We are a country divided by politics. That’s indisputable. The evidence is in the news, in polls, in the behavior of crowds at rallies, on the lawns and flagpoles we pass every day.

This division has not been easy on ordinary folks. Conflicting claims and accusations can leave us confused or simply incredulous. We tread softly around neighbors, family and friends, for fear of igniting uncomfortable conversations about all manner of issues: climate change, women’s reproductive rights, book bans, health care, diversity initiatives, electric cars … the list goes on. Even our pets have been politicized: Woe to the over-50 women who have cats, not kids! It’s worse if they listen to Taylor Swift, who candidate Trump HATES.

Fueling this discomfort is the extremism we hear repeated on television, at rallies or at our churches. A longtime friend said to me, with absolute certainty, that if the Harris/Walz ticket were elected, all of our gas-powered cars would be confiscated. Really? How would that be possible? How would an entire fleet of private and commercial vehicles be made to disappear overnight? How would there be enough electric cars and trucks to supply our needs, given that in the first quarter of 2024, only 7.9% of new car registrations were for electric vehicles (Edmunds.com)? And yet, the misinformation has taken root.

Everyone bears blame in this crisis of polarization. However, the Republican Party has led the way in extremist positions that seem designed to frighten, outrage and motivate voters to look at our world and see reasons to fear other Americans, and reasons to take away freedoms other people care about deeply. What freedoms? The freedom to have affordable health care. The freedom to marry whom we love, regardless of gender. The freedom to feel safe in schools. The freedom to trust our government to work at keeping the whole world — not just our little corner — safe for democracy. The freedom to vote, then to trust that our votes are counted without partisan interference. The freedom to get obstetric and gynecological care, without navigating laws designed to restrict our doctors’ practices and our rights to privacy. The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

Here in Ottawa County, for the first time in history, the county Republican Party endorsed primary candidates from within their own party before the August primary. Who did they endorse? People who self-identified or were aligned with Ottawa Impact, the far-right faction that swept to power on the county commission in 2022. This group’s two-year record in leadership has been costly, fraught with litigation, and marked by the hiring of county staff — including the county administrator — without the usual trappings of public sector hiring: no public solicitation of applicants, no public input, no requirement for previous experience in county administration. This is the group that just last week turned down a $900,000 state grant to track infectious disease because they are still angry over what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the state level, Michigan’s Republican Party is fractured. There is a deep divide between the old-school Republicans like Pete Hoekstra and the new extremists like Kristina Karamo. There is chaos over funding, party headquarters and policy that makes presenting a unified message or raising money difficult.

Nationally, the extremist messages are everywhere. The Republican presidential candidate has alleged, more than once, that Democrats will allow abortion after birth. (That’s called murder, and it is illegal everywhere.) There have been baseless allegations that Haitian immigrants are eating pets. (Not true.) There has been name-calling: but Kamala Harris is not a communist.  There have been threats:  the end of the auto industry in Michigan; the plan to round up, confine, and deport ten million people who are undocumented immigrants; the promise to fire many federal employees and replace them with political appointees.

Side note: Look how replacing professional staff with partisans has worked in our county. There has been an exodus of long-time employees in response to the de-professionalization of the county workforce. The consequences for our county, especially in the health department, have been striking: At the end of 2023, 20% of health department employees had left (The Holland Sentinel, July 7, 2024).

How does a thinking person cope with this firehose of disinformation, fear-mongering and negativity?  

There’s an answer, but it requires us to give up long-held assumptions about politics and political parties. Today’s Republican Party is not Ronald Reagan’s. In place of fiscal conservatism, we have a misunderstanding of basic economic facts. Tariffs, for example, raise prices for the consumer; they are not paid by foreign nations. Remember when Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” Trump says Putin’s armies can do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies. In place of traditional American idealism, we have the repeated assertion that we are “a failing nation.”  

People who have always voted Republican are in a dilemma. It can be painful to vote against the party you have always trusted to advance your values and your hopes for the nation.

But here’s the thing: West Michigan voters have been steadfast in their conservative values which have always included concern for the larger community. West Michigan people have not seen one another as enemies, liars or mentally disabled when they have disagreed. West Michigan has always modeled a broader sense of community, and a willingness to work together despite differences.

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It is the Republican Party that has changed, not the people who have voted Republican all their lives.

The only course today is to remove the blinders of party affiliation. The only course today is to vote for people based on their character, and their record. We can’t trust party affiliation to tell us what we need to know about candidates: We have to think critically, and choose people who will best serve the public, not their own narrow interests or personal grievances.

— Community Columnist Barbara Mezeske is a retired teacher and resident of Holland. She can be reached at bamezeske@gmail.com.