After the election, I wrote a column about how I hadn’t heard much about the supposedly epic, life changing election we had on November 5 since it happened.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
After the election, I wrote a column about how I hadn’t heard much about the supposedly epic, life changing election we had on November 5 since it happened.
It seemed the social media posts about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris slowed down and stopped, and nobody was talking about it at watering holes, grocery stores, libraries, schools, or police departments in the boisterous manner it was before the election took place.
An email was sent to me shortly after from Sublette resident and Lee County Democratic Party precinct representative for Sublette, Amy Palmer.
She stated I must be hanging out in the wrong crowds because others are talking about the election every day. After a chuckle about my crowd, because she may be right, haha, I reached out to meet with her to see what people were saying since I wasn’t hearing much aftermath from Trump being elected president once again.
I met with Palmer and Dave McCarver, chair of the Lee County Democratic Party in late December to discuss my question in the previous column, “Why are we not talking about the election?”
“People were still talking about the election Day 2 or Day 3 afterwards, but then it all stopped,” McCarver said, who is a Mendota native, 2011 Mendota High School graduate, 2016 Illinois State University graduate, who currently lives in Amboy and was appointed chair of the party in 2021 and was reelected in two elections. “I think some of it is because Donald Trump hasn’t been inaugurated yet (planned for Monday, Jan. 20), so he hasn’t been able to do anything. President Joe Biden, is a lame duck president right now by definition. And the Republicans control the House of Representatives.
“Not much news can be made in terms of policy. That’s a huge part of people not talking about the election at the moment. I’ve also worked in politics before and I’m the chair of the Democratic Party in the county, it’s exhausting. You work hard putting in extra volunteer hours. Around 10 p.m. on election night it started to set in that it wasn’t going our way.
“You kind of deflate. I woke up the next day ticked off. And my wife was ticked off. Our election cycles are long in America; it’s unlike any other country. It takes a year and a half, and it wears on you. After it’s over, your priorities shift, and it becomes I have to spend time with my boys or put energy into other work. The election had its time and now it’s over.”
Palmer, who lived in Sublette for the first 17 years of her life before leaving in 1971 and did not return until 2021, feels Democrats have to be cautious.
She sent me photos after our conversation of damage done to Democratic signage.
“We’re careful with who we share our political feelings with because sometimes talking about politics is hostile,” Palmer said. “Most Democrats vet who they’re talking to before they offer too much of an opinion. It’s a hostile environment at times.
“One thing you might not be aware of is the stat of how many Democratic voters changed their vote to Republican when it came to voting for Trump. They may have kept their Democratic vote for the senator, but there was a 7% shift nationally.
“But, in Lee County, because of Dave, Sarah Bingaman, and I, we worked so hard that our shift was only a little bit over 1%. Our Democrats stayed dedicated to the Democratic votes.”
Palmer stated she made a YouTube video to present to local schools in efforts to speak to students about the importance of voting and offer voting information.
She was told it wouldn’t happen because other schools had been sued for political propaganda.
McCarver added people who are truly plugged into politics were still talking about the election further than Day 1 or Day 2.
Action for a Better Tomorrow Sauk Valley, a sub-committee of the Lee County Democratic Party which involves Democrats from La Salle, Whiteside, Ogle, and Bureau Counties, met on November 11 to talk about the election.
They’re afraid Trump will once again have a net loss of jobs, he won’t be able to fulfill his promise of lowering prices and fighting inflation rates, he will dismantle allegiance from world allies, and his tariffs will hurt the agriculture economy (high priority in Lee County), and in turn fail small businesses.
Politics and religion have always been known as things to not talk about. However, both are main cogs to our lives as citizens of the United States of America.
Let’s further the conversation, before Trump is inaugurated, and let’s hear the answer to “Why haven’t we talked about the election after the election?” from the Republican side.
If you’re a member of a county Republican Party or someone who is heavily involved on another stage, reach out at blachance@mendotareporter.com.
Let’s chat.