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I met Walt and his grandson Michael at Byers Street Bistro for chicken wings, pizza, and beer. This is from Staunton, Virginia, and I was made to understand that it’s pronounced with a hard “A” like the male Stan.
Michael loved to talk, and he did. He informed me that he studied political science and philosophy, so I will pass that on to him. The child has finished reading the book. He is a learned man. When I asked him how old he was, he said 22.
“You loved the ’90s, didn’t you?” I told him.
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“I’m sure,” he said.
“I knew you from every coffee house back then,” I said, adding, “I’m glad you’re still here.”
Michael could never vote for former President Trump. He is a rare voter for whom January 6th is a very important day. However, he also said that within his social group, he sometimes has a hard time saying what he wants to say.
I tried to take it forward, but it only took me so far. He doesn’t like the word “wake up,” but he gets it. He reads Hobbes and Kant, and wants real conversations that his friends and colleagues on the left don’t necessarily allow when they step into progressive assumptions.
His grandfather, who has lived in Staunton for 50 years and said he has fished in 45 of the 50 states, plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Michael (left), his grandfather (right), and David Marcus.
But like a lot of people I meet, he’s not into it and doesn’t really know who she is. Interestingly, Ms. Harris told me that she did not choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate because “I think Mr. Harris could have outperformed her.”
Upon returning to the hotel, a lovely hotel that opened in 1924, I met two bikers smoking cigarettes in rocking chairs at the front entrance of this old establishment with Virginia charm.
The older of the two is voting for Trump. “We all know things were better when he was president,” he told me.
His young friend is less sure. “I don’t trust any of them.” And I hear that a lot. He’s not going to vote.
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On this decisive and finally autumn evening in the former Dominion, as the chill slowly began to set in, two women, once again divided by politics, appeared on our stage.
The bubbly blonde is completely in favor of Trump, saying: “I don’t care what you think about him. We all want the economy to recover.”
Her friend Dottie is a strong supporter of Harris. That doesn’t happen often, but when I asked her why, she said without hesitation, “She’s a woman. It’s time for a woman to be president.”
Although much less common, I also hear this from some men quite often. What’s interesting is how many women, whether they voted for President Trump or not, simply reject this paradigm. To the point of being insulted by it.
But when I hear people getting excited about Harris, here in Virginia and elsewhere, it’s usually because of her identity, what a Black woman represents as president, and what they represent as vice president. It’s not because we’re looking at a uniquely qualified candidate.
Voters in Staunton, Virginia
This is why Virginia has recently been considered fool’s gold for Republican presidential candidates, and why I’m not entirely convinced, even though polls suggest an easy victory for Blue. be.
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In Staunton, as in nearby Harrisonburg, where I visited a few weeks ago, the excitement and intensity around Trump supporters dwarfs the excitement and intensity among Harris supporters.
Toward the end of our long conversation, Michael asked me if I thought there were enough American voters who hated Trump to elect Harris, even if they didn’t like Harris.
I thought about it and said no. In 2016, many people hated Trump, but he wasn’t liked enough for Hillary Clinton to win. It was enough to stop Trump, as it did Joe Biden four years later. In Virginia and elsewhere, this feels a lot like 2016.
As I pulled out of the small town parking lot, already mentally headed for the Carolinas, and more literally as I pulled out my car, I saw a nice six-story building with “Madame President” written on it. I saw a huge signboard. And that really says it all. No matter where you go, the most common reason people fill up the speech bubble next to Kamala’s name is that she is a woman and, as it was once said, they are women too.
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Perhaps gender alone, or identity politics, could propel Harris to the top, but here in Virginia and across the country, I have my doubts about that.
With three weeks until Election Day, Ms. Harris is running out of time to give voters a better reason to put her in the White House.
Click here to read more about David Marcus
