WCNC, Charlotte.
This is flashpoint everybody.
Thanks for joining us here on Flashpoint.
I've been Thompson as we look ahead
to the midterm elections next year.
One local county is going to be the focus
of some would say unlikely media attention.
Anson County. It's a rural place,
about an hour or so southeast of Charlotte.
Perhaps you or loved one lived there.
Or most likely you've at least driven
through on the way to the beach.
Like a lot of folks.
Well, NBC News is going to be focusing
monthly reports on Anson County and
taking a deep dive specifically.
In the rural African American vote,
a group that helped turn North
Carolina blue for Barack Obama,
but not necessarily for Joe
Biden joining us today.
Moderator of NBC's Meet the Press.
Chuck Todd.
Chuck, thanks for coming on.
We appreciate it.
NBC News once again spotlighting specific
counties across the US ahead of the midterm,
which is now just about a a year away.
At this point,
I, I know,
we have a Anthony County here in our area
that that you guys are going to highlight.
But first of all,
broadly speaking,
what are some of the things
you're looking for in these
counties across the country?
Well, we're in the midst of a
political realignment, right? We this.
This is one of those cases where we're
holding an election every two years,
and we get this snapshot
of where America is at.
But it's been moving pretty rapidly.
Like we we were. We were we, we sort of.
We were in place for a while in the
90s we were in place for awhile.
I would argue for the first ten years
of this decade of this century.
But in the 2nd 10 years and through even now,
the beginning here. The 20s were.
There's a lot of shifting dynamics there,
whether it's in the suburbs,
whether it's in rural America,
which has become almost.
A decidedly in one column.
Suburban America moving more rapidly,
and so all of this is in
the middle of this change,
so we think the best way to
understand the American electorate.
And this and this sort of
political realignment that we're
in living in the middle of,
is to look at it from a
county level perspective.
Because,
you know,
in our polarized politics and this
whole idea where we we don't live next door,
Democrats or Republicans don't live
next door to each other anymore.
We've sort of self sorted.
So the only way to truly understand
why a state moves in certain
directions is you gotta look at it,
almost like a piece of material in a
tapestry or in a quilt one square at a time,
and the counties are they are
one square of this quilt.
That is the American electorate and ants,
and is a county that were curious,
particularly rural African Americans.
This is a vote that did not
turn out in high as numbers as
Democrats were hoping in 2020.
It's why Biden did not carry North Carolina.
And why Democrats lost that Senate race?
That's something we're wondering,
is this a trend that is
going to continue or not?
And
and is it a trend that that you
guys think is is happening in
Anson County but also happening
in other counties like it?
Across the country.
Well, so that's exactly what you you've got.
You've pinpointed exactly why
you know we're taking one county,
but we believe it's emblematic of in
this case in the sunbelt swing states.
Whether it's North Carolina,
Florida Georgia, Texas,
I'd throw in a South Carolina
if you want as well, which is.
It they all of those states have
a significant chunk of rural
African American population.
We know African Americans that
live in urban areas vote very
strong link for the Democrats and
turn out is usually pretty high.
Among rural African Americans in twenty,
08 and 2012,
when Barack Obama was on the ballot,
turn out was high.
It's why North Carolina essentially
got pulled into the battleground,
you know, really wasn't a battleground
state until Barack Obama.
But it's Republicans have been eking it out,
and when I look it specifically,
those border counties between North
and South Carolina and look again.
If Democrats figure out how to how to
get their African American rural turn out up,
that is going to tell you
something about a Senate race,
not just in North Carolina,
but the statewide races in South
Carolina and the statewide
races in Georgia in particular.
And
what do you think?
I mean, in your view,
a lot of this comes down in.
In some cases, cultural issues you
have that the Biden agenda many would
argue would help folks in in rural
America and and whether or not that passes.
Of course it's going to be
determined whether or not they do
well in the midterms next year.
But can they legislate on some of
these cultural issues that are going
to appeal to some of these folks?
That's a great question on the
cultural front, I don't think so.
I think with the Democrats
believe what they can get done
in this next six months, right?
Is trying to help on the economic front look.
They're not going to get new
voting rights legislation passed
through this Senate right now.
That doesn't mean they don't try
to turn it into a campaign issue
to motivate voters to the polls,
but as far as deliverables,
the Democrats are focused a lot more.
I think on on economics a lot
more on the social safety net.
A little less than some other.
Issues that are of concern to many
to many African American voters.
Whether it's the issue of
guns or voting rights,
but I think those are going to be more.
Election motivators.
I'll tell you one little potential
disconnect among rural African
Americans and the Democrats.
Is rural African Americans are
a bit more religious than the
rest of the Democratic Party,
and one of the things that does
sort of cross racial lines is.
The more frequently you go to church,
the more likely you'll vote Republican,
regardless of race,
and that is another thing here
that I think Democrats are trying
to figure out how the the the
secularization of the Democratic Party.
Could run into a little bit of of of a
of our adversary relationship overtime
with more religious African Americans.
We haven't hit that point yet,
but it's something that I've
Democratic strategists have
told me about that's for sure.
Well,
in the Trump campaign touted the fact
that they made some inroads within
communities of color across the country.
Especially men give us an idea
of what to expect. From this.
You're going to be checking in and
Anson County and other counties
like it as part of this project.
How, how often you gonna be on
the ground there with with people
reporting what can we expect?
You should expect to see us a
lot number One North Carolina's.
I think one of the seven most critical
battleground states in any year.
You know, North Carolina Senate races
helped decide the control of the Senate,
and North Carolina is one of the closest
Lee closely contested presidential races.
So we're going to be there a lot.
As far as how we're doing County County,
we're going to be, we want to be
in ants in at least once a month,
if not more often.
Because what we're trying to find
out is how not only is how's the
national conversation playing locally,
but what is happening locally that
may percolate up and have an impact.
Whether it's you know whether we go
to school board meetings to see how's
that conversation and how we teach
race in our schools going, or you know,
so we want to use it as an opportunity
of a sounding board for ourselves.
So frankly,
we don't want to miss anything,
you know,
I think a fair critique of the national
media is we submit we sometimes gloss over.
What's happening at a more
granular level on the local level,
and I think now we're learning what's
happening locally in some ways is
being have heavy influence from
that from the national conversation,
but it it is coming together to
create a new Stew that we have to pay
attention to for when it comes to the
influence it has on American politics.
Battleground, Anson County.
That's how you could look at it alright?
Chuck Todd, up in DC for us.
Chuck, thanks as always.
We appreciate it.
You can catch more of
NBC's County to county.
Reporting all this week more
flash point after this.