BUIES CREEK, North Carolina – Before The Daily Beast political reporter Eleanor Clift concluded her week of talks, debates, and workshops at Campbell University as part of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program, she spoke with Campbell.edu about her time on campus, what advice she would give to college-aged voters, and what being a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow adds to her life.
Below is an edited transcript.
What do you hope students and the Campbell community take away from your lectures and time on campus?
I would hope that it would get them thinking. Maybe they haven’t been exposed to somebody from Washington or somebody from the bigger leagues of journalism. I’ve spoken on a lot of different topics here; not only politics, but to ethical issues in journalism and in the medical world. I talked about the book I wrote “Two Weeks of Life,” which is about Terry Schaivo.
When I moderated the debate [among the Democrat, Libertarian, and Republican student groups], I think I got to see the different camps in the university, if you will, and tried to urge everyone to disagree without being disagreeable. That would be the message I hope to leave behind.
How would you describe this year’s presidential election, and what impact do you think it will have on future elections?
In this election, I think it has been more contentious with one candidate in particular pushing the boundaries of what we consider as normal behavior in politics. Then there’s the whole controversy of whether Donald Trump would concede if he didn’t win and building the case that the election is rigged.
In a way, we probably should have seen that coming because people on both sides have talked about the economy being rigged. The Democrats have said it’s rigged in favor of the rich, so it’s kind of the natural next step to assume that if they rig the economy, why don’t they rig the election as well?
You get on really shaky ground in a democracy if you lose all trust in your institutions, and trust in just about everything has fallen in recent decades. That has been an evolving process. But if we have people questioning the outcome of an election, we’re in a whole new territory. I never thought I would be witness to that kind of rhetoric.
Many college-aged voters are experiencing the first presidential election they will vote in. What message do you have for those college-aged voters?
No. 1, They should vote. It’s the basic ticket of admission to a democratic society.
No. 2, It would be lovely if they were inspired and in love with one of the candidates, but that doesn’t always happen. It happens rarely.
No. 3, It’s fine to vote against a candidate if they don’t like the other candidate.
No. 4, It’s not just a personality contest. It’s not who you like better. These are leaders of political parties, two very distinct parties with distinct positions on issues. Ask yourself what issues do you care about most and which party is more aligned with your interests and values.
How has the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program and visits to college campuses like Campbell enriched your life?
I’ve been doing it fore more than 20 years. I never had the traditional college experience myself. I went to Hofstra University for one year and I dropped out. I went to Hunter College at night for several years and never got a degree.
So when I was invited to be part of this program, I thought, “Great! I get to experience what college life is.”
I have visited dozens of universities in all parts of the country and each one is unique in its own way. There’s always a part of the week when I think, “What am I doing here?”
I get all talked out, and sometimes I am frustrated when classes aren’t as engaged in the discussion. Then I get over that hump, and it is always a positive experience. It’s the college life I never had.