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Faculty Assess an Election That Underscored a Political Divide

Faculty draw out lessons from the 2016 election at a combined event sponsored by POLIS and CDI.
Faculty draw out lessons from the 2016 election at a combined event sponsored by POLIS and CDI.
BJ Rudell, Center for Political Leadership, Innovation, and Service

“We can’t overrstate how close this election was, and how divided we are as a nation.”  Professor and Sanford Associate Dean Fritz Mayer’s opening remarks set the tone for a post-election roundtable discussion attended by nearly 100 students and staff Thursday.

Sponsored by the Center for Political Leadership, Innovation, and Service (POLIS) and the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), “The 2016 Election Results: What Do They Mean?” assessed an election whose results surprised most Americans and underscored our nation’s heightened political animus.

“Clinton lost by only a little more than 100,000 votes,” said political science professor Kristin Goss said. “Many Republicans perceive a mandate.  In fact, this remains a 50-50 nation politically.”

The five panelists consisted of Goss, CDI fellow Quinton Smith and Professors Bruce Jentleson, Bill Adair and Gunther Peck.  Smith addressed some of the many racially and ethnically charged incidents reported across the country since Election Day. One of the biggest concerns he has heard expressed was, “How can so many of those who supported Donald Trump claim not to support the vitriol he’s conveyed?”

Peck added that “political engagement—including lack of political engagement—is one of the most serious challenges we’re facing.”  He added that Hillary Clinton performed better in Durham County than Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012, in large part, because of the political engagement of thousands of citizen volunteers who canvassed neighborhoods, registered people to vote and drove them to the polls.

A progressive, Peck also drove Trump supporters to the polls and debated politics along the way.  “By listening,” he said, “you transform the conversation.”

Adair, founder of PolitiFact, said that this was the most fact-checked election in history.

“We need to continue holding those in power accountable,” he said, “examining what elected officials are saying and reporting on what’s true and what’s not—the raw material of a democracy.” 

Looking ahead, Adair said he and his team are working on automating fact-checking and other innovations to make the process more useful to the public.

International relations scholar Jentleson put the election into an international and historical contexts, saying that “while what we’re going through has many aspects that are unique to our history, there’s also a disturbing and fascinating trend.” 

Trump’s “America First” mantra parallels with isolationist thinking of the 1930s, Jentleson said, and his election is a part of a wider political narrative defined by racial and ethnic mistrust, as seen in the United Kingdom’s vote to withdraw from the European Union (Brexit) and the rise of hyper-nationalism across Europe and elsewhere

During a question session, Sanford School Professor Sarah Bermeo said she doesbn’t believe the country is divided on as many issues as it appears, but she expressed concern about how Trump’s election is empowering some actors who have a record or provoking division, such as Trump campaign chairman and future White House adviser Steve Bannon.  “White supremacy in the White House is not okay,” Bermeo said.  “A vast majority of people in America can agree on that.”