Loyola Advocacy Groups Share Thoughts on Upcoming Presidential Election

The 2024 presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris has stirred excitement among Loyola’s political advocacy-centered student organizations ahead of the Nov. 5 election. 

Despite President Joe Biden and Trump going through their respective primaries with only nominal oppositions, Biden’s late withdrawal from the election reinvigorated both campaigns after Harris took over as the democratic candidate, the Associated Press reported. 

Mike Clausen, president of Loyola Democrats, said he believes this election is the most important election of many Americans’ lifetimes. 

“Honestly, everything’s at stake,” Clausen said. “We see every four years that the Republican Party just keeps getting more and more extreme, platforming people like Donald Trump and now JD Vance explicitly writing out all their goals in Project 2025.”

Project 2025 is a 920-page plan written by the Heritage Foundation to reshape the federal government and implement conservative policies across a large swath of areas in the event of a Trump victory, according to its website.

For Clausen, abortion is the most pressing issue of this election cycle. He said he believes abortion bans are causing a lot of harm across the country.

Although Clausen said he believes the Democratic Party has become more progressive and liberal, he thinks there is still room for conservatives in the Democratic Party — depending on the kind.

Someone like Trump, Clausen said, is different from a conservative like former Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who is aligned more with Democrats’ views on democratic and constitutional norms.

“The Democratic Party now, although it’s the most progressive and the most liberal it’s ever been, is also the most patriotic it’s ever been,” Clausen said. “Every living Republican vice president, with the exception of Mike Pence, has endorsed Kamala Harris.”

Clausen said the Democratic Party’s judicial campaigns to remove third-party candidates from ballot were justified given the likely razor-thin margins in swing states. He also added many of these parties “don’t meet the signature requirements” to appear on the ballot, prompting the lawsuits.

The Loyola Republicans didn’t respond to the Phoenix’s requests for comment.

Ella Hansen, a senior at Loyola  majoring in biology and gender studies, and member of the pro-choice advocacy group Students for Reproductive Justice, said she is optimistic with the Harris campaign and believes she is “aiming to be better” on abortion than Biden.

As a senator, Biden expressed hesitancy about legal abortion, though his views now are firmly pro-abortion, the AP reported.

The Harris campaign has been very clear about their stance on abortion, Hansen said, contrasting the Trump campaign’s “misinformation” on the topic.

Like Clausen, she expressed concern about Project 2025 and in particular its plan to use the Comstock Act to restrict the mailing of abortion drugs through the U. S. Postal Service or across state lines.

The Comstock Act is a law from 1873 which prohibits the mailing of mifepristone or any other drug that could cause abortions. The federal government hasn’t enforced this law since the 1930s, the AP reported.

Despite her supportive stance towards Harris and the Democratic Party, Hansen said she was skeptical of Roe v. Wade being reinstated by the Supreme Court any time soon, even if Harris won the presidency.

Charli Feliciano, president of the anti-abortion Loyola for Life, disagreed Roe would be gone no matter which party comes into power, and called the overturn of Dobbs v. Jackson, the case which reversed Roe a step in the right direction.

Feliciano said a Trump victory would be a win for the anti-abortion movement as it would leave the question of abortion up to individual states.

“I believe that if Kamala gets elected, then they would obviously very much push for a nationwide reversal of the reversal of Roe v. Wade,” Feliciano said. “I think that Trump, it’s a lot easier to have hope that at the very least, more changes can be made, little small things can be made. Versus Kamala, where it would be so hard when her campaign is very much pro-abortion.”

Both Feliciano and Hansen said their organizations do the majority of their work outside electoral politics. Loyola for Life is currently ordering and donating baby bottles for mothers in need. Students for Reproductive Justice engages in education and outreach on reproductive health issues, including the famous Free Condom Friday, according to Hansen.

The war in Gaza is another key issue in this election, with both candidates making commitments to continue to support Israel’s national security. Harris, however, also spoke of the need to relieve the suffering of Palestinians at an event honoring the one year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, the AP reported.

Loyola’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine said they believe choosing not to support candidates and administrations who they say are upholding an imperialist, colonizing and white supremacist system is a moral and ethical choice.

“We deeply reject the ‘lesser of two evils’ approach in the 2024 election cycle,” SJP wrote in an email to The Phoenix. “The two party system of politics has led to a climate where citizens must choose between which groups will be targeted with marginalization, brutality and genocide.”

SJP said they defend the legitimacy of third-party votes, or even not voting altogether.

“The lack of political will to challenge U.S. complicity in Israeli war crimes leaves us with little faith in the major parties to bring about meaningful change.”

Minor candidates with ballot or write-in access to at least 270 electoral votes include Libertarian Chase Oliver, the Green Party nominee Jill Stein, Claudia de la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party, as well as well as independents Cornel West and Shiva Ayyadurai.

Editor’s Note: Michael Clausen is contributing opinion writer for The Loyola Phoenix. Any views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Loyola Phoenix.