LEAD@HVCC discusses midterm elections
Richard Decker
Staff Writer
What does it take to lead? LEAD@HVCC seeks to answer this question with a series of workshops held weekly in the newly-constructed Student Leadership Conference Center in Siek 202.
The weekly topics include leadership development skills workshops and critical conversations that debate current issues. On Feb. 19, LEAD@HVCC presented the first of these workshops, “The Impact and Importance of the Mid-Term Elections.”
Professors Robert Whitaker and Alan Joseph, both from the History, Philosophy and Social Sciences Department, talked about the history of the midterm elections, their significance, the political stakes and the impact midterm elections can have on the influence of presidential leadership.
Discussing the structure of the midterm elections, Whitaker stressed the size of the midterm election.
“Every single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is on the ballot — all 435 of them — and a third of the Senate,” Whitaker exclaimed, also noting many local and state elections would also be decided in November.
Joseph believes the key to getting the voting public to understand the midterm election is to make everyone believe their votes are equally important.
“One of the most frequent arguments that comes up is, ‘My vote doesn’t matter,’” Joseph said. “Yes, it does, and to see that, just look at Virginia, where the winner was decided by picking a name from a hat.”
Joseph continued, “Every single vote counts — town judge, town supervisor, state or federal congress or the president — every vote counts.”
Whitaker highlighted a reason as to why midterm elections are so important, which is that they decide policy.
“The people we put in office determines what government really does or does not do,” Whitaker explained.
“Whitaker continued, “It’s up to voters to think about the policies they want to see and vote in accordance with what they feel most comfortable. Casting the ballot is not the end of it. It is just the beginning.”
Joseph agreed, adding, “Who gets appointed to agencies — the EPA, SEC, Supreme Court and all the Court of Appeals and trial courts — is all determined by who we vote for in November.”
About halfway through the presentation, the professors fielded questions from those who attended.
Q. Starting the question and answer session, one student asked, “How do you suggest we properly educate ourselves on the subject?”
A. “Step one is registering to vote,” Joseph responded. “Once you are, there are plenty of ways — talk to people, read some articles. There are locally produced radio and television shows, and you can always talk to a professor who would love to talk about it!”
Q. Student Senate Secretary Kyle Hudson asked, “With social media, one of the upcoming features is contributions directly through things like Facebook. Are we expecting there to be more engagement than we have in the past because of this?”
A. “You’ve got two things going on,” Whitaker offered. “Thanks to social media, not only is it easier to learn about the candidates, but the candidates can learn about you, and from that [they] can ask for donations. It’s much easier, honestly, to ask for money now than it was years ago.”
Q. Louis Coplin, Director of Student Life, asked, “Based on your expertise and opinion, where do you see this year’s midterm elections compared to other presidents’ tenure? How do you compare this year’s elections to those of another year?”
A. Joseph responded, “The general rule of thumb is whoever is in power tends to take a beating and lose seats, but not always,” Joseph said. “During the anti-Nixon/Watergate election, Republicans lost their majority but gained it two years later.” Whitaker added, “In 2010, the Democrats lost 63 seats, the first midterm election under Obama, so that would also refute the rule.”
LEAD@HVCC will continue their series of workshops with their next critical conversation on the topic of Title IX (Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment). Campus Title IX and Coordinator of College Judicial System Sandra McCarthy, Director of Health Services Claudine Potvin-Giordano and Terry Buchanan, a campus security officer, will lead a discussion on how students can identify, prevent and report if they are being sexual harassed or are victims of domestic violence.