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When America is at war, voters prefer not to swap presidents in the middle of battle. James Madison sailed to reelection after launching the War of 1812. Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address a month before the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox. In the shadow of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt notched a third term. And the year after deploying troops to Iraq, George W. Bush defeated a war veteran, Democrat John Kerry. What if the enemy is invisible? Not a foreign country, or the perpetrators of a brazen terrorist attack, but a lethal disease that forces Americans to shelter in place indefinitely as their health, jobs and wages hang in the balance? (Orr and Seligman, 3/19)

The coronavirus crisis is rapidly changing President Trump’s re-election strategy, forcing him into the position of leading the nation through a sprawling, complex emergency while undermining his greatest asset: a strong economy. Mr. Trump this week has taken steps to demonstrate more command, appearing at daily news conferences and taking a solemn outlook, while his campaign weighs how to contend with battered financial markets and rising unemployment. (Leary and Bender, 3/19)

Trump’s ability to enact his plan and weather the turbulence could have an enormous impact on his political fate and determine whether he is remembered as this era’s Herbert Hoover, who was president at the onset of the Great Depression, or its Franklin Roosevelt, his successor who guided the nation out of economic and geopolitical turmoil. “This is Trump’s World War II,” said Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation fellow and an informal Trump economic adviser. “It’s really critical to not only whether he is reelected but how he will be judged by history.” (Costa and Rucker, 3/18)

A president who shaped his first three years in office trying to sell Americans on obscure corporate tax provisions, minute details of tariffs and the rollback of mind-numbing regulations has a new approach: Keep it simple. Facing the most sudden economic crisis to hit any modern American leader, President Donald Trump is now pushing to send Americans four-figure checks, establish broad corporate bailout programs and lend billions of dollars to small businesses so they can keep paying their bills. (Cook and Levine, 3/19)

President Donald Trump’s top political advisers in recent weeks envisioned unleashing a massive advertising campaign against Joe Biden to define him for the general election before he had a chance to recover from the primary. Then the novel coronavirus arrived. (ISenstadt and Korecki, 3/19)

A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation on Wednesday to promote mail-in and early voting to decrease the spread of the coronavirus. The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA) would ensure voters have 20 days of early voting in all states, require that all mail-in ballots submitted during 21 days leading to an election be counted, and ensure that all voters have the option to request absentee ballots. (Miller, 3/18)

The primary day turnout wave that swept over Democratic presidential contests in recent weeks crashed on Tuesday as concerns about the coronavirus outbreak kept anxious voters in Florida, Illinois and Arizona away from the polls. Turnout in Florida’s Democratic presidential primary saw a marginal increase — about 2 percent — over 2016 levels, rising from about 1.71 million to 1.74 million. But the gains appeared to come from increased early voting, while actual in-person turnout dropped from about 820,000 four years ago to 630,000 on Tuesday. (Greenwood, 3/18)

Marie Newman didn't get to have the big election night party she'd been planning at her beloved local brewery. With a growing coronavirus pandemic halting most large gatherings across the country, she celebrated her Democratic primary victory over Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois on Tuesday night with a virtual party on Facebook Live. Lipinski, an eight-term incumbent, called her Wednesday afternoon to congratulate her, then held a news conference where he offered a lukewarm concession and committed to working with her. (Pathe, 3/18)