US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: TRUMP Vs BIDEN

The 2020 Presidential election in the United States is going to take place amid the global
pandemic. The election is scheduled for Nov 3, 2020. It will be 59 th quadrennial Presidential
election in the US. Firstly voters will select presidential electors, who in turn will vote on Dec
14, 2020 to elect a new President or re-elect Donald Trump. Winner of the 2020 Presidential
election in the US is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan 20, 2021. Both the Presidential
candidates are nowadays in limelight with their every new statement. The Presidential
election in the US has always had its impact throughout the world and hence every country is
quite interested in the upcoming US elections.

On 11th Aug, Democratic nominee and Former Vice-President Joe Biden announced
California senator Kamala Harris, whose mother is from south India, as his Vice-Presidential
running mate for the 2020 Presidential election. Kamala Harris will be the first black woman
and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for the national office by a major party.
She is also the fourth woman in the history to be chosen for on a major party’s Presidential
ticket. She is a 55 years old lady who was born in Oakland, California. Harris is a former
attorney general of California and a former San Francisco district attorney. Harris tweeted
after the announcement by Biden that she is honoured to join Biden as nominee for the post
of Vice-President. This decision of Joe Biden is surprising for many leaders. President of US
Donald Trump called Kamala Harris the most horrible member of the US Senate and also
said that he is surprised that Joe Biden selected her as Vice-Presidential candidate. US former
President Barack Obama supported the decision of Joe Biden and the nomination of senator
Kamala Harris as Vice-President Candidate for Democratic Party. Obama in his tweet said
that she is more than prepared for the job and it is a good day for our country. He also said
that Harris has spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a
fair share. He called Harris “an ideal partner to help Biden tackle the very real challenges
America faces right now and in the years ahead.” Many prominent Democratic leaders
including House speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Bill Clinton in their tweet
supported the decision and called it a terrific choice.

Recently on 30th July for the first time, Trump openly floated the idea of postponing the
Presidential election which is scheduled to be held in November this year citing irregularities
in the mail-in vote. The suggestion of the President was immediately criticized by the leaders
of the opposition Democratic Party. He even failed to gain support from his own Republican
Party also. Then Donald Trump quickly walked back on his suggestion to delay November’s
Presidential election. He said that he does not want delay in the election. Senate Judiciary
Chairman Lindsey Graham reacting to the Trump’s suggestion about delay said to CNN that
‘I don’t think that’s a particularly good idea’. It is evident that Trump is getting very strong
challenge from Joe Biden in the election campaign. Trump seeks second consecutive term as
President of US but according to major national opinion polls Joe Biden has double digit lead
over Donald Trump.

According to the recent CBS poll tracker findings, voters in the state of Wisconsin and
Pennsylvania think that US is doing poorly in the present time and that Biden would do a
better job than Trump in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. The poll was conducted by the
UK based market research firm YouGov from Aug 4 to 7. The report was based on a sample
size of 1009 registered voters in the state of Wisconsin and 1225 in the state of Pennsylvania.
According to the polls report of Financial Times Joe Biden is leading from many states over
Trump. In Florida, Mr Biden leads Mr Trump by 6 percentage points. Constitutionally US
President has no power to alter the date of the Presidential election. It is evident that United
States has conducted its election during great recession and amid World wars. Hence there is
a very low possibility of alteration in the date of Presidential election in 2020. After every
four years, the Presidential election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November. The President and the Vice-President are not directly elected by the citizens.
Voters choose electors who represent them in the Electoral College. President is chosen by
the electors of the Electoral College. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors.

Rajeev Ranjan @ Samacharline