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No longer fringe, small-town voters fear democracy’s demise

A truck makes an early morning delivery as the sun rises in Hudson, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. In this picturesque corner of western Wisconsin, a growing right-wing conservative movement has rocketed to prominence. They see America as a country where the most basic beliefs, in faith, family, liberty, are threatened. And their views haven't been swayed, not at all, by midterm elections that failed to see the sweeping Republican victories that many had predicted. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Pastor Rick Mannon sits for a photo among the pews at Calvary Assembly of God before a Bible study in Wilson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. From churches like Calvary Assembly, they've watched as gay marriage was legalized, as trans rights became a national issue, as Christianity, at least in their eyes, came under attack by pronoun-proclaiming liberals. It's hard to overstate how cultural changes have shaped the right wing of American conservatism. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A Bible sits open as Pastor Rick Mannon stands at the pulpit at Calvary Assembly of God in Wilson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Mannon's church is an outpost in the culture wars tearing at America, and a haven for people who feel shoved aside by a changing nation. Homosexuality is seen as dangerous here. Abortion is evil. The specter of one-world government looms. "If Christians don't get involved in politics, then we shouldn't have a say," Mannon says. "We can't just let evil win." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Pastor Rick Mannon passes out material during a Bible study at Calvary Assembly of God in Wilson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Mannon preaches a Christianity that resonates deeply among the insurgent conservatives, with strict lines of good and evil and little hesitation to wade into cultural and political issues. He pushed back hard against COVID restrictions. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Paul Hambleton looks at the old radio his father used to listen to for updates from President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II as it sits in his home in Hudson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. "You know, they did well once they got through that difficult period of time," says Hambleton. "So it reminds me of that. And that was his advice to us for this season that we're in and that we'll get through this as dark as the world sometimes seems." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Paul Hambleton works on his laptop computer at his home in Hudson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. In small-town St. Croix County, the population has grown from 43,000 in 1980 to about 95,000 today. Hambleton understands why the changes might make some people nervous. "There is a rural way of life that people feel is being threatened here, a small town way of life," he says. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Paul Hambleton sits in his home in Hudson, Wis., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Hambleton, who works with the county Democratic party, says he takes comfort in the midterm election results, which even some Republicans say could signal a repudiation of Trump and his most extremist supporters. "I don't feel the menace like I was feeling it before" the vote, he says. "I think this election showed that people can be brave, that they can stick their necks out." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Paul Hambleton, a Democrat, reaches for a coat above a "VOTE" sticker affixed to a door at his home in Hudson, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Liberal voters, along with many establishment Republicans, worry that men in tactical clothing can now occasionally be seen at public gatherings. They worry that some people are now too afraid to be campaign volunteers. "Particularly these last six months, people have been really afraid to go out and knock on doors" in support of Democratic candidates, Hambleton says. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mark Carlson recharges his Tesla electric vehicle during a shift driving for Uber in Oakdale, Minn., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Carlson believes, deeply, that America doesn't need to be so bitterly divided. "Liberalism and conservatism aren't that far apart. You can be pro-American, pro-constitutional. You just want bigger government programs. I want less." "We can work together," he says. "We don't have to, like, hate each other." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mark Carlson pulls back a curtain to his wardrobe where he keeps ammunition in his home in Hammond, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. The prospects of people taking up arms against their own government in response to draconian government crackdowns and firearm seizures seem distant and murky to Carlson. Still, they are spoken about. "I pray it will always be that the overthrow is at the ballot box," says Carlson, who seems genuinely pained at the idea of violence. "We don't want to use guns," he continues. "That would be just horrible." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mark Carlson walks past a gun rack holding his firearms at his home in Hammond, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. "I'm not a big gun guy," says Carlson, whose weapons include pistols, a shotgun, an AR-15 rifle, 10 loaded magazines and about 1,000 additional rounds. "For a lot of people that's just a start." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Jars of food sit on the shelves of Mark, left, and Linda Carlson's kitchen in Hammond, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Mark's boundless curiosity about the world often emerges in the kitchen, where he makes everything from organic yogurt to Filipino-style spring rolls to Japanese-style fried chicken cutlets. The jars and additional food they keep in storage are also part of their plan should things go really bad for America. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mark Carlson serves up his home-cooked meatloaf for dinner as his wife, Linda, pours a glass of wine at their home in Hammond, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Carlson was swept into office earlier this year when insurgent right-wing conservatives created a powerful local voting bloc, energized by fury over COVID lockdowns, vaccination mandates and the unrest that shook the country after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, just 45 minutes away. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mark Carlson sits with his dogs, Maise, left, and Ellie, at his home in Hammond, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Carlson is a friendly man who exudes gentleness, loves to cook, rarely leaves home without a pistol and believes that despotism looms over America. "There's a plan to lead us from within towards socialism, Marxism, communism-type of government," says Carlson, a St. Croix county supervisor who recently retired after 20 years working at a juvenile detention facility. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A couple walks along the St. Croix River as the sun rises in Hudson, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Hudson, a onetime ragged-at-the-edges riverside town has become a place of carefully tended 19th-century homes, tourists wandering main street boutiques and emigres from Minneapolis and St. Paul looking for cheaper real estate and a quieter place to raise their kids. (AP Photo/David Goldman) St. Croix County Republican Party Chairman Matt Bocklund loads campaign signs into his car as he drives around to place them on lawns in Hudson, Wis., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Despite midterm elections that failed to see the sweeping Republican victories that many had predicted, a growing right-wing conservative movement in the county remains a cornerstone of the conservative electoral base. (AP Photo/David Goldman) John Kraft walks past solar panels he's hooking up to his home in Clear Lake, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Fearing a failure of the electricity grid, right-wing conservatives often talk about installing solar systems at their homes. Plans like this, if they are mentioned at all, are spoken of quietly. But sit in enough small-town bars, drive enough small-town roads, and you'll occasionally hear people talk about what they intend to do if things go really bad for America. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A U.S. flag is flown from a restaurant along the main business district in Hudson, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Hudson, a onetime ragged-at-the-edges riverside town has become a place of carefully tended 19th-century homes and tourists wandering main street boutiques. With 14,000 people, it's the largest town in St. Croix County. It's also replete with Democratic voters. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Dianne Joachim, background right, bows her head in prayer along with Matt Rust, right, and others helping to draft a new constitution for the county Republican party at a bar in Roberts, Wis., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. "I think they're an arm of a much larger global effort by very rich powerful people to control as much of the world as possible," says Rust, about the media. “And I don’t think that’s anything new. It’s always been that way,” from ancient Persian rulers to Adolf Hitler. “Is that a conspiracy or is that just human nature?” he asks. “I think it’s just human nature.” (AP Photo/David Goldman) Wild turkeys roam past St. Croix County Republican Party Chairman Matt Bocklund, as he places campaign signs on lawns in Hudson, Wis., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Despite midterm elections that failed see the sweeping Republican victories that many had predicted, they remain a cornerstone of the conservative electoral base. Across the country, victories went to candidates who believe in QAnon and candidates who believe the separation of church and state is a fallacy. In Wisconsin, a U.S. senator who dabbles in conspiracy theories and pseudoscience was re-elected - crushing his opponent in St. Croix County. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Scott Miller's son pours feed into a trough for calves at their home in Baldwin, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. "It's not about getting Trump back in power. It's that if our vote don't count, then nothing else matters," says Miller, a prominent local gun-rights activist. "We're eventually going to have a tyrannical government that is going to run all over anyone." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Scott Miller kisses his daughter at their home in Baldwin, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. In this picturesque corner of western Wisconsin, a growing right-wing conservative movement has rocketed to prominence and are a cornerstone of the conservative electoral base. They, like Miller, a sales analyst, see America as a country where the most basic beliefs, in faith, family, liberty, are threatened. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A cardboard cutout of former President Donald Trump stands in the corner of Scott Miller's garage along with a banner promoting the Second Amendment in Baldwin, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Miller shrugs when he's asked where he gets his news: "The internet," he says. "That's where everybody gets their news these days." He sees mainstream news as little more than a left-wing echo chamber, staffed by reporters so liberal, so convulsed by hatred of Trump, that they cannot be trusted. "I call it the state-run media," he says. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Scott Miller stands for a portrait in his home in Baldwin, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Miller, a prominent local gun-rights activist, votes Republican, but doesn't see himself as a fierce party supporter. Miller sees corruption in both major parties, and says the two parties are, in some ways, working together to keep themselves in power: "It's a uni-party versus us, the people." (AP Photo/David Goldman) A mother cat nurses her kittens as as a child walks across a Trump doormat at the home of Scott Miller in Baldwin, Wis., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. In a picturesque corner of western Wisconsin, a growing right-wing conservative movement has rocketed to prominence. They see America as a country where the most basic beliefs, in faith, family, liberty, are threatened. (AP Photo/David Goldman) John Kraft feeds an apple to one of his cows at his home in Clear Lake, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. "It's no longer left versus right, Democrat versus Republican," says Kraft, a software architect and data analyst. "It's straight up good versus evil." He knows how he sounds. He's felt the contempt of people who see him as a fanatic, a conspiracy theorist. (AP Photo/David Goldman) John Kraft sits next to his yawning cat, Tux, at his hilltop farmhouse in Clear Lake, Wis., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Kraft loves this place. He loves the quiet and the space but looks beyond his rural community and sees a country that many Americans wouldn't recognize. It's a dark place, dangerous, where democracy is under attack by a tyrannical government, few officials can be trusted and clans of neighbors might someday have to band together to protect one another. (AP Photo/David Goldman)