Maxwell School News and Commentary

Using the military for domestic law enforcement would be a fundamental shift, one which too few Americans have considered or grappled with, says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. “It would turn our whole society upside down…all these arguments about him [Trump] being an autocrat or dictator, it is not a stretch.”

“Young people are actually excited about this election. They're excited to vote, but they are very confused. They don't know exactly what to do because they feel so strongly about particular issues...so although they are excited, they're not sure what that means for them in the future,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

Harris is “is performing better in the national polls versus the battleground states, which tells me she is racking up more support in states where she is already likely to win,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “That makes sense given the nature of the campaign's central messages and appeals.”

Harris reshaped the election race by “advocating for women's health, reproductive freedom and abortion access more vocally and more powerfully than Biden did and than the Trump/Vance ticket is,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of poltical science. 

Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs, says President Zelenskyy is here to “garner additional support from the administration, the Congress, and address the United Nations in ways that will provide the military support and also looking forward to negotiations.”

Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs, suggests that Trump could decide to “do whatever he wants and let somebody file a lawsuit and bring it to the Supreme Court, who have been pretty favorable to Trump on matters of executive power.”

“One of the things I think the split screen was able to do was to show Harris looking really composed. She was looking right at Trump and she wasn't going to let up. And I think part of the strategy wasn't really about him at all. It was about ‘I can hold the stage. I can be presidential. I can be commander in chief,’” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science.

“I think a lot of young people have been waiting to hear the same thing probably for the past few years as they have in the past few weeks, which is a really clear stance on what lies ahead for the folks who are most vulnerable in the United States,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

“It pretty clear and consistent across lots of polls that public support for the court itself has been tanking,” says Thomas Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics. “So, in theory, that creates some space for a capable political leader to speak to those concerns.”