With Joe Biden having won the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, FAU’s political clubs, College Democrats, College Republicans, and Owls for All reflect on his victory and Donald Trump’s presidency while stating their plans moving forward.

College Democrats

Marisa Rosen, president of College Democrats, said her reaction was being more pleased seeing Trump lose than Biden’s victory.

“I think that even with Biden’s win, it was still incredibly close, which is very alarming and how much work there still needs to be done,” Rosen said.

Marina Braynon-Moore, the club’s vice-president, talked about how Democrats lost seats in Congress, including two seats in Florida that flipped Republican. In the Florida legislature, five seats switched from Democrat to Republican.

“I definitely think it’s great that we won the presidency but a lot of good Democrats lost their races because of the party’s lack of resources and messaging to their core base of voters,” Braynon-Moore said.

Braynon-Moore believes that those who were not affected by Trump’s actions under his presidency have the privilege to not realize what’s going on to others.

“If you went through this summer and you didn’t realize that the racial tensions in this country are still very apparent and African Americans and minorities are still asking for the same rights that we’ve been asking since the Civil War,” Braynon-Moore said. “I definitely think that you have to have some privilege to not see that minorities have continued to suffer police brutality in this country.”

What Rosen wants to see change is taking climate change seriously as it’s something that can’t be ignored anymore.

“I think that rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement is just one step of a huge movement that we need to take in order to keep this planet alive and keep us alive because right now we’re just ignoring a death that is inevitable and it’s scary,” Rosen said.

As someone in the LGBTQ community, Braynon-Moore wants the Equality Act to be passed so more protections can be given to people like her.

“We need to establish the Equality Act that prevents discrimination and makes it harder for people to claim gay panic defense when they kill a gay or transgender person,” Braynon-Moore said.

Braynon-Moore believes it’s important that the club invests in grassroots organizing and assists candidates they want to see in office.

“When candidates are seeking support and resources and bodies to knock on doors, we will be there as a resource to help get those progressive candidates whose issues are on the environment, are on racial justice and inequality, are on women’s reproductive rights,” Braynon-Moore said. “By helping candidates get elected to share our message, that’s how we can get our goals accomplished.”

College Republicans

Cassidy Cosgrove, president of College Republicans, thought it was going to be a tight race between Trump and Biden until Biden pulled away with the victory.

“I don’t know how he [Biden] is going to be as a president, but I’m sure it’s gonna be alright,” Cosgrove said.

Cosgrove hypothesizes if COVID-19 never happened, Trump would have won reelection due to the economy booming before it occurred.

“Unemployment was really low, the economy was booming, and there was no civil unrest. It seemed like things were pretty normal until the whole world turned upside down, unfortunately,” Cosgrove said.

What Cosgrove wishes for the country is to not have any more political division.

“If somehow you could end that now and see how there’s a solution to that because it’s a very polarized political world we’re living in,” Cosgrove said. “Some people don’t even bring up politics at all because they’re too scared that somebody is gonna disagree with them and start an argument with them, which I think is pretty sad.”

How Cosgrove views political division in the country is one side fighting the other side for no reason.

“Why can’t we work across the aisle and work with other parties?” Cosgrove said. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or independent; if I was a politician right now, I’d still be working with you.”

According to Cosgrove, it is difficult for the club to do anything due to COVID-19, but they have worked with political campaigns during the election season.

“We worked with a lot of local campaigns, like state campaigns, as people ran for state representative and state senate,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve just been focusing on all the results coming out of that.”

Owls for All

Tyler Radenbaugh, president of Owls for All (a progressive club formerly known as Owls for Bernie), said he’s happy that Trump lost but not happy with Biden winning. He believes the former Vice President has a terrible record on every issue.

“He is someone that repeatedly advocated for cutting SS [Social Security], wrote the [1994] crime bill, takes massive amounts of money from corporate America, believes in fracking, won’t pass Medicare for All during a pandemic, etc.,” Radenbaugh said. “He is one step away from being a moderate Republican on most issues.”

What did surprise Radenbaugh about the election was how close it was, especially with the number of people who voted for Trump.

“The closeness of the race should show folks that Trumpism is very much alive and well,” Radenbaugh said, referring to Trump getting the most votes of any Republican in U.S. history. “That’s not something to scoff at.”

Radenbaugh thinks Trump’s decisions on COVID-19, including over 200,000 Americans that have died from it, cost him the election.

“Tons of people were killed because of his decision-making and that will be his legacy,” Radenbaugh said.

The changes Radenbaugh wants to see happen in the country are getting healthcare for everyone, a Green New Deal, and removing corporate money from politics.

“Those policies would have a profound impact on reducing suffering, creating jobs, and ensuring that our political system functions properly,” Radenbaugh said.

Moving forward from the election, the goals of the club will remain the same, according to Radenbaugh.

“We will continue to organize and build our club so there is a strong left-wing coalition on campus,” Radenbaugh said.

Richard Pereira is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.