US voters hear a stark message in the presidential race: The country's fate is on the line
Few elections in the nation’s history have provided such a divide as this year’s, with the two major candidates and so many of their supporters saying the outcome will determine the fate of the country and whether it can hold to its democratic moorings
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Few elections in the nation’s history have provided such a divide as this year's, with the two major candidates and so many of their supporters saying the outcome will determine the fate of the country and whether it can hold to its democratic moorings.
As they cast their ballots, voters have opinions on the divide as diverse and complex as the nation itself. Perhaps no place captures this range of perspective more clearly than Charlottesville, Virginia.
It was once a meeting place for Founding Fathers who cautioned about the dangers of political demagoguery. It also was the site of the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, when hundreds of white nationalists and neo-Nazis felt emboldened enough to unleash racist and antisemitic violence on the community for its decision to remove a Confederate statue. They chanted “Jews will not replace us” as they marched through the streets carrying tiki torches and Confederate flags.
One rallygoer plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring dozens more. President Joe Biden has said the open display of racism and antisemitism prompted him to enter the race for the White House in 2020.
