The Choate News’s Opinions pages have always strived to serve as a medium through which student voices can spark discussion and challenge our school and global communities. As we approach the 2020 presidential election this week, we, the editors of The Choate News, shifted the focus of the Opinions pages to share the student body’s hopes and frustrations as we prepare for this pivotal moment in U.S. history.
This year, the election means more than tax changes or budget cuts — it will determine the future of our country’s environmental footprint, treatment of marginalized communities, coronavirus response, political climate, and more.
In hopes of better understanding the candidate that Choate students believe can best navigate these issues, our Opinions Editors interviewed ten students of different grades, backgrounds, and political beliefs about their feelings ahead of the election. From climate change to the pandemic, students’ priorities span a wide range of topics. By and large, students were dismayed by the Trump administration’s poor leadership and disregard for basic human rights.
While former Vice President Joe Biden is not necessarily who students would ideally like to see in the Oval Office, another four years of President Donald Trump P’00 seems unbearable to many students — Anika Midha ’22 expands on this point in her op-ed, “I Don’t Like Biden, But I Abhor Trump.”
A similar trend presents itself in the results of our election poll. Every presidential election cycle, The Choate News surveys the student body to determine the popularity of each candidate. This year, out of 322 students, 226 voted for Biden; 62 voted for Trump; and 6 voted for other candidates, including Kanye West, Brian T. Carroll, and Vermin Supreme.
As Wesley Boatwright ’22 discusses in his op-ed “Vice Presidential Nominees are Kindred Opposites,” this year’s vice presidential nominees are more important than ever, running alongside two men in their 70s in the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately affects those over 65.
While the outcome of the election is hard to predict, there is no denying its impending and widespread impacts — regardless of which party comes out on top.
