# A coronavirus pandemic provides a HUGE opportunity for Democrats **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 28, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630 "2020-02-28T02:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/81 "2020-03-01T15:36:05Z")
The same “luck of the draw” affects the “upcoming pandemic”. Not only do we not know if the cat is dead or not, we don’t even know that its still a cat! Viruses like the current frightener mutate, it may mutate into a minor annoyance, disappear entirely, or ravage global populations. So, what if Trump is “right”? What if it erases itself, and permits a grateful nation to adore Trump, who turned away the monster? Of course, he has no more control over that than you or I, but I very much doubt that would stop him from saying it, or even _believing_ it! Or suppose Dear Leader attends a national prayer session lead by Archbishop Pence and infections/deaths increase exponentially? You need not feel guilty about having a preference, it doesn’t make any difference anyway… ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/82 "2020-03-01T16:14:18Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > The upcoming pandemic benefits Tramp, not any Dem challenger. Watch the White House focus any relief efforts on red states while denying aid to blue states. At that level, it’s massive votive suppression… Nitpick: Assuming Ds and Rs are equally affected, suppressing turnout in one state _ **has no effect on elections!** _ (This is an advantage of the electoral college system over popular vote.) Of course, the GOP can use a health emergency to manipulate the election in other ways: making voting difficult in swing states works for the GOP, especially if blue precincts are specifically targeted (as the GOP has done in past elections). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/83 "2020-03-01T16:17:52Z")
I expect them to be _very_ concerned about high-density urban population centers. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/84 "2020-03-01T18:08:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > While we’re at it, let’s root for a recession too. We can recover from a recession. We have numerous times in the past. The same can’t necessarily be said about a second Trump (not to mention the spectre of a third Trump administration). I’m fine with a recession if it affects Trump’s odds of reelection. Openly rooting for one in fact to hurt his odds. Long term the US will be better off. I won’t say the same about a pandemic, but only because of the lives it could take. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/85 "2020-03-01T21:50:44Z")
I think it benefits Democrats in another, important way. The Democratic candidates and the DNC have made healthcare the signature issue of this election. It’s an important issue but I think everyone’s been focusing a little too intently on it. Healthy people sometimes don’t think overly much about their healthcare situation and what they will do if they get sick. But the threat of a pandemic will get them thinking and engaged on the subject. Of course, if it does end up blowing over without much in the way of consequence, Trump will take a huge victory lap, even if his administration’s response was abysmal. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/86 "2020-03-01T23:43:56Z")
Here’s something I probably wouldn’t say on Twitter but seems safe enough here. There has already been a death and a stock market crash, and it strikes me as unlikely that this will be the extent of it even if it ends up being much milder than I expect it to be. I was reading in the New York Times that with modern “just in time” inventory management, the supply shocks from shutdowns in Chinese factories are unprecedented and cannot be managed with monetary action, because those operate on the demand side and this is a supply side issue. But even if it is mild in absolute, rational, statistical terms, people will start to be afraid to travel and go out to restaurants, and that will cause demand side problems too, even if they get a tax cut. So although I don’t believe Trump has managed this well at all, it partly may end up being bad luck for him and I can live with that. He is a dark stain on this country‘s history, and if some bad luck bounces his way, cry me a river. BTW, Bill Maher was singing this tune Friday night. His outlook has shifted radically from the previous show where he seemed very depressed and expecting a Trump reelection. Now he is kind of taunting the Republican guest that “your boy is not going to escape this one”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/87 "2020-03-02T00:32:59Z")
Before you use this crisis to promote Medicare for All, you might want to wait and see how the health systems in Canada, the UK, and other places with single payer do. Canada hasn’t really been affected yet, but from what I’m hearing about the NHS, it’s already having problems. When asking people to compare systems, you’d better first make sure the comparison helps your case. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/88 "2020-03-02T00:39:46Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Before you use this crisis to promote Medicare for All, you might want to wait and see how the health systems in Canada, the UK, and other places with single payer do. Canada hasn’t really been affected yet, . . . Given that Toronto area hospitals are seldom less than 95% occupancy even on good days, this will be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/89 "2020-03-02T00:50:25Z")
Even if Democrats aren’t cheering for a plague or a recession, that won’t stop Trump from claiming that they are. Trump will use this to stoke outrage among his base. This is how political crises are made. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/90 "2020-03-02T01:01:42Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Even if Democrats aren’t cheering for a plague or a recession, that won’t stop Trump from claiming that they are. Trump will use this to stoke outrage among his base. > > This is how political crises are made. Gleefully, ghoulish threads like this would make his job easier if they were more widely read. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/91 "2020-03-02T01:08:31Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Gleefully, ghoulish threads like this would make his job easier if they were more widely read. Looks like [Pence must have read it](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/coronavirus-mike-pence-donald-trump-jr-democrats-millions-die), eh? ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/92 "2020-03-02T01:51:14Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Looks like [Pence must have read it](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/coronavirus-mike-pence-donald-trump-jr-democrats-millions-die), eh? I seriously doubt that Pence would read a blog. He could accidentally read a woman’s post. THE HORROR! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/93 "2020-03-02T03:06:03Z")
Sure, Trump will use this to stoke resentment among his base. But it’s not his base we need to concern ourselves with. It’s the longtime Republicans who held their nose and voted for him and find he makes them more and more queasy with every passing day, but aren’t completely sure they can bring themselves to vote Democratic, especially since their 401(k) has been doing well. (ETA: \*Had \*been doing well.) > [@KarlGauss](#): > > Looks like [Pence must have read it](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/coronavirus-mike-pence-donald-trump-jr-democrats-millions-die), eh? “Trumpvirus”, I like it! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/94 "2020-03-02T03:23:51Z")
I prefer ‘Captain Trumps’ myself, but Trumpvirus isn’t bad either. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/95 "2020-03-02T04:12:39Z")
CHuck todd let pence slide. He should not be able to say things to normalize the poison of using propaganda against medical journalism for advantage. All Todd needed to say was “We have a tradition in this country of public comment. Get off my show if you don’t like it.” Instead he’s the undertaker of democracy. He let a US official use the term “fake news” without objection too. Pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/96 "2020-03-02T04:18:02Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > It’s already happened, BTW. [Donny Jr accused Democrats of “hoping it comes here and kills millions of people.”](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/donald-trump-jr-coronavirus-democrats/index.html) I was somehow surprised to realize that, given the amount of projection that happens with the Trump administration, they clearly _do_ root for bad things to happen when Democrats are in power. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/97 "2020-03-02T04:21:10Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > “Trumpvirus”, I like it! Also known as Covfefe-19. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/98 "2020-03-02T04:38:54Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Before you use this crisis to promote Medicare for All, you might want to wait and see how the health systems in Canada, the UK, and other places with single payer do. Canada hasn’t really been affected yet, but from what I’m hearing about the NHS, it’s already having problems. > > When asking people to compare systems, you’d better first make sure the comparison helps your case. Well, clearly, a profit oriented health care system will naturally expend resources in the most economically sound manner. Fuzzy thinking liberals will naturally try to test and treat everyone, regardless. But clearly such efforts should be focused on those citizens who’s maturity and good sense is reflected in a sound credit rating and a sensible investment portfolio. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/99 "2020-03-02T05:24:53Z")
I cosign that snark, to a point–but I’d also note that we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We can patch the holes in medical coverage without starting over from scratch. Yes, I know you’d rather have something fresh, shiny, and new–but what about “reuse/recycle”? (I don’t think “reduce” applies here so much.) ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630/100 "2020-03-02T17:21:57Z")
Oh. My. God. Trump ordered the Coronavirus released from a Chinese bioweapons lab? For, uh, _consults madlibs_ voter suppression in blue states?? NO respected scientist is saying shit like this. GTFO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-coronavirus-pandemic-provides-a-huge-opportunity-for-democrats/848630.md?page=6)