Voters all across the country are looking ahead to November, and the 2020 presidential election has already been anything but traditional.
Many people don't feel strongly in support of President Trump or Vice President Biden, said Margaret Susan Thompson, history and political science professor at Syracuse University.
“You feel either that one of them is particularly problematic, or one of them is less problematic.”
While Biden faces the sexual assault allegation from former aide Tara Reade, it probably won't make much of a difference in the way people vote, said Thompson.
“As disturbing as these allegations against Vice President Biden are, similar allegations have been made against President Trump,” said Thompson.
Even those who believe Reade's allegation will still vote for Biden, she said.
“I think that’s a legitimate choice to make that does not negate the possibility that Tara Reade is telling the truth,” said Thompson.
Moe Vela, a former senior advisor to Joe Biden, says after working for Biden for eight years, she has a hard time believing the assault happened.
“I never saw, heard, never even heard a rumor, an innuendo, I never saw a behavior pattern, nothing to indicate that anything like this would ever be true,” said Vela.
Joe Biden denies the allegation, and even strong supporters of the #MeToo movement like Kirsten Gillibrand are also on his side.
Voters are also speculating who will be his running mate. Many people have asked Vela who he thinks Biden will choose.
“Vice president, of all the people probably on the Earth, is the most equipped and prepared to pick a vice presidential candidate because he served in that capacity for eight years,” said Vela.
And he has no doubt that Biden's running mate will be a woman, he said.
“As he always says, ‘I give you my word as a Biden,’ so he’s already committed to pick a woman, and I anticipate he will do exactly that,” said Vela.
Elizabeth Warren is a likely pick, said Harriet Brown, professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. But given Biden's age, he could pick a younger woman, she said.
“When you have someone who’s that old running for president, don’t you want the person who’s a heartbeat away to be younger?”
It's great to see Biden's commitment to choosing a woman, said Brown. But many women just want to see a woman be the presidential nominee.
“Vice president feels like a consolation prize,” said Brown. “In some ways, I’m like, dang, is this even a good thing to have a woman as a vice president? Like what good is that going to do?”
Many women are hoping Biden selects a person of color, like senator Kamala Harris.
But even to see him choose a white woman like senators Kirsten Gillibrand or Amy Klobuchar would still be meaningful, said Brown.
“Social change happens very slowly and in tiny tiny tiny little steps,” she said.
Traditionally, presidential nominees won't announce their running mates until July or August, so it's likely we won't know who Biden's pick will be for a while.