Trojan political organizations reflect on trickling election results

Tensions continue to rise within the USC community as the presidential election results between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden continue pouring in. After figuring out how to navigate mail-in ballots, constantly refreshing poll results and reading article after article, different student political clubs hosted watch parties to get together virtually to observe the results of the election pour in. 

Some of the clubs that hosted virtual parties included the Trojan Left, USC GOP and Trojan Democrats. 

Eleven passionate students armed with drinks and commentary gathered at Trojan Left’s election viewing party. Trojan Left is a club that is committed to action-based steps toward “radical change on every level.” Most recently, the club has been involved in local campaigns for David Kim in California’s 34th district and Fatima Iqbal-Zubair in District 64 of the California State Assembly. 

However, Garrett Humble, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and economics who is the social media director of Trojan Left, is not feeling hopeful about the current presidential election. 

“I’m not really excited about this election either way,” Humble said. “I don’t find that we’re going to get really substantial change regardless of who wins in this election.”

Humble went on to explain that while he felt Trump has been a “horrible” president, Biden has not proven to be a much better candidate as he hasn’t been doing enough to improve the country’s current issues.

“I don’t think either candidate is going to bring anything positive to the table,” Humble said. “The Biden campaign and the Democratic establishment is, in my opinion, not acting like an opposition party. They’re not acting as some force that’s actually trying to fight against this tide of fascism and racism and nationalism that’s sweeping the nation.”

Morgan Farrier, a freshman majoring in astronautical engineering, serves as the communications coordinator for USC GOP. Farrier is watching election results play out from her hometown of Palos Verdes, Calif. 

As Biden led on the West Coast, Farrier said she hoped for another four years of Trump’s presidency but would accept the results either way. 

“I hope Trump wins, I do support him as a candidate, not that he’s perfect,” Farrier said. “I do think it’ll be a very close race. It could go either way, honestly. I mean whatever the results are, that’s what the people chose.” 

Over the summer when exploring on-campus groups to join, Farrier joined USC GOP to connect with like-minded individuals. 

“The political tensions were very, very high … and I am OK with talking to people who have differing political opinions,” Farrier said. “I [wanted] a group that I at least have common grounds with.”

Farrier said she hopes for a Republican presidency because she prefers Trump’s policies and actions toward the Middle East and his health care plans. 

“[Trump’s] already done a lot with peace deals in the Middle East, so I suspect we’ll have more of that,” Farrier said. “He’s started to do protections for pre-existing health care. He says he’s going to continue that. For me, I have a pretty serious health disease, so that is something that I look at and I am happy he’s compromising on because that used to be a more Democratic position.” 

According to The New York Times, Trump has not negotiated “peace” deals, as said deals continue to oppress Palestinians. Trump also supported Saudi Arabia’s government and created tensions between the United States and Western allies by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and Syria.

While numbers continue to fluctuate as ballots are counted, Andrew Binder, a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law who currently serves as president of the Trojan Democrats, said he has hope that Biden could pull out a win in remaining states.

Binder joined the Trojan Democrats his freshman year; however it was not his first shot at politics. Prior to starting college, Binder worked for Hillary Clinton’s general election campaign in 2016. In high school, he served as an organizing fellow in a swing county in Pennsylvania. 

“[Hillary Clinton] ultimately ended up winning by a margin of tens of thousands of voters, which was not enough to flip the state of Pennsylvania, but did help Democrats in subsequent local elections,” Binder said. 

As president of Trojan Democrats, Binder said he has also seen various hands-on volunteering efforts from students throughout the semester. 

“It’s been inspiring to see dozens of students turn out to make a difference in the election,” Binder said. “We’ve had great participation every week whether it’s reaching out to fellow USC students or calling into swing states to try to help Biden and Harris or some of the Senate candidates like Theresa Greenfield in Iowa or Cal Cunningham in North Carolina.” 

In the Trojan Democrats club, a swift and open dialogue about lack of optimism and painful reminders of the 2016 race raged on while swing states awaited counting. However, Binder held on to hope. 

“I am cautiously optimistic that we will win this, I’m not quite sure when the presidential election will be called,” Binder said. “It could be tonight, but it could very well be later this week as well, and that’s great.” 

The cautious optimism is carrying Binder’s spirit throughout the remainder of vote counting. If Biden wins, Binder said he is carrying hope for a speedy end to the pandemic and reuniting the country. 

“We’ll be happy not only because we put in the work to help this campaign, but also because of what it means for so many Americans who are struggling right now,” Binder said. “Because of the coronavirus pandemic, because of subsequent economic recession, because of the racial injustice that continues to persist unaddressed and because of the environmental destruction that’s been brought by the policies of the current administration.”