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North America

The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Past Present Podcast, Episode 254

November 10, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is the President-Elect of the United States. Natalia mentioned this New York Times interview with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in reference to possible challenges within the Democratic coalition. In our regular closing feature, What’s Making ...

Democracy

Black Lives Matter Gave Joe Biden His Victory

It is the foundation of a truly new electorate

November 9, 2020 • by John Stoehr

I don’t think I have seen what I saw over the weekend. Americans were dancing in the streets. That’s usually a metaphor, not a literal fact. But after the big news outlets called the race Saturday for Joe Biden, cities around the country spasmed with joy, as if something pent up ...

Black Lives Matter Gave Joe Biden His Victory

Democracy

The Day After?

We have much work yet to do

November 9, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

The votes have been counted, and Joe Biden is now the President-elect. On Saturday night, he gave a Victory Speech, following a speech by his running-mate, Kamala Harris. I have been very cautious, very concerned that Trump might obstruct the electoral process and cling to power. I remain concerned, about the ...

Democracy

The Unfinished Project of Defeating Donald Trump

Reflections on the elections in the United States

November 6, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I have voiced my judgment over the past four years, and I have facilitated and organized others’ opinions, reports and analyses of Trumpism and global authoritarian trends here at the Democracy Seminar. Yet, a week ago, I exercised the real power of my vote. It was gratifying. And I didn’t only vote ...

The Unfinished Project of Defeating Donald Trump

Democracy

Will Trump’s Coup Succeed?

How to steal an election in plain view

November 5, 2020 • by Timothy Kuhner

May posterity never forget the first time in history—November 4, 2020—when an American president admitted to a conspiracy to invalidate millions of lawfully cast ballots in order to retain the presidency. Noting that the election had not yet been called in his favor, despite his lead in several key states, Donald ...

Democracy

Measuring the Health of Our Democracy

As Trump spins his conspiracist narrative, Biden prepares to assume the presidency and the GOP holds him at arm’s length

November 5, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

Counting continues in the 2020 presidential race. There is a lot I’d like to say about what this election looks like, but I will wait until it's final. Remember: the fact that polling officials are taking time to count the ballots is a good thing, not a bad one. And ...

Democracy

Confessions of a Poll Worker

When I volunteered to work on Election Day, my melting pot neighborhood taught me about the complexity of Trump’s America

November 5, 2020 • by Mitchell Abidor

It’s not the least of the paradoxes of the Trump era that this wannabe authoritarian did more than any decent man to lead Americans to assume their civic duties. Trump’s attacks on the electoral process led 52,000 New Yorkers to sign up for work at the polls, 18,000 more than in ...

Democracy

We Will Be Lucky if Biden Actually Becomes the President-Elect

But this election is not over, and even the best case scenario is pretty dismal

November 4, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

I have never thought this would be easy. I always knew that this was not a normal election, and that it would be deeply contentious during and after “Election Day.” The day before Election Day, i.e., two days ago, I published a piece articulating what I have been saying for some ...

We Will Be Lucky if Biden Actually Becomes the President-Elect

Democracy

Biden Is Waiting, Trump Is Plotting and the Votes Are Still Being Counted

The “blue wave” didn’t happen, but a messy, prolonged “blue shift” probably will

November 4, 2020 • by John Stoehr

I had a bad night, too. This morning was better. I had a good cry. That always helps. Then I thought about things. That also helps. It remains to be seen whether Joe Biden wins, but one thing seems certain: fascism will be with us for a long time to come. Perhaps ...

Biden Is Waiting, Trump Is Plotting and the Votes Are Still Being Counted

Literature

Poetry to Vote By

Reading Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic on the eve of the election

November 3, 2020 • by Evangeline Riddiford Graham

How many of us are brave enough for art? At the bakery down the block, polling shows Trump surging ahead. Each purchase of an election-themed cookie—Biden or Trump, with red, white, and blue sprinkles—is tallied by the bakers as a vote in favor for the relevant candidate. “Our forecast is never ...

Democracy

Feel Better, Defeat Trump!

Some practical tips for putting your election emotions to good work

November 2, 2020 • by Leo Casey

Many of us are finding ourselves quite apprehensive, even fearful, because of what is happening with the 2020 elections and in American political life. There is value, I want to argue, in taking a moment to analyze those feelings, the role they play in the elections and what we can ...

Democracy

How to Suppress the Vote

One of the Constitution’s original provisions, delegating elections to the states, haunts us today

November 2, 2020 • by Jo Freeman

There has been a lot of talk in the last few months about vote suppression. Both Democrats and Republicans are accusing the other of an action that, we can all agree, is reprehensible. But vote suppression is nothing new. It has a long and (dis)honorable tradition reaching back to the founding ...