Pictured from left to right: Vicky Hartzler, Mason Palude, Bart Lambert, Larry LaRocco
David Scibilia/The Bona Venture
BY: DAVID SCIBILIA, NEWS EDITOR
“Democracy is at stake in the 2024 election,” said Larry LaRocco, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. “We’ve had attacks on the norms of how we conduct our democracy and politics in the United States.”
St. Bonaventure University participates in Congress to Campus, a program that brings former members of Congress to colleges and universities for conversations regarding American politics with students. Vicky Hartzler, R-Missouri, and LaRocco, D-Idaho spoke to Bonaventure faculty, administration and students in the Doyle Hall Conference Center on Monday.
The panel consisted of former Congress members Hartzler and LaRocco, Bart Lambert, a retired associate professor of political science at Bonaventure and Mason Palude, a senior political science major at Bonaventure.
This event covered the significance of the 2024 election, increases in energy prices, harassment of election officials, increasing foreign tensions and advice for politically motivated students.
Both Hartzler and LaRocco said rising energy and fuel prices could drive voters to the polls in 2024.
“The prices have risen,” said LaRocco. “There’s no question about it. But they’re also coming down, and I think inflation is going to be tackled as the economy is cooking along.”
Hartzler agreed under different reasoning.
“I think this will be a very important issue,” said Hartzler. “Now, [gas prices] are up to $3 and $4 because of Biden’s policies. And that hurts people. In their jobs and their wallet in their family budgets”
The next topic this panel covered was the possibility of violent outbreaks based on election results.
“[Trump] is setting the stage and setting the tone and sending the message to people and legitimizing this election denialism,” said LaRocco. “It leads to incivility in the way that we deal with one another [and] in terms of the way that people are treating the judges right now in various court cases.”
Hartzler said the number of good people greatly outweighs the bad — both in office and in America.
“This is a very small percentage of Americans who are acting like this,” said Hartzler. “So don’t get discouraged. There’s still a lot of good people serving an office.”
After this, the panel was asked how the rising tensions between China and Russia could affect the outcomes of the 2024 election.
“I think this is a real issue, and I think it’s on people’s minds,” said LaRocco. “I think [Americans are] worried about how there could be an incident that is unintentional, where we [America, Russia or China] clash, then all of a sudden catapults us into a war that nobody wants.”
Hartzler, who served on the Armed Services Committee — a group of Representatives who are in charge of defense policy — agreed with LaRocco.
“Providing for the common defense is the most important thing Congress can do,” said Hartzler. “China is probably our biggest threat.”
They then shifted the discussion to Bonaventure students.
“I was first asked to carry a yard sign in a parade when I was 10 years old,” said Hartzler. “You can’t run for office by yourself. You need good people, and there are always opportunities to help make a difference. If things don’t seem to be going your way, don’t just check out.”
LaRocco said identifying your values is a necessary step to choosing how to engage in politics.
“Once you figure out your values, see how they mesh with your elected officials,” said LaRocco. “There’s always going to be opportunities if you’re that person that says, ‘Is there anything else I can do?’”
scibild22@bonaventure.edu
