We’re just a few days away from what many have described as one of the most consequential presidential elections of our respective lifetimes.
I know things like that are said in every presidential election cycle, but it really seems true in this case, especially considering the options we have, what some of the nominees bring (and don’t bring) to the table, and what the future holds depending on who wins.
When these types of elections roll around, it’s easy for people to get locked into their positions, with some viewing anyone who disagrees with those positions as having questionable judgment and moral character.
While it’s one thing to hold those feelings toward random strangers on the street or social media, it’s another to hold them toward friends and family members you’ve known, loved, trusted and respected for years.
This is a topic Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the vice-presidential running mate of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, tackled during a NewsNation town hall in Detroit last week.
Vance was asked a question from a voter about how “half of our country” is going to be “devastated” if the other half’s ticket wins the election.
“Do you have any thoughts on how the winning side can help, you know, outreach or lend a hand to those that might not like the outcome?” the person asked.
The first thing Vance brought up is how, after the contentious 2016 election between Hillary Clinton and Trump, one of the first things Trump did was call for unity, saying at the time that “it’s time for us to heal as a country, actually realize that we’re on the same team.”
Later, after describing how some of his friends sometimes “get very personal” over political disagreements with him, Vance said, “If you’re discarding a lifelong friendship because somebody votes for the other team, then you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake and you should do something different.”
Political disagreements don’t make one side or the other “bad people,” Vance also observed.
No matter who you vote for, Vance went on to say, “Don’t cast aside family members and lifelong friendships. Politics is not worth it. I think if we follow this principle, we heal the divide in this country.”
They were powerful words of wisdom coming from Vance, who has risen to the occasion since Trump announced him as his running mate back in July.
But though he was right, this time of year, when you may have that one family member or friend who insists on bringing up politics at the holiday dinner table, it’s something that is a lot easier said than done depending on the person who is trying to do the persuading.
Recently, several campaign signs have gone up around our neighborhood in some of our neighbors’ yards. Some are for Harris-Walz, while others are for Trump-Vance.
Naturally, we smile when we see the Trump-Vance signs, thinking to ourselves, “Good neighbor!” When we see the Harris-Walz signs, on the other hand, there is disappointment, but we know most of the people in our community and know them to be solid people who would be there for you in a pinch.
In other words, knowing some of our neighbors will be casting votes for “the other team,” as Vance put it, doesn’t make us like them any less. We have joked, though, about asking them in passing, “What the heck are you thinking?”
Not that we would, of course. But if they brought up the subject, though, that would certainly make things awfully interesting.
North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.
