USU Political Science associate professor says high voter turn-out not a big surprise

Cache County Events Center, file photo.

LOGAN — On KVNU’s For the People program on Tuesday, Dr. Mike Lyons from the USU Political Science Department said he was not at all surprised by high voter turn-out this year.

“There was a very clear-cut choice between the candidates this year.  Frankly a lot of people were very disappointed in President Trump and that motivated turn-out on one side.  And the Republican party was extremely effective, in my view, in its messaging, stirring up fears about what Democrats would do if they were elected into a position of complete dominance of national government, ” he explained.

Dr. Lyons said because of that, people were motivated to turn out because they saw it as a choice between incompetence and narcissism on one side and socialism on the other.  Although he doesn’t think those are valid characterizations either way.

The Republicans have succeeded in attaching this socialist label to a lot of Democrats.  And, of course, our economy is not a pure free-market economy, we do have a mixed economy with elements of socialism. Free bus service supported by the tax payers right here in Logan, Utah, public education, really is a form of socialism to a degree.”

He said somehow Republicans have convinced voters that Democrats are going to take government into a dangerous and unprecedented direction when there just is not substantive support for that, with the exception of a handful of Democrats, perhaps presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, for example.

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1 Comment

  • L Allen November 18, 2020 at 1:37 pm Reply

    The article should have been about the advantages & benefits of a high voter turn out and not an editorial on candidates and/or their parties. It’s time for the media to take the high road and help us heal and stop dividing ‘US’.

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