I had a conversation with a local voter who reached out to me because they were on the fence about this presidential election and wanted to know how I supported the Harris/Walz ticket. Below is the unedited dialog.
I share this in case you find yourself in a similar situation!
The Question
Hi Bill. My aunt sent me your Facebook and mentioned that you were the Chair in Greenwood for the Facebook link she sent.
Please bear with me in the length of this message.
I am extremely undecided in this election. I know what I want to see in America. My bank account is the loudest opinion I hear right now.
I and my husband make more money than I/we have EVER made in our entire life but I am still struggling to make ends meet. It makes no sense to me. How can I justify voting for someone that I feel like had a hand in destroying the American dollar. I work in accounting (tax to be specific). Every monetary policy proposal Harris has made I can’t get behind because they aren’t beneficial. They create no incentive for American businesses or for people to actually want to grow their wealth.
I personally dislike trump as a person. I don’t hate bc there is no sense in hating another human being based on politics (other than hitler). No matter how bad trump is as a person…he’s not hitler and no one can change my mind about that. That comparison drives me insane.
I’m drawn (not saying I am going to bc as of this moment I have 0 intention to vote at all) to vote for him based solely on the experience of my dollar being worth more then vs now.
I have been asking questions and tried to post a “thought provoking” item but all I am met with is anger and outright emotion from both sides and 0 facts. I don’t have a “party affiliation” idk if that makes me independent or not and honestly don’t care about being affiliated with any. I honestly wish there was no such thing as a party.
What I need is a discussion scenario where someone can state facts ( not emotion) and I can play “devils advocate” as to why I agree or disagree. I need to have a debate where essentially I am the moderator…a regular person struggling everyday and counter points as they are being made. Perhaps this is where I fall short in being able to do research.
The debate the other night was a joke. Idc what side you choose..anyone could see it was biased. Kamala couldn’t answer a question directly without going into a long drawn out story and Donald was just Donald..but at least he made some valid points. Not that of the cats and dogs..obviously..but economy, war, illegal immigration etc.
I need some facts on why I should or shouldn’t vote and how to have decent real thought provoking discussions and find answers without being painted as a trumpet or nevertrumper.
The Answer
Good morning and very nice to hear from you! I think your aunt is a wonderful person.
I appreciate the passion behind what you wrote. It shows that you definitely take this stuff seriously and have given it a lot of thought.
I don’t know that I can respond in kind to every point you made, but I’ll sum up how I’ve seen the past few years and why I’m making the personal decision the way I am.
Both the Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris administration dealt with severe global issues that were beyond their control.
This is a photo I took of a typical grocery aisle at the local Food Lion where I go. It was taken on Nov 20, 2020 at the end of the Trump administration.
It’s amazing how quickly we forget recent history. Because of the global COVID pandemic which killed a million Americans and millions more worldwide in such a short time period, the entire global economy and interconnected supply chains were rocked to its core.
I don’t blame Trump for COVID. It hit all countries hard. But what you can do is look at how the US fared compared to other nations.
And it wasn’t even close. The US had the highest COVID death rate compared to any other nation: Red states, blue states. Didn’t matter. We were the worst.
And THAT I do credit the Trump administration who were so completely overwhelmed and incapable of dealing with a unique disaster like this.
The Biden-Harris administration inherited another global disaster that was also not of their making: Global inflation. This is something that happened in EVERY nation as the world recovered from the economic turmoil. It wasn’t just the US.
And again, I have to compare how they came out of it versus the rest of the world.
And once again, it wasn’t even close. The US has recovered faster and stronger than any other nation.
You can’t argue that times indeed have been tough. We’re all tight on our wallets. But it’s clear that things would be far worse off if the current administration hadn’t worked so hard to invest in American workers and manufacturing to ensure a faster recovery from this global crisis.
And during all that, the stock market has constantly been breaking records. You may disagree that the stock market isn’t an accurate measure of the economy, but it’s the same measure that Trump bragged about for four years and all of his followers bought into. Why is that measure no longer valid just because it’s now Biden-Harris breaking records?
Here’s one final point about Harris policy.
Stock market records and highest-ever corporate profits tells me that the recovery isn’t making its way down to every day people like you and me. It is an undisputed fact, documented over and over, that raw material costs have dropped significantly while retailers and other markets have kept their prices high.
There’s only one candidate who explicitly stated (even in the debate) that this will be a high priority in their first year. And that’s the Harris administration.
Anyhow, that’s how I see things. If Biden had inherited a growing economy and we had inflation while the rest of the world didn’t, then I’d be right there in the front of the lines arguing against him.
But that’s not what happened and I have to make my choice based on what did and the bigger picture. I don’t know what the next global disaster will be, but I need to know someone is in the office who is smart, reads all the briefings, and brings together a talented coalition of hard-working people to solve it.
The Reaction
Wow. Thank you for that!
Thank you for presenting reason as well vs emotion.
You are right about how quickly we forget. I must admit that the pandemic circumstances havn’t really crossed my mind since it happened. Idk what that says about me as a person..perhaps that makes me selfish in a sense. Yes, I was worried about Covid, yes I remember seeing bare shelves..but I was always able to find and get what I needed.
Yes, I do remember Kamala making points. That isn’t what I meant and apologize if I came across as I didn’t hear anything she said. That’s not what I was trying to convey. I just wish she would have bullet pointed vs the stories. I never really hear what Trump says either. I watched the entire debate and just felt like I came away with nothing even though I had such high hopes I would.
I appreciate you being open and honest and willing to listen. I’m going to continue this journey in hopes to make a decision that is best for me on the day.
