Dr. Pearson Cross, seasoned political analyst, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss the political climate in this 2020 election cycle. Early voting will run through Oct. 27, 2020, preceding the November 3rd election, and it seemed a good time to have Dr. Cross join us and discuss the political landscape here and across the region.

Dr. Cross is a respected professor on UL - Lafayette's campus as well as our community, serving as Interim Head of the Department of Political Science, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science.

He is host of a weekly radio show, Bayou to Beltway on KRVS (88.7 FM), that focuses on politics and policy, and is a frequent commentator on political issues for news media at the national, state and local levels.

As a young man, Cross always wanted to be a musician and actually dropped out of college and played rock and jazz for about ten years, traveling across the Western U. S. But a "sit down" gig in Palo Alto allowed him the opportunity to stay in one place to make a living and he realized he needed to do something different, to go back to school.

Dr. Pearson Cross (pictured far right) in Banshee, the band in which he performed as a young man as they toured the Western U. S. Dr. Cross found his calling in teaching political science while working in Palo Alto CA and returned to school after taking a ten-year break from college.

A political science class spurred his interest in the subject. A teacher/mentor encouraged him to earn a PhD and pursue a career in teaching, a vocation which mirrored that of his parents and one he never dreamed he would follow. After a stint at UL - Monroe, Dr. Cross ended up in South Louisiana at UL - Lafayette where he is raising his family and has become a part of the political landscape.

COVID has turned the 2020 election cycle upside down with its resulting need to social distance and limit large gatherings. Cross reminisced about the days of "retail politics" in which politicians such as Edwin Edwards would work six or seven events a day as a way to meet constituents, march in parades, kiss babies, and raise funds; those days are "pretty much done" and social media has become more and more important.

Today, the "Matthew Principle" rules: "To those who have, get. To those who are given, more is given," says Cross. If a candidate already has a reputation and a fundraising operation, they can raise funds. But newcomers are at a great disadvantage. There is less door to door interactions. Incumbents are at a great advantage and can get by with much less advertising.

Dr. Cross anticipates a great surge in mail in/early voting and at the time of our interview, 15 million people in the U. S. had cast ballots early. On the day of this posting, October 23, 2020, at least 51 million people have already voted in advance of the November 3rd election, which number represents over a third of all votes cast in the 2016 presidential election. In some states everyone is allowed to vote by mail; in Louisiana, there are a limited number of reasons that allow mail-in ballots such as having had COVID, being over 65 years of age, or having a recognized disability. Cross stressed that while many conservatives believe that mail-in balloting leads to broad and pervasive fraud, there have been no findings to that effect although there are occasional findings of illegality or altered ballots.

Cross anticipates that the national election results will be determined the night of November 3rd as Joe Biden appears headed to a solid victory. At the time of this interview, Biden had a commanding lead in the polls yet in the aftermath of the October 22nd debate,