VOTE

There is a number in American politics as consistent as the sunrise: 35%. Whether the topic is
trade tariffs, foreign policy, or border tactics, roughly one-third of the country remains in a
state of perpetual approval.

Whether it is 34% approval of specific foreign interventions or 36% support for controversial
domestic tactics, the floor never drops. Even when an executive order is unconstitutional or
economically damaging, the support remains fixed. Indeed, if it were raining and the President
claimed the sky was blue, this group’s response would be: “Beautiful.”

As an independent voter and an Air Force veteran, I was taught the value of leadership, but
never of blind fealty. I’ve never been a “joiner,” and I struggle to understand the impulse to
trade critical thinking for absolute loyalty to any one person or party.

I find it perplexing that this 35% group consistently approves of policy choices that threaten
their own backyards. For example, in northwest Ohio, farmers are facing record-high fertilizer
prices and shifting trade markets, positions that stand in stark contrast to the ‘everything is
beautiful’ narrative being sold by political leaders.

Research reveals that this 35% group is the bedrock of the MAGA movement, and is
disproportionately white, older and non-college-educated voters from the rural South and
Midwest.

Let me be clear. Those in this 35% group have every right to their beliefs. But when loyalty to
any political figure outweighs accountability, the health of our democracy suffers. Citizens may
not directly control government actions, but we do influence them through the people we
elect, whether at the local, state, or national level.

I will not vote for more of the division, economic uncertainty and political tribalism we are
experiencing today. Instead, I will support candidates, Democrat or Republican, who
demonstrate independent judgment and a willingness to put the interests of Americans ahead
of party loyalty. I encourage others to do the same.

William Hahn
Rural Defiance