PULSE OF THE VOTERS: Oklahoma, U.S. see polarizing political landscape ahead of election – Enid News & Eagle

Sad, toxic and terrible were used to describe Americas current partisan environment in this edition of the ongoing Pulse of the Voters series tracking political sentiment.

Democrat Nancy Presnall said this is the worst political division she has seen in her 71 years of life.

We are so divided and so polarized, Presnall said. It does not have to be that way.

Democrats, Republicans and independents said there is not enough civil discussion in politics. Republican Bob Osborn said everyone is so opinionated there is no room for discussion.

Independent Whitney Hall said there is too much us versus them in politics today.

I feel like people are not as interested in learning how or why things work or do not work anymore, Hall said.

Two major events have changed the political landscape leading to Novembers presidential election as the coronavirus pandemic continues to see rising numbers and Black Lives Matter protests see some Americans pushing back.

Protests

Since the death of George Floyd, a Minnesota man who died under the knee of now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, protests against police brutality and systemic racism are happening worldwide.

Some protests were violent, most were peaceful and nearly all of them divided opinion.

Osborn said as long as the protests are peaceful, he has no problem with them. Osborn and his wife even attended a protest in Enid, he said.

The term Black Lives Matter and the movement it has reignited are creating a national conversation about the political and racial divide in America.

Presnall said there might be some misconception about what Black Lives Matter means.

I fully support Black Lives Matter, Presnall said. I know there is a lot of misunderstanding about it. Nobody said that everybodys lives dont matter, but its just that the Black lives are the ones that are being threatened right now.

People have looked to President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, to see how they have responded to the protests.

Hall said Trumps responses have done nothing but inflame unrest.

He uses completely different jargon to talk about these people, Hall said. For instance, when people had guns at the state Capitol or different places talking about wanting to reopen the economy or wanting to use Second Amendment rights or different things, they were considered good people. Anybody that is protesting now was automatically considered a thug. Its already causing a problem.

Osborn, on the other hand, said he would rate Trumps response to the protests highly, saying the president does not have anything against peaceful protests.

He would rate Bidens response as a zero.

He has done nothing to help, Osborn said.

Protesters have torn down statues of Confederate generals and other historical figures. Republican Paul Allen said it really irritates him to see historical figures being erased.

COVID-19

In an effort to get the economy running again, the U.S. and several states have begun their phased reopening plans. Now, there is a continued steady increase of new cases in Oklahoma and nationwide.

Hall thinks better information could have been distributed to citizens earlier in the outbreak.

I think (the government) could have done more to partner with other agencies and countries, Hall said. We could have actually had the group in the federal government that deals with pandemics as part of the government still, instead of having gotten rid of them a few years ago. We could have actually had somebody look at previous pandemic plans that had been developed many years ago.

Many have criticized Trumps response to the spread of the virus, saying he under-reacted or ignored the warnings before it became too late.

Allen, on the other hand, thinks Trump has done everything he could with the information given to him.

Nobody has all the answers, and somebody has to make decisions and the rest of us get to sit back and wait and see what that decision is, Allen said. Then we all get the chance to second-guess it. I personally dont see anything wrong with what he has done.

Tulsa, the location of Trumps latest political rally, currently has the highest number of active coronavirus cases of any city in Oklahoma.

Presnall criticized Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Trump for seemingly ignoring health guidelines to have the rally June 20.

Stitt and Trump are like two peas in a pod just denying the realities and going ahead and doing whatever they want to do, Presnall said. Their response has been totally inadequate, and I think they are not doing enough. In fact, even worse than that, they are lying about the situation to the people.

Election 2020

The political divide between parties continues to grow as America heads toward the 2020 election in November.

Presnall said she expects a dogfight going into the election.

It is going to be a really hard-fought battle, Presnall said. One of my concerns is whether we will have a free and fair election.

I think in Oklahoma we have paper ballots and we use scanners and not voting machines, and so I think that part of it is pretty safe I guess my first concern is just voting machine tampering and voter suppression.

Republicans, however, feel confident in their candidate.

Osborn said he believes Trump will win by a comfortable margin.

It will be a very good thing for the country because conservatives believe in personal freedom and personal development, and they are not the ones that are rioting, Osborn said.

Allen said the Democratic Party does not have what it takes to keep the country running properly.

It would be a sorry situation if (the Democrats) win because they do not have the right approach to keep things rolling in America, Allen said. We cannot survive if we elect the left-wing people. Thats all there is to it. They will change the country.

Independents find themselves in a tough situation when deciding who to vote for, as their political ideas usually do not line up exactly with the Democratic or Republican parties.

Hall said she is undecided on whom she supports.

My vote is toward the people that want to have a functional, civil government, Hall said. I really dont see it going well either way.

People are going to continue to be hateful and more polarized than they ever have been, and I think you are going to see a lot of people also become very cynical with the system.

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PULSE OF THE VOTERS: Oklahoma, U.S. see polarizing political landscape ahead of election - Enid News & Eagle