Amy Schwan wanted the Akron Breakfast Optimist Club group to spend $250 on materials for baskets that would be raffled for a holiday fundraiser. The yeas had it in an impromptu Thursday morning vote, but the treasurer suggested members donate to the cause instead — that kind of money wasn’t in the budget.
“So you’re going to overthrow the election?” Margaret Briem asked.
Members of the 39-year-old Akron group that supports children’s programs quickly landed on a solution. They would donate money to Schwan, who would spend no more than $250. She’d then give any extra funds to the treasurer to help cover the club’s expenses. One member handed over $50 as the discussion continued.
“Democracy at work,” Rich Honeck remarked to his neighbor at one of two round tables at the New Era Restaurant in East Akron.
Two days after voters across the United States went to the polls, returning Donald Trump to the presidency and electing Republicans statewide in Ohio, the Akron club invited J. Cherie Strachan, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, to discuss the results.
Signal Akron visited the meeting because we were curious: How would members of a politically divided organization whose creed includes, “Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own,” respond days after a bruising election?
Disagreements about Trump’s character
In front of the group of Optimists, Strachan began to explain that polls underestimated Trump’s appeal. Many Americans had thought his actions and rhetoric would drive voters away, she said, but economic concerns overcame the candidate’s harsh demeanor.
Debbie Walsh saw it differently. “He’s more polite, more civil, than anyone,” she said, describing the atmosphere at Trump’s rallies.
“He has an unprecedented level of ad hominem attacks,” Strachan countered.
“Ronald Reagan used to tell people to shut up,” Briem replied.
Strachan decided not to engage in the debate further and instead continued with her analysis. She told the members about the shift of working-class voters without college degrees toward the Republican party. Briem, meanwhile, wanted to continue discussing Trump’s behavior.
“If he’s so offensive to everyone, why did he win?” she asked.
“People are mad all the way down the ticket for change,” Schwan later answered.
It was easy for Briem and Schwan to be optimistic about the election results. Briem was pleased that Trump won, she said, while Schwan said she voted for the former president to return to office because she was concerned about transgender athletes.
“I trust Trump to protect our country,” she said.
Searching for the silver lining after 2024 election
It might be harder for Democratic voters Tom Vukovich and Ken MacDonald to adhere to the Optimist creed, which in part calls on members to be “so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.”
Vukovich, the retired head of student affairs at the University of Akron, said he was disappointed in Americans’ decision at the polls. He’s concerned that with Republican Senate seat pickups and control of the House of Representatives still in flux, Trump might not have the guardrails he did in his first presidency. And he worries that the Republican leader will hurt the country.
Still, he reached for optimism.
“At one time, he was a Democrat,” Vukovich said of Trump. “I’m hopeful, I’m optimistic, there’s something back there that will cause him to be a great president.”
It’s going to be hard, he said, to be so strong that nothing disturbs his peace of mind. But somehow, it was easier to see Trump elected this time than it was in 2016. He knows a bit more about what to expect.
Akron Optimist member: ‘Most of our stuff isn’t political’
The Optimists’ mission remains consistent regardless of who’s in office, said Briem, who leads the Summit County chapter of the conservative Moms for Liberty group.
“We work together on projects,” she said. “Most of our stuff isn’t political.”
MacDonald said he’s an optimist by nature, but he’s still having a hard time with the election results. He wants the president to be a good person — and Donald Trump is not, he said. He wants to remain hopeful.
Especially in a politically mixed group, how will the Democrats in the group manage? Vukovich said that, as much as possible, he’ll avoid turning the conversation toward politics — especially because it seems as though there’s no middle ground to be found.
“It’s a fact of life and I can’t do anything about it,” MacDonald said. “You can’t let it affect your life.”
Bob Rohr, a three-time Trump voter, said he was cautiously optimistic about the president-elect’s next term. He’d like to see Trump act “more humanistic,” though — he doesn’t want to see the country move further into extremes.
Neither does Honeck, another three-time Trump voter, who said he’d like to see both sides reach out to calm the country’s current divide.
“I have personal thoughts on Trump, personally,” said Honeck, who said he likes the president-elect’s policies more than his personality.
“I’m not very proud of how he handles himself,” Rohr said.
“Not very presidential,” Honeck agreed.
