What are the main issues for American voters in elections 2020

COVID-19 pandemic, health care, economy, jobs, immigration and racial discrimination and injustice are main issues

 Nearly 100 million already cast their ballots. The voters are going to decide today who will lead America for next four years.  The choice is between president Trump and former vice president Joe Biden. The record number of Americans already cast their votes in early voting.

The people outside the America watch the elections keenly and their main focus always been on the issues like immigration and foreign policy. These two issues precisely affect the other countries the most.

But this election campaign is not focused on foreign policy and wars. Instead it is mainly focused on Trump’s performance in last four years as president and his response to COVID-19 pandemic. The people are more concerned about economic crisis, jobs, health care and COVID-19 pandemic.

The American people mostly decide to vote on domestic issues. The foreign policy and wars are not the top issues in this campaign as they were in 2004 and 2008 elections. 

But for American voters, the issues like COVID-19 pandemic, health care, jobs, economic crisis, abortion, climate change, immigration, racial discrimination, policing and injustice, gun policy and criminal justice are the most important issues.

According to the PEW Research Center survey, economy is the most important issue for voters in 2020 elections. With the country in the midst of a recession, nearly eight-in-ten registered voters (79%) say the economy will be very important to them in making their decision about who to vote for in the 2020 presidential election – the top issue of 12 included in the survey.

The economy is consistently a top voting issue. In a survey asking a similar, though not identical, list of issues in June 2016, the economy also was the top voting issue.

In the current survey, 68% of voters say health care is very important to their vote, while 64% cite Supreme Court appointments.

As the country continues to grapple with the Coronavirus outbreak, 62% of voters say the outbreak will be a very important factor in their decision about who to support in the fall.

About six-in-ten (59%) say violent crime will be very important to their 2020 decision, and 57% say this about foreign policy.

Immigration and racial and ethnic inequality rank toward the lower end of the list for voters (52% each call these issues very important to their vote).

Fewer than half say climate change (42%) or abortion (40%) will be very important factors in their decision (though majorities say these issues will be at least somewhat important.

For Trump supporters, the economy (88%) and violent crime (74%) are the most salient issues. Roughly six-in-ten Trump supporters cite immigration (61%), gun policy (60%) and foreign policy (57%) as very important to their vote.

By contrast, the largest shares of Biden supporters view health care (84%) and the coronavirus outbreak (82%) as very important. A sizable majority also rates racial and ethnic inequality as important to their vote (76%).

While there are substantial differences between Trump and Biden supporters on the importance of most issues, the widest gaps are on climate change (57 percentage points) and racial and ethnic inequality (52 points).

In addition, Biden supporters are more than twice as likely as Trump supporters to say the coronavirus outbreak (82% of Biden supporters, 39% of Trump supporters) and economic inequality (65% of Biden supporters, 28% of Trump supporters) as very important.

America is the most affected country from COVID-19 pandemic.  More than 9.1 million people have been infected with more than 2, 22,000 deaths in America so far. In many states, increased infections have overwhelmed the hospitals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses and vulnerability of American health care system. Health Care has become important issue in this election campaign.   The liberal and democratic leaning voters, coronavirus surge are the main concern. The US has had a difficult year when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic but the virus is a central issue, mostly for Democratic voters. As many as 82% think the pandemic is a key issue compared with 24% of Trump voters.

Health care is important issue for many people, which became clear in the confirmation hearing for Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. The US's highest court will hear a case shortly after the election on whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as "Obama care") should be repealed - something that Trump has been trying to do his entire time in office. Coney Barrett, who has spoken critically about the ACA in the past, wouldn't say whether she was in favor of the repeal.

Whether people are happy with the health insurance they have - or don't have - under the ACA and whether they want to keep "Obamacare" is likely to play a big role on Election Day.

The coronavirus crisis, too, has made health care a crucial issue to consider for voters. Americans are midst of a pandemic, where people's lack of health care coverage is leading to difficulties in getting care, but also to massive medical expenditures and bills once they recover from COVID, let alone all the long-term effects of COVID-19. 

The economy is one of the top issues for American voters, who have seen unemployment skyrocket amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pew Research Centre found in August that the economy was the top issue for 76% of respondents.

 It was more important for Republican voters, however than Democratic voters. Economy is the main issue for Republican voters. The right wing voters are not in favour of a lockdown and shutting down the economy.

The jobs, unemployment and falling incomes are the main issues for working people.  President Trump is trying to play with the concerns of many working class voters about the economy and jobs.  The working class voters are worried about their jobs, incomes and falling living standards.

The US is dealing with the same economic fallout as many other parts of the world, with GDP falling 32% in the second quarter of 2020, according to the Commerce Department. US unemployment also hit record lows this past year, hitting 7.9% in September after reaching an all-time high of 14.7% in April.

Many Republicans have praised Trump's tax reform plan, which was viewed as a large overhaul of the tax system that resulted in tax cuts for many Americans. Taxes were down about 25%, according to H&R Block, a company that assists with tax preparation.

                                                               Khalid Bhatti