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Midstate voters share hopes for new presidential term

"Now the question is doing. So that'll be interesting to see."

  • Alanna Elder/WITF
  • Sam Dunklau
President Joe Biden speaks after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

 Erin Schaff / The New York Times via AP, Pool

President Joe Biden speaks after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

(Washington, D.C.) — Joe Biden is now president of the United States, and all eyes are on his administration as it begins tackling the country’s wealth of challenges.

Two that figured largely during the inauguration were the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 400,000 Americans since it arrived in the U.S. about a year ago, and deep divisions that were on display two weeks earlier, during the U.S. Capitol riot aimed at preventing Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from taking office.

Due to health and safety concerns, the inaugural was smaller than in past years, but people in the mid-state and across the nation witnessed the moment from afar.

Biden took the stage a few minutes before noon Wednesday for his first address as president.

“This is democracy’s day,” he began, “a day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.”

Bill Cook is a retired Pennsylvania forestry worker and lifetime Republican who switched his registration to Democrat after the election.

Courtesy of Bill Cook

Bill Cook is a retired Pennsylvania forestry worker and lifetime Republican who switched his registration to Democrat after the election.

At home in Enola, retired Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry employee Bill Cook watched the moment with his family. Biden’s message of coming together to overcome multiple crises resonated.

“Probably the first thing that I heard there is moving forward,” he said. “We’re not going to dwell on the past. There’s no sense or value to go where we’ve been.”

Cook is among those voters who switched parties during this election cycle. After 40 years of alignment with the Republican Party, he is now a registered Democrat. He did not approve of former president Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic or other issues, but the final straw was Republican support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the election.

“I in no way will support a party that wants to disallow my vote,” he said.

Along with more than 146,000 other Pennsylvania voters, Cook voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2016. Now, he’s putting his faith in Biden, but he’s looking beyond the inaugural address.

“Now the question is doing,” he said. “So that’ll be interesting to see. How does he implement the effort for the vaccine distribution administration, as well as how do you go about obtaining unity?”

The new president has promised that 100 million Americans will be vaccinated in 100 days, a goal that Cook and other Biden supporters interviewed described as critical. And unity was a recurring theme in Biden’s inauguration speech.

“On this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I ask every American to join me in this cause,” he said.

Carol Kappen voted for Donald Trump, but her four children did not. She said the family talks respectfully about politics.

Courtesy of Carol Kappen

Carol Kappen voted for Trump but she’s interested in finding unity now that Biden is president.

Preschool teacher Carol Kappen said bringing the country together is a worthy goal, one she is already taking on within her own family.

Kappen said she voted for Trump twice, unlike her four grown children. Despite their disagreements, she said the family talks about politics with respect. In her experience, recognizing what makes people different is just as important as bringing people together.

“At some point you just have to accept that we don’t all see the world the same,” she said. “So unless Biden can convey that kind of message differently that his party has conveyed it, you know, I don’t know how successful he’ll be.”

Kappen said she doesn’t think President Trump was treated fairly during his term. Despite her frustration, she said she won’t be a “Biden basher,” and plans to focus more attention to what goes on in government.

Biden seems to expect that scrutiny. Later in his speech, he acknowledged the work that lies ahead for the country, and that people will be watching: “We’ll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do, much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain.”

Sam Dunklau / WITF

Ryan Stevenson demonstrated outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were being inaugurated.

Ryan Stevenson of Carlisle agrees that’s the case, but has different problems in mind. He did not watch the inauguration, but was one of several people who demonstrated outside the state Capitol building Wednesday.

Stevenson said he voted for President Trump this time because Biden has been in politics for too long. To him, that means the Democrat can’t tackle the country’s troubles as quickly.

“It’s a mess. It’s a total mess. It’s chaos,” he said. “Is Biden the savior that they claim him to be? Hell to the no, but we’ll see. I just can’t wait to say I told you so.”

But 54-year-old Susan Breidenstine of Hershey, is counting on Biden’s administration to address urgent needs like the push for vaccine distribution.

Growing up in northern New Jersey, she read about Trump’s real estate and casino career. She did not view him favorably then, nor did she support his run for president. A lifelong Republican who said she tends to stray from the straight-ticket vote, she voted for Gary Johnson in 2016.

Susan Breidenstine said she usually selects candidates as individuals and not based on a party-line vote. At the national level, though, she is disillusioned with the Republican party of 2020.

Courtesy of Susan Breidenstine

Susan Breidenstine said she usually selects candidates as individuals and not based on a party-line vote. At the national level, though, she is disillusioned with the Republican party of 2020.

Four years later, she opposed Trump’s executive actions on immigration at the southern border and worried he would undermine the Constitution. Biden’s moderate stance in the field of Democratic primary candidates made him easy to support, but she said, “I probably would have voted for just about anybody else, at this point.”

Now, she is hoping it will be possible to get Congress more involved, relying on legislative compromise over executive action.

“Because our country can’t continue with this whipsaw of opinion,” she said. “We need to unite not just those who elected President Biden, because we’ve seen what representing one half of the country does in the last four years. It doesn’t work.”

Kumar Navile, an environmental engineer in Hanover, said that kind of back-and-forth is what keeps him up at night, especially as it applies to the monumental challenges posed by climate change.

“It’s just not good for the environment,” he said. “We just run around in circles and it just becomes a political game.”

Navile voted for Jill Stein in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Looking ahead to this administration, he’s focused on the need to improve the country’s infrastructure and heal its communities, in part by remembering what has happened in the past.

“The presidency is a beacon to lay that message out there and tell people, hey, I’m here as your president, and I’m here as president of all people,” he said. “That’s how you correct yourself and you change the direction and make it better.”

As President Biden wrapped up his speech, he left the country with an invitation.

“We shall write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, of light, not darkness.”

A story that, for Biden and the country he hopes to unite, begins now.

 

Alanna is part of  the “Report for America” program  — a national service effort that places journalists in newsrooms across the country to report on under-covered topics and communities.

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