By Mike Cavaliere

A head of President Donald Trump’s inauguration last week, local concerns over election misinformation, the future of artificial intelligence and the volatility of political discourse defined a recent conversation between Baldwin County residents, in a focus group exploring the issues that matter most to voters residing in political swing states.

Keep Our Republic, a non-partisan civic education group, sponsored the Tuesday, Jan. 14 event, held at Georgia College & State University, with the goal of understanding how local priorities were reflected in the 2024 United States presidential election.

Although perspectives from the group often differed, each of the 15 participants agreed that the adversarial tone of modern American politics — from campaign attack ads to name-calling on the presidential debate stage — have changed the way we talk about political issues, and the way we vote.

“It’s no longer about policy, it’s just about personal attacks,” said one participant, Samuel. 

“[People] are going to vote for who won the argument, not what they’re actually going to do,” Shelbi added.

Located in middle Georgia, Baldwin County is one the state’s most politically competitive counties. With a diverse population of 44,000 — mixed between college students, agricultural workers, low-income urban residents and wealthy lakefront retirees — the county has supported Democratic candidates for the past two decades and contributed to flipping the historically conservative state blue in the 2020 presidential race. In that election, President Joe Biden won Georgia by a narrow 11,000-vote margin. However, the county swung in the other direction this past election, favoring the Republican nominee, and so, in turn, did the state, helping to secure Trump’s second term in federal office.

The focus group — moderated by Dr. Nicholas Creel, associate professor of business law and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship — aimed to serve as a “miniature version of Baldwin County,” Creel said, featuring members of varying backgrounds and voting behaviors, education and salary levels, marital status, career field and other factors. 

Participants were selected based off a community survey. About 200 residents responded, with 15 from that group selected to represent the diverse perspectives that define a political “battleground” for electoral votes.

‘What’s true and what’s not anymore?’

The topic of misinformation loomed large in the conversation, as one factor contributing to political division.

Linda pointed to the 24-hour news cycle and the rise of unreliable reporting as the start of a downward trend, while Shelbi cited social media.

“Division drives politicians,” Greg noted, suggesting that modern mediums simply gave attitudes that had always existed a platform on which to be amplified.

“Our leaders are a reflection of where we are as a society,” Christy added.

They all agreed, however, that artificial intelligence — specifically, deepfakes and echo chamber-promoting algorithms — has made identifying truth from fiction more difficult. 

“[AI] has the potential to be more impactful than anything we’ve created since, you know, the wheel,” Tony said. “It needs to be regulated.”

Claudia agreed: “You don’t know what true and what’s not anymore.”

That point became especially clear in the group’s discussion of ballot-counting.

‘I don’t trust the mail service’

When asked how confident they were that their votes were accurately counted in the 2024 presidential election, nearly all participants raised their hands — but with qualifiers.

“This time,” Greg noted, adding that he feels the election results seemed less “plausible” in the 2020 election.

“I don’t think any election in history has been more highly and clearly scrutinized than the 2020 election,” Jim said. “This idea that the election was stolen is sheer nonsense.”

“I feel confident … because I voted in person,” Claudia added.

Linda echoed a similar sentiment: “I don’t trust the mail service,” she said.

“I don’t think there was ever any blatant cheating going on,” Billy interjected. “When [Trump] lost, he lost. When he won, he won.” 

The group discussed a variety of other issues, as well. While half said that their future votes will depend on social issues — women’s rights, gun control, etc. — the other half was more concerned with economics — taxes and inflation. 

Those factors, they felt, will contribute to Georgia remaining a swing state in the future.

“I’m not going to stick with my color of just red or blue,” Austin said. “Do we get our promises met? … [That is] going to keep determining if we’re a purple state.”

To watch the full event or request an interview, contact Amanda Respess at amanda.respess@gcsu.edu or 478-445-7828.