2016 to 2024: Holding on to hope in a divided America
By Jordan Huber
Disclaimer: Jordan Huber is an election worker. The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Humboldt County Office of Elections.
The 2024 election cycle has been an exhaustive 24/7 news frenzy. Millions upon millions of dollars were spent on advertisements ranging from local issues in Humboldt County all the way to the Oval Office. With the polls closed as of yesterday, I find myself in the peculiar position of writing without knowing the outcome. I will not be trying to write into existence what I think is going to happen. For all I know, the winner has already been announced, or it’s possible we will not know the winner for days after the election. Instead, I want to talk to you all about my first presidential election and how that night still lives with me.
I was a first-year student at Humboldt State during the fall of 2016. The drama of the election was coming to a close as I sat in my room trying to study for an engineering exam while I had election coverage playing in the background. I had proudly dropped my mail-in ballot off at the post office and was celebrating the fact that I had voted for the first time. Everything I read told me what the outcome was going to be, so I was not too worried about what would happen that night. Many of my friends and family were convinced that the race would be called for Hillary Clinton in the late evening, so we could rejoice, and then sleep peacefully. It ended up being anything but that.
The race steadily tilted in Trump’s favor as the hours ticked by. As he pulled further and further away from Hillary, I ended up completely ditching my studying to stare in disbelief at my laptop. An electoral map I expected to be covered in blue was instead stained in blood red. I watched as an assured victory turned into stunning defeat. I heard students outside of my dorm room in Sunset Hall gathering in anger and confusion. Further down my hall, students were shouting racial slurs out of their windows. RAs raced to my hall on the third floor to reach those hurling these shameful phrases as the rest of the hall gathered around to figure out who was saying such disgusting things. Suddenly, the shockwave of Trump’s election by voters thousands of miles away from us rippled all the way to our campus.
My spirit was broken. I was numb. I was scrolling through social media, watching the world come to terms with what just happened. I stumbled upon a video of President Obama that was posted during the midst of all the mayhem. It was filmed before election night. He highlighted how America has always had a wild streak when it comes to our elections, but in the end, we would endure. One line on the outcome of the election stood out to me, and its meaning has changed for me as time goes on.
“No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning,” Obama said.
At the time, it did not feel that way. I needed reassurance that we’d be alright, that we could move forward. His message did just that.
Eight years later, I find myself offering a twist to President Obama’s message: “No matter what happens, democracy does not die unless you believe it is dead.” Many of you may feel strongly that if Trump is re-elected, it will result in an effective end to the United States as we know it. They see the democratic processes crumbling and having an authoritarian structure built by Trump upon the rubble. I do not doubt that his actions will put us on the brink of catastrophe, but I have too much faith in all of you to let us be led down a path that we cannot return from. Even if the nightmare scenario you have told yourself could never happen again, I know that there will be those who stand in defiance. Almost half a million people took to the streets of Washington D.C. for the Women’s March the day after Trump’s inauguration in 2017. It will take herculean efforts from those willing to mobilize, showing that people stand with democracy even in our most dire moments. Maybe Vice President Harris wins, and this issue does not come to pass. I do not know. What I know is that even if my candidate loses, you will not see me shell-shocked for the next four years. Whatever this election brings, I am certain of this: democracy endures through us, and I will be right there, pressing forward to keep it alive — and I hope you will, too.
Jordan is a senior political science major and the president of the Politics Club. With a keen interest in current affairs and a passion for informed debate, Jordan brings a well-rounded perspective to their opinion column. Through their studies and leadership, Jordan is dedicated to exploring the complexities of political issues and fostering meaningful discussion.