What happens now?

Written by Kayla Curry, graphic by Sarah Nash

You switch on the tv and see the headlines — “Joe Biden is the 46th president-elect.” Or maybe you felt your pocket buzz with the notification of Biden’s win while in class. No matter where you were when you got word or which side you were rooting for, you probably wondered to yourself, “What happens now?” The short answer? Hold your politicians accountable. 

Echos of #SettleForBiden and #MakeAmericaGreatAgain ricochets off the walls of the internet. Despite the deeply polarized state of our nation, many people across the aisle would agree that neither candidate was their first choice. Biden supporters and Trump supporters disagree on many things, but one of the biggest differences between the Biden base and Trump’s is enthusiasm. Say what you will about 45, but it is undeniable that he has a bold fanbase, often found toting Trump paraphenalia and looking to him as an idol. Biden, on the other hand, relied on a comparatively halfhearted group of voters who were more likely to say their vote was against Trump rather than for Biden.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for Biden,  the motivation to kick Trump out of the White House was enough to give him the magic number of 290 electoral votes. Now that Biden is set to be the next president of the United States, voters like myself are looking ahead at what is to come following the Trump administration. Personally, I would like to see accountability through massive grassroots movements, starting with the end of idolizing our politicians. 

The glorification of political figures, which happens on both ends of the political spectrum, is a dangerous threat to our democracy. Whether you’re a die-hard AOC fan or a loyal Trump supporter, no one politician will ever be the answer. None of them are perfect.

I admit, as a leftist who campaigned for Bernie’s 2020 presidential race and frequently retweets Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s fiery congressional floor speeches, there are politicians whom I’ve come to admire greatly, but without oversight and accountability, we are unable to see that they aren’t infallible. This is where things get dangerous.

Think about why we vote for a candidate (or why you SHOULD vote for a candidate). Hopefully, your vote is based on important public policy issues, accurate research, presidential character, among other things. Evaluate how your candidate represents your views, and in which ways their views differ. It’s not enough just to agree on things. It matters that candidates deliver. 

Both Democrats and Republicans have a history of making promises they don’t keep. Barack Obama campaigned on ending the war in Iraq, but his legacy was launching airstrikes on middle eastern countries instead of resolving the foreign conflicts we still face today. Donald Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare and to invest $550 billion in infrastructure, but in the four years of his presidency, he failed to do either.

Does any of this mean voting is useless? Or that we should abandon electoral politics as a whole? Of course not. It means voting is the first of many steps to maintaining our democracy. The two-party, winner-takes-all voting system leaves many Americans with a choice between bad and worse, but the nature of our current government requires compromise from both sides. No matter who is “in charge” there will always be room for improvement. We have to work with what we’ve got. Our tendency to disagree is not our downfall. It’s our inability to do something about it that hurts us all. 

It’s no secret Americans hold strong opinions on a variety of polarizing issues — from healthcare, to abortion, to climate change, to the economy.  It is the responsibility of an American to not only vote, but to organize,  mobilize, and hold politicians to their promises. Otherwise, we look like fools for believing our candidate was the answer to all our problems.

Blindly following politicians based on their party or campaign slogans will not ensure the issues important to you will be addressed the way you’d like, or even that they will be addressed at all. Think critically about why you support a politician. Think past what they promise to accomplish and think of what YOU and your fellow voters can accomplish under their leadership. Some of my favorite grassroots movements including Sunrise Movement and Black Lives Matter have been the source of major progressive policy conversations, of election wins, and of shifts in our political climate, and they did it by organizing and putting the pressure on candidates instead of trusting someone else to do the job. 
For many leftists like myself wishing for large systemic change , Biden was never the first choice, but we voted in droves like never before because many of us equated a Biden win not only to the end of a harmful administration but to the beginning of a historically progressive, grassroots movement. This is why I believe Biden won despite so many of our hearts being elsewhere. I disagree with some of Biden’s policies, mostly because they don’t go far enough, but his election is the first step in creating the America I wish to see. 

Local elections are arguably even more important than the presidential one. Your senators and representatives are important avenues for allowing your voice to be represented in our current system of government. Whether you lean right or left, I encourage you to volunteer for campaigns or organize movements outside of electoral politics because no matter who is in office, you always have the power to make change from the ground up. 

So to answer the resounding question we are all asking ourselves: what happens now? I don’t know about you, but I am a firm believer in putting in the work to create the change you want to see. That means we must stop idolizing people in power and start recognizing our own power. Afterall, politicians work for the people, and it’s our right as Americans to demand better from them. Don’t forget that.