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Perseverance and Patriotism in Western North Carolina as Election Approaches

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Perseverance and Patriotism in Western North Carolina as Election Approaches

By Zeb Smathers | The Well News

As I drove around Canton, North Carolina, earlier this month, I saw folks scrounging through the devastation of Hurricane Helene to find, dust off and fly American flags. Households of Democrats and Republicans alike raised those muddied, sometimes tattered flags in a show of solidarity and patriotism as our community heals.

Working Together

As mayor of Canton, I think this image says a lot about how the folks here in western North Carolina are recovering from one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent memory.

After the storm hit, I met with other local elected leaders in the area, and we made a conscious decision that our recovery was going to be bipartisan. And we’ve done that.

Outside agitators are spreading misinformation, but I can tell you this: No one checked voter registration status when it came to providing help. We had Republicans and Democrats form a fire line of truth to help combat misinformation, which was helpful. As a Democrat, I’m damn proud to work alongside folks like Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

If you ignore the misinformation, y’all are seeing the best of North Carolina and the best of America in this recovery effort. And I’m confident my Republican colleagues would agree.

Making Our Voices Heard

Even as folks recover, the patriotism of people here runs deeper than helping neighbors and flying flags. There is a strong sense of duty, and that means participating in our election. And almost everyone I know will find a way to vote if they can.

There’s a vein of patriotic obligation that runs through these parts and folks feel it deep in their bones.

When it comes to voting, I am old school. So I will be heading to the polls on Election Day to cast my ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris for president, and Josh Stein for governor.

And the good news is that early voting has a long, strong, bipartisan tradition here in North Carolina. And it seems many citizens are taking advantage of it, both here in the western part of the state and in other areas. And I think that’s great. To me, every voice deserves to be heard, and I’m glad the residents of North Carolina have a number of options to do so.

And let me be clear: I have seen no roadblocks to voting. I want to commend both our state board of elections and all the local officials and volunteers who are making this a smooth process. I’m losing sleep over a lot of things, but the ability of North Carolinians to vote in a safe, secure manner, and for those to be counted, is not one of them.

What Folks Are Saying

When it comes to issues that matter in this election, the people I talk to tend to mirror what you hear in national outlets. For Democrats, talk centers around the freedom of women to have control of their own bodies. If I was on the Trump campaign, I would be scared as hell of suburban female voters.

And on both sides, there is talk about decency. In private, many Republicans share with me that they are not fans of former President Donald Trump’s antics and are ready to move past him as a party. I don’t think he has done anything to add new voters this cycle, but he does retain a group of ardent supporters.

And one more thing: I don’t think the devastation and recovery from Hurricane Helene changed a single vote. I’ve been spending most of my time focused on recovery, so I may not have my ear to the ground as much as in past elections, but it seems to me that people feel the same way today as they did two months ago.

The biggest change this election season was when President Joe Biden stepped aside and Harris became the nominee. Before that, North Carolina was a battleground state on paper. After that, we became a swing state in reality. There’s a renewed energy and enthusiasm among Democrats that gives me hope.

Rebuilding and Reconnecting

Let me close with this. No matter how the election turns out, some people are going to be happy and others will be disappointed.

But I hope we can all learn from how our town of Canton recovered from the Hurricane. At the end of the day, we’re all Americans. And when tragedy strikes, we all dig through the rubble to find that American flag to fly outside our house. And we all help our neighbors no matter who they are, who they love, what they look like and who they voted for.

That’s what it means to be an American.

Zeb Smathers is the mayor of Canton, North Carolina, and a member of NewDEAL Leaders, a selective national network of moderate and progressive state and local elected officials. Smathers can be reached on X.