When Chris Pulliam stepped down as College Republican chairman in mid-September, the organization was split in half between those who supported presidential nominee Donald Trump and those who didn’t.

“The Republican Party, for the past several decades, have become a very big tent party,” he said. “And a big problem with why Trump has risen is because our party kind of became a too big tent.”

Pulliam, a senior political science and economics major who described himself as a non-Trump supporter and clarified that he does not speak on behalf of his former organization, was among five panelists who presented their views on this year’s presidential election cycle. The event, “Election 2016: How We Got Here, What Is at Stake,” was held in the packed Strasser Legacy Room in Eggers Hall Tuesday afternoon.

Pulliam also mentioned the difficulty of identifying himself as a Republican on campus.

“Since usually my views are in the minority in a room, I usually get attacked more often by more people so my argument has to be really, really good,” he said.

Philip Klinkner, a professor at Hamilton College, pointed out this election represents a culmination of a process that has been going on since the 1960s that political parties are shifting away from economic issues to ethnocultural issues.

In 2008, a large group of people who were concerned about immigration and their political and social status due to changing demographics, found themselves confronting the reality of Barack Obama — whom they falsely believed was an immigrant and a Muslim — being elected as the president of the United States, Klinkner said.

“To them it was sort of a sum of all of their fears that they’ve become realized and what better way to bring home to them is the idea that America was changing,” he said. “… I would argue in many ways that sort of gets us to where we are in 2016.”

Christopher Faricy, assistant professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said Hillary Clinton’s ability to develop a strong network of relationships at the state, county and local level helped her campaign outlast a campaign organized by her primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“Hillary Clinton is an excellent political insider and that is not a derogatory term,” Faricy said.

Eric Dunay, president of SU’s College Democrats, a junior architecture major and a former Daily Orange columnist, explained Sanders’ popularity among college students. Reflecting on the past two presidents, Obama and George W. Bush, the students feel they are left out and the presidents did not solve the issues, he said. Sanders’ candidacy and his messages that were not addressed by Trump and Clinton — such as going to college for free — resonated among the group, he said.

Margaret Thompson, an associate professor of history and political science at Maxwell School, said gender has played an enormous role in this election cycle. The issues of marriage equality, transgender and so-called bathroom law have emerged as a contentious and complicated campaign topic in 2016.

In addition, Thompson addressed SU students in the crowd, reminding them that this is an important time in their political lives. Whether going for or against their families’ political loyalty, she said there are important issues at stake.

“Even if you are not terrifically enthused about the particular candidate or candidates that you have at disposal at this race, I just simply would like to point out that grappling with these kind of things can be really exciting and really challenging and I hope you see some values in that,” she said.

Published on November 1, 2016 at 11:31 pm

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