By: Maddi Achtyl
Stonehill held a forum in McCarthy Auditorium on Nov. 5 to discuss the presidential election results. The panel was open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
John Micek, politics managing editor for MassLive, moderated the panel discussion on the controversial 2024 election. Micek contributes commentary and analysis to broadcast outlets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Four panelists, two of whom are Stonehill Alums, spoke Monday night. Matt Gorman ‘11 is an executive vice president at Targeted Victory, where he leads the firm's strategic communications vertical. He brings over a decade of experience advising presidential candidates and members of Congress to the conversation. Gorman was also a member of The Summit during his time at Stonehill.
Jesse Hunt ‘13 founded Monadnock Strategies, a political consulting firm. He was the first person to lead the communications department for the Republican Governors Association and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Joel Payne is the chief communications officer for MoveOn.org, an organization whose members are committed to an inclusive and progressive future marked by equality, sustainability, justice, and love. He also has held roles with the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the AFL, the CIA, the Working for America Institute, Hillary for America, and the Hub Project.
The last panelist, Meghan Hays, is from California and is a communications executive with West Shore Strategies. She has a wide range of experience with climate tech startups, political entities, and Fortune 100 companies. She also worked as a senior communications leader with President Joe Biden for eight years.
Micek started the forum off by asking the panelists to describe this election using one word. Each panelist's response reflected the election's complex dynamics.
“Surprising,” said Hays, “When the nominee, the sitting president steps off the ticket, it's a little bit shocking to everyone.”
“Over,” said Gorman, “It was very predictable until it wasn't. We had a nominee, both have been president before, then suddenly just when we thought it would be predictable, kind of the same old, same old, we had the debate on June 27.”
June 27. till the end of July marked a time of unprecedented change the United States had never seen before.
“Historic,” said Hunt, “To have the Republican nominee survive two assassination attempts and then have it culminate in, you know, the Republican nominee who had previously had trouble winning the popular vote ultimately.”
“Unprecedented,” said Payne, “It challenged a lot of conventional wisdom and a lot of kind of generally accepted norms that we as political professionals and I think our industry likes to rely upon.”
During the Q&A portion of the event, many Stonehill alumni attended the event and spoke up to ask questions. A Class of 1981 Alum in the audience had an observation and asked the first question.
“You talked about the election as a landslide or a blowout. But, despite all the unusual characteristics, it really fell out like a normal presidential election. The winner's going to win by about 1.8% in the popular vote and the Electoral College is going to exaggerate that to make it look great,” the Class of ‘81 Alum said.
The forum highlighted the election's remarkable twists and underscored the importance of understanding its historical implications. It also provided a unique opportunity for the Stonehill community to reflect on the unprecedented nature of the 2024 presidential election through diverse perspectives from seasoned political professionals.
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