Open Discourse Coalition discusses last week's election

Nov. 12—LEWISBURG — The Open Discourse Coalition on Monday held a discussion on the results of last week's presidential election, a conversation in which the temperature of the nation was a leading point.

The discussion titled "Let's Talk About The Election" was held at its headquarters at 239 Market St., Lewisburg. Matt Gabler, a former Republican representative of the 85th House District, and Lewisburg Mayor Kendy Alvarez, a Democrat, discussed for more than an hour President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency of the United States.

"There's an opportunity for campaigns and there's an opportunity for governance, and I think that's where the temperature changes," Gabler said.

"That's what we have the opportunity to start in this room. It's something we have to keep our eyes on, it's something we as a society have to do going forward. One thing I always took very seriously as an elected official, I didn't want people to pull the red lever and walk away. Society demands accountability."

He added, "I wanted people to expect people to go and deliver for them. If I didn't, they should be willing to make the choice. Whether our side won or our side lost, as a society, we have an expectation that the people we elected will govern, and govern for all."

Alvarez and Gabler agreed the campaigns were full of dialogue that turned up the temperature for America.

"What happens now?" Alvarez said. "Where do we go from here? We know what happened. We don't necessarily know why or how. What are supposed to do next?"

Alvarez said the Democratic Party failed to appeal to rural America, especially in places like Union County and other counties in central Pennsylvania.

"This is America," Alvarez said. "This is an America we failed to notice was happening. This is the America that exists from small towns to big cities. This is a reflection of what it is we have failed to address. The pendulum swung the way it swung."

Gabler said the last several years showed an "awakening of rural America."

Alvarez also touched on fear being a motivating factor in the campaign rhetoric.

"My concern is that this is our new normal," Alvarez said. "This is what we're using as the tool rather than using hope to motivate people, rather than engaging and talking about how we overcome those fears, how we talk about where the source of those fears reside, what experiences led to that and why we need to work through that to become a better community. I don't see it happening on the national level."

Earlier in the evening, Alvarez said she believes Harris' race and gender played a part in the decision-making of some voters. Mike Glazer, of Lewisburg, took issue with those comments, saying that bigots exist, but the country is a lot better than it was in the past.

"Coming into this election being a lifelong Republican, I never thought of her (Harris) as a woman, or of her color," Glazer said. "That didn't enter into this for me. I think there are a lot of us like me where that's true."

The country is "trending upwards and we're going to be OK," Glazer said. "It's going to be a bumpy road, but it always has been a bumpy road."

Surrender Atukunda, a Bucknell University sophomore from Uganda, said this was his first experience with an election in the U.S.

"There is not enough conversation on campus about this," he said. "I think there's a lot of fear for people to disagree with each other."

Walking into class after the election on Wednesday was "as if nothing happened," Atukunda said.