By Evan Walsh, Transcript Reporter
Some of those who watched the first presidential debate may have been asking themselves: how did we get Donald Trump (R) and Hillary Clinton (D) as our presidential nominees?
Michael Cohen, a columnist for the Boston Globe and World Review, addressed the concerns ordinary Americans have about the candidates before students and faculty Wednesday, Sept. 21 in Merrick Hall.
Cohen, who has covered both Clinton and Trumpβs respective campaigns for the last 15 months, began with a quote from William Faulkner about history repeating itself: βThe past is not dead, itβs not even past.β
He then elaborated on those similarities this yearβs election shares with another famous, though controversial, election year: 1968.
According to Cohen, Trump, the GOPβs nominee for president is not unlike Alabamaβs George Wallace, a Dixiecrat, who divided the Democratic party prior to the General Election of 1968.
Both Trump and Wallace, considered outsiders to Washingtonβs establishment politics, have a history of using βstrong but hateful rhetoricβ to appeal to the interests of their constituents.
Citing his most recent publication, βAmerican Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division,β Cohen criticized the explicitly racist and misogynistic overtures coming from Trump and his supporters.
βWhen it comes to Trump, itβs not a matter of issues or ideology; itβs about fear β¦ existential fears,β Cohen said.
Brian Goldaber, a politics and government major, said he enjoyed Cohenβs analysis and felt Cohenβs comparisons between Wallace and Trump were appropriate.
βThey both capture a sense of frustration with the established political order and they overtly say a lot of things that conventional politicians would never say,β Goldaber said.
Jenny Holland, assistant professor of politics and government, moderated the event and led a Q&A once Cohen concluded his speech.
One audience member, soliciting Cohenβs opinion on genderβs impact on the race, wanted to know how βTrump supporters [those heβs met while covering the campaign] have responded when they were asked about the possibility of the first ever female presidency.β
Tyler Iffland, who remains unsure of which candidate he prefers, said he does not think that gender matters as much as each candidateβs lack of transparency.
βHow can I confidently vote for Clinton when she canβt release her emails, and how can I confidently vote for Trump if heβs hiding his tax returns?β Iffland said.
Members of the Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs organized the lecture.