states if they show no common sense when it comes to managing the coronavirus crisis to know when to reopen.
