State of the Nation: Attitudes toward the upcoming election

By Avery Dishaw & Alessandra Singh 

(Photo from The Hub@TTU archives)

Tensions, emotions, and uncertainty run high as American’s anticipate the upcoming presidential election in 2020. 

According to the Pew Research Center, the economy, Supreme Court appointment, and health care are among some of the top concerns of voters in this upcoming election.  

Texas Tech Instructor Maggie Matella (Photo from TTU website)

Maggie Matella, an instructor at Texas Tech University, said her main concern is centered around the fracturing of the country.  

“I think you have people that just don’t understand common decency anymore, you have a lot of people that just can’t look across an aisle and make a compromise,” Matella said.  

Matella said she thinks the upcoming presidential election is the “perfect storm” with everything going on in the United States right now.  

“A pandemic, social justice movements, with black lives matter, kind of the world shutting down and trying to reopen,” Matella said. “You just have a fracturing of Americans in terms of partisanship, it seems like this election is just like a volcano ready to erupt.”  

Dr. Sean Cunningham, an associate professor and chair of the Department of History  at Texas Tech, said “feeling” is the keyword regarding the upcoming Presidential election.  

“I think stress levels are as high as I have ever seen them for a political campaign,” Cunningham said. “This one, like 2016, the tensions are so high, the polarization in the country is so intense, I am concerned.”  

Jet Cannon, a local farmer from Hale Center, Texas, said he thinks the future of the United States is at stake here and this election could be a pivotal point.  

Jet Cannon (Provided photo)

“I’m anxious to see the results,” Cannon said.  

Cunningham said he is more concerned about the future of the country today than he has been in the past.  

“I think there are a lot of reasons for it,” Cunningham said. “Part of it is because of the political candidates themselves and part of it is just because of social media and the way the campaigns are happening.” 

Cunningham said that he is looking forward to and anticipating the election to be over in November. 

“I am praying for a peaceful resolution above all else, I just hope that the republic survives whatever backlash happens however the election goes,” Cunningham said.

Sean P. Cunningham,
Associate Professor and Chair – Department of History (Photo from TTU Website)

Cannon said he was looking forward to declaring a winner and that there was a lot on the line in this 2020 presidential election.  

“I love this country too much to watch it burn without fighting,” Cannon said.

Matella said she thinks this election will be most crucial for the next eight months rather than the four-year term. 

“I think the current climate right now with it being in the middle of a pandemic, it is,” Matella said. “You know, what happens in November is going to shape mostly the rest of this year and then going into 2021.”  

Matella said overall the election “orbits” around a lot of big topic issues which creates importance over it.  

“I think you have a lot of personality, so yeah, I’m kind of ready for it to be over but I think it’s going to be interesting to see the direction the country takes,” Matella said.