Will COVID-19 crisis swing progressive voters to Biden?

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our lives, it's also changing things on the campaign trail. And even the minds of some progressive voters.

I spoke to Charles Douglas III with Common Purpose. It's a group that goes door to door for progressive causes and candidates. They were planning to visit 20 states in 2020. But since the outbreak, they've had to cancel several trips and shifted the bulk of their outreach efforts online.

But Douglas told KUOW’s Angela King that he hopes they can get back on the campaign trail by fall.

Charles Douglas III: I'm hoping that by then we will all, even if [COVID-19] is still here, have a better way of living our lives that's safe. So if we're wearing masks, then fine. If we're all wearing gloves, then fine. If we're all carrying around hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray, then fine. Because at the end of the day, this election is still going to happen and it is still the most important election of our lives.

Angela King: Are you worried about having been out on the campaign trail?

Douglas: I was worried for a while. When I got back, my wife actually had our third child, a little girl. And so I've been pretty worried about it.

King: So how about the election itself? Are you worried about voter turnout?

Douglas: We are, on the Democratic side. When voters don't turn out, it usually means that the Democratic voters don't turn out. COVID-19 is looking like the great equalizer in this. One of the most vulnerable populations are folks who are 60 and older, and that generation falls right into the Republican demographic, the more conservative voters. In South Carolina, among folks who voted for the moderate Joe Biden, they were double in terms of turnout in the 60-plus age range, than folks under 30. So COVID-19 could suppress votes on both sides.

King: How about progressive voters? There are concerns about whether they would show up in November and vote for a candidate like Joe Biden.

Douglas: I actually talked to Joe Biden at one of his rallies in Iowa and he was doing his thing after his speech where he goes around and shakes hands and everyone's like, “Hey, I love you. You're doing a great job.” And he came over to me and shook my hand and I said, “Joe, I got a problem. I'm going to be knocking on doors for whoever the candidate is at the end of this. And it might be you. I'm having a problem getting excited about knocking on doors for you. And I'm not the only one. It's a bunch other folks who have my same age. What would you say to us to get us on board?” And he put both of his hands on my shoulders and he pulled me in close. Joe is a really tactile dude, and he's a super interpersonal guy. And we got really close. And he, “You can trust me. You can believe in me. I've been doing this work since I was your age, since I was before your age. And I'm the one to lead us. And you should trust my record and you should trust what I've done for this country. And that should get you fired up.”

I think by the end of all of this, he will get the support of a lot of Bernie Sanders voters, a lot of people who, after all the hemming and hawing during the primary, will realize that Trump is not the guy we want. And they'll come around.