The sense that political discussions between everyday people have become both more frequent and more contentious over the years was a common theme echoed by participants during the Southwestern discussion group.
James Porter, 82, of Franklin, a small town between Dayton and Cincinnati, has the perspective of a voter who鈥檚 cast a ballot in 15 presidential elections.
鈥淭his is the most talked about, most vicious cycle of elections that I've ever seen or heard of,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never been through anything like this. You can just almost feel the hate 鈥� People are just more up in arms.鈥�
Porter said the No. 1 difference he sees between the past few presidential elections and those more distant is that voters are taking a 鈥渕ore visible鈥� stance lately. He said his neighborhood is the perfect example. Porter lives on an approximately 2-mile-long street with well-spaced houses and big yards. On Oct. 13, the street contained at least 32 pro-Donald Trump signs, flags or banners; two signs that said 鈥渏ust be kind鈥�; a half-dozen local election signs; and one pro-Joe Biden sign.
Porter installed his 鈥淭rump 2020鈥� sign Oct. 13. He was one of the last handful of residents to not take a public stance on the presidential election in their yard. He said he鈥檇 previously only put political signs in his yard for local elections.
In contrast, during the dialogue, Porter recalled a story from 鈥渕any years ago鈥� that illustrates how Americans were previously discouraged from talking about 鈥減olitics, sex or religion.鈥�
Porter said he鈥檚 concerned about polarization in the country today, but he doesn鈥檛 know what the solution is, a common view among the dialogue participants. He said his social circles will make it through the election.
鈥淢y friends, my relatives, most of them gonna鈥� vote one way and some gonna鈥� vote another, but we're all still going to go to church together,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we're going to go to that family reunion together, and we don't let (political differences) bog us down. And that鈥檚 going to happen this year.鈥�
Porter prays there is a 鈥渃lear-cut winner鈥� in the presidential election 鈥渘o matter which one it is鈥� because heif the election is in doubt.
