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In this episode we discuss the business of conducting polls in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic before reviewing some recent polls on President Trump’s handling of the crisis. We then discuss the government response at both the federal and state level, covering everything from the stimulus package being debated in Congress to local stay-at-home orders here in Colorado. Segment 1: To Poll or Not to Poll? In a typical election year, our political and government clients would be planning on fielding surveys to plan for November. This is not shaping up to be a typical election year. So what are the drawbacks to polling during the coronavirus pandemic? At what point is just regular old issue or campaign polling ok? Are there any actual benefits for the polling industry? Segment 2: A Review of Recent Polling A new round of recent polls show a bump for President Trump’s job approval, whether the question is general or specifically related to his response to COVID-19. Gallup shows a bump even among Democrats and Independents. In a Monmouth poll, 50% of respondents think the president is doing a good job, though that lags behind “your state’s governor” at 72% and health agencies in the federal government at 65%. Still, the truth is that it’s probably too soon to make any judgments about how the crisis will affect the President’s reelection chances. Boston College political scientist David A. Hopkins has a good blog post explaining why. Segment 3: Stimulus Package The Senate has finally passed a $2 trillion stimulus package to deal with the crisis. Vox has a breakdown of what’s included in the package. It includes a $500 billion loan program for businesses, increased unemployment insurance, $150 billion into the health care system, $150 billion to state and local governments, direct payments of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child for households making below $75,000 (individual) or $150,000 (couple), and another $367 billion for small business loans. The package will now be voted on by the House on Friday morning, though already at least one Republican is threatening to hold up the vote. What do you make of the politics of the stimulus package? Conservatives are attacking Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for playing politics during the crisis, holding up the stimulus package and attempting to jam in a Democratic wish list while Democrats criticized Republicans for proposing less money for poor households and holding up the bill over unemployment insurance. Segment 4: Political Storylines Now let’s look at a few other political storylines stemming from the crisis. One argument that Democrats are advancing is that President Trump was slow to grasp the severity of the crisis, and in doing so misled the American people and heightened the risk. That’s the case being made by Priorities USA Action, one of the main Democratic super PACs, in a new ad running in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida. Will this argument be effective come November? President Trump and other Republicans are also starting to pivot toward advocating a quicker return to normalcy, with Trump saying on Tuesday that he would “love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.” This is in line with an emerging argument from Republicans that continued damage to the economy will be worse than deaths from the coronavirus, with Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick going so far as to say that he would be willing to risk his health for the good of the country’s economic future. Because this line of thinking is directly in contrast to the advice of public health experts, it will likely only add fuel to the fire of Democratic attacks like the Priorities USA ad. However effective these partisan attacks end up being in this November’s elections, COVID-19 may fundamentally alter our politics for years to come. David Siders explains the shift in Politico. To sum it up, the era of big government may be back for good. Is that case? Segment 5: The Colorado Response Let’s end by discussing the response close to home here in Colorado. Governor Polis had resisted pressure to issue a statewide shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, in keeping with his preference for local control over statewide mandates. This had earned the governor praise from across the political spectrum. However, as more and more local government issued stay-at-home orders, the Governor finally issued the statewide order this morning. Who’s right? What is the appropriate response?