The stakes for Tuesday’s presidential election are high election. And that includes anxiety levels, according to “Stress in America 2024,” a poll from the American Psychological Association.
The poll shows that more than seven in ten adults (72%) were concerned that the election results could lead to violence. More than half of adults (56%) said they believe the 2024 presidential election could mean the end of democracy in the US
Heavy stuff in what some call the most consequential election of our lives.
Yet two New Smyrna Beach women, both true believers, one blue and the other red, said last week they weren’t that concerned. At least not yet.
No problem…
Susanne Jones calls ‘guru for presidential predictions’ Allen Lichtman of which 13 keys — indicators such as the fact that the White House party is in power, gaining seats in the midterm elections and avoiding a primary — as reasons for her confidence that Vice President Kamala Harris will win.
SEE OVERALL ELECTION RESULTS FLORIDA
Pamela Vandergrifft says she’s “not that concerned” about Tuesday’s election, which former President Donald Trump will win in a “Reagan-esque” landslide.
Voters across the country have indicated this in polls and random interviews with people on the street fear and frustration about Tuesday’s election, whether the winner is Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
An Oct. 24-28 poll of 1,233 adults conducted by the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago shows that Democrats are more likely to use the word “anxious,” 79% to 66% of Republicans, and 69% overall.
That’s 4 points higher than a comparable survey in 2020. The same poll shows that Americans are more likely to be excited, interested and frustrated during the elections.
The News-Journal spoke with voters and volunteers outside two early voting locations Thursday and Friday. Some expressed concern about the results, but most expressed confidence that the country and its democratic principles will survive.
New Smyrna seniors exude confidence
Vandergrifft, a Republican who has lived in New Smyrna Beach all her life, said Thursday she is looking forward to Wednesday, when she believes the election will be over and Trump will return to power.
“I’m excited. I have a feeling he’ll succeed. He will win and he will give us even more relief. But they will fight in any way they can.”
And if he doesn’t win?
“Then that makes me sick.”
A few hundred yards across the New Smyrna Beach Regional Library parking lot, outside an early voting site, Democrat Susanne (O’Connor) Jones is equally confident Harris will win.
“I’m very excited that for the first time we’re going to have a female president — I know we will — and I’ll live to see it,” said Jones, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran who is also a president. Roman Catholic.
Despite her confidence in Lichtman’s prediction — he has been wrong only once since he devised his system in 1981 — Jones added that Trump has attracted millions of evangelical Christians who “don’t read” or “twist” the gospel.
“We must welcome the stranger,” Jones said. “And the way they talk about the immigrants makes me want to throw up. That gives me fear.’
Hope: no violence after return
In DeLand, outside the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Office Friday, Kerri Feliciano of Orange City calmly answered questions.
‘No real worries. “I have a feeling the election will go well,” she said. “I just wanted to get in there and drop off my ballot. Looking for a change from the past four years.’
When pressed, she did say she hopes people won’t get violent about the results.
“I’m sure there will be some situations, but hopefully not many,” she said.
Republican Melissa Thorne of DeLand, who has campaigned in support of the re-election of Volusia County Council Chairman Jeff Brower, said she has been able to focus on the local elections, which she believes are very important, rather than on the presidential one. race.
“I’m not going to dig in those weeds. You know, it’s going to be what it’s going to be,” she said. “I’m not blocking it, but I’m not really going to deal with it because I have work to do here.”
JJ Speights, a Democratic volunteer from DeLand, described himself as “cautiously hopeful” and “definitely optimistic,” adding that voters asked the people in his tent good questions, and the process went smoothly.
“I think all the fears that people have are real, but I think we’ll get through it no matter what,” he said. “And even though things are planned a little more negatively if the Trump team wins, we will survive them all, and we will get through them.”
However, fear is stronger among people who are active in the party than among average voters.
Trump voters driven by concerns about ‘far left’
In Volusia County, which supported Trump 2016 And 2020voters are likely to support the former president again.
Shane Steinmetz, a New Smyrna Beach resident, said he is a two-time Trump voter and planned to vote for him again.
“I agree he’s a jerk, he doesn’t respect democracy, he has a bad attitude, he seems to have cognitive issues and no one wants to work for him for an extended period of time,” Steinmetz said, “but he is well. a stronghold, a stop against the extreme left, which I do not feel comfortable with.”
Stephen Powers of DeBary, sitting in a lawn chair in the parking lot of the Supervisor of Elections Office wearing a MAGA T-shirt, didn’t use the words “anxiety” or “stress,” but he did say he doesn’t like what he do. hear about the Democrats and the future.
He said a Harris victory would result in future US elections similar to the one in Russia, as described by one US observer “neither fair nor free.”
However, he is convinced that this will not happen because he is “pretty sure that Trump will win this time.”
‘First voter: ‘Nerve-wracking’
One of the early voters, Jasmine Bakhsh, is a senior at Stetson University, whose Center for Community Engagement provided her and other students with rides.
“I would say it’s a little nerve-wracking to vote for the first time because everything is new,” Bakhsh said.
She said larger potential concerns — the outcome of the election and what conflicts might arise — were not part of her analysis.
“After I play my part, it’s like, we’ll see what happens,” she said. “I’m just concerned about myself and doing my part.”
She did not say who she supports.
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