Werner-Simon in Cannabis Business Times, January 28, 2021, “Marijuana and the U.S. Elections in 2020” OPINION: November’s Election Turned Red and Blue States into Green
The November 2020 presidential election broke records. More votes were cast for president (some 165 million) than ever before in our history.
We have not surpassed this percentage of voters in a presidential election (approximately 67%) in 120 years, that is, since the election of William McKinley and his Vice president Theodore Roosevelt in 1900 at 73.7%.
However, this uptick of participation in the political process has revealed entrenched partisanship. This, when coupled with what we witnessed on the steps of the capitol, shows that we are a nation riven by polarization. Reminiscent of 1860, as the nation splintered over slavery, we appear hopelessly divided by what the framers called “faction,” or as it is known today “political tribalism.”