THE VILLAGES, Fla. – At the center of almost every political conversation this campaign season is a single question: President Donald Trump – for him, or against him?
Learn the answer to that, and you’ll nearly always know whether someone’s voting Republican or Democrat in midterm elections. The answer can also signal who someone’s friends are because in our polarized country, the political increasingly intertwines with the personal.
We traveled here to central Florida to watch those dynamics in actions at The Villages, a retirement community about an hour northwest of Orlando. With more than 120,000 residents, it’s massive enough to be its own census-designated place.
Residents move around these sunny streets in golf-carts. They play plenty of golf. But they also have lots of time to talk politics – and to vote.
Florida famously tipped the balance in the photo-finish presidential election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore. And it has sided with the winning candidate in every presidential contest since, backing…
