On December 8, a post-election wrap up was held on Zoom. The content ranged from President Trump’s allegations of election fraud to the future of both the post-Trump GOP and the Democratic Party.
The event was hosted by librarian Vivian Linderman.
The speakers at the event were journalism professor Walter Hammerwold and political science professor Jerome Hunt.
“I would say this is, at least in terms of modern American history going back to at least the 1870s, the most contested post-election,” Hammerwold said. “I think we are still very far from Trump being able to overturn it.”
“(The 2000 election) is the only election I can think of that sort of mirrors this one. But that one was truly a close election. Anyone can look at Florida and see it was a deadlocked tie and someone had to win it,” Hammerwold said.
Hammerwold said that the Electoral College does not formally meet together in one place, instead they meet in their respective state capitals and vote.
In regards to future elections, Hammerwold said, “Our parties are always in flux in America… It’s really hard to pinpoint that it’s just going to go A to B. We always have the urge to want to predict things.”
Hunt said, “I’m definitely going to agree that we are going to have to wait and see. There are historically these shifts going on within these parties and that’s undoubtedly going to happen again. What will tell us a lot about the future of both parties is what happens during the midterm elections.”
Some of the challenges of the past election cycle were mentioned including the protests against police violence, the potential embrace of Trumpism by the GOP and especially the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If Biden doesn’t run again, you may see some people be more vocal about issues. But if he does run again, you probably won’t see anything publicly but privately, about (the differences on issues),” Hunt said.
“We will definitely be seeing some fight for power (in the Democratic party). But from where I stand, that’s kind of what you want to see. It means that you at least have an engaged group of individuals within the party… There’s this feeling that you can’t criticize the leaders because that means you don’t support them. When we really should be criticizing them… They’re not saying they don’t agree, or not want them in leadership positions, you still have to be some form of accountable.”
Both professors encouraged that the students of Long Beach City College get involved in the political process if they are interested in becoming more active in the community.
For more information about upcoming local politics, you can visit ballotpedia.com and learn more about local elections in your area.