The Battle for the White House

Published August 20, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic and its economical fallout made 2020 a year you’ll never forget. The universe messed-up and planet Earth imploded. But amidst the suffering and economic hardship a political event in America will rival all else in its magnitude and importance.

The battle for the White House – a civilized civil war – will be held November 3, 2020 at Coliseum USA. The stakes are incredibly high. It’s a battle for power. The winner will lead the most powerful nation on Earth. The combatants are fueled up on anger, hate, animosity and revenge; the battle lines are drawn; and spectators around the world can watch the no-holds-barred fight to the finish for free.

In the red corner is Donald Trump, defending Republican champion.

He had a horrible year in 2020. Everything went wrong. His impeachment was a history making black spot; his handling of the covid-19 pandemic got the thumbs down; and his approval rating stayed low. His fanatical support-base remains loyal, but the conservative-extremist from New York, with an angry mouth and exceptional capacity for self-deception, is facing an uphill challenge as he attempts to make it two wins out of two.

With Sun conjunction Uranus in his birth chart Donald Trump selected Mike Pence as his running mate.

In the blue corner is Joe Biden, the Democrat challenger.

He had an ordinary start to 2020 but things changed dramatically on March 3 when he swept the south in the Democrat primaries and went on to become the party’s presidential nominee. Blue voters moved to the middle ground and said ‘no’ to radical change. So the very experienced moderate candidate from New York, who is no stranger to political success, provides voters with a stark alternative to the incumbent when they face-off on November 3, 2020.

With Sun conjunction Venus in his birth chart Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate.

The voter

The most important participant in the battle for the White House is the American voter. S/he represents a powerful situational force and if you’re one you’ll vote for the candidate whose party’s socio-economic agenda and way of moving forward and navigating change closely resembles your own.

If you’re a conservative thinker who resists change you’ll vote for the guy in the red corner; and if you’re a progressive thinker who advocates for change and reform you’ll vote for the guy in the blue T-shirt. Whatever, you’re going to be targeted with political ads and disinformation.

Social media and foreign interference

If you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or Tumblr as a news source get ready for the fake news and disinformation. Political advertising will be micro targeting you with misinformation so stay alert for the junk news, pseudo news, hoax news, alternative facts and manipulated videos.

Facebook, more than any other company, will be a major player in the 2020 US election. Its control over social media, the dissemination of news and market advertising makes it a primary channel for information. So it can interfere in the election or stop foreign interference.

In America’s chart progressed ascendant in house 7 (other countries) is inconjunct birth chart Mercury in house 3 (postal votes) and progressed Sun in house 11 (Congress) is semisquare progressed Pluto in house 9 (advertising and social media) so the potential for election interference is massive. A major foreign interference controversy (Mercury) could tear the country apart (Pluto).

China and Russia (house 7) will be running interference campaigns.

America’s trade-war with China and criticism of its human rights record has Beijing meddling to benefit Joe Biden.

Vladimir Putin and his experts in subversion at Russia’s infamous ‘troll factory’ have honed their fake-news skills to perfection. They’ll be manipulating public opinion and hacking election systems to benefit Donald Trump.

A massive effort by US cyber security officials is being made to combat the fake news and misinformation that’s bombarding the American voter. Much depends on what US authorities and tech companies can do to stop the off-shore interference and foreign propaganda campaigns.

American voters are being targeted with propaganda and fake news and it’s a sad fact that millions of Americans are seriously happy to believe and blindly accept what they’re told on social media. They don’t fact-check.

Reliable news services are fact-checking the political ads but with America running on hysterical excitement it will be difficult to find a commentator capable of providing a sensible, rational, unbiased political comment.

Covid-19

Covid-19 upended the 2020 US presidential election.

In June 2020 the pattern of covid-19 infection changed. Southern (red) states reported increased caseloads and many had either Republican governors or Republican House majorities or both. Suburbs, smaller towns and rural areas in red America were increasingly infected.

And with widespread fear of the coronavirus many Americans will opt to vote by mail. Postal voting will be seen as the safe option but Donald Trump is complaining loudly and doing his utmost to convince his support-base that it will result in widespread voter fraud that will disadvantage him.

Mail voting could delay the result but it won’t change it.

Republicans against Donald Trump

There are some Republicans who think that Donald Trump was bad for the Republican Party, bad for America and bad for the world and they’re openly campaigning against Trump and supporting Joe Biden.

Political advertising is usually aimed at voters but the Lincoln Project – a group of rogue Republicans – is trying to troll Donald Trump out of office. It has a target audience of one – Donald J Trump. They want Trump to lose the election and believe the best way to do that is by trolling him online and on TV through political advertising.

But Trump has major news networks like Fox News and One America News and right-wing groups like QAnon in his corner.

Forecasting the winner

Come November 3, 2020 the excitement at Coliseum USA will be palpable and as the big day approaches political tragics and curious voters will be focused on public opinion polls and what they’re forecasting.

Pollsters have been tracking voter trends for months and expert commentators have been gathering data and crunching numbers to estimate who might win the electoral college vote, the states each candidate is likely to win and their percentage of the popular vote.

Most states always vote the same but there are 14 battle ground states that will likely decide the winner.

If you’re inclined to wager a bet on the political contest of the century polling trends influence the betting market, but polls can’t always be trusted?

Like all battles the battle for the White House will be fierce and ugly. There are only two candidates so successfully forecasting the winner could just require a best guess. One will win the other will lose. That’s the way it is.

November 3, 2020 – outcome options

If the result is close on election night it could take some time before the final outcome is absolutely clear. This will see political turmoil.

It’s already clear if one candidate doesn’t win many Americans are prepared to question the result; and many support an election rerun if they don’t get their way.

Surveys reveal if Trump loses that Republican voters support him not leaving office if there’s evidence of vote rigging; and if Biden loses Democrat voters support him calling for a ‘do-over’ election if there’s evidence of foreign interference. And either candidate could call for a ‘do-over’ election if they win the popular vote but lose the electoral college.

And with Saturn and Pluto – the rulers of house 9 in America’s chart – active by progression and progressed Moon there sesquisquare progressed Uranus the courts could play a major role in the 2020 presidential contest.

Whatever, sit back and enjoy the drama, theatre, thrills and spills of what should be the greatest political show on Earth: The battle for the White House November 3, 2020.