海角大神

Dear reader:

It鈥檚 becoming clearer by the day that the coronavirus crisis has completely upended the 2020 election.

I鈥檓 not talking about the politics, though that鈥檚 also been scrambled. I mean the process of getting to November 鈥� the conventions, the fundraising, the campaigning, and perhaps the logistics of voting itself.

Joe Biden made this clear on Tuesday when he cast doubt on whether the Democrats would hold their quadrennial convention in Milwaukee in July. All those people crammed into an arena, wearing Uncle Sam hats and cheering?

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to envision that,鈥� Mr. Biden told Brian Williams of MSNBC.

It鈥檚 a bit easier to envision the Republican convention going on, since it isn鈥檛 scheduled until the last week in August, in Charlotte. And President Donald Trump does love the visual pop of a big raucous crowd.

But what about Mr. Trump鈥檚 rallies? They鈥檙e the opposite of social distancing. It could be mid-summer before they seem like a good idea. Basic door-to-door campaigning for lower-level officials seems out of the question for now, too.

Enter Zoom. Virtual campaigning, with an on-screen candidate hosting a 鈥渃rowd鈥� gathered around laptops, may be the wave of the next few months. The Biden campaign has already converted some previously scheduled speeches into virtual events. Down-ballot candidates will certainly follow.

The technology is cheap and eliminates the wear and tear of travel. Virtual campaigning may persist in politics even after the pandemic ebbs.

鈥淵ou may be seeing how the future looks,鈥� GOP consultant Rick Wilson聽.

As for voting, that鈥檚 already been affected, as at least 14 states and Puerto Rico have postponed primaries. It鈥檚 quite possible that in coming months more states will allow more voters to opt for mail-in ballots. They might also lengthen or encourage early voting, allowing lines to spread out or shorten for an election whose turnout has long been projected to be possibly record-breaking.

Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at聽csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.