Just over a month from now, Americans will go to the polls and vote for their candidate of choice for President. Sadly, this wonderful country has become extremely divided thanks largely to politics brought to you by the constant 24/7 spin cycle of the media—especially the cable news networks and social media. Not that long ago, we Americans could agree to disagree when engaging in political discourse. Or at the minimum, most managed to disagree in a respectful manner. However, that seems to be no longer the case. I fear the deep divide has grown so far and wide that regardless of who wins the Presidential election, those wounds may never be healed. I pray I am wrong about this.
According to Pew Research, as of March 2024, the partisan identification of registered voters is now evenly split between the two major parties: 49% of registered voters are Democrats, and a nearly identical share—48%—are Republicans. Four years ago, in the run-up to the 2020 election, Democrats had a 5 percentage point advantage over the GOP (51% vs. 46%). And then there are the Independents.
“The share of voters who identify as independent or something else is somewhat higher than in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” according to the Pew Research Center. “As a result, there are more ‘leaners’ today than in the past. Currently, 15% of voters lean toward the Republican Party and 16% lean toward the Democratic Party. By comparison, in 1994, 27% of voters leaned toward either the GOP (15%) or the Democratic Party (12%).”
Additionally, with every election there are the non-voters. Whenever I see the results of a Presidential election, I always wonder about those who are old enough to vote, but did not. Why? I am dumbfounded by this. According the NPR.org, roughly 80 million Americans didn’t vote in the last election. Again, I ask why?
To better understand what motivates these nonvoters, NPR and the Medill School of Journalism commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey of U.S. adults who didn’t vote. The Medill school’s graduate students worked hard to find an answer to this question and most of the reasons why people don’t vote include the following: they have never registered; they are not interested politics; they don’t like any of the candidates; they feel their vote wouldn’t matter one way or another; and some just couldn’t decide who they should vote for.
This still boggles my mind. Each and every one of us are lucky to live in this great nation. Regardless of your circumstances, if you want to rise to the top, this country gives you tools and allows you to do that. However, it is up to you. Many of our relatives and friends gave the ultimate sacrifice for all of us to live in a free country. Despite the naysays, I’ll still compare America to any other country in the world and we are still Number One in every category. Sure, we have our problems. However, it is up to us to elect those who will help solve those problems. We have all heard the saying, “Elections have consequences.” They certainly do. So, keep this in mind when you go to the polls in the coming weeks. And take someone with you. If you are undecided, or never vote, or are feeling ambivalent about it, I’ll leave you with the great question posed by Ronald Reagan during his debate with Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Put differently, are you satisfied with the direction of the nation? Our economy? Our security? Important social issues? All these questions are worth pondering on a personal level and these issues will be affected by the outcome of this election. So, whichever way you’re leaning—get out and vote and let your voice be heard.
In closing, on the front cover this month we feature Andy Dulaney from Tunica. Andy and his family have been strong community supporters of that region of the Delta for decades. We hope you enjoy his story and the many others we feature in this edition of Delta Business Journal.