Not your normal campaign season

Political season is in full swing. Not here, but in a parallel universe where the only place you see “coronavirus” is the answer to 23 across in the Sunday crossword puzzle. In that other dimension, national and local office-hunters dominate the news cycle. Candidates door knock. Fundraisers and debates dot partisan calendars. Yard signs litter the landscape.

Things are different here on Virus Planet. Among the many unpredictable concerns thrashing about our culture is how to campaign during a pandemic. The way people run for office has changed.

A political campaign is a marketing endeavor. The candidate is after name recognition, the most powerful magic in the race to victory. Well, good luck with that when the 24-hour news cycle is dominated by the bat flu. It’s impossibly difficult to make your point to voters when thousands are out of work and obtaining toilet paper is a national priority.

Despite its absence from the front page, the presidential campaign slumps along. You must check Google to see what Bernie Sanders is up to. I’m certain Joe Biden is thankful his gaffs are no longer fodder for the late-night TV comedians.

Trump is always in the news because he’s the incumbent. This advantage slides down the political spectrum to local offices: Challengers have a monumental task to run a political campaign at this time. I would say it’s near impossible.

In Idaho, the May primary is the last call for a majority of local and state positions. In Kootenai County, the general election sees five of nine seats run unopposed for state office. For county office, all positions are decided on the GOP primary ballot. May is it.

Messing up everyone’s campaign strategy is the lack of a physical election. Normally, running for office involves two campaigns: absentee and general. Wash your hands of this strategy. Now everyone is an absentee voter, which means getting out campaign material now is more important than getting it out closer to the election date when a majority of people vote. But even sending out mailers isn’t going to help those challengers with poor name recognition.

An incumbent must be both well-known and unpopular to be defeated. This doesn’t mean that they’re merely disliked; it’s easy to find voters who dislike elected officials. No, the unpopularity must rise to prevalent disdain. Right now, such disdain is reserved for COVID-19 and the upheaval it’s caused our culture. Like it or not, the virus and lockdown are competing for the voter’s attention. This condition bodes poorly for challengers.

It’s possible, though remote, that an incumbent can be unseated in a normal primary (not on Virus Planet) when a challenger has a bona-fide reputation, lots of campaign money, and an army of volunteers. During a lockdown, however, meet-and-greets and fundraisers aren’t going to happen. Online forums are stiff and flat, lacking the power of a physical event. Volunteers door-knocking during a pandemic are fools, not an image any candidate wants to project.

I wish I could provide some encouragement. I admire everyone who runs for office, especially those who take on an incumbent. But given the concern over the pandemic and general state of disarray, I can offer little cheer. I’m pleased we have choices on the ballot, and I hope everyone gives their run for office all the effort they can. But this is not your normal campaign season.

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Dan Gookin of Coeur d’Alene is the author of “Running For Local Office For Dummies.”