Julie Love, a retired Houston teacher, poses for a photo after attending a Democratic rally for Beto O'Rourke held at the club House of Blues in Houston, the United States, Nov. 5, 2018. Americans who voted on Tuesday for different parties in U.S. midterm elections of 2018 harbor contrary feelings and policy preference even they are in the same community or family. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
by Xinhua writers Liu Yanan, Gao Lu, Zhang Mocheng
HUSTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Americans who voted on Tuesday for different parties in U.S. mid-term election of 2018 harbor contrary feelings and policy preference even they are in the same community or family.
The deportation of people who grew up here or even served in the army as well as the detained children at the border is a real issue, said Julie Love, a retired Houston teacher now based in a small town in the west of San Antonio, Texas State, before the election.
Meanwhile, the issue of greatest concern is how the economy is going and how jobs are created, according to Larry Riddle, a Republican supporter.
Jobs are being created and more people working with higher salaries, "so generally all my things are going great and we want to keep it that way," said Riddle after a rally for Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz at a church on Monday.
Arresting innocent people, separating their families and withdrawing passports from citizens at the border "really strike fear into my heart and that is the un-American direction our country is going," said Love after attending a Democratic rally for Beto O'Rourke held at the club House of Blues a day before the election.
"I'm with the Statue of Liberty. That's who we are right there," said Love, pointing to the Statue badge she is wearing. "I believe the (immigration) system is crowded. It's flawed. It needs to be fixed."
In the eyes of Riddle, a nurse in his 30s, "Right now, we have no problem with immigration."
"The issue is just the people that are coming illegally because there is a wrong way and a right way. We have a process and we need to go through that process," he said. However, "some of the laws I think do need (to be) corrected or we wouldn't have this problem right now."
About 10 years into her retirement, Love said her pension has been affected in the last two years with the insurance going up. And "Obamacare pretty much failed because if you may have any kind of a job, you did not qualify for subsidies on Obamacare. And we did not have the Medicaid expansion to help people."
And this has led many people into a difficult situation, for example, Love said, "my niece, one of them, just couldn't afford it because she worked, if she had not been working, she could have qualified for Medicaid."
In her town in Medina County, Love said, around 85 percent of the population are republican.
The campaigning there was much, much greater than two years ago, and the Latinos were more likely to come out to vote with the encouragement from community leaders, according to Love, who had to drive back to her home late Monday so as to work as a clerk at the polling station on Tuesday, the Election Day.
"I have always felt like it's in their interest to get out and vote against Donald Trump. It really doesn't matter who you are for. We need to vote to further your interests," she said.
"I grew up here. I remember when everything was democratic in Texas," she said.
"I've never had a problem with Republicans as people. All my neighbors, all my friends, half were Republican, half Democrats. I've always been a Democrat and we argue and so forth. But to now, to me, there's something wrong with people who cannot see past Donald Trump," said Love, whose mother was a Republican and father a Democrat.
Love has donated around 200 to 300 U.S. dollars to Beto O'Rourke and went to several rallies of his last year with her little son.
"I do not know why people support him (Trump). My own older brother is a Rice (University) graduate. His wife is a psychologist and they voted for Trump. I basically haven't spoken to them since they should know better, but all they care about I guess is money," she added.
Love said the social polarization in the United States means not very much in her life but that she doesn't hang out with people who are negative.
"It was so divided. It's really, really bad. You can't even have conversations with people," said Ms. James after casting her vote on Tuesday.
A lot of people are voting against their own betters and they don't even realize it, according to James.
Asked about how people from the two parties could work together to resolve social problems, Riddle said, "I don't know the way. The country seems to be divided right now over the social issues. I think it's going to take a little while. It's tough right now."
