President Barack Obama won his 2008 election by a dominating 365 electoral votes. He acquired Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana, key swing states at the time, albeit losing one state: Missouri.

Despite campaigning in the state twice in the weekend before his election, and Missouri’s history as a bellwether state, accurately predicting almost every presidential election winner from 1904 to 2004, Obama still lost Missouri’s 10 electoral votes to John McCain. Missouri has failed to vote for the last three Democratic presidents, going blue for the last time in 1992 for Bill Clinton. Obama lost the state again in 2012, and Missouri forever lost its swing state status.

While Missouri is very likely to continue to keep its current Republican trifecta, in the governorship, state house and state senate, and lend its 10 electoral votes to the 2028 Republican presidential candidate, some Missourians maintain that the state is not red.

“It’s an uncontested state,” 2024 MO-03 Democratic candidate, Bethany Mann said.

Mann challenged Republican candidate Bob Onder for Blaine Luetkemeyer’s open seat in Missouri’s 3rd congressional district during the 2024 election season. Mann believes that a lack of challenges to Republican candidates in local legislative elections were “one of the reasons Missouri has been so red,” but that this discrepancy has begun to change, starting in 2022, when Missouri Democrats initiated an effort to recruit and enlist more people to run as candidates.

“In just this election cycle, Missouri Democrats saw that 83% of seats in the Missouri State House and Senate were contested, which means a Democrat ran and is facing a Republican in the General Election. This is an increase of 22%, which is huge,” Mann said.

Alongside being a bellwether state, Missouri has been seen as an accurate microcosm of the country, with eastern and western urban cities through St. Louis and Kansas City and a red and rural center. Being a microcosm during a time of political polarization that is alienating American voters, Missouri may provide hints about the current and future political state of the nation.

Extremist politicians who have far-right stances contribute to Missouri’s political polarization and they continue to win despite controversy. Comparatively, the American people have chosen an objectively polarizing figure as their president-elect in Donald Trump, who virtually had nothing in common policy-wise with opponent Kamala Harris, and who has had his own share of controversy and scandals. The American people also helped to elect politicians lending to the Republican majority in the U.S House and Senate.

Harris in contrast, actively tried to appeal to the opposing side, even receiving endorsements from Republican Liz Cheney, to no significant sign of voter realignment from moderate conservatives.

Similar to the current nation as a whole, Missouri is largely aligned with the Republican party.

There is no doubt that Missouri and the United States are politically polarized, but the answer to fixing a divided state and nation may be much simpler than what you think.

“People want to shift away from more of the toxic, vitriolics animosity that happened between parties,” Mann said.

One of Mann’s own campaign strategies was to meet people where they’re at by discussing everyday issues that impact them and their families, including infrastructure issues, healthcare access, public education, and inflation. While both liberals and conservatives will isolate and defame the other side’s policies, specifically regarding social issues, there are always problems that plague nearly every American.

“Our beliefs are really straight down the middle most of the time,” Mann said.

At the same time, Missourians helped to pass Amendment 3, overturning Missouri’s complete abortion ban with no exceptions, both a healthcare issue and a social justice issue. A topic that has plagued and divided conservatives and liberals, found success in an overtly polarized state, showing some semblance of common ground between Missourians.

Some voters will use the “R” or “D” next to a candidate’s name as a cheat code for voting which makes it easier for a candidate’s only presence in the given community to be campaign signage or easy to skip political ads.

Mann attributed some of her campaign successes to the fact that voters are not used to Democrats showing up at the ice cream social over at the farm or other at Potosi, but I’ll show up and talk to people anyway. Voters need to cast votes for politicians who have shown up in their community and who will better understand the ailments of their constituents.

“People are going to fall one side or the other,” St. Charles County Democratic Central Committee Chairman, Don Looney said.

Without emphasis on these common issues and voting for the candidates who will represent the people best regardless of political party, the one-party systems seen in Missouri’s political color will only alienate voters further.

“I believe that when the American people put their minds together to do something, anything can be accomplished, including bridging across political divides and building up our nation,” Mann said.

Like in Mann’s campaign literature, it is time we focus on bringing Missourians together so that maybe then, Americans will come together as well.

This story was originally published on LHStoday on December 6, 2024.