By Ta’Leah Van Sistine, Community Reporter
Campus opinions at UW-Eau Claire seem to reflect the national split in the aftermath of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
As Jan. 20, 2021 — the day of the U.S. presidential inauguration —approaches, interviews with a few students and faculty members reflect the wide range of opinions concerning President Donald Trump’s decision to hold off on conceding the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
The Chippewa Valley Post spoke with four students and two faculty members about their reactions to the events that have occurred since Election Day and their predictions about what the future holds for Biden and Trump.
Only a handful of states have yet to verify their election results, and on Nov. 23, Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, announced Biden as the “apparent winner” of the presidential election. This announcement grants the president-elect some funding for transition expenses and access to top security briefings, office space and government officials.
Despite these seeming gains for Biden’s campaign, Chippewa Valley Post interviews with students and faculty depict a presidential election that is “still unresolved.”
Student response to Trump’s post-election actions
Emilee Borowski, a general member of UW-EC College Republicans, said she supports Trump’s decision not to concede and also supports the recounts that have taken place in several states.
“I know that the results still need to be certified,” Borowski said, “so I really don’t think the election is going to be over yet, until the votes get certified by every state.”
Hannah Temes, the outreach coordinator between the UW-EC College Democrats and the Eau Claire County Democratic Party, said she’s upset and disappointed Trump has not yet conceded the election to Biden.
“The transfer of power should be peaceful,” Temes said, “and him not conceding makes it not seem peaceful.”
Between now and Jan. 20, Borowski said she believes the number of votes in some states will change as a result of recounts and Trump’s lawsuits over voter fraud allegations.
“Some of the votes may or may not be as accurate as we thought they would be … so I do believe that between now and inauguration day, some of the results will change,” Borowski said. “(If they’ll change) for Trump or for Biden, I don’t know, but I know things are going to happen.”
Peter Myers, a political science professor, said he believes Trump’s lawsuits may reveal “improprieties, with regard to how the election was conducted.”
“The mail-in ballots create opportunities for cheating,” Myers said, “But I predict (any improprieties found) won’t amount to enough to change the outcome of the election, maybe not in any individual state, but very likely not in the country as a whole.”
Myers said in order for Trump to win the election, he’d have “to uncover a really massive and well-coordinated scandal,” and he doesn’t believe this will happen.
Smooth transition in power is essential to democracy
Joe Lippe, a political science student, said although he would like to see how Trump’s lawsuits play out in the legal system, he believes election results should not be a partisan issue. He said it’s essential Americans feel confident in the fact that elections are secure and transparent.
“Fair elections are the underpinning of a free society and the foundation of our democratic system,” Lippe said. “When Americans lack confidence in the election process, confidence in our governmental processes may erode on an even broader scale.”
Myers said a smooth transition in power for the presidential role is important for a democratic society.
“When you lose an election, you don’t go to Canada,” Myers said, “and you don’t try to subvert the legitimacy of the winner. You just figure out why you lost and figure out how to argue your case better the next time.”
Temes said she agrees recounts were bound to happen after this election, and supports the recounts, because several states had narrow margins of victory.
“Recounts are a sign of democracy,” Temes said, because they give the country the ability to “double check” results.
Austin Gulbrandson, a political science and history student, said considering Trump’s personality, he understands why he’s not conceding.
He said he shares the sentiment that the election is “still unresolved,” but he also recognizes that Americans are divided over whether absentee ballots should count in this election, due to the times election officials received and counted the ballots.
“(Trump is) largely using this miscommunication to his advantage,” Gulbrandson said. “It’s only (buying) him time to not concede.”
A Biden presidency
With Georgia’s U.S. Senate results depending on the two Jan. 5 run-off elections, Myers said Democrats may confront challenges if Republicans remain as the Senate majority.
“It’s not impossible that Democrats win both of those Senate seats in Georgia,” Myers said, “but if they lose only one of them, then they’ve got a Senate minority again. Republicans are likely to be strongly united against them at least for a while, depending on how a Biden administration plays out.”
There are factions within the Democratic Party — “an activist-energized progressive left” and more moderate Democrats — and Myers pointed out that those two sides could get frustrated with one another.
“They’re going to have to be unified if they want to accomplish anything,” he said.
Regarding important issues Biden plans to address, James Boulter, a chemistry and biochemistry professor, is optimistic about what a Biden presidency will mean for climate change efforts.
The Trump administration has been involved in a list of attempts to roll back environmental efforts, such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord.
So, Boulter said he’s excited for a Biden administration to address the climate crisis and issues that are linked to it. Boulter listed those issues as the COVID-19 health emergency, economic challenges caused by the pandemic and the “ongoing crisis of racial inequity in this country.”
“Only recently, these issues were kept separate from one another,” he said. “Recognizing that those four are inextricably linked, I think, is so crucial.”
Biden also appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry as his “special presidential envoy for climate,” which Boulter said is significant because Kerry played a role in negotiating the Paris Agreement.
“It signaled that the short-lived Trump departure from the world climate community will be over soon,” Boulter said.
Work remains to be done
Temes said she, and other Democrats she knows, were relieved when Biden was announced as the president-elect.
“We had a sigh of relief and then said, ‘okay, it’s time to get back to work,’” Temes said.
She said she believes change will be more obtainable under a Biden administration, but she does not want people to be complacent with the country in its current state. “Voting was the first step and now we need to use our voices to get the change we want to see,” Temes said. “Just because Biden is president-elect doesn’t mean that the work is done.”
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