Election aftermath: What are the next 70 days going to be like?
As we’ve witnessed incredible Black voter turnout this year, this week's 'Dear Culture' podcast point out that we're still in for a 'bumpy road' ahead
As the winds of politics have changed, theGrio‘s political contributors Dr. Christina Greer and Dr. Jason Johnson join the Dear Culture podcast to unpack what the next 70 days, until the presidential inauguration, may look like.
News of Joe Biden’s projected electoral college win last week had people dancing in the streets throughout the nation. The swing states of Pennsylvania and Nevada voted for Biden-Harris and as Georgia becomes a purple state, Stacey Abrams‘ Fair Count initiative deserves major flowers for increasing of voter turnout and efficacy in Black communities. As we’ve witnessed incredible Black history this year, both Dr. Greer and Dr. Johnson point out that we’re still in for a “bumpy road” ahead. It’s got many folks asking, “Dear Culture, what does the next few weeks look like leading to the inauguration?”
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“I feel the next 70 days will be this nation wooving [sic] through that possibility of people having to digest what this is for them,” says Greer.
Greer doesn’t think soon-to-be-former President Donald Trump will attend the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 because of “petty labelle and pettywap” behavior. The host says she won’t get rest until “power is transitioned peacefully” both symbolically and actually. The reason Greer and many othera have a pit in their stomach is because nobody knows whether Trump will “go quietly into the night” and extend the olive branch.
In 2016, when Democrats experienced a loss they weren’t expecting, “they went home, knitted some pink hats and marched in the streets,” notes Greer. In 2020, however, when Republicans aren’t happy with results, “they’re picking up AR-15s” and going to court houses and places where poll counters are, “demanding they be let in, so they can observe or find justice in whatever way they see fit” for themselves.
The difference in reaction is staggering. Hence why Greer finds the nationwide celebrations to be a tad bit “premature.” She plans on partying when we’re past the finish line on Inauguration Day.
“As my grandma would always say, ‘there’s a lot of slip between cup and lip,” says New Jersey native Greer.
Dr. Johnson reminds us and our new political leaders to consider “not alienating people who lost,” but also “not compromising your agenda.”
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Johnson notes that “any policy advancement by Democrats, is perceived as a loss by Republicans” as we’ve seen occur most recently during the Obama era. One would think Biden having “watched Obama would learn the lesson” of zero-sum politics, but the “[Washington] D.C. he grew up in is not the D.C. that exists,” and perhaps he too will have a learning curve to encounter.
As far as transition of power goes, “it’s nice when the person who teaches the class before you gives you their syllabus,” but Johnson suspects it’s going to be a mess. Whether t’s “incompetence” or folks simply “haven’t been keeping the files,” the transition of power has plenty of logistical issues ahead for the Biden-Harris camp. From offices and agencies that haven’t had department heads or even confirmations, these next 70 days will be a large review of what the new government in power needs to do next.
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