(C) Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural This story was originally published by Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Commentary: Rural Robeson County Voters Get Tired of Waiting for Results [1] ['Christopher Chavis', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Date: 2024-11-21 Another presidential election has come and gone, and my home county, Robeson County, North Carolina, has voted for Donald Trump for the third straight cycle. Trump’s success is part of a political realignment that has seen the Republican Party become dominant in my rural county and other parts of the South. This shift has been fueled by feelings of abandonment by the Democratic Party, an increased appeal to social issues by Republicans, and an effective Republican messaging machine. But there could still be hope for Democrats in Robeson County and its neighboring counties. Before 2016, Robeson County had only once voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Reconstruction. Richard Nixon won the county in his national landslide win over George McGovern in 1972. Otherwise, Democrats dominated. In 2016, besides voting for Donald Trump, Robesonians also elected their first Republican state senator since Reconstruction when they sent Danny Britt to Raleigh. This year, Democratic support in Robeson County eroded to the point that Donald Trump won 63% of the vote. What happened? How did the Democratic Party get here? Growing up, my grandparents always told me that the Republican Party represented the rich and the Democratic Party represented the poor. I grew up firmly in the latter category. People I knew growing up voted with their wallet and for the state and federal politicians they felt would grow the local economy and make sure they could put food on the table. They voted for politicians that promised federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. But you can only vote a certain way for so long before you start expecting results. Robeson and surrounding counties are among the poorest in North Carolina, and the Lumbee’s federal recognition status has not changed. People were continuously voting for Democrats and their material conditions were only getting worse. Robeson County’s economy is historically rooted in agriculture and small-scale manufacturing. The closest thing we have to a tourist economy is travelers passing through on Interstate 95 on the way to Florida or on US 301 on their way to Myrtle Beach. We have had a high poverty rate for generations and recent decades have not improved this problem. In 1980, the poverty rate was 24.9%. Nearly 45 years later, it’s 26.1%. Throughout the 2010s and continuing today, Robesonians and their neighbors have increasingly begun voting based on other issues. Over the last decade, Republicans have emphasized wedge issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. They have even started promising Lumbee federal recognition. And this strategy has paid dividends. After Robeson and neighboring Bladen County flipped in 2016, they were followed by neighboring Scotland County and Dillon County, South Carolina, four years later. In my conversations, I hear people who feel abandoned by the Democratic Party. They feel that Democrats haven’t just abandoned them, they have embraced the “elite” at their expense. You can use a “what’s the matter with Kansas” argument and blame Robesonians for “voting against their own interests.” It’s true that the Democratic Party at its core still favors policies that help the working class and poor. Democrats’ successful fight to expand Medicaid in North Carolina is a great example. But Democrats do not do enough to advance the ball on improving the quality of life for people in places like Robeson County. What are Democrats doing to mitigate the loss of manufacturing in rural North Carolina? What are they doing to mitigate the lost economic viability of small-scale agriculture (including stopping the encroachment of corporate-owned farms)? These are questions that Democrats need to show up and answer. Earlier this year, I wrote about my experiences marching with now Governor-elect Josh Stein in the Lumbee Homecoming parade. While Stein ultimately lost Robeson County, he and other statewide Democrats ran ahead of the national ticket. I believe that some Robesonians were rewarding statewide Democrats for showing up. Democrats could turn things around in Robeson County. But they will need to show up and tell us what they’re doing to help. Christopher Chavis grew up in rural Robeson County, North Carolina, and is a frequent writer and speaker on baseball history and rural access-to-justice issues. He is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-rural-robeson-county-voters-get-tired-of-waiting-for-results/2024/11/21/ Published and (C) by Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailyyonder/