Election Day is five months from today, and with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden now released from Delaware’s stay at home order the campaign is entering a new phase with contrasts in stark relief.
Biden has been campaigning almost entirely from home for weeks, but with his home state reopening Monday the former vice president delivered remarks in Philadelphia over the death of George Floyd and plans to attend his funeral next week.
Biden’s quarantine in many ways ceded the spotlight to President Donald Trump, as Trump continued to travel and hold events at the White House in recent weeks.
The two candidates are staking out opposing stances amid the upheaval of the coronavirus and the civil unrest that’s resulted in response to Floyd’s death. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Biden has reimagined his campaign in response to the upheaval, proposing government should play a bigger role in curing America’s public health, economic and racial problems.
Meanwhile, Trump has been calling himself “president of law and order” and calling for a crackdown on demonstrations that at times have turned destructive.
As Election Day approaches, expect both men to try to distinguish themselves as best qualified to lead during a time of strife, with differences in fuller view right down to their choice of whether to appear publicly in a face mask or not.