I live in Forsyth County, a little north of the center of North Carolina, a state that chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by 5% in last week’s election. Here is how this county voted:
- President: Clinton (Dem) 53%, Trump (Rep) 43%
- Senate: Ross (Dem) 51%, Burr (Rep) 46%
- House: Brannon (Dem) 54%, Foxx (Rep) 46%
- Governor: Cooper (Dem) 56%, McCrory (Rep) 42%
Many minds are puzzling over the extreme differences between adjacent communities this week, and mine is no exception.
For anyone looking for predictions, I have none to offer: the only thing I can confidently predict about the future is that it will be something I never would have predicted.
I spend a lot of my time on the campus of the UNC School of the Arts, where a little over a thousand artists have strong opinions and the creative capacity to express them. I’ve observed a burst of artistic activity in the last few days, much of it unfocused, some very precisely targeted. To the degree that art is both a reflection and an influencer of reality, these burgeoning young artists bear watching.