When two people are wed, the normal vow is that they shall then be together until death do them part.
But for Gayle McCormick, 73, her marriage to her longtime husband unraveled rapidly when he revealed that he was going to vote for Donald Trump in the next election. McCormick, a former prison guard, said she felt “betrayed” at the news.
When her husband told a group of friends over lunch that he planned to vote for Donald Trump, McCormick was shocked.
“It totally undid me that he could vote for Trump,” said McCormick. “I felt like I had been fooling myself.” She stated that the revelation caused her to reconsider their entire relationship.
“It opened up areas between us I had not faced before. I realized how far I had gone in my life to accept things I would have never accepted when I was younger.”
McCormick states that she is a democrat leaning toward socialist. She says that her husband’s conservative views led to her separating from him. She even got divorce attorneys involved after realizing how disparate their world views were.
Reuters polls taken following the 2016 Presidential election have shown a marked increase in the divide between Democrats and Republicans. Polls have shown that more people than ever report arguing with friends and family regularly about political differences. Many people are even banishing former friends and family from their lives.
According to a recent Reuters poll, seventeen percent of people reported that they no longer communicate with a family member or loved one as a direct consequence of their differing political views. This divide has had a marked impact on mental health, too. Depression, general anxiety and feelings of stress have become more commonplace in the three years since Trump was sworn in. This is especially prevalent among younger people.
This era of heightened partisan dueling has shown no signs of stopping. The stark divide between left and right is only widening, with very few truly “moderate” voters left in the middle. The 2020 election cycle has already shown that the kind of divisive, antagonistic politics that defined 2016 are likely here to stay.
With Super Tuesday having recently passed and a heated Democratic Primary raging on, politics is likely to remain a source of social angst. Expect ongoing arguments in the US for at least another four years.
