Florida and the Midwest are the name of the game for this upcoming election

The 2020 presidential election is right around the corner. Vice-President Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running-mate. I had suggested in another article that he choose someone from the Midwest in order to have a possible advantage in winning back Michigan and Wisconsin (both states that Trump unexpectedly won in 2016). Nevertheless, Harris is a solid choice, especially given the racial issues going on in the country right now. Harris who is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian parents brings a boost of diversity to the ticket. She also has a lot of experience and would be able to take over as President if Biden decides to step down (which could very likely happen given his age).

Keys to the Election

Florida

Florida as always, a swing state, will be very important in this election. It is the only one of the top three biggest states that isn’t solidly Republican or solidly Democrat (Texas, California). Some say that Texas is becoming a swing state, but I don’t think that will happen yet. It’s still solidly Republican and most likely will go to Trump. For Florida, Trump is going to have to maintain the coalition he built in 2016 by bringing out the conservative voters of the state in addition to the elderly vote as well as Cuban-Americans that are generally both more conservative. If he continues to paint Democrats as “radical socialists,” this might resonate with some of these voters. Biden for his part should present himself as the person most suitable to deal with the Coronavirus Pandemic. If he continues to describe Trump as someone who has failed with this pandemic he might be able to attract a lot of the older baby boomers who would usually vote for Trump but are more susceptible to the virus.

Midwest

The Midwest is going to be another deciding factor. Ohio is a swing state as always and could go either way. Michigan and Wisconsin are also considered swing states this time around after Trump won them in 2016. The beauty of winning these two states is that if you can sway enough voters in these two states, you are likely to also sway voters in Pennsylvania that has a similar electorate and is a big and crucial state. The key to the Midwest will be to appeal to working-class voters. This was the winning coalition that allowed Trump to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2016 after he made several promises to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas. If Biden can present himself as a candidate for these voters, he can be in good shape to winning back these key swing states and ultimately the election.

In conclusion, this will be a very interesting race. I would advise everyone to take the polls with a grain a salt, because as we learned in 2016, anything can happen.