All politics are national: Piedmont and High Country voters sound off

“All politics are local” is a phrase popularized decades ago by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neill. He meant that a politician’s success is tied directly to how well they understand their constituents’ concerns.

But increasingly, all politics have become national, with voters much more consumed by big issues like immigration and public education than local ballot measures. 

That trend holds true in the Piedmont where the positions of Republican and Democratic voters are often deeply held, nuanced and all over the map.

Public Education

Public education straddles the fence between national and local politics, and maybe for that reason the issue resonates strongly with North Carolina voters from Boone to Burlington.

Conservative voter Stu Epperson shared his thoughts on the topic after emerging from a workout at the Yadkinville YMCA.

"I'm one of those that thinks that the school choice has actually helped public education because it's made public schools sharpen their game," said Epperson. "Sometimes they're like either or, right? You know, either public school or either home school or either private school or either charter school, but it really should be 'both and,' and that's the beauty of the American way, right? There's a competing thing, and of course, we don't want to lose anyone from this school to go to this school, but if it makes them better and if it matches the kid, so we empower parents, and suddenly parents are involved."

In downtown Greensboro, across from LeBauer Park, Jacqui Hawkins has just left an education conference and she’s waiting to meet her son for lunch. Hawkins instructs people with disabilities, and she’ll be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

"The state legislature has annihilated the education system and how we treat our teachers and the expectations for teachers to fulfill," she says. "For students, I take issue with the vouchers for students. I do think that they have a time and a place, but I don't think that vouchers for people who can afford them, afford to send their student to a private school, is a good use of our dollar."

Abortion

Abortion and the overturning of Roe v. Wade are among the most divisive issues in American politics today. In Boone, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump voter Peter Oliver and his wife are on vacation enjoying a walk along King Street.

"To start off with, I believe life begins at conception, and I don't believe any child should be hurt in any way, shape or form," says Oliver. "But if the pregnancy is due to, say, incest, rape or things like that, why would she want to carry for nine months and then take care of a baby all the way through adulthood that's going to remind her every day of being raped?"

Jennifer Frion is an office manager at the GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art in downtown Greensboro. She’ll be voting Harris for president in November. Frion says she firmly disagrees with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that she says left her flabbergasted.

"Women should have the right to decide how they're going to handle their own body, and I do not agree with anyone telling me that I can't take care of my own issues," she says. "I have been in a situation where I didn't need an abortion, but I had a miscarriage, and had something else gone wrong, and I hadn't been able to have a DNC if I had needed one, that would have been heartbreaking to me and that could have affected my health." 

Immigration

Among the national issues we discussed with voters across WFDD’s listening area, immigration seemed to bring out the most consensus. But the ways in which it was discussed varied. Trump voter Benjamin Milligan is a recent Winston-Salem transplant from Eden, North Carolina. He interrupts his lunch break in downtown Winston Square Park to share his thoughts.

"Well, it's funny, I have a friend whose father illegally immigrated, and he's a very wonderful man, but I know there's also people that are coming over that are not wonderful people, and I do think it is a crime," says Milligan. "So, I think it should be dealt with like it's a crime."

A National Institute of Justice study conducted in Texas found that native-born U.S. citizens are arrested at more than twice the rate of undocumented immigrants for violent and drug-related crimes. 

At the Graham Public Library in Alamance County, Harris voter Lea Marcoplos keeps statistics like these in mind when considering the immigration issue.

"I cannot imagine what it's like to have to have to flee your country, where you call home to come to somewhere else for a better life," says Marcopolos. "So I try to look at people in that situation with empathy and open arms, and I think they need to be documented and come in legally for many reasons, for their safety and health, as well as ours. But I think there needs to be a lot more gentle conversations around why people are coming here and to have a seat at the dinner table for them."

And in Winston-Salem, Hotel Indigo employee Solomon Boston says he plans to vote for Donald Trump. He sums up his thoughts on immigration this way.

"So long as they're doing it the legal way and they're doing what they have to do," he says. "Like, make sure that they're paying taxes and make sure they're contributing, make sure that they're actually showing interest in our culture and not just trying to siphon out, like, resources. I feel like it's all good with me."

Transgender Rights

Over the past several years, transgender rights have become a divisive cultural issue. Not surprisingly, opinions surrounding the topic are widely divergent. For retired longtime Stokes County resident Tim Lawson, this topic is black-and-white. An avid walker, we caught up with Lawson as he began his hike along the city of King Recreational Acres park trail.

"You're not going to like me to say this, but there's a God in heaven, and he knows what a boy is, and he knows what a girl is, and he knows what a man is, and he knows what a woman is," says Lawson. "And if a human being is confused about that, well, they need to get unconfused. But they're still a human being. I don't think they should be abused or violated or ... in most situations, not discriminated against."

According to the National Institute of Health, although gender identity is an important societal issue, what causes people to identify as male, female, or other is a personal decision that’s often poorly understood.

Vivian Thompson is a staff member at Appalachian State University in Boone. She says she doesn’t think transgender rights should be a big issue.

"That's your body," she says. "You do with it as you please. This is my body. I will do with it as I please. If it offends me for religious or whatever reasons, you know, I will go and look away. If a TV show offends me, I will not watch it. That's our freedom here. You know, we don't have to be in the middle of something."

At the Super G Mart international grocery store parking lot in Greensboro, we spoke with Chris Carthen, who’s an undecided voter. For the past 12 years, he and his wife and their seven children have called Burlington in Alamance County home. On the topic of transgender rights, Carthen says there are people close to him who identify in nontraditional ways.

"I personally don't like it," says Carthen. "I don't agree with it, but that's that individual's life. That's their liberty. They're free to do what they want to do. The problem for me is when I'm forced to live according to what you believe or how you feel. So because you identify as a woman, you want to go into the restroom with my daughter? I got a problem with that. I don't like it. If that's your choice, then you have to deal with the consequences of that transgender, that change." 

A University of California Los Angeles School of Law Williams Institute study found that transgender individuals are four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization. And, the National Institute of Health calls the prohibition of access to the restroom for transgender people a form of gender discrimination, concluding that safety arguments are not supported by the facts.

Climate Change

In Yadkin County, the small town of Yadkinville is home to a modern Cultural Arts Center where we find High Point University education student Mackenzie Warden. She’s 21 years old, grew up here, plans to vote for Harris and says global warming is a major concern.

"It's easy to turn your head and look the other way when it comes to climate change, and I can't do anything about it in my own self, but there are things that can be done," says Warden. "We need to be raising awareness about carbon emissions, especially some of the people that we idolize, who are taking private jet trips for 20 minutes. They're releasing millions of toxic chemicals into the air. I think we have to choose to listen to science."

Warden adds the need for more media literacy in the fight against climate change.
 
An hour east of Yadkinville in Graham, North Carolina, Pastor Brian Dehart enjoys a cup of coffee sitting outdoors in a new cafe in Court Square. The 43-year-old has lived here his entire life and takes pride in the revitalization of downtown. He says in many ways he is Graham and describes himself and most of the people he talks to here as leaning very conservative.

"To be honest with you, I think climate change and global warming, we say these things, we get very nervous and scared — but I don't want to chuckle," he says. "But when I hear that, I sometimes ... well, you know, there's an ancient book written many, many years ago where they talked about the fall of man and that the world's going to be going downhill, and it's going downhill. So that's just part of, I think, the human experience is, how do we navigate and steward what we have? Well, for me, my yard, I mow my yard, and weed-eat my yard and we garden and we take care of what God has given us."

According to the National Climate Assessment, the effects of climate change caused by humans are worsening across the country and around the world. The data points to a need for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to limit future global warming.

John Willingham is enjoying lunch at The Center Bistro in downtown Yadkinville. An active member of the Yadkinville arts community, the nearby Cultural Arts Center theater bears his name. He says he will be voting for Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein for governor in November. And, he describes himself as an outdoorsman who believes that while climate change is getting attention now, and we’ve come a long way, he does not think we’re doing enough to combat it.

"We have to keep it in front of us all the time," says Willingham. "We have to do it on a local level as well as a national level. We have to invest and we have to demonstrate, particularly to the younger generation, the importance to them in trying to turn this thing around. We've ignored it for generations, and you know, we're paying the price at this point."

We've heard from voters all across WFDD's listening area, and next, we may hear from you as we continue our election coverage in the Piedmont and High Country.