What we all needed was what we got: a final 2020 presidential debate where the issues spoke louder than the candidates. As COVID-19 begins to surge again across the country, a panel of essential workers joined me to breakdown the very personal issue that is this pandemic -- and offer their thoughts on President Trump and former VP Biden’s very distinct perceptions of how it will continue to unfold. Because having an understanding of what is happening now, is essential to mounting a successful response moving forward.
For Anadell Murray, a retired police officer who is married to an undercover officer, the pandemic is something she thinks about every time her husband leaves home to interact with citizens on the streets. With all of that on the line, Murray puts her stock in President Trump’s timeline and assessment of vaccine development.
“With the therapeutics and the vaccines that are going to be released shortly, I have to believe that President Trump is going to get us out of the situation that we’re facing right now with the virus,” she said, adding that she feels the mortality rate is low enough that we can reopen safely.
But for school teacher Benin Lemus, it was former VP Biden’s more measured approach to reopening that made most sense, eager as she is to get back to school.
“Nobody wants to be back at work more than I do,” Lemus said. “I miss the students, I miss the library, I miss the parents, I miss my colleagues. But the reality is that students do get sick, and teachers will get sick, and it’s a small price to pay if we do what we need to do now, and then in five, six, seven months, we can come back.”
No matter the timing for reopening, a successful comeback for this country will require us to solve the riddle of health care in America — and Trump and Biden shared differing views on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as it stands right now. Trump spoke triumphantly about cutting the ACA’s individual mandate (which assessed a tax penalty for individuals not enrolled in health care) and promised replacing Obamacare with a “brand new, beautiful health care” — while Biden spoke about expanding on Obamacare in a new plan called — wait for it — Bidencare!
While we wait to see how Joe’s good friend Barack feels about that re-brand, epidemiologist Dr. Jerry Abraham offered his first-hand medical perspective on the ACA’s impact.
“I think the individual mandate is still an issue that is critical in this country — everybody needs access and coverage when it comes to health care,” Dr. Jerry said. “I also think the debate they had over pre-existing conditions is critical. We can’t afford to have patients who have pre-existing conditions lose access to their doctors, to their health care workers, their health care.”
And this talk about health care became a vehicle for President Trump to level one of his ongoing attacks — that Biden is a sort of “Trojan horse” for the radical left, and that he would socialize medical care — which has Trump supporter and law enforcement officer Rich Joaquin, very concerned.
“The last thing we need is socialized medicine, we do not need that,” Joaquin said. “This is a capitalist country, and the last thing we need is another government run program.”
Despite the disagreements that came through in this voter panel, these four Southern Californians do share something in common: Annadel, Jerry, Benin, and Rich aren’t just essential workers. They’re also informed and passionate voters, and as such, essential to our democracy.