Prof. Lawless of UVA Discusses Campus Protests and Impact on Biden's Reelection
Prof. Lawless of UVA Discusses Campus Protests and Impact on Biden's Reelection
In both 1968 and 1972, there were significant college protests — civil rights, women’s rights, and anti-Vietnam War. In both elections, the Republican “law and order” candidate Richard Nixon defeated Democrats Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Senator George McGovern, respectively.
“First, I would note that they [Democratic college students] don't really have an alternative. They know that Robert Kennedy is not going to win the election, and they know that Donald Trump would be far worse on this issue than Joe Biden. It's also several months away, and frankly, I don't think that the current situation in the Middle East right now is sustainable, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is a movement away from support for the Netanyahu Administration from the Biden Administration by the Fall,” said Lawless.
“The stakes here in terms of global humanitarian crisis, there's no question that it's hard to imagine anything worse than this, but this is not Vietnam in that it's not the most important issue to a lot of people, so there's no question that young people have taken a position similar to the way that young people took a position in Vietnam,” said Lawless. But if you look at the public opinion polling data when you go back to 1968 in that convention, the Vietnam War and the potential of being drafted was the number one issue for voters and for young voters in particular.”
Today, the situation in the Middle East is the 17th-ranked most important issue according to public polling, said Lawless
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