At Crockett’s Lodge in Star City, West Virginia, just outside Morgantown, I experienced something I have never encountered before, 12 of the 15 people I spoke to aren’t voting. They have very interesting opinions about the state of modern politics, but they don’t think their vote matters.
As soon as I walked in, I knew I had dressed inappropriately. I had on a smart button down and a pair of Lucky slacks I’d purchased from the local TJ Maxx, when I should have worn my old beat up 2005 Troy Vincent Eagles jersey.
Side eyes aside, the first guy I talked to was named Rock, “they’re all criminals on both sides,” he told me, “So what’s the difference?”
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I glanced up at the attractive bartender in her early 30s and said, “Do you vote?”
“No,” she said,” what’s the point?”
A few minutes later I saw a guy walk in with an American flag T-shirt reading, “I’m a patriot.”
VideoI said, “Hey, I saw your shirt.” I explained that I go around hassling people about their politics for Fox, and he was game. He loves Harris, he’s all in. He told me, “I pray every night that Trump doesn’t win, that disrespectful son of a b**ch.”
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Micaheal told me he had spent 30 years in the gas industry and he believes that Harris has turned a new leaf on fracking.
As I tried to dig down on that, his wife arrived back from the restroom and just shut it down. “I’m not an idiot,” I said. “Thank you and have a great night.”
The next people I spoke to were Mike and Zach, both in their mid-twenties. Mike votes, Zach doesn’t. I said, “Zach, why don’t you vote?”
Video“It makes no difference, I live in West Virginia, Trump will win, so what does it matter?”
I said “who would you vote for?”
And this freakin’ guy, like he’s on cable news, says, “Well, who would you vote for given how life was between 2016 and 2020 compared to now?”
I said, “You’re making a stronger argument for Trump than your MAGA buddy here.”
I asked them if I could buy them a shot of Irish whiskey as I was bending their ear. They asked for Lemon Drops, whatever that is, and I told them, in frankness, that this could be part of the problem.
VideoIt just didn’t stop, no matter which way they leaned. I kept hearing, “what’s the point of voting?”
One of these guys, Joe, who had a bucket of Natty Ice cans, said he would vote for Harris, if he voted, because he is poor and she would give him money.
I asked him if he thought that she might also make things more expensive.
He said he didn’t know, but that he thought she would give him more.
VideoBelieve me, when I tell you that I am not disparaging anything about the wonderful Crockett’s Lodge or the voters, or mostly not voters, I met there. Ten out of ten recommend it. But I do wonder if either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump can move these people.
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They feel forgotten and left behind. Rock told me, “I just want to smoke weed on my porch in peace.”
The last two people I talked to were Chris and Nicole, who are expecting their first child in a few months. Both are Trump supporters, both watched the debate and thought Harris did fine, but said, “It’s still just so hard to live and pay for it.”
I envied them in a way. They are about to have a newborn who loves them and hangs on them. I have a 14-year-old son who loves me but regularly roasts me and his mom in ways that would make Don Rickles blush, but it’s good.
I never like hearing that people aren’t voting, and yeah, maybe in Morgantown, West Virginia it won’t affect the final outcome, but 50 miles in Pennsylvania it will, are these people really so different?
If there is a candidate who can motivate the cats I met in Morgantown. It’ll be a landslide on November 5. But so far, they are not impressed.
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David Marcus is a columnist living in West Virginia and the author of “Charade: The COVID Lies That Crushed A Nation.”
