We’ve made it. The 2024 General Election is relegated to the history books and not a moment too soon.

Over the past few years, the American political landscape has become fraught with anger, hatred and dehumanization, with this election cycle being the worst of the bunch. It is no secret to anyone reading this that polarization and hateful rhetoric is at its highest levels in decades.

In January, we will have a new president and half of the country will be dancing in the streets while the other half lives in fear of what the future holds.

It does not have to be this way.

We here in the Upper Peninsula aren’t immune from the touch of national and international politics. We have the same anxieties, prejudices and passionate feelings about issues as anyone else.

But we are built differently.

If there is one thing any lifelong Yooper will tell you is that we look out for our own.

If you’re stuck in a snowbank, you can rest assured someone will help to dig you out. Yoopers have long stuck together through difficult times and we have faith that the times we are going through now will be no different.

We all have our preferred candidates and issues that are important to us and hopefully all of us.

We hope that once the election has come and gone, we won’t let politics continue to divide us in the way it has in recent years.

One of the reason that so many are disillusioned with our political system is that it is hard to believe that those in Washington or Lansing really care about us. But you know who does care about us? Our neighbors. While we may not agree on every issue, there is much more that we have in common than not. While you may have a Trump sign in your yard and your neighbor has a Harris sign in theirs, we feel confident that you have much more in common with your neighbor than you do with Donald Trump or he does with Kamala Harris.

Once the election is over, start to focus on moving forward, regardless of what the outcome is.

— The Mining Journal, Marquette