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From the White House to the county courthouse, the coronavirus pandemic has drastically upended the 2020 elections. Many Democratic leaders now doubt their national party convention will take place as planned in July, while President Trump’s determination to hold the Republican convention could collide with life-and-death realities. Both Mr. Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are wary of holding public events too soon and may not engage in full-fledged campaigning until the summer. (Martin, Epstein and Haberman, 3/29)

In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has instituted a shutdown on a city of nearly 4 million people and threatened uncooperative business owners with power shutoffs and arrest. In Mississippi, home to nearly 3 million people, Gov. Tate Reeves has allowed most businesses to stay open — even restaurants, so long as they serve no more than 10 people at a time. The divergent approaches are evidence that not even a global pandemic can bridge the gaping political divisions of the Trump era. (Peoples, 3/30)

As an uneasy March unspooled, as coronavirus dread descended upon the United States, it became commonplace — and, for public figures, quite practical — to point out how, unlike most major events in the 21st century, this was an unusually communal moment. There is power and authority in invoking shared experience, whether it comes from the president (“We are all in this together”), the governor of New York (“Nobody’s alone. We are all in the same situation”) or a random Pittsburgh disc jockey (“Everybody’s in the same boat”). (Anothny, 3/29)

Joe Biden urged President Donald Trump on Sunday to “stop thinking out loud and start thinking deeply” about his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “Look, the coronavirus is not the president fault, but the slow response, the failure to get going right away, the inability to do the things that needed to be done quickly — they are things that can’t continue,” the former vice president and likely Democratic presidential nominee said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” (Rahman, 3/29)

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the worst thing the government could do is “raise false expectations” about the quarantine time periods. NBC’s Chuck Todd asked the Democratic presidential frontrunner on “Meet the Press” how he would convey to American residents that they may have to continue social distancing in their homes for at least another 60 days. Biden responded that the American public is “really strong and tough” and deserves to hear the “unvarnished truth.” (Coleman, 3/29)