Politics with Nolan: President Biden

By Nolan Cleary, Managing Editor

With a tumultuous 2020 finally coming to a close, the much anticipated Presidential election has finally come and gone. While some ballots have yet to still be counted, Joe Biden seems posed to defeat incumbent President Donald Trump, making him the United States’ 46th President in January. 

Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1942 to an initially wealthy family. However, by the 1950s, Biden’s father had lost most of his wealth causing the family to be in financial straits. 

Biden’s family later moved to Delaware, where Biden was elected to be Senator at the young age of 29. Biden was elected one month before his 30th birthday, which was when he was officially eligible to serve as a U.S. Senator. 

Following his election, Biden’s life was struck with tragedy. His wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. Biden considered resigning to support his family but was convinced to continue serving. Biden eventually married his second wife, Jill who he had one daughter with.

In the Senate, Biden had a moderate record over time, as he headed the controversial Crime Bill of 1994, but was viewed as a working-class candidate. 

In 1988, Biden announced his first bid for the White House and was at one point considered a key contender. However, after coming under fire for his plagiarism of the UK’s Labour Party, Neil Kinnock. At this time, Biden was also under accusations that he lied about being top of his class in college, eventually, Biden was forced out of the race. 

Biden launched another bid for President in 2008 but gained very little traction. Biden conceded after receiving just a few thousand votes in the Iowa Caucus but was later chosen to be Barack Obama’s choice for Vice President. The two won the election. 

During his time in office, Biden made prevention of sexual assault against women a key goal of his time in office. 

In 2009, now-future First Lady Jill Biden visited Hudson Valley Community College along with then-President Barack Obama. 

Biden was heavily rumored to run for President a third time in 2016 but declined after his son, Beau Biden was diagnosed with brain cancer. In 2015, Beau Biden died at just 46 years of age. 

Now, at the age of 78, Biden is the oldest man ever to be elected President.

At Hudson Valley Community College, students reacted to Biden’s victory. 

Nicole Lencewicz is a liberal arts and humanities honors student at HVCC. She says she believes Biden’s victory is the right step forward for the country. 

“Joe Biden winning is a step in the right for minority groups, women, the LGBTQ community and so many more. I definitely think he deserved to win as shown by the numbers.” Lencewicz said. 

Some students, however, were not as enthusiastic. Nikita Padunin, a student pursuing a bioengineering major, stated that he doubts the legitimacy of the results. 

“Me and including many people I know aren’t really satisfied with the election, and believe the election is fraudulent.” Padunin says. 

Tatiana Monet, a student pursuing an environmental science major said she has mixed feelings about the outcome. 

“I was personally a little disappointed in Joe Biden’s win. I felt, like in 2016, the Democrat party forced this candidate on us, and I was kinda hoping the country would show them that they can’t do that. But that’s not what happened. To me, we are just replacing a bad administration with an equally bad one.” Monet said. 

So far, President Trump appears to have no plans of standing down. The President’s lawyer and former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is pursuing lawsuits in states that Biden won by a razor-thin margin. 

Thus far, the President has yet to concede, with some speculating he could be plotting a comeback in four years. Monet says Trump’s refusal to concede is in line with his overall character. 

“I don’t care if President Trump concedes. It’s irrelevant. This is in line with his character so we shouldn’t be surprised. I think what is important is how close this election was.” Monet said. 

Lencewicz shared a similar sentiment. “President Donald Trump not conceding does not surprise me at all,” Lencewicz said. 

Despite Biden’s win, Democrats down the ballot generally suffered. While Democrats did keep the House, they made substantial losses overall and will hold the smallest House majority in 20 years coming this January. 

Democrats also appear poised to lose the Senate once again. They suffered heavily in the usually Democratic stronghold of New York, where multiple Republicans picked up a number of U.S. House seats in the state. Democrats also lost seats in the New York State legislature. 

Padunin said he believes Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic explains why he lost, despite overall Republican gains. 

“People were disgusted by that ‘Trump didn’t take the virus seriously,’ and then Trump got the virus himself,” Padunin said. 

Many also discuss the election of Senator Kamala Harris to be Vice President of the United States. Harris will be the first woman to serve as Vice President. 

Monet says she hopes Harris’ election leads to more women holding positions of power. “Women in positions of power are good for everyone. I hope we one day have a White House that’s 100% women. Female Prez, VP, and an all-female cabinet. It’s been 100% men plenty of times before. Why not the reverse?” Monet said. 

Despite Biden’s election, the country remains more divided than ever. Monet hopes the country can unify going forward. 

“People want to see [Democrats and Republicans] working together. I think the last 4 years of watching your Representatives fight about the COVID relief bill or whatever was on the table when they should have been working together to pass it, made people vote for change.” Monet said.