Joel Bernard: Uniting the nation starts at home
As Washington continues to churn out tabloid fodder, media pundits tell us that, along with Democrats, many Republicans are alarmed at our current state of political affairs. In an attempt to see for myself exactly how people felt about the way things are going, I took part in a canvassing effort by local activist groups to ask 3 simple questions:
How would you rate your support for Donald Trump?
How would you rate your support for Jeff Denham?
What issues are important to you?
The experience was eye opening. Several participants in the canvassing effort were not aware that we would be interacting with voters of all political stripes and expressed fear at having to actually talk to Republican voters as well as Democrats. On the flip side, many Republicans we tried to talk to flat out refused to answer any of our questions.
My question is this: How can we expect our leaders in Washington to work together if we here at home can’t even talk to one another? My challenge to valley residents is this. Find a voter of the opposite political party and them one thing you admire about their beliefs.
Joel Bernard, Turlock
This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Joel Bernard: Uniting the nation starts at home."