The 2020 elections have been polarized at the polls by a false narrative that has an impact on real issues.  The Republican Party supports Trump’s speeches by polarizing voters in his re-election campaign.  Not all of the Republican Party was on board with Trump’s rhetoric, but they knew their party needed to increase by registering new voters.  At the same time by targeting new voters, his strategy was to demoralize and disenfranchise minorities in the battleground states to suppress their votes.  The election outcome in four swing states was challenging for Trump as it backfired.  The distrust between both parties grew even a deeper division especially in the Republican Party which had divided itself into two factions.  Our democracy has been challenged to its core, so the American people felt it was essential to change the presidential trajectory.  The impact of Trump’s influence by his rallies, tweets and speeches has polarized not only voters but also the country and even his own political party.  Trump used his behavior and action to stoke the flame by using misogyny, bigotry, homophobia and racism to advance his ideology to stir his base.

Our 2020election has taught us how divided our country is and how the Republican Party is divided itself.  The Republican Party has created its demise, and is caught in a complicated place between Trump and the voters.  Accordingly to Alberta, a number of the Republican Party “After four years of turning a blind eye to the president’s subversive rhetoric, manic behavior and relentless dishonesty, the ultimate test for the Republican Party was whether it would accommodate the president’s rebellion against this country’s democratic norm or denounce it,” (Alberta, 2020).  The writer outlined how corrupt our leaders are as they falsely represent themselves to the voters in our election.  The moral of doing the correct thing as a leader has become a pattern of the past and false narrative is a path of destruction for the American people.  Some are concerned that their voters might destroy the Republican Party.  So, if Trump does not get another four years, their voters’ movement can go against the Republican Party who does not support Trump to retake office in 2021.  He is setting the stage for his future re-election, hoping the momentum will continue among his supporters. 

Over several years, President Trump’s actions culminated in his speeches enforcing his hate and violent rhetoric.  Many people thought this was just a performance to get elected, and the tone would shift to be more acceptable after the election.  In a statement by Jacobson, “The public’s judgments of the president’s character, commitments, and performance have shaped affect toward the president’s party and its other leaders, beliefs about where it stands on issues, assessments of its competence in managing domestic and foreign affairs, its drawing power on election day, and its appeal as an object of personal identification in both the short and long runs,” (Jacobson, 2020).  As the American people have seen on TV, watching Celebrity Apprentice his character is not the same person in the White House, which has been misleading.  The Republican Party has invested a great deal in Trump and even went as far as to support his behavior.  In order for Trump to achieve his agenda, he needed to seize the party.  

While Trump is intensifying his party with his rhetoric, he has disenfranchised the opposing party by delegitimizing it and calling opponents the enemy.  President Trump is controlling the Republican Party by polarizing the voters and his opponents.  Trump needed to mobilize his party, and at the same time, he needed to persuade the voters to support his party and ideology.  In the meantime, he is challenging our Democracy with the help of his supporters.  It is unbelievable how one person can change the Republican Party to where their core belief is built on lies and deception.  Therefore, “Since the 2016 election, President Trump has achieved an unparalleled dominance over the Republican Party.  He has also given his party a central role in his reelection campaign and invested heavily in its organizational capacities,” (Galvin, 2020).  Trump is setting the stage for his future re-election, hoping the momentum will continue with his supporters.  In order for Trump to achieve mobilization, he needed to ignite his supporters to cause chaos and distraction while challenging the Democratic Party and our Democracy by making bold claims.  He has gone as far as attacking some of his party because they are not in line with his platform to divide and conquer.  However, some of the Republican Party is questioning Trump’s behavior.  President Trump is not a favorite or popular with some of his constituents. 

The “Members of Congress are not afraid of Trump; they are afraid of their voters and constituents,” said Buck. “As long as he has a stranglehold on them and is able to communicate directly with them, this is not going to change,” (Hook, J., 2020).  One of the concerns is that the voters can take down the Republican Party and to destroy it.  Therefore, the Trump party will have to follow him to the end wherever that may lead.  After all “Trump’s 2020 election strategy is to desensitize America to brazen GOP voter suppression,” (Vance, 2020).  The interesting fact is that we are in the middle of the pandemic and now the voters will have a choice. Let’s make it easier for the voters to feel at ease by having the option to have mail-in ballots or going to vote in person.  At some point, the states would have to plan in advance or pass it through to the legislators as both parties would have to agree upon the changes for the safety of the voters.  The current environment of the pandemic has changed the way we vote however both parties to needs to gain new voters. 

 The pandemic played a challenging role for the Democrats and the Republicans by targeting votes with new registrations.  Due to the pandemic, could this play a vital role that could help or hurt each party in the 2020 election?  Although “Late last month, the Democratic data firm TargetSmart found that while new voter registrations had plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic, those who were registering in competitive states tended to be whiter, older and less Democratic than before,” (Siders, 2020).  Will this affect the voter turnout at the election polls?  The Democrats had to take a closer look at how they could reverse the declining trend for registration.  Their anticipation expected registrations to pick up as the Democrats got closer to Election Day.  However, the Republicans had gained some voter registrations but will this be enough at the election booths?  The issue is that the Republican Party is expanding their voter base but cannot maintain some of their voters.  The democrats are watching their numbers closely too.

The writer Siders discussed the Republicans’ and Democrats’ voter registration four months before the 2020 election.  Can either party achieve their goals by increasing new voters for their party?  The results will show at Election Day to see if there is an increase in voters.  One of the areas to be concerned with is the minority voters.  The strategies Trump used over the last five years demoralized people including the black voters.  As a result, “If enough African American voters were affected, it could make a difference at the margins in key swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia,” (Galvin, 2020).  These swing states are the ones Trump won in 2016.  He has made some bold statements against many groups by alienating minorities.    

How are Hispanics changing the battleground states’ elections at a higher rate than any other ethnic group?  We see changes in the minority groups in this election, especially with the Hispanics in Texas and Arizona.  Even the pandemic is not stopping these voters from exercising their rights in voting.  “Non-White eligible voters accounted for more than three-quarters of total U.S. electorate growth since 2000,” (Budiman, A. & Igielnik, R, 2020).   We should see a higher turnout within the Hispanic population.  Since 2000 and up to 2018, the election has seen Hispanic voters increase conservatively about 80% according to the chart, (Budiman, A. & Igielnik, R, 2020), “The changing racial and ethnic makeup of the U.S. electorate.”  I think the Republican Party will struggle with the minority groups at the polls.

The Republican Party has struggled with the minority parties since the early thirties.  Accordingly to this an article states, “No, Trump didn’t win ‘The largest share of non-white voters of any Republican in 60 years,” (Roy, 2020), see figure1, the chart of GOP share of black vote.  In many of his speeches, Trump has degraded minority groups and tried to disenfranchise them in any way he could.  It would not surprise anyone that Trump did not get many voters from this group.  Looking at the minorities who voted for Trump and receiving 12%, which was surprising, this can be an opportunity for The Republican Party to bridge the gap; maybe it is a good idea to start mending and building a rapport within the minority groups.  One of the ways Biden built momentum within the minorities groups was to reach out to connect with the voters, showing that his own campaign was based on diversity.

How did President-Elect Biden successfully win the votes against President Trump?  It seems that his campaign was focused on inner-city, suburban voters, and disenfranchised minorities.  As a result, to his “Based on an NPR analysis of the more than 3,000 counties, it was, in fact, mostly a base election with some key persuasion in Democratic-leaning suburbs that went for Joe Biden by wider margins than they did for Hillary Clinton in 2016” (Jin, H. C. & Montanaro, D., 2020).  Looking back at Arizona in the 2016 election, Trump received 1,252,401 votes equal to 48.1% of the state, and Clinton received 1,161,167 votes equal to 44.6% an article in the NY Times Election Results (2016 Arizona Results, 2017).  In the 2020 election for Arizona, Trump 1, 239,000 votes equal to 46.8% versa Biden 1,372,000 votes equal to 51.8% an article written in Newsweek “Did Donald Trump Win Arizona in 2016?” (Morris, 2020).  President Trump’s total numbers went slightly down by 13,401 and 1.3%, so Trump did not pick up any new voters overall.  The last election issue was that the voters did not want Trump or Clinton, so they did not vote.  As a result, Biden outperformed by 210,833 voters and 7.2% over Clinton in 2016.  Looking at three swing states: Wisconsin, Atlanta, and Michigan in the 2016 election comparing 2020 election votes and the percentage for each candidate:  According to the report by CNN, (Presidential Results , 2020), and (Presidential Results, 2016)

Wisconsin:

2020 election   (D) Biden        1,630,673        49.6%

                        (T) Trump        1,610,065        48.9%

2016 election   (R) Trump       1,405,284        47.8%

                        (D) Clinton      1,382,536        47.0%

Atlanta:

2020 election   (D) Biden        2,474,507        49.5%

                        (R) Trump       2,461,837        49.3%

2016 election   (R) Trump       2,089,104        51.0%

(D) Clinton      1,877,963        45.9%

Michigan:

2020 election   (D) Biden        2,804,040        50.6%

                        (R) Trump       2,649,852        47.8%

2016 election   (R) Trump       2,279,543        47.6%

                        (D) Clinton      2,268,839        47.4%

By looking at these numbers, there is not much difference between candidates or per state.  Reviewing between the 2016 and 2020 elections, you can see a significant increase in the number of people who voted for each candidate in 2020, because in the last election, 2016 a lot of voters didn’t care for either candidate.  By reviewing President Trump total voter turnout he was able to get the most votes every in an election for a sitting president which could be considered part of his legacy.       

In an article, the writer states that The 2020 Election and Trump’s Legacy,” (Jacobson, 2020) will be negative and has sparked rage in Americans from both sides of the political parties.  Trump had such a stronghold on The Republican Party and leaders that his command pigeonholed them.  He had taken over the party as no others have in the party’s history and they found it challenging to go against Trump.  Moving closer to the campaign re-election, Trump did not expect the killing of George Floyd, which sparked a protest within the U.S. in addition to the pandemic.  The beginning of his campaign was thrown into panic because a few members of the White House, including his wife and Trump, contracted COVID 19.  With all of these events happening, it turned his campaign inside out recently.  Trump lost control of the campaign, and the rhetoric he used in 2016 did not apply within his party, including some of his voters.  The environment was much different then but now, people are experiencing COVID-19, extreme voter suppression, shutdowns and other issues.

The author Jacobson position is that there will be a demise of Trump’s legacy and the Republican Party for years to come.  The writer’s agenda was to show how the stage was set for his re-election in 2020 until the last two years of his presidency.  The cracks started to show with the pandemic, riots, police brutality, looting, and destruction in late 2019 and all of 2020.  The rhetoric Trump used in the last election was not taking shape nor was the momentum for his re-election platform other than with his die-hard supporters and select members of the Republican Party. Under Trump leadership the Republican Party is struggling to avoid complete ruin, because he fractured the party itself.   

Democrats should start paying attention and invest in the next generation of young progressives in order to shun a parallel fate.  The older Democratic Party has not invested much in the future of the younger progressive Democrats that will takeover.  “Although Democratic presidents also asserted control over their party organization, installed loyalists in key positions, and directed party operations from the White House, their approach differed significantly from their Republican counterparts.  Crucially, they did not make significant investments in their party’s organizational capacities,” (Galvin, 2020).  In order to build the Democratic organization and structure it is critical for the party to make changes in order to succeed.  The issue is that the older representatives of the party became unwilling to change causing the party to become stagnant.  It is essential that the party mentor the younger generation to thrive.  It is time to let go of the control issues and start to trust in people again.  Sometimes in leadership roles we set people up for failure.  We all are seeing the lack of trust first hand from the Republican Party and the lack of political experience with the current administration.  Regardless of party it is not always about winning.        

In an opposing view, why did President Trump focus so hard on voter suppression?  President Trump is all about winning, no matter what the cost is.  He has alienated almost all voters except his base in using scare tactics by intimidation to regain control of his re-election.  “Trump’s game of alienation has made voter subtraction the existentialgame of the Republican Party.  Subtracting voters at any cost is all that is saving the Republican Party from political death.  Trump’s Republican Party must kill votes in order to survive,” (Kendi, 2020).  The Biden campaign and the Democrats fought back by running ad campaigns using Trump’s own words and rhetoric against him, stirring the democratic base to get voters out to the polling booths and adding new voters, especially Georgia.  Stacey Abrams was a leader by reaching out to minority areas and speaking with the voters by helping them to understand the process.  Also, running ad campaigns on social media lets the people know we can fix this by participating in voting.  On the opposite end of the spectrum Georgia is one of the swing states that Texas is bringing a lawsuit against concerning the election.

The argument by Texas Attorney General is alleging that the swing states Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin changed their election rules by allowing mail in ballots which violates statutes by their legislatures and the Constitution.  Accordingly to the news “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a last-ditch lawsuit in the Supreme Court against four key states won by President-elect Joe Biden, alleging they unlawfully enacted changes to their voting laws that led to election irregularities and skewed the results of the presidential election,” (Quinn, 2020).    

In the claim, that Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, filed a lawsuit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States Supreme Court.  He stated that “The states violated statutes enacted by their duly elected legislatures, thereby violating the Constitution. By ignoring both state and federal law, these states have not only tainted the integrity of their own citizens’ vote, but of Texas and every other state that held lawful elections,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Their failure to abide by the rule of law casts a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election. We now ask that the Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error,” (CBSDFW, 2020).  In The U.S. Constitution “Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States shall be appointed an Elector.”  The validity of four state elections is being questioned as well as the newly enacted adjustments to voter laws in those states. 

In Georgia they did not change their voting law by mail in ballots.  In “Absentee voting by mail in Georgia law allows for absentee by mail ballots to be requested up to 180 days before an election.  To request an absentee ballot, voters should complete an absentee ballot application and return the absentee ballot application to their county registration office.  Absentee ballot applications can be returned by mail, fax, email (as an attachment), or in-person to the local County Board of Registrar’s Office,” (Absentee Voting in Georgia, 2020).

In Michigan the laws for mail-in ballot did not change according to the website Ballot Pedia.  In fact there are requirements for mail-in ballots that needs a signature and there is a deadline for the ballot to be turn in to the clerk’s office.  Here is part of the Michigan laws for the mail-in ballot “After receiving your absent voter ballot, you have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to complete the ballot and return it to the clerk’s office.  Your ballot will not be counted unless your signature is on the return envelope and matches your signature on file.  If you received assistance voting the ballot, then the signature of the person who helped you must also be on the return envelope.  Only you, a family member or person residing in your household, a mail carrier, or election official is authorized to deliver your signed absent voter ballot to your clerk’s office,” (Benson, 2020).

Pennsylvania made changes to their mail-in ballot through their legislators on March 27, 2020.  The legislators knew that the pandemic would be challenging for the voters to exercise their right to vote so they needed to make provisions or amendments to their voting laws.  However, the changes were made accordingly to “ACT 12 – PENNSYLVANIA ELECTION CODE – OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS – Act of Mar. 27, 2020, P.L. 41, No. 12,” (Historic Changes to PA Election Code, 2020).  The State of Pennsylvania planned eight months prior to the November 3, 2020 election for these provisions.

Wisconsin State Laws for voting by mail-in ballot for a presidential election were changed due to the pandemic.  As a result of the pandemic, Wisconsin voting law states: “Who can Request an Absentee Ballot?  Any qualified elector (U.S. citizen, 18 years of age, who has resided in the district in which he or she intends to vote for at least 28 days) who registers to vote is eligible to request an absentee ballot.  Under Wisconsin law, voters do not need a reason or excuse, such as being out of town on Election Day, to vote absentee.  Any voter who prefers to vote by absentee ballot may request one.  You have several options for requesting an absentee ballot and casting your vote.  Request an Absentee Ballot by Mail. If you are a registered Wisconsin voter, you can download the Application For Absentee Ballot (EL-121).  Just complete the form and mail it to your municipal clerk’s office. You can find your clerk at MyVote WI: myvote.wi.gov by searching for your voter record or performing an address search. You can also find your clerk by searching through the list of all Wisconsin municipal clerks.  Your application must be received by the clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the election in order for an absentee ballot to be SENT to you.  You will also need to provide a copy of your acceptable photo ID with your request.  If you have not previously provided a copy of photo ID, photo ID must accompany your first application by mail.  More information about photo ID can be found at www.bringit.wi.gov,” (I want to vote absentee WI, 2020).

In these four swing states, two of the four states made changes to their mail-in ballot for their voters, due to the current environment with the pandemic.  Each state requirement seems to be consistent or in line with other states by having both an I.D and signatures.  A lot of these changes were modified pre-election to accommodate the needs of the voters.  For the sake of argument purposes, if all these states made changes after the election, then Trump would have a valid point in a rigged election.  However, in addition to these four swing state’s changes, another 34 states made changes to their mail in ballots or provision due to the current environment with the pandemic, which can be found on the website “Ballot Pedia,” (Absentee/mail-in voting, 2020).  The Supreme Court can reject this lawsuit being frivolous without a spine.  

In my opinion, looking at the broader scheme of the last five years, it has been a roller coaster ride for many people.  However this year pushed the people to the edge.  The year started out with the pandemic, followed by the killing of George Floyd on national T.V., which was the catalyst that sparked protests, riots, and marches as this needed to happen to make some changes, which is long overdue.  The real question is, will we learn from this?     

Do we blame everything on President Trump, his actions, and all the hate speech?  Sure we can, but the Republican Party is just as equal to blame in all of this rhetoric.  Trump set the tone at the beginning of his campaign by dividing our country even more.  In a speech given on January 20, 1961 stated by John F. Kennedy, “Let both sides unite to heed” and “Let both sides join in creating new endeavors.”  We need this more than ever for our country.  We can blame Trump for his behavior just as our own.  The Democrats have their issues, too, as they are not saints either.  The result of the election was very telling that voters want to change the trajectory with this current administration.  I would have to agree that the U.S. could not continue on this path of destruction as our country needs unity and healing.  However, pointing fingers or blaming each other will not resolve today’s issues so let’s stop attacking each other’s character.  It is effortless to find fault in others, but the hard work is to come together to find solutions.  As John F. Kennedy had eloquently stated in a speech, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”   

In conclusion Trump’s influence has polarized not only voters, but also the country and even his own political party.  He has demoralized minorities and created a division within his own party, yet maintaining his voter base, but at the same time marginalizing the Democrats as if they were the enemy of the country.  Trump’s speeches have had an impact that influences people and can be negative or positive depending on which side of the aisle you represent.  Our current administration has challenged the four swing states in the validity of their election process while trying to overturn the outcome of our election.  However, both parties have failed in the duties to represent their constituents.  Yet, it is the duty of the branches of our government to protect and uphold our democracy.  At the end of the day one of the administrations will take a seat in the White House and hopefully they will represent all Americans regardless of their party affiliation and restore public trust. 

References

2016 Arizona Results. (2017, August 1). Retrieved from NY Times : https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/arizona

Absentee voting allow you to vote by mail. (2020). Retrieved from The office of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1633_8716_8728-21037–,00.html

Absentee Voting in Georgia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Georgia Government: https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/Elections/absentee_voting_in_georgia

Absentee/mail-in voting. (2020). Retrieved from Ballot Pedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Absentee/mail-in_voting

Alberta, T. (2020, November 7). The Election That Broke the Republican Party. Retrieved from Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/06/the-election-that-broke-the-republican-party-434797

Budiman, A., Igielnik, R. (2020, September 23). Retrieved from The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Electorate: https://www.pewresearch.org/2020/09/23/the-changing-racial-and-ethnic-composition-of-the-u-s-electorate/

CBSDFW. (2020, December 9). Supreme Court Orders Reply To Texas AG Ken Paxton’s Election Lawsuit By 3PM Thursday. Retrieved from CBS DFW: https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/12/09/supreme-court-orders-reply-texas-election-lawsuit/

Galvin, D. J. (2020). Party Domination and Base Mobilization: Donald Trump and Republican Party Building in a Polarized Era. Retrieved from Northwest Institute for Policy Research: https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/our-work/working-papers/2020/wp-20-18.html

Historic Changes to PA Election Code. (2020, March 27). Retrieved from Vote PA: https://www.votespa.com/About-Elections/Pages/Voting-Reforms.aspx

Hook, J. (2020, June 12). Donald Trump’s iron grip on the GOP: Why Republicans stick with him. Retrieved from Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-06-12/republican-officials-fear-trump

I want to vote absentee WI. (2020). Retrieved from Wisconsin Elections Commission: https://elections.wi.gov/voters/absentee

Jacobson, G. (2020, October 24). Donald Trump and the Parties: Impeachment, Pandemic, Protest, and Eletoral Politics in 2020. The 2020 Election and Trump Legacy, p. 27.

Jin, H. C. & Montanaro, D. (2020, November 18). How Biden Won: Ramping Up The Base and Expanding Margin In The Suburbs. Retrieved from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/935730100/how-biden-won-ramping-up-the-base-and-expanding-margins-in-the-suburbs

Kendi, I. (2020, October 16). A Campaign of Voter Substraction. Retrieved from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/threat-voter-subtraction/616746/

Morris, S. (2020, November 4). Did Donald Trump Win Arizona in 2016? Retrieved from Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/did-donald-trump-win-arizona-2016-election-1544680

Presidential Results . (2020, November). Retrieved from CNN.com: https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/president

Presidential Results. (2016, November). Retrieved from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/president

Quinn, M. (2020, December 10). Texas sues overelection results in battleground states Biden won. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-lawsuit-supreme-court-2020-election-four-states-biden-won/

Roy, A. (2020, November 9). No, Trump Didn’t Win ‘The Largest Share Of Non White Voters Of Any Republican In 60 Years’. Retrieved from FORBES: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2020/11/09/no-trump-didnt-win-the-largest-share-of-non-white-voters-of-any-republican-in-60-years/?sh=5d06bc064a09

Siders, D. (2020, July 11). Trump gets some good election news: GOP voter registrations outpace Dems. Retrieved from Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/11/trump-voter-registration-355152

Vance, J. (2020, November 4). Trump’s 2020 election strategy is to desensitize America to brazen GOP voter suppression. Retrieved from MSNBC: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/trump-s-2020-election-strategy-desensitize-america-brazen-gop-voter-n1246369

Figure 1               

Written by: Greg MD