I can distinctly remember many elections prior to this upcoming one being publicized as the most important one. While branding like that is effective, it builds a boy who cried wolf reputation with people after seeing it time and time again.
Despite this, with what is at stake statewide, nationally and globally, I do think this is the most important election us college-aged students have ever witnessed.
With about a little under a month remaining in this campaign season, emotions are running high among everyone involved. Conservatives, liberals and everyone in between are on the edge of their seats for what has been a rollercoaster of a race so far. Let’s take a pulse check on the mood among all members of the electorate, including students, as we count down to Election Day.
The conservative viewpoint
A large number of right leaning people exhibit a great desire to shape the course of the country, especially with regard to social and economic issues. They feel a current of nostalgia for what they see to be better times, but they also have a strong will to uphold traditional values.
Recent events also give conservatives hope as former President Trump still polls ahead of Vice President Harris on kitchen table issues such as the economy and immigration. The recent vice presidential debate featuring Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) also gave conservatives a sign to be hopeful.
There were many critics of Senator Vance, as they felt that having him as the vice presidential nominee was a mistake but a strong showing in the debate has gone a long way into him being viewed as the heir apparent to the MAGA movement.
With just a little over a month left, there is a growing enthusiasm that Trump can take the White House back and be the savior that conservatives have spent the past three and a half years longing for.
Candidates aside, the platform the conservative party is running on at a national level that seems to be garnering the most attention and support is an economic reform proposal that will reduce inflation and increase the net dollars in citizen’s pockets.
As far as Mississippi is concerned, the state tends to vote conservatively by a margin of 8% or greater. In fact, Mississippi has not voted blue since 1976. Nearly three generations have passed since we have seen a blue Mississippi. Simply put, the conservative party has found consistent, reliable support from the Magnolia state.
Hope for Democrats?
With the leading Democratic candidate dropping out of the race mere months before ballots were to be casted, a gloomy cloud briefly loomed over the Democratic Party with uncertainty ahead. Many of those doubts have been addressed by Kamala Harris, who has managed to absorb much of Biden’s platform, lead a new campaign and win the support of a new voter base.
There are many fascinating aspects to this campaign, with the most intriguing parts being the specific promises made to small businesses and young families. For example, Harris’ platform promises to provide up to $25,000 to families for home ownership down payments.
A large percentage of young people think owning a home is 20-30 years away. A program like this can potentially make that a more attainable possibility for many.
Beyond that one specific piece of the platform, the Democratic Party is running on the idea to cut taxes for the middle class and grow small businesses, among other principles that have been dubbed as conservative for many years. This highlights Harris’ more moderate economic stance in comparison to other Democrats nationwide.
As far as Mississippi goes, while it’s been a long time since there has been a blue outcome in an election, democrats hold out hope that a change is on the horizon. Through voter registration and education efforts, a more democratic Mississippi is possible.
Bottom line
As of right now, pre-election polling shows that Trump and Harris are neck to neck, with both gaining 48% of votes in a recent NBC poll. While polling percentage far ahead of elections has been proven to be misleading, the closer a poll is conducted to an election, the more accurate it tends to be. Of course, it is very unlikely the election ends in a tie, but this contention more accurately reflects the political divide amongst citizens.
I think there are a number of issues which leave voting-aged, informed citizens encouraged to not vote. Specifically, the ongoing conflict in Israel at the Gaza strip has been divisive enough to alienate a significant percentage of voters from both leading candidates.
Despite this, turnout numbers for this year’s election are expected to be higher than other recent elections because of two reasons: it’s a presidential election that always has more votes cast compared to midterms and get out the vote efforts have spread like wildfire for both parties and our last presidential election in 2020 had a near record breaking 61.5% voter turnout. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this number surpassed on November 3.
Fred Williams is an African American studies and political science double major from Greenville, Miss. Opinion Editor Justice Rose is a journalism major from Madison, Miss.
