Democratic strategist James Carville (also known as the “Ragin’ Cajun”) isn’t only a highly respected political consultant, but he’s also an LSU alumni. As a former campaign manager to Bill Clinton in the 1990s, Carville provided some of his insights on the deciding factors for the 2020 presidential election.

COVID-19

“I profoundly disagree with his [President Donald Trump’s] handling of COVID-19,” Carville said.

President Donald Trump has been at the center of several contentious issues during his term, motivating the nation to vote, whether that be for or against him. From a pandemic taking the lives of more than 225,000 to dealing with a tumultuous and volatile economy, 2020 has prompted many first-time voters to head to the polls.

For some, the handling of COVID-19 will be the most important issue in deciding who to vote for. For others, the effect of the virus on the economy may overshadow those concerns.

The economy

A large number of people lost their jobs and faced eviction following the economic shutdown in March– in Louisiana alone, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 14.5% in April, and has only gained about half of those jobs back since. People are reeling from the economic impact that the virus has caused, and a big part of who people are voting for consists of who will benefit them financially.

With negotiations coming to a halt regarding a COVID-19 relief bill, many people have been left questioning what they’ll do without the added aid. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asked for $2.4 trillion in relief while Trump proposed $1.6 trillion. The negotiations ended up collapsing, adding tension between the two parties’ negotiations.
“I’m pretty certain on this,” Carville said. “I don’t think he [Trump] has any idea on what he’s doing and what he wants. One day he was for stimulus checks and then the next day, he pulled out, and then the next day he wanted something bigger. He doesn’t even know what he wants.”

Since Trump has pushed for the economy to open up, this has also given some people the false assumption that the virus has been taken care of when it hasn’t. As medical professionals beg the general public to heed their advice, Trump has pushed for reopening the economy, endangering more people.

Voting and mail-in ballots

Due to the risk this virus presents to the American people, many people have begun to question whether they should vote by mail or not. Absentee and mail-in voting has been a controversial topic ever since Trump condemned it.

Trump tweeted the eve of election day that a recent decision by the US Supreme Court to allow Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day would lead to widespread election fraud and violence, according to Business Insider. The tweet was later hidden by Twitter for violating guidelines on misinformation.

“You know, the thing is, no one has any experience with anything like this because we’ve never seen this before,” Carville said. “If I were seeing this many republicans show up early, it would probably trouble me.”

Now, Trump has stalled on his announcement as to whether he’ll accept a peaceful transfer of power or not and this has many people considering whether that plays a threat to the future of American democracy.

“I think that the margin will be sufficient to make it very difficult for him to question the results of the election,” Carville said.

Although record numbers are expected to turn out to the polls, Trump has still been skeptical of the fairness of this election due to mail-in voting, which he believes could lead to fraud and collusion.

“I think the entire election is about Trump,” Carville said. “I think he dominates people’s thinking. I think this is not a particularly complicated election.”

Fake news

A lot of questioning has been cast upon what to believe these days. With technology and social media platforms evolving everyday, it has allowed a plethora of fake and malicious posts to disperse around the web. This has many people skeptical about what sources to trust and why; Carville said the answer may be unfindable.

“I guess it depends on who you are,” Carville said. “Some people trust QAnon, right? Is there any universally accepted or trusted source of news? I don’t think so.”

Could Louisiana flip from red to blue?

States like Georgia and Texas are shifting from their solid red status– for years, Georgia has been a republican state for years, but an influx of newly registered black voters in the state could shift its status, according to NBC. In 2018, Texas came just inches away from voting in a democratic senator and replacing Republican senator Ted Cruz. These shifting tides beg that question– is there a chance for Louisiana to flip too?

“It’s unlikely, but it’s a lot closer than most people think,” he said.

Louisiana, similar to Georgia and Texas, has had a long history of being Republican since the 1960s. Carville said that though it is improbable, it is one of the closer calls than in previous years.

One of the contributors to these possible party switches within each state is the historically high voter turnout expected from this election, likely caused by the turbulence within the political arena for 2020.

Carville said he looks forward to the outcomes nonetheless.

“I’m kind’ve optimistic about the future,” Carville said.