Close Presidential Race Doesn’t Surprise Political Science Profs
Nov. 6--ANDERSON -- The 2020 presidential election saw millions of new voters, historic turnout and a razor-thin margin, which means it could still be some time before we know who won.
"I figured it was going to be a close race, I didn't anticipate 67% national turnout, and I didn't expect that being the result of a really strong Republican turnout in 2020," said Michael Frank, a professor of political science at Anderson University.
Aaron Dusso, chair of political science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, or IUPUI, attributes the Republican turnout to President Donald Trump's ability to energize his base.
"Most politicians would love to have that ability, to energize a base, and get them to come out and vote for him," Dusso said.
The IUPUI associate professor said he was expecting a close race between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden and was amazed both sides seemed to split millions of new voters.
"We're going to have historic turnout this time and yet, here we are, still just as divided. It's not one side that turns out more than the other, it's been both sides gain one vote each," he said. "It's been amazing."
Looking at a red and blue electoral map shows a clear divide in the country between rural and urban areas.
"It doesn't have to be that way. There's no reason why Democrats can't appeal to rural areas and Republicans can't appeal to urban areas," Dusso said.
"One factor in that is that, once campaigns and parties learn where their voters are, they tend to focus on them," he said, "and so there's this feedback loop that happens."
The Trump campaign has launched several legal challenges -- before the election on voter access and now over the vote count.
"I think it's a function of not only the closeness of this election, but a function of how competitive our national politics has been over the last handful of years," said Frank.
"I haven't counted the number of cases, but I think this is the most litigated presidential election that we're going to see," he said.
Follow Don Knight on Twitter
@donwknight, or call
765-622-1212, ext. 204567.
___
(c)2020 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.)
Visit The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.) at www.theheraldbulletin.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Top Asian News 12:24 p.m. GMT
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News