With a little over a month to go towards the general election on November 3, KCP talked to both Republicans and Democrats about their views on respective parties’ candidates for the presidency.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate California Senator Kamala Harris snagged the Democratic nominations, and have maintained majority support for their perceived ability to beat President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Trump’s party, on the other hand, seems to have split into factions of loyalists and naysayers.
Right now, Biden and Harris are reportedly ahead after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and Republican National Convention (RNC) last month. There is, however, still a lingering fear that somehow he will fumble the ball closer to the goal line or Trump will pull through unexpectedly like he did in 2016.
One of the key demographics for the Dems was majority Black voters, a faithful Democratic constituency who turned out in record numbers to vote for the election and re-election of former President Barack Obama, but did not turn out nearly as strong for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
This time around, Brooklyn’s Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA), a historically Black political club, was among the first to officially back Biden for the win in the primary.
Gearing up to the national election the Kings County Democratic Party machine is still poised for a large Biden turnout.
“The Brooklyn Democratic Party is united by the prospect of putting this country back on the right track by electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, turning the U.S. Senate blue and re-electing Max Rose to Congress,” said Democratic Party Chair and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park) about the party’s goals.
Earlier in Biden’s campaign, there were accusations of nepotism in regards to his son’s career and sexual allegations among other scandals of inappropriate groping, but attacks to Biden’s character have subsided in the wake of Trump’s mishandling of the ongoing health and social justice crises.
The last six months of the COVID-19 crisis in the US has caused untold chaos and revealed cracks in numerous heavily relied on systems, such as the USPS’s mail-in and absentee ballot process for voting, something Trump has consistently undermined and engendered a harsh scrutiny of.
“We are organizing to make certain our voters can vote safely, whether early, by mail or in person, and are reaching out to campaigns across the country to help wherever we can. The county and state are on course to having unparalleled voter enfranchisement, turnout and safety at the polls, thanks to our recently-enacted election reform measures, including laws that ensure votes are counted, notwithstanding USPS postmark issues, and that ballot envelopes are redesigned to make clear where voters need to sign,” added Bichotte about necessary safeguards to the voting process.
In addition to sowing doubt in the voting process, Trump recently has been on the record with journalist Bob Woodward as having purposely downplayed the risks of coronavirus to people’s health.
“Most Americans realize the tough decisions our leaders face. They also understand that COVID-19 is a new virus and that best scientific minds in the world still don’t fully understand it,” said Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis(R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island), about the unwavering support of the current administration and who is currently locked in a highly watched race against U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island) for his Congressional seat.
Malliotakis said she didn’t think Trump downplaying COVID-19 would adversely affect his campaign. She said her job as an elected official was to make contact with as many voters as possible, share Republican ideology, and make sure they turn-out to vote.“We’ll see a rise in voting by mail, we’ll see an increase in early voting, but in the end, I think the vast majority of voters will go to the polls as usual,” said Malliotakis.
“The GOP is a big tent party and like any political party there is a wide range of views on policies and personalities. I believe that by Election Day the choice between Trump and Biden will be so clear cut that a lot of people will change their minds and cast their vote to reelect President Trump,” said Malliotakis to other Republicans who don’t like or support Trump.
Trump’s divisive actions have not only shrank the Republican Party, but created an undeniable gulf between the GOP in New York, especially among the younger demographics, said Joel Acevedo, president of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club.
“I think he did a terrible job,” said Acevedo plainly.
Acevedo is a Brooklyn native and a Civic Republican, which is defined as a traditional role in the foundation of America’s experiment with democracy and for its way to reform government. He said, personally, he wasn’t a fan of the president prior to COVID-19 because of trade deficit and racist immigration policies. Acevedo said his background and philosophy have informed his decision to be what’s called a “never-Trumper.”
On August 6, The Brooklyn GOP cut off the Young Republican Club for the second time, wrote Acevedo, as an outlier and mostly anti-Trump group without notice because it wouldn’t align with Republican goals.
Regardless, Acevedo said he has no plans to leave the Republican Party. He wants to work to change the stereotypical “angry white man” image and turn the tide in the same way progressive, socialist Democrats have ousted incumbents in Brooklyn, said Acevedo. He said he just wants to solve issues and “do the right thing.”
“For people of color, NYCHA, it seems like nothing ever gets done,” said Acevedo about current politics, “It’s insane nothing gets done. It’s a revolving political door.”
