Panthers welcome Maggie Hassan

Jacob Downey

He/Him

Editor-In-Chief

10/11/22

With the 2022 Mid-Term Election less than a month away, Sen. Maggie Hassan’s name has dominated ad space. Pro-Hassan ads, anti-Hassan ads, her fiscal heroism have become something of an in-joke to the political science department.  Hassan is the Democratic junior senator for the state of  New Hampshire. First elected in 2016, Hassan jumped from the Governor to the Senate, winning by a narrow margin of just over a thousand votes. During her first term as senator, she has been touted by the independent Lugar Center as the most bipartisan senator of 2021, citing her as holding “… the highest score ever recorded by a Democratic senator and the third highest score in the history of the index”, a title earned by a Republican co-sponsorship on all 48 bills she introduced in 2021. In practice, this means Hassan is no stranger to reaching across the aisle to make change happen despite party lines.

For many of us, this is the first election in which we will have a say. While many of us will check a box based on party alignment, it is nevertheless important to know who you’re voting for, and by extension what policies. In support of this notion, on October 8th during the Homecoming game, Sen. Hassan met with a collection of Plymouth State students to discuss her campaign and issues important to the PSU student body. 

“I talk with people about voting, I always kind of find there’s a lot of apathy around people getting out to vote, people think there’s not really like that they don’t have a say in that their contribution is going to go unnoticed”, remarked Will Loughlin, the president of PSU Democrats, “I always try to emphasize, especially when I’m tabling and [students], come up and see me, [that], I don’t care what party you are, I just care at the end of the day you go out and vote for what you believe in for what you’re informed about. I mean, at the end of the day, whether people agree or disagree, it’s just the matter of participating in democracy is the core of this country’s foundation”. 

Hassan replied that “The thing you learn in this role is that when people who differ participate, those differences often really create better solutions. It’s like, you know, a good group project”. This notion was met with a collective groan as we flashed back to our Tackling a Wicked Problem. Hassan continued, “…But democracy is one big group project in some ways with some structure and some guidelines, right and some rules, but you really often can get a better outcome if people are really engaging in good faith. And I think that that’s part of what we have to remember to communicate to people”. 

This communication is rarely easy, however. Little common ground is shared between Hassan and her Republican opponent Don Boldoc. Hassan would criticize Boldoc for upholding the idea that the 2020 election was fraudulent (it was not), his ‘rejoicing’ in the repealing of Roe V. Wade, and his opposition towards clean energy initiatives. Hassan however sees immense value in reaching across the aisle and that it does not have to mean compromising on fundamental rights, stating “[I] stand firm on the principles that keep our democracy intact. So freedom to vote, and reproductive rights, are examples of that. The need to move to a clean energy economy and fight climate change. But you also listen for common ground”. It was not all partisan doom and gloom, however, with the senator noting that “[Hassan] was also part of the team that negotiated the infrastructure package. And there’s a lot in there for a lot of different people but I think of the things college students might be most interested in high-speed internet access everywhere in the state of New Hampshire”. She added that projects such as this and a conceptual passenger rail from Boston would contribute to New Hampshire becoming a more vibrant state. Infrastructure such as this would definitely benefit college-aged persons greatly and represent a common good we can all get behind.

The biggest takeaway Hassan has for young voters is that “this [election] is about the quality of your drinking water, the quality of the air you breathe, whether you can have your reproductive rights protected and get reproductive health care in your state, on your college campus or near your college campus. It’s about whether you’re safe”. Whether or not you intend to vote for Hassan on November 8th, it is imperative that we as college students participate in the political process. Whether you are a live free-or-die-hard Granite Stater or a panther from far, far away, Plymouth is where we live, it is a home for us. Voter registration can be done at the polls on election day, at the local clerk’s office, or via PSU Dems at their tabling events. All that is required is proof of your identity, age, citizenship, and domicile to register.