SBP Winter 2021 magazine Final 1_29

Our Future, Our Choice:
Election Night Thoughts
By Geovanni Lopez
Some call it the most important election in
modern American history.
And, happening as it has
during a year like 2020, it sure has been one
hell of a ride. As someone
who has just turned 17,
I cannot vote.
Op-Ed
The voters’ high expectations were
reasonable, considering the professionalism
the job of President of the United States
calls for. However, the only thing on
exhibition that night of Sept. 29 was a
childish display of interruptions, false
statements, dodging of questions --
unfortunately, from both parties. This
resulted in the loss of the American people’s
time, with no apparent winner.
In the debate’s aftermath, many petitioned
for new regulations mandating that mics be
cut off in order to assure candidates a chance
to speak in the restricted time given. A
negative backlash swamped both candidates
and the moderator, Chris Wallace.
But I found
myself very
invested in the
progression of the
events leading up to the
November 2020 Presidential election.
The first Presidential debate between
Republican President Donald Trump and
Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe
Biden was a disaster, to say the least. What
should have been a civil showcase of what
each candidate had to offer as our potential
future leader turned out to be a true waste
of time for the millions of American people
who tuned in.
Courtesy of Unsplash
To make matters worse, shortly after the
debate President Donald Trump
was confirmed to have contracted
COVID-19 as well as First Lady
Melania Trump and the
President’s immediate team. If
someone were to have
concocted a movie plot like
this, I would have derided
it as a cliche, so obvious
and lacking originality in
thought. But it was all too
real.
The health of the President was of concern
to all. And his illness jeopardized his own
campaign as well as the possibility of a
second debate.
A week later, the Vice Presidential debate
took place between Democratic Vice
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and
Republican Vice President Mike Pence. This
time I was pleased to see a much more
productive showing of what their respective
Administrations would have to offer.
Glass barriers separated Harris and Pence.
They also were 12 feet apart, a distance six
feet wider than the first debate, a
strange-looking but necessary safeguard
developed in response to President Trump’s
23 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 1 Winter 2020-2021