The aftermath of the 2020 election: relief, action, and fear
By: Alex Najibi
Tags: Trump Administration, Democratic Party, Politics And Elections, Joe Biden, Election 2020

Relief!

The 2020 election was declared this past weekend, and Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States. I first heard (or rather, sensed) the announcement in a Cambridge park on a beautiful 74˚ day when my notifications went off and people nearby began to cheer. This sunny setting was the polar opposite of four years earlier, when the election was followed by several gloomy, overcast days (this was symbolism). I ran to downtown Boston, where the excitement was infectious; the Common and Public Garden were filled with jubilant people. Over the course of the day, similar scenes took place across the country, across the world.

For so many of us, the past four years were an endless nightmare. Every day it seemed we were faced with a new scandal, racist statement, or literal crime, from the highest office in the country. White supremacy and violence were normalized just as immigrants and non-white Americans were demonized. Throughout my life, I have always considered myself a proud American. As a kid I drew American flags and taped them up on what I called the “Patriotic Wall” in my room. But if Trump was president at the time my father immigrated to the United States from Iran, I would not be alive. And it was tough to feel pride for my country under a president who did not want me to exist. Of course, this was “only” a psychological burden for me. Marginalized communities in the United States — BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, Muslim, immigrants, and others — suffered in unique ways, in many cases physically and materially as well as mentally.

Upon this backdrop, listening to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory speeches was like a glass of cold water after a long day of work at the racism and xenophobia factory. This was an incredible reminder of how a President should sound, how words have an impact and their choice is consequential. The nightmare was fading.

Immediate action

Unfortunately, we only have the hottest of seconds to soak in this victory. Due to incredible efforts by organizers and volunteers, Democrats are in a position to take not only the Presidency and House but also the Senate, where two remaining Georgia seats in a January runoff election will decide everything. We need to do everything we can to help win this GA election. I was highly invested in Joe Biden’s campaign, both emotionally and through my time, and I was looking forward to a break — but it’ll be right back to work. If we become complacent, and Republicans take even one of those seats, Mitch McConnell can continue to block progress, potentially kneecapping economic stimulus and essential reforms. Two years of this obstruction could lead to disastrous 2022 midterm elections, and by 2024 we could be back in 2016 before we know it. We need to volunteer and donate however we can to win back the Senate, and these next two months will be critical.

Tackling fear

I was hoping, even expecting, that this election would massively renounce Donald Trump and what he stands for. And in the end, both the popular and electoral vote margins will be significant. But 72 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. 72 million Americans looked back on the past four years, and not only thought they were okay, but wanted more.

I am conflicted in how to rationalize this. 72 million voters willingly supported a hateful, incompetent, corrupt, and racist person. Maybe that’s not why they supported him, but the fact is, those weren’t dealbreakers. However, I don’t believe those adjectives describe Trump voters as a whole. Here’s one I think is much more pivotal: scared. You don’t need to take my word for it: in exit polls, 89% of Trump voters, and almost a quarter of voters overall, said they would feel “scared” if Joe Biden is elected President.

That statistic shocked me. The idea that Trump supporters would be scared of a Biden presidency sounds almost insulting, juxtaposed with the myriad of psychological and physical fears imposed by the Trump administration: non-white Americans facing racist violence, immigrants threatened with deportation, women losing body autonomy, everyone concerned about healthcare access and climate change. I’m not sorry when I say that these life-and-death concerns are not equivalent to the fear of a diverse, progressive, and egalitarian America passing conservatives by. That said, I don’t mean to (entirely) invalidate Republican fears. Leading up to the 2020 election, I engaged with many Trump supporters, online and over the phone. Many truly envision universal healthcare as a means to push socialism and communism, raising taxes and destroying the American way of life. They understand Black Lives Matter as a Marxist scheme to burn and loot American cities (all while pushing socialism). If this is the information you receive, how can you not be afraid?

While troubling, I believe that this situation presents a tremendous opportunity to bridge the gap through communication. Conservatives’ fear underscores how ineffective and insufficient the Democratic party’s messaging actually is when it comes to reaching the other half of the country. The thing is, Democratic ideas are not unpopular. This election, 48% of Floridian voters supported Biden, but 61% voted to increase the minimum wage to $15. Every Democratic House candidate endorsing Medicare for All won their election. These policies will help everyone.

Determining what exactly this effective communication may look like will be a critical challenge in the coming decade. And I don’t have the answer. In all my interactions, I don’t think I converted any hardcore Trumpers, and the Biden campaign specifically instructed volunteers to politely end calls with Trump supporters, so the stats must back this up. I don’t relish this challenge either — I’ve been told to go f**k myself more times in the past couple months than my entire life before — but we can’t ignore these 72 million people and their fears. Of course, the misinformation and fear-inducing campaigns by right-wing media and Facebook echo chambers must be addressed. But we also have to reach Republican voters. To me, the first step is simply winning the Senate through Georgia, to demonstrate how a Democratic-controlled Congress and President can accomplish meaningful change and help all Americans, and that Democratic policies aren’t so scary after all.