Unit2Sucks said:
I think the discussions we have been having are now academic. If the country is able to successfully negotiate its way through the COVID19 outbreak, Trump skates to victory. If we have significant impacts (TBD on exactly what that means), Trump will be the scapegoat and Bernie will tout how M4A would have been better (Biden will point out that him not being an anti-science liar would have been better).
I think "success" will largely depend on how bad things get outside the country but I think anything in the neighborhood of 100k dead americans will be impossible for Trump to overcome. It would mean that our healthcare system was pushed far beyond the brink and potentially millions of Americans will have suffered catastrophic financial distress. The human impact plus the economic impact will be staggering. Anything less than 20k deaths will be a relief and Trump will rightfully tout how he navigated us through the worst public health crisis in the last 20 years. I hope that's what happens although it would mean 4 more years of Trump.
I said almost 5 months ago that the election would be decided based on how people feel about Trump's response to COVID and unsurprisingly and unfortunately we know how that has turned out.
Still possible that it just disappears like Cal88 says will happen in August but I think that it's too late at this point to lead Trump to victory.