Category: 2020 Presidential Election

Free and Fair Elections? How with Covid19

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Free and fair presidential elections with COVID just seems like an impossible task with all of the data that needs to be collected manually, sorted, and then validated. With the presidential election only weeks away and COVID proving to be as resilient as predicted, how are mail-in votes of this volume going to be counted? We are estimating between seventy-five million to ninety million mail-in votes. Forget about the postal issues, and just think about what it takes to manually count that many votes!

I am totally an optimist as life has already proven to be a “very positive” experience. But, no matter how I try to resolve this effort, I just do not see it happening the way a Democracy would want it to happen. I still can not wrap my head around how in a COVID world we are going to pull this off. The country is so polarized, to begin with, that you can lose a friend you had for a lifetime over a conflicting political opinion, never mind if a vote counts or shouldn’t! I mean if you want to start the grand debate of all time, disagree with what votes should count and which ones shouldn’t. Now multiply that scenario tens of millions of times. If Biden wins I guarantee you that we will hear these concerns

Sal Ferro: 2020 Presidential Debate and Election

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John: I am talking with Sal Ferro so that we can get his thoughts on the breaking news that we’re getting out of the White House, President Trump and his wife First Lady, Melania Trump, have both contracted the Coronavirus. Sal, what do you think about this news and how do you think it’s going to affect the upcoming election?

Sal: Well first and foremost, I would certainly like to say that I hope the two of them recover fully. We don’t wish any harm on anybody. I think our country should be hoping that are President and his family are safe and get through this. 

As far as the election, I think you can look at it in two ways; some people will sympathize with Trump and then you’re going to have a lot of people who will just wish him ill. Unfortunately, you already are seeing this online. It’s just going to further put a divide between the far-left and far-right and the conspiracy theorists and all that other stuff. It’s simply that somebody got COVID. Many people that I know have contracted COVID and they didn’t mean to get it. 

John: I’m pretty sure I had it myself earlier this year.

Sal: Right, you didn’t get it on purpose. COVID is a reality and how severe it is up to interpretation. According to scientists, it is a serious issue. Right now our President needs to quarantine and the people who do support Trump will support him even more now and people who hate Trump will continue to hate him.

Mike Gomes from Lifeguard To Fashion Model

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I first hopped on the stand three summers ago, the lifeguard stand that is, unaware and nervous of when I would have to make my first save. I had spent the previous two weeks receiving the proper training and obtaining the certifications necessary to become a lifeguard. Despite all the hours of testing, countless laps, and many rescues I made throughout my weeks of training, why was I still nervous when I went up on the stand for the first time? 

The last two words of that question are the most important, first time. No matter what anyone strives to be or achieve, doing something for the first time is always scary. Whether it be riding a bike, the first day at a new job (in my case) or going on a roller coaster, doing something new for the first time is bound to make anybody nervous. 

As I sat on the lifeguard stand in my expensive bathing suit, with my sunglasses over my face and my red whistle in my mouth, I’m sure I looked calm, cool and collected on the outside. However, on the inside, I was a nervous wreck. I mean sure, I had done drills and made practice saves over and over again for the past 14 days, but if ever and whenever the time actually came, could I do my job? 

Zabbia on the 2020 Presidential Debate Results

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The way I see it, our country is divided into three groups.  There are the die-hard Democrats, the die-hard Republicans, and then the undecided or swing voters. Since the Bush/Gore election, our country has become increasingly polarized.  It really began with Clinton and the impeachment and both sides sticking to their guns, but the contested election is what got us to where we are today.

Going into the debate, I made a comment that if Biden fumbles his way through the debate, this is all over. The swing voters will be uncomfortable with a President who has questionable stamina and the ability to think on his feet. If you use the fact that Joe Biden didn’t completely stumble, then he came out ahead. Like the experienced politician that he is, Biden didn’t answer the questions that he didn’t want to and instead spoke directly to the audience.  

Trump was Trump. He was direct, disregarded the moderator, and went after Joe Biden directly.  In some cases, he was debating both the moderator and his opponent, and never showed a sweat.  He relied on his record, avoided answering a few of the questions that he didn’t want to address, and was in full-on attack mode.  Some polls show that this was a good tactic for some audiences.