Election Day optimism

Joe Biden giving a speech. The Review University of Delaware via Flickr                                           

On Nov. 7th , Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, making him the 46th president of the United States. 

In the days leading up to Biden’s win, the number of votes counted for Trump and Biden were going up slowly, causing a lot of stress and mixed emotions for both parties. The in-person votes were counted first making Trump seem like he was winning, but once the mail-in ballots started to be counted, Biden’s numbers shot up tremendously in many states.

To better explain how people felt about the election, Kiana Aghaeepour, a student at Saddleback College, discussed the emotions she felt leading up to the election and how she felt when Biden won.

“I, personally, I’m not too involved in politics or very educated on how politics work, however, I feel that this election in particular caused so much stress and anxiety and created a wedge between many who have opposing viewpoints,” Aghaeepour said. “Now that the election is over, I feel relieved because I believe that any change from Donald Trump’s presidency is a positive one and I hope that instead of focusing solely on the economy and money, the country switches its priority to the equality and well being of all American people.”

One thing all citizens have in common, whether they are democrat or republican, is they all want change to happen within our country. This year has been a rollercoaster with the pandemic, protests and riots. Peace is needed within our country at this given time.

Ally Arellano, a student at California State University Long Beach, felt the same tension of this election and was very nervous leading up to the results.

“Leading up to the campaign I felt anxious and nervous because I wasn’t sure if Trump still had a serious chance,”Arellano said. “After Biden won I felt a lot of relief and extremely happy because there wouldnt be any more bullying and discrimination coming from a president. I feel like with him [Biden] in office we’ll be able to overcome this pandemic with a smarter tactic and there will always be equality shown.”

There’s no place for discrimination in office and many people felt strongly about removing Trump from his position of power. Trump’s behavior throughout the time the votes were being counted was highly questionable and many of the allegations of voter’s fraud he addressed are still pending due to lack of evidence.

Jaisey Higuera, recently graduated from California State University Fullerton, had some things to say in response to his behavior, and how she felt when the results came in.

“I felt f—ing anxious and not very hopeful, but now I feel extremely relaxed and have a good feeling in moving forward with this change,” Higuera said. 

Along with Trump’s tweets that were being censored due to false information, there was much diversity in our society. All over social media, it was very easy to see how diverse everyone’s opinion was and many were afraid to voice their opinion due to the fear of losing close friends or family. 

This was the case for many, including Schuyler Flaiz, kitchen manager for BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, who discussed his experience with voicing his opinion online.

“Leading up to the election I was feeling a lot of anxiety,” Flaiz said. “I lost a lot of people due to my political views and to be honest it helped me deal with the election in my own way. I’m excited to see where our future leads, but make no mistake, we will hold the current administration to the same standard.”

Although Trump wasn’t a lot of people’s first choice for president, Flaiz brings up a good point that even though there is a new person in the office, the country still must hold him to the same standard of criticism and accountability. It’s important that the people of our country hold Biden accountable for any and all actions he takes in an attempt to fix our country’s current issues. 

Everyone had a different experience while Trump was in office. Some felt discriminated against and many women felt their rights being taken away when Trump was pushing to make abortion illegal. Addie Alva, recently just graduated to be a yoga teacher, had a few things to say about how she felt when Biden was picked as the winner of the 2020 election.

“Leading up I felt uneasy because either we were in for another four years of devastating disaster or we would have a chance to reunite America once again,” Alva said. “When I found out Biden won, I felt as though I could breathe knowing that so many of my friends and family would be safe without being forced to give up their rights. As a woman, I was absolutely thrilled that I would not have to worry about my reproductive rights being taken away, and although Biden was not my first choice, or even my fourth choice, anyone would have been better than letting that fascist spend another four years in office.”

Previously served  U.S. military officer, David McKinney had quite a few things to say about the election. He shared his emotions about Biden being elected and how Trump leaving office affects him.

“I felt scared and nervous leading up to this result,” McKinney said. “Now I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my chest with Biden winning. I still have expectations but at least now I know we don’t have a racist and troop hater as commander in chief.”

The stress of Pennsylvania and Georgia supporting Trump and then right at the end switching to supporting Biden was very nerve wracking for some. As this was the one election in U.S. history that had the most votes cast, the amount of time it took to count all the votes took far longer than many of the elections in the past.

Cody Ptak, student at Arizona State University, explains his hopes for the future of Biden being in office.

“As Nov. 7th rolls around the Associated Press announced that Joe Biden has been elected as our President,” Ptak said. “I was surprised that they announced our president and it was a great feeling to experience when I learned that a lot of my friends, family and closely acquainted faces I have come in contact with that their rights and privileges would be protected. As Biden takes his steps back into the White House, I hope that he will be able to work for the people, protect the people and keep the promises to the people.”

Whether you are a democrat or republican, this is a time to remain optimistic of the future and give Biden the chance to work on the policies he’s trying to create. 

With so many mixed emotions it is hard for many who strongly supported Trump to just willingly accept Biden as their new leader. As Biden has said in many of his speeches, he is the president for all of the United States, including all supporters of Trump and he will fight for our country as a whole, not just his own supporters.

Inauguration day will take place on Jan. 20, 2021, where the people of our country will welcome Joe Biden into office.

Comments

comments