China News Service, Washington, December 21st, title: America 2020: Virtual and Reality in the "Atypical" Election Year

  China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong

  The United States has experienced an unprecedented and "atypical" presidential election in 2020.

The new crown pneumonia epidemic continues to spread, and how to fight the epidemic has become the biggest political issue in the election year.

The ups and downs of the epidemic and the ups and downs of elections, the two continue to be involved and influence each other.

At the same time, it also laid the dark lines of post-election controversy.

  Virtual assembly replaces on-the-spot momentum

  The US 2020 general election agenda, after the "Super Tuesday" primary election ended in early March, broke away from the traditional script, and the "plot" suddenly turned.

The usual way of face-to-face elections between presidential candidates and voters has gradually been replaced by live video and online interaction.

  As the United States entered a "national emergency" due to the new crown epidemic, most of the election rallies related to the general election were forced to be cancelled or suspended.

After a series of adjustments such as postponement, relocation, and scale reduction, the Democratic and Republican National Congresses almost turned into online "virtual" conventions.

Even the presidential candidate debate was cancelled due to a dispute between the two teams' schedules.

  The 74-year-old US President Trump is seeking re-election, playing the "economic card" and urging to restart the economy as soon as possible to get rid of the epidemic.

He insisted on holding large-scale rallies during the epidemic. In October, he was hospitalized for treatment after being diagnosed with the new crown. He returned to the White House and couldn't wait to remove his mask.

  The 78-year-old former Vice President Biden broke the siege among a group of Democratic candidates, using the slogan "Rebuild America", hoping to win back the support of voters in the middle.

He advocates giving priority to the fight against the epidemic, wearing masks in public, and always holding campaigns through video or social distancing.

  As of the 21st, the new crown epidemic has caused 17.85 million infections and more than 310,000 deaths in the United States.

The Associated Press described the 2020 election as a “major election held in the context of a historical virus pandemic.” “It took the two presidential candidates several months to put forward very different views on the future of the United States. Enthusiasm for voting."

  Exaggerated accusations can hardly conceal the true election

  In addition to changing the format of presidential candidates, the epidemic has also changed the way voters vote.

  According to statistics from the "American Election Plan" website, about 159 million voters in the United States voted in the general election this year, with a turnout rate of 66.7%.

Among the more than 100 million votes cast in advance, more than 65.6 million were cast in the form of mailed ballots.

  As Democratic voters prefer to mail ballots, Trump repeatedly stated before the election that mailing ballots may cause election fraud.

After the general election, its team also filed lawsuits in multiple "swing states" on this ground, trying to overturn or question the election results.

However, most lawsuits were rejected by the judge or withdrawn voluntarily due to insufficient evidence.

  Julian Zelitzer, a professor of political history at Princeton University, commented that the Trump team’s lawsuit surrounding the results of the U.S. election was a “baseless random attack”.

"The United States had evenly matched presidential elections in 1800, 1876, and 2000, but the 2020 election does not fall into this category."

  Both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice have given negative remarks regarding the widespread "fraud" in the US election.

The former said, "The November 3 election is the safest election in American history."

  Although the electoral colleges of the states in the United States voted on December 14 and formally confirmed Biden's election as President of the United States with 306 votes, Trump has so far refused to admit defeat.

This also makes the 2020 election in the United States not yet over in name.

  Weak consensus reflects reality and public opinion

  The same as four years ago, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin have once again become the key states for the election results.

The difference is that after the marathon-style balloting, this year's stalemate election did not become clear until 4 days later.

  Disagreement has become a high-frequency word in American public opinion evaluating the 2020 election.

"This country has painful disagreements on the question of'what the United States is and where it should go'." "USA Today" commented after the election.

  The tearing of American society is not only manifested in the red-blue contrast between urban and rural areas. If the epidemic factor is excluded, there will also be sharp differences on "traditional" issues such as economic revitalization, climate change, and social justice.

  In the past four years, the U.S. government has taken a tough stance on immigration issues. Racial disputes and violent shootings have continued.

In May of this year, the African-American George Floyd incident caused a long-term accumulation of racial injustice to erupt, triggering protests and demonstrations across the United States.

Under the coercion of public opinion in the general election, the two parties in the United States did not carry out constructive cooperation on relevant issues, but have their own priorities to consolidate the fundamentals of the election.

The issue of race has also been quietly transformed into a dispute between law and order.

  Barbara Perry, a historian at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, lamented after the election, "Apart from the Civil War, the United States has never experienced a period of division like it is now."

  Despite the turbulent epidemic and election disputes, deep-rooted social problems in the United States have not been resolved with the end of the election.

In 2020, this "atypical" general election with only "confirmed candidates" and no "recognized losers" also reflects the current real dilemma of the United States.

  The 2020 election year in the United States will end without a full stop.

(Finish)