I think the candidates need to start banging the coronavirus drum.

[RockRaven]

We need to start hearing thing like "Trump has been lying to the public about this outbreak from day one. He cares more about manipulating the stock market from one day to the next than protecting the health, safety, and lives of the American people. This is not only incompetence, it is certainly negligence, it looks like malice, and Americans are dying because of his failures. This is wrong; the country deserves better from their President."

There is minimal danger in getting out ahead of one's skis on this (unless one makes specific predictions about case and death numbers -- which should not be done by the candidates, leave that to epidemiology types). The pandemic is here, it will not be contained, it will touch every community in this country, and Trump will direct ineffective and counterproductive measures while failing to follow completely the advice of experts. That can all be banked on as virtually certain to happen.

The more people point out that Trump is doing the wrong things on coronavirus, the more he will insist he is doing the right things and that there's no problem. That latter point is absolutely certain to be proven wrong, and we should use that to our advantage (without being triumphal/happy about it).

[empedocles]

1. Ageed. No detailed policy lectures needed. Just quote a trump lie, rebutted in a few clear words!

RELENTLESSY MESSAGED THROUGHOUT THE VC CRISIS!

[jmg257]

2. ANother press conferewnce on it right now - dont know what legs such attacks will get.

Though it may not hurt.

[caraher]

3. It's certainly a good example of Trump's failures

But I do wonder calling a lot of attention to the incompetent response so far might help Trump in a perverse way. He and his minions are already whipping up the mad conspiracy theory that the whole thing is a hoax designed to make him look bad - or at least painting press coverage of the very real threat as intended more to take him down than to illuminate the issue. So banging that drum now, and loudly, will confirm for Trumpers that the Democrats are playing some partisan game.

I think there will be plenty of time in the general election to target Trump's botched response, particularly as we will know much more this summer about how this plays out. If, through sheer dumb luck, the outbreak turns out to have relatively mild consequences, we risk the accusation of having cried wolf.

A narrow focus might serve us well - e.g. the disgraceful treatment of the HHS whistleblower in California and the muzzling of top health officials. Those are both wrong and vivid indications of the administration's authoritarian inclinations and rejection of science, regardless of the ultimate level of death and suffering we wind up experiencing in the US

[Steelrolled]

4. Risky strategy in my opinion

Depends so much on how the coronavirus plays out.

I would concentrates on the knowns.