CALD Participates in US Elections Briefing

What do we know, and what are the uncertainties that remain, about the US elections?

These questions framed the briefing on US elections that more than twenty representatives of CALD member-parties participated in last 23 October 2020.  The briefing was facilitated by GQR, a global consultancy on opinion research, strategy and communications with experience in over 90 countries for the past 40 years.

Washington veteran Dr. Jeremy Rosner, GQR Managing Partner, conducted the briefing, and he described the 2020 US elections as marked by “unprecedented COVID campaign.”  In contrast to previous electoral contests which were dominated by the economy, wars and scandals, the upcoming elections, unsurprisingly, are revolving on pandemic issues.  Another characteristic that differentiates the 2020 elections is the massive shift to online campaigning, which has been accompanied by equally massive disinformation efforts.

Dr. Rosner then proceeded identifying the aspects of the November 3 elections that observers and analysts know “for sure”, and those that are “very likely” and “fairly likely” to happen. He also informed the CALD participants about the bigger questions that come after the elections, such as: 1) When will the election outcome be clear?; 2) How does Trump exit, and what is the future direction of the GOP?; 3) If Democrats regain control, how will they play power politics?; and 4) Is there any likelihood of stopping America’s steady partisan polarization?

The briefing ended with a discussion of the implications for US policy, and Dr. Rosner argued that in terms of foreign policy, a Biden presidency will: return to more traditional cooperation; focus more on human rights and democracy; be more anti-Russian; and be still skeptical of China. An open forum then followed, where questions on US electoral college reform, Hong Kong policy, among others, were raised.

The stakes are high these US elections, and like the rest of the world, Asia waits with bated breath for November 3 and its aftermath.