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Guest speaker talks voter frustration, Jan. 6 at Martin Institute

Voters across the country are feeling frustrated about the current political landscape, with many feeling that Washington is disconnected from the people it serves.

 

People talk about politics, but there is a bitter tone to the whole ordeal,” said Scott Ferson, who has been traveling the country listening to voters.

 

The feeling of bitterness about politics was just one topic brought up during his presentation at the Martin Institute on Oct. 29.

 

Ferson has spent the past seven years traveling to two dozen states and interviewing voters for his upcoming book. He is the CEO of Liberty Square, a strategic communications and public affairs firm, and has helped elect politicians such as Senator Ed Markey and Representatives Seth Moulton and Stephen Lynch.

 

A point emphasized throughout the presentation was the feeling of disconnect between voters and their representatives in Washington. Ferson said that while people care about national issues like housing affordability, they also care about local issues such as roadwork affecting their daily commutes.

 

“People feel most connected to their local governments, pay attention to their state leaders, and largely feel no connection to the federal representatives,” Ferson said, “This nationalizes their local Congressional and Senate races, leaving both branches of government as polarized as we were told the electorate is.”

 

Ferson also recounted short stories from talking with voters across the country. Many people he has spoken with, both Democrats and Republicans, have expressed skepticism about the American political system and have been frustrated with the direction of the country.

 

In one story, he shared his conversation with Brittany May, a voter in Rockford, Illinois.

 

“The deck seems stacked, and she doesn't like the feeling that the decisions are made by others. People who haven't had the experiences she's had. She believes in the rights of the individual, including her own exercise of the Second Amendment. ‘I feel like the country has really gone to shit for people like me,’ she says. And if Trump can ameliorate that trend, well, she’s voting for a president, not a pal. ‘Fuck it, he doesn’t have to be our best friend,’” Ferson said.

 

The harsh language prompted a few gasps from the crowd.

 

Ferson also took questions from the crowd, many of which were about the Electoral College.

 

In seven out of the last eight elections, the Democratic candidate has won the popular vote, meaning more people voted for that candidate than the Republican. However, due to the Electoral College, Republicans have won three of those elections.

 

One attendee asked if it is possible to change the electoral system and how it could be done.

 

“The Electoral College is baked into the Constitution. So, it would have to be a constitutional amendment to change the total college. I find it highly unlikely that anything is going to happen,” Ferson said.

 

Attendees also asked questions about how to best protect democracy, especially after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and attempt by Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election.

 

“There are [also] safety hurdles if you will, and they helped in 2020,” Ferson said. He described Jan. 6 as not just a day, but as “a battle in the war over the validity of our elections” and is confident that it will happen again.

 

“Will it happen again? Yeah, they’re going to attempt it again. But I think the thing that is most concerning to me for the strength of democracy is the questioning of the mechanical systems of our voting,” he said. Ferson was referencing voters denying election results or seeing results as illegitimate.

 

Ferson ended the event by talking about how different voting blocs will affect the outcome of the election. He said that Trump is trying to appeal to Hispanics and black men to make up for the diminishing percentage of white voters.

 

As for Kamala Harris, Ferson said that if she wins, it will be because of women and her pivot away from Joe Biden’s message of democracy.

 

“When she moved from democracy to freedom, freedom means something to people,” he said

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