Elon community reacts to President Biden stepping down

Just over a week ago, President Joe Biden announced that he would be stepping aside as the Democratic nominee just 107 days ahead of election day and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election. 

Since then, Harris has gained the endorsement of many high profile members of the Democratic Party, including former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. 

Biden stepping down less than four months away from election day and 25 days away from the Democratic National Convention will make for an unprecedented final few months heading into the election, according to professor of political science and policy studies Carrie Eaves.

“We don't have an example of a sitting president going through the primaries becoming the presumptive nominee, and then deciding to step aside,” Eaves said. “We're very much in uncharted territory here.”

Despite the unparalleled nature of this election, Eaves was not surprised at Biden’s decision to step aside. 

“After the debate it seemed like it was more likely, so I guess I wasn't as shocked, because we'd sort of been moving this direction since the debate,” Eaves said. 

This sentiment is shared not only by Eaves, but also by senior Cameron Annear — who interned at the office of Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler this summer. 

“It didn't really come as a shock to me,” Annear said. “When I was in D.C., a lot of the staffers were often speculating about who they thought the Democratic nominee would be.”

Junior Selma Maric also said she thinks Biden stepping down will encourage younger voters to get involved now that there is a potential younger candidate in the presidential election.

“Over the last several years, there's been this huge discussion around elections and younger people just not getting involved and not voting, not using their voice,” Maric said. “This time around, we've heard a lot of feedback from people online, on the internet, talking about how Biden is an older candidate and is not really representative of the population.”

Senior Bo Dalrymple, who interned at Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning’s office, said he thinks Biden stepping down was a bold, but selfless, decision. 

“I do admire the choice of President Biden to hear the concerns, but this isn't a new development,” Dalrymple said. “I do appreciate that he was able to put the party and the country before himself, when this is something that many voters, members of the party or otherwise would have supported and wanted. Ultimately, I think this will fare better for the Democrats in the election. It’s quite a crazy choice, but it’s something that I admire.”

Now that Biden has stepped aside, the Democrat party is heading into the Democratic National Convention without a nominee. However, with the endorsements of many high profile members of the Democratic party, it is likely that Harris will be confirmed as the nominee at the DNC.

“She is the presumptive nominee right now, most of the other people who might have challenged her pretty quickly came out and endorsed her candidacy,” Eaves said. “So it seems like she will not be challenged. To be challenged, there would need to be 300 signatures on a petition, and it seems like the Democratic Party is really quickly uniting behind her. So in some ways, it'll look like a normal convention.”

Dalrymple said he thinks there will be a lot of energy heading into the DNC because of Harris’ online notability.

“People have been talking about the memeification of Kamala Harris and all those recent trends,” Dalrymple said. “I think that that brings a lot of energy and buzz specifically for younger voters, and so I think that's something that I'm intrigued to see how that plays out. I think Kamala is someone that can appeal more to younger voters than Joe Biden did and mobilize and bring more excitement. I'm particularly interested to see what that means for Elon come fall semester.”

While the Republican National Convention already passed, it was here that former President Donald Trump was confirmed as the nominee and picked Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. During the RNC, President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee. With him stepping aside, the Republican party will have to shift gears to Harris. 

“I think the Trump campaign strategy is that they want to target their base, and you know, typically, that is those white Midwestern voters,” Annear said. “I think this is really going to change the Trump campaign strategy going forward.”

Eaves said she thinks the Republican Party will try to group Biden and Harris together moving forward. 

With classes resuming in just about one month, members of the Elon community are thinking about many different factors heading into election day. 

“I'm first-gen American, and I really believe in democracy,” Maric said. “I think that protecting democracy is at the top of my agenda, as well as protecting women's rights and rights to our health and body and mind in every way possible. So that is what I will be looking for on the ballot.”

While Maric is concerned with women’s rights and preserving democracy, Annear is worried about the economic state of the country. 

“I’m concerned about the cost of living obviously, just looking at how inflation continues to affect our economy,” Annear said. “I mostly say that just as a young adult who is about to graduate. I'm getting to the age where I have to start considering those types of things.”

Despite the internal issues within America, Dalrymple is most concerned with America’s international relations. 

“I just worry what the presidency would look like for the state of the world,” Dalrymple said. “We have some ongoing crises, some conflict and some some allies that expect and depend on us. So that is definitely something that I'm thinking about, is the stance of us projecting ourselves in the world, and how we sort of view ourselves and in relation to others.”

To learn more about the presidential election and other elections happening in North Carolina, visit https://www.elon.edu/u/elon-votes/ or the Kernodle Center for Civic Life in Moseley 232.