A town changed by Trump
| Springfield, Ohio
There are times these days when Mary Jo Groves feels like she no longer understands her city and the world around it.
The hospital physician knows Springfield as a place that has prided itself on its moderate, practical outlook. Until recently, many folks around here couldn鈥檛 recall having seen a protest in town. Disagreements happened, of course, but they were usually handled civilly 鈥� both sides at least knew where the other was coming from.
But since the election of President Trump, things have felt different.
Ms. Groves recalls overhearing a polite conversation at the hospital. Asked about Mr. Trump, an elderly gentleman said he was pleased, suggesting the crackdown on immigrants and the temporary ban on citizens from seven Muslim nations was spot on.
His talk 鈥渨asn鈥檛 guarded, it was cautiously optimistic,鈥� she says.
Groves, meanwhile, describes herself as 鈥渁poplectically frightened.鈥�
And that is a sentiment that Pamela Baldridge doesn鈥檛 understand. To the Trump supporter, it seems like the left and the political establishment has gone after her candidate with a vengeance, caring little for the will of the people.
鈥淭he sad thing is we can鈥檛 have civil discourse and we can鈥檛 have a discussion about the issues,鈥� said Ms. Baldridge. 鈥淭hat would be my goal 鈥� to get back to the idea that you can have your opinion but it doesn鈥檛 make you a bad person.鈥�
On that, both sides can agree. The divide within Springfield mirrors the tensions within the nation as a whole. Before the election, the聽Monitor visited Springfield because no other American city saw more of its middle class slip down the economic ladder from 2000 to 2014, according to the. Springfield symbolizes the challenges of the nation.
But the partisan animosity in aftermath of the election is largely new to Springfield. Some say it was simply lurking beneath the surface before. But now that it is out in the open, residents long for the normalcy and civility of years past 鈥� but are at a loss for how to bring it about.
鈥淢ost Americans 鈥� most people in this town agree on 80, 85 percent of everything,鈥� says Kevin Loftis, who opened a new brewery downtown in July and who called both choices in November鈥檚 election 鈥渟oul crushing.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 tired of the left and the right. You鈥檇 think we鈥檙e headed to a civil war. I don鈥檛 know how you bring it back. I don鈥檛 know what the unifying cause is that brings us back to earth. It鈥檚 almost like you鈥檙e standing toe to toe with your fists out. What鈥檚 it going to take to drop your fists and talk?鈥�
A city changed
His view is that both political parties have amped up the rhetoric and divisiveness for partisan gain, a cynical strategy that has effectively divided people.
Political scientists agree, but note that voters also play a crucial role. Americans have neatly themselves into liberal and partisan camps and have made it 鈥� whereas voters used to hold a greater mix of views.
Research also shows that the most passionate voters increasingly associate only with people who hold the same views 鈥� and 鈥� exacerbating the trend.
Springfield, a city of 60,000, is a mostly blue dot situated in red Clark County; 57 percent of voters in the county voted for Trump. The great surprise for many wasn鈥檛 Trump鈥檚 county victory 鈥� some 8,500 people backed up traffic for miles when Trump appeared at the state fairgrounds, the 聽鈥� but the Democrats for local offices, including the longtime sheriff, who were swept out of office. 聽
Trump鈥檚 influence up and down the ballot hinged on exactly what he promised: To make Springfield great again. His rhetoric rekindled images of the city鈥檚 prosperous 1950s, when the presses from the Crowell-Collier printing plant hummed, International Harvester churned out farm machinery for the world, and downtown Springfield was bustling, surrounded by ornate Victorian buildings with busy shops and restaurants.
That hope remains. 鈥淚f they would leave him [the president] alone, that man would do more for this country than anyone would ever have,鈥� says Carl Carroll, a Trump supporter who owns a scrap metal business. He has been working to clear scrap from the vacant Crowell plant, which still physically and figuratively looms over the city.
But there appears to be little appetite for leaving Trump alone, even here.
A respectful rally of about 100 Trump鈥檚 travel ban downtown. And scattered reports of harassment against the city鈥檚 small Muslim and Sikh communities have Mayor Warren Copeland planning to introduce a resolution of support for those minorities.
Even the campus of Wittenberg University, a place known for its liberal outlook, has seen hateful comments aimed at minorities, says political science professor Rob Baker.
Role reversal
Some seem to be reconsidering their place in both the city and country鈥檚 ecosystem.
Tom Heaphey and Vicki Rulli spent their lives in politics, mostly working for the city of Columbus. Mr. Heaphey once ran for a state House seat as a Republican.
Today, they own a commercial art production studio in Springfield. The married couple moved here because they liked its history and the vestiges of its once-prosperous past 鈥� the city symphony, a performing arts space, and historic buildings, including a well-preserved Frank Lloyd Wright house.
Now, Heaphey says he can鈥檛 believe where his former party has gone, and the two have thrown themselves into an energized left, helping organize the rally in Springfield. Ms. Rulli flew to Washington to be a part of the women鈥檚 march. She was instructed to write down key phone numbers in permanent marker on her arm in case she was arrested. She wondered whether police would shoot at them.
Those are things she 鈥渘ever thought鈥� she鈥檇 need to worry about in the United States. Recently, parked alongside a road out in the county taking photographs, men in a pickup truck yelled at her and made an obscene gesture. Rulli thinks they saw her political bumper stickers. 鈥淚 worry about my daughter,鈥� says Rulli of her 11-year-old. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense men can do these things to women.鈥�
Half-jokingly, Heaphey says, 鈥渋t鈥檒l be the liberals who have to use the Second Amendment to protect the First Amendment.鈥�
The couple finds themselves living among people they now realize they didn鈥檛 understand. 鈥淲e all couldn鈥檛 even comprehend where a person like that would be elected as president of the United States,鈥� Heaphey said of Trump.
Rulli adds: 鈥淲e really thought the truth would prevail and decency would prevail.鈥�
Difficult conversations
Words like those are why political conversations don鈥檛 go far these days, says Baldridge, the Trump supporter. When it comes to truth and decency, she doesn鈥檛 see Trump as being all that different from the rest of Washington. The 鈥淎ccess Hollywood鈥� tape of Trump saying disparaging things about women?
鈥淭hat was totally a set-up,鈥� Baldridge says. 鈥淚 just saw it as a part of politics. That's just the way politics is played.鈥�
The fear, says Tom Stafford, a semi-retired newspaper reporter, is that the country has come to a point where both sides don鈥檛 agree with each other and don鈥檛 trust the facts.
鈥淚n times of emergency and crisis there has to be trust to bring people together,鈥� Mr. Stafford says. He doubts whether that trust now exists.
For that reason, Groves, the physician, sees the opportunity for a national civics renaissance based on a better-informed public. She points to a that found one-third of Americans don鈥檛 know that Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the same thing.
Feeling that she couldn鈥檛 just point fingers at the other side, she did something she鈥檚 never done before 鈥� she went to the district office of her congressman. Rep. Warren Davidson (R) wasn鈥檛 there, but Groves politely explained to a staffer the implications of doing away with the Affordable Care Act.
It was an odd moment, she confides. She was reaching out, yes. But she was also preparing for a fight ahead to defend her liberal values.
鈥淚鈥檓 fighting for agreement, I find myself going to the mat,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I also find myself protecting the energy. We鈥檙e already in anger fatigue here.鈥�
Baldridge puts her faith in Trump. As things settle down, she says, his policies will begin to make a difference. 鈥淚f people can start see their lives are better because of Trump, you鈥檒l see less antagonistic feelings.鈥�
