By Karla Perez
Junior State of America (JSA), the student-led organization that inspires students to share their voices in political matters, held a live Zoom on Friday. Republican strategist and policy advisor Lanhee Chen served as the guest speaker that many joined the live to listen to.
Students were encouraged to attend the free event and send in a question for Lanhee to answer. Our MLEC student journalists joined the live and got a chance to listen to what Mr. Chen had to say about a few political issues and post-election news.
The event started off with a guide, who hosted the live and showed everyone an informative video on JSA’s work with today’s youth — which the organization considers to be “the voices of the future.” Shortly after, he introduced Mr. Chen.
Lanhee started answering students’ submitted questions, the first one being on the effect of media in politics.
“The role of media in politics has changed a lot since I started to work in politics,” he answered. “I suspect that the role of media will only continue to grow [in the future].”
He encouraged those listening to get their news from publications of all ideologies and political leanings, because there is “objective truth behind all of them and it’s good to realize what different sources are focusing on. You can’t just stick to one [news source], you need to get your news from all sides. You should read different sources of media.”
Lanhee was then asked about his thoughts on the historic election–especially on the fact that it occurred during a pandemic–and young people’s voices in the election and politics.
“The bread and butter of politics and campaigning is voter mobilization. This year has changed the way campaigners get to voters. And even then we had a historic turnout,” he responded.
“I was very encouraged by the interest [in politics] within my students… but there can be more. If you look at the voter percentages within young people this year it’s still lower than it should be. We got a long way to go.”
Chen emphasized the importance of young people’s early-on involvement in the politics of the country they live in, especially since those who aren’t adults can’t quite voice their thoughts on policies and laws through decision-making (aka voting).
“Fundamentally, a healthy democracy encourages everyone to vote… Sometimes you can sit there when you’re in high school and wonder how you’re gonna get involved [in politics]. The answer to that is: just jump in,” he advised the students listening.
“You have an opportunity to do a lot at an early age—like campaigning. It helps you build a network for the future and over time you build yourself a record and a career,” continued Lanhee.
Lastly, Mr. Chen was asked his opinion on Trump’s reluctance to concede, to which he responded that “at the core of our democracy is the smooth transition of power…”
He hopes that sooner or later we will have a formal transition.
