Opinion: Iowa editor considers where Americans can 'find center again' after this year's elections

What comes after Nov. 5? Most Americans and the betting markets believe that Kamala Harris will win the election. . . . No matter what happens, we need to find center again. Quick like. 

What the Republic cannot endure, and which gives enemies of freedom oxygen, is the contempt that has taken hold American-to-American. 

We talk past each other and grow apart. 

How do we talk to the other side? 

We know what we want in Iowa: clean air and water, safe schools that teach you how to be a citizen, good food and good basketball, smooth roads and friendly neighborhoods, easy access to comprehensive and affordable health care. The ability to prosper. That’s pretty much it. 

We’re not getting what we deserve, except for the basketball. 

Trump and Harris voters can agree on that. So we should start there. 

Farmers who vote Republican are not gung-ho for pipelines going wherever the power brokers would like, and neither are environmentalists. Each likes supporting more on-farm conservation. White males and Black women are suspicious of unchecked corporate power. A lot of union members will vote Republican for a whole host of reasons, but find common cause with Democrats on basic human equity. 

We all want to strengthen rural healthcare. We like independent producers and businesses. . . . It’s not as if there is not common ground. . . . Right-to-repair is not left or right. Neither is enforcement of anti-trust laws. . . . We all recognize that it is tough to fill jobs in food and agriculture because it’s tough work. Nobody expects to get rich, but they expect respect and a wage that lets them get ahead.  

This is why people are anxious and don’t think that things are working their way. They’re not. Things work for people with a firm grip on power. We can organize ourselves around how to make our place better, instead of how we can lock up our adversaries. 

It starts with city hall, the courthouse and the school house. It starts by us talking about issues and confronting power that prevents progress. It starts by listening. . .

Art Cullen is the editor of the The Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa, covering Buena Vista County and parts of neighboring Clay, Pocahontas, Sac, Ida and Cherokee counties. This opinion was lightly edited.