Last week, the Democratic National Convention nominated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be president and vice president. Kamala Harris was a 2020 candidate for president before dropping out three months before the primaries started due to lack of campaign motivation and support.

Both candidates ran in a very competitive and crowded primary, where Joe Biden came out on top. Starting, he lacked the support as he is 77 years old and if elected would be the oldest president elected. But later on he became the top dog of the primaries, winning a majority of them as candidates slowly dropped out.

He also has a very questionable background, having voted on many bills that had very little support among the public, such as the Iraq War. However, he has a very open mind when it comes to policy changes, unlike many elected officials. He has changed many of his policies and ideals to favor everyone they would involve.

Harris identifies more as moderate-progressive, with many of her policies and ideals being more to the left but also moderate. Together, they create a progressive-moderate leaning ticket.

Earlier this week, the Republican National Convention nominated Donald Trump and Mike Pence to be president and vice president again. Current President Donald Trump, if elected again, would be the first impeached president to win reelection. Pence would be running on a continually questionable and at times horrible resume.

As Governor of Indiana, he helped the HIV/AIDS pandemic run rampant by failing to act. He also pushed for many anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ policies and legislation. As vice president, he has continued this same rhetoric.

Before presidency, Trump was a real estate businessman. As president, he has faced countless lawsuits over his tax returns and the policies he has put in place. Along with that, he has done countless things undermining democracy and pushing the Republican agenda forward.

He barred transgender people from serving in the military, banned immigrants and asylum seekers from certain Muslim countries, passed a tax act that provided billions in tax cuts to the top 1 percent and failed in the federal response to COVID-19 which has killed almost 200,000 Americans and infected over 25 million globally.

This election will be one for the books, and with COVID-19, both parties are expecting a huge turnout of mail-in voting. Biden seeks to unseat Trump, which would make Trump one of a very small number of one-term presidents.

Register to vote, request mail-in, and do your research. Also, if you can be an election judge for your home precinct.

Zach Bray is a freshman political science major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].