Fresh cup of Joe – students discuss Biden’s victory

By Sam Bailey / Editor In Chief

2020 has been a year filled with wildfires, protests for social change, a global pandemic and, most recently, the election for President of the United States of America.

On Nov. 7 most major media outlets called that former Vice President Joe Biden would be the 46th US President after he won Pennsylvania.

Biden will be accompanied in office by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the first woman and woman of color, Black and of Indian descent, to ever be elected to that office.

“I think it is really encouraging to see a woman, especially a woman of color, in such a high office,” said Hutchinson sophomore Jordan Galliher. “It is inspiring for so many young women who want to make sure their voices are being heard. I think it’s important to have a female voice wherever important decisions are being made. Hopefully, this will open doors for more women to be elected into high positions, and eventually a woman as President.”

Along with making history by having the first woman Vice President, according to the Associated Press, this election also broke records by featuring the highest voter turnout in 50 years with 62% of the eligible voting population casting their ballots. This also resulted in the highest number of votes for a president-elect in history totaling more than 75 million as of Nov. 9, according to the AP.

While the public voting places were open on Nov. 3, many results didn’t come in until a few days later, putting many Americans on the edge of their seat.

“I just wanted them to come in to be honest, but I realize that with the pandemic, there was definitely going to be a lot more mail-in ballots than previous elections,” said Derby sophomore Kylee Dunn.

When the results finally did come in, Dunn liked what she saw.

“My reaction to the results was a huge sigh of relief,” Dunn said.

With a new president comes new ideas and challenges for everyone.

“While I am glad Trump will be out of office, I don’t think Biden is perfect and I think it is important to hold him accountable and make sure Biden keeps his promises,” Galliher said.

Bringing in a new president can be a scary transition for some people, but Dunn has high hopes for the future.

“Yes, I do have high hopes because he has the experience, I mean he has been in politics for 48 years,” Dunn said. “He also cares about the people, the American people, as a whole, and not just who voted for him.”

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