Wisconsin’s Cape Cod and the Presidency

It’s not always that a county in your home state is featured in a national broadcast.

Door County, WI received that honor on last night’s 60 Minutes. Why? You might think its welcoming beaches, beautiful state parks and abundant gift shops. After all, the county has earned the nickname “The Cape Cod of the Midwest.”

Actually, Door County has backed the presidential winner in each election since 2000. That’s a distinction that none of the other 512 counties in the rest of the 7 swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania) can boast. As Ben Wikler, the state Democratic Party chair, states in the video, the candidate who wins Door County will most likely win the state and most likely the election.

You’d think the Harris and Trump campaigns would have visited this ‘Nostradamus’ of counties. Neither has. Both have essentially established residence here until November 5th, but neither they or their surrogates have come by.

Like Wisconsin, Door County is a “purple state”- one that has shifted between Democrats and Republicans, a blend of red and blue. Its demographics might explain that: retirees from bigger cities, laborers and farmers, boutique owners, the haves and the have nots.

Door County seesaws between Democrats and Republicans, carefully divided between red and blue. Many residents have friends and family who will vote for the opposite. You might think that the area is polarized. However, the people have a “live and let live” attitude. As correspondent L. Jon Wertheim quotes, “We (Door County Residents) live above the tension line.” In the words of a Trump voter, if politics are affecting relationships, “they’ve gone too far.”

Regardless of how the election turns out, all of us will have to live with political opposites afterward. Depending on the issue, that may be impossible for some. For most, including myself, I think it’s possible. Political opposites don’t have to be friends. But they should be civil.
I hope that 60 Minutes returns to Door County after the election. We’re going to need lessons about political opposites living together.