Election day has finally come and gone, and while many are tired of talking about politics, others are looking ahead.
What we’ve learned throughout the past four years, and 2020 in particular, is that America is extremely divided politically, indicating a pivotal time in which the direction of political parties may change in the near future.
Not only are levels of polarization between Democrats and Republicans especially high due to politicization of the pandemic and social media tools used to influence voters and spread misinformation, but there is also a divisive struggle going on within the Republican party itself.
Nearly 61 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say that “they would be more likely to support Trump over congressional Republicans if they had a disagreement,” while only 13 percent claimed that they would side with the party members, according to a HuffPost and YouGov poll.
While political parties should support their candidate, especially the President, it is dangerous for a party to become so infatuated with one leader that they do not hold that person accountable or even take into consideration what other leaders within the party have to say. In a sense, the Republican party has now come to a crossroads and must decide whether they will become the party of Trump or pick up the pieces of what is left of their true conservative ideals.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a political party has become divided and begun evolving into something else. The Republican party started out as a third party. As the country was splitting in 1854 the Whig party divided between the Northern Whigs, who became the new Republicans, and the the Southern Whigs, many of whom joined the Know-Nothing party, according to Britannica.
This may be a similar time in which the parties change due to such differences. Ironically, many of these same differences, if not as extreme, concern human and civil rights. The southern Whigs sided with the Know-Nothings because they valued states’ rights more than human rights. Often today, many Republicans are making the difficult choice of leaving their party because of issues dealing with racism and Trump’s refusal to address the problem of white supremacy.
While the Democrats have not become overly focused on one person, they also have divisions within the party regarding views on socialism. According to a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour poll, 38 percent of Generation Z and Millennials have a favorable impression of socialism, but the majority of Americans do not. This element may not necessarily be something that divides Democrats in a huge way, but it is something to think about looking forward to the 2024 election.
Too young to run in 2020, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be turning 35 (the required age to be president) just in time to run in the 2024 election. Though many are suspicious of AOC because she claims to be a Democratic Socialist, she should not be overlooked or underestimated.
It is also important to be aware of the difference between being a socialist and a democratic socialist. According to the Democratic Socialists of America website, “Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few” and goes on to say, “we believe that social and economic decisions should be made by those whom they most affect.”
In contrast, socialism is defined as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Though the word socialism may sound frightening, by examining the values of the Democratic Socialists, it is evident that they believe more power should be in the hands of American citizens who work hard in difficult jobs to provide for their families, rather than the elite few who run big corporations.
Because college students are forced to practice researching skills that require a quest for unbiased, reputable, and factual information for most of their classes, this could be a possible reason as to why they have a more open mind to analyzing the ideas of democratic socialism and admiring someone like AOC.
When it comes to the election of 2024, no one can know anything for sure, but there are a few different directions each party could pursue. It is possible that the Republican party will continue to put more emphasis on Trump and less on the actual Republican values of character, possibly even putting forth Trump Jr. as their next candidate.
The Democrats, although it may seem far-fetched, could move forward in a more progressive direction, even choosing AOC as their future candidate. Within both scenarios though, some moderates may feel alienated, which could result in the creation of a new third party. Given the historical example of the Republican party, third parties should never be counted out or underestimated as to what they could evolve into.
The political parties have always changed over time, as they are changing now, and the 2024 election will most likely look entirely different than 2020.
Photo By Emma Crouch
