Election 2020: Four Years Undone in Four Days?
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“I remember walking home from the Hill,” Olivia Troye (C’99) says. “I remember walking home past the Pentagon while it was still on fire.”
American democracy is dying, and the election system is one of the fatal diseases that’s killing it. With an unnecessary emphasis on aesthetics, the spread of misinformation, inaccurate representation of voters, and a myriad of other issues, the process needs fundamental change. The cherry on top is that candidates have started to invade American ears with campaign music to discreetly shape their rhetoric and influence their audiences' emotions. Although campaign music can be used to motivate and inspire voters towards a positive direction, as Joe Biden has shown, a close look at Trump’s music choice shows that campaign music can be used to build fear and anger just as effectively.
I spent Saturday morning hungover and failing at getting work done. I involuntarily woke up at seven and couldn’t get back to sleep after a late night of festivities with my roommates. We took shots, danced, and talked—all in hopes of dulling the anxieties we all felt about the soon–to–be–announced outcome of the election.
Before the 2020 election, an impenetrable cloud of apprehension was cast over the Penn community, Philadelphia, and the nation at large. The diametrically opposed beliefs of rival candidates and members of their respective parties felt oppressive and irrevocable. However, as information becomes publicized regarding contemporary election issues like immigration law, gun control, police brutality, equitable women’s rights, and global climate change, citizens nationwide are ready for to someone to amend the flaws of the current administration. One pivotal way in which the voice of the nation has manifested itself in regards to the 2020 election is through the trailblazing influence of protest art.
Early in October, MTV reached out to Bill Strobel, a local artist, and asked him to create the Philadelphia installation as part of their Vote For Your Life campaign.
“I was in my apartment, getting ready to head to the rally of Count Every Vote,” Sarah Min (GSE ‘16/SP2 ‘20) details the moment she heard the results of the U.S. presidential election. “All of a sudden, my phone is blowing up. All my personal friend chats, my community organizing chats—and then I started getting back–to–back FaceTime calls, just being stunned and celebratory and literally crying on the phone with friends.”
Justin Chan (W ‘23), a Republican, doesn’t like Trump.
During the dog days of Joe Biden's presidential campaign, Street spoke separately with Seth Schuster and Samantha Delman, two employees on tasked with communicating the now–President–elect's mission and getting voters to the polls. Both described their motivation to work for Biden, experience throughout the campaign, and belief in his ability to heal our nation during this tumultuous time.
Between COVID–19 and the presidential election, 2020 has been full of surprises. The past few months have been full of troubles and anxiety, from the transition to online learning and election concerns to health scares surrounding the coronavirus. Suddenly, 2020 delivered another surprise: Borat Margaret Sagdiyev.
“...and make sure to vote!”
Donald and Melania Trump’s marriage has captivated the interest of the internet for all the wrong reasons. Standing in stark contrast with the heartfelt romance between Barack and Michelle Obama, analyses of the Trumps often paint their relationship as strained and unnatural, noting Melania’s uncomfortable body language and her clear reluctance to engage in PDA. With the media and internet culture framing Mrs. Trump as a reluctant participant in her marriage, a perception of the First Lady as being “too good” for her racist, misogynist husband has formed. From her refusal to hold his hand to her questionable facial expressions, Melania Trump has been painted as a female casualty of Trump’s delusional egotism.
On November 4, I kept hearing some odd noise that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. It turns out I’d just forgotten what it sounded like to not be bombarded by celebrities, large companies, textbankers, and Instagram stories demanding that I vote.
It’s hard to imagine a headline from any major news outlet that reads: Is Mike Pence’s Fashion His Secret Weapon? After all, why would readers care that the Vice President tends to rotate between three standard gray, navy, and black suits? And yet, this exact article was recently published in the Wall Street Journal—the only difference being that Mike Pence was swapped for Kamala Harris.
Many people see election day as an “end to the horror” of the last four years. Specifically, many Biden voters supported him because they want normalcy again—or a return to Obama–era politics. However, as Trump never failed to point out, many of the policies that people laud him for were also implemented under Obama. And in general, what many see as “normal” was just as bad—but the bad was hidden under better rhetoric.
“The United Federation of Planets” is an organization within the Star Trek franchise that bound together over 150 planets and their species by the year 2373. Its title is rightfully filled with grandeur—throughout the various television series within the franchise, the Federation is shown to lead with diplomacy, morality, and in the nature of the preservation of life throughout the galaxy.
In June of 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled same–sex marriage legal in all fifty states.
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