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Trey Kay Published September 25, 2024 - 6:00 pm

Us & Them: Pre-Election Politics & Food For Thought

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It’s election season, and Us & Them is back at the dinner party table for a potluck gathering. With just weeks until the election, our guests have a lot on their minds as they consider their votes. The group discusses some of the year’s biggest stories shaping this campaign—the candidate debates, recent assassination attempts, trust in elections, campus carry laws, gun rights, and what West Virginia might look like without U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.

Us & Them host Trey Kay invites us all back for a new dinner party episode bringing together a wide-ranging group of people for food and conversation. Kay has used this gathering as a forum to break bread with folks who hold vastly different beliefs.

The topics are varied… trust in elections – campus carry and gun rights – party conventions and candidate debates – and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) legacy. We began this dinner party tradition in 2020 and have continued it through the turbulent times since then.

While election season can make it difficult to come together with people who disagree, Kay’s guests offer a fresh perspective and share their reactions to some of the biggest stories of the year shaping this election season.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

A long shot of a wooden dinner table set for nine, with alternating red and blue place settings. Through the middle of the table are also alternating gingham blue and red cloths. — Trey’s mom Kathy Kay carefully and lovingly sets the table for this year’s Us & Them Pre-Election Dinner Party.
Credit: *Us & Them team*

In the fall of 2020, during the pandemic and the run-up to the presidential election, the Us & Them team hosted a virtual dinner party that brought together a diverse group of West Virginians. The episode created from that event earned a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, inspiring the continuation of the tradition. Once the pandemic subsided, the Dinner Party Crew began meeting in person for potluck dinners and thoughtful conversations at the home of host Trey Kay’s mother in Charleston, West Virginia.

A man wearing a dark blue sports jacket over a white button down shirt tucked into black pants gesticulates with both hands while standing at a table laden with food. Above him can be seen the wood paneling of the room's ceiling, and behind him can be seen a sitting area in a muted blue nature pattern, as well as several large house plants, one of which to the left of the frame extents to the ceiling. The food on the table appears to include roast chicken, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, caprese salad and mixed fruits. — Us & Them host Trey Kay stands in front of the serving table filled with dishes brought by the dinner party guests. The feast included roast chicken, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, caprese salad, and soft rolls.
*Credit: Us & Them team*

A woman in a colorful tropical pattern dress looks on as a young woman wearing a white sleevless blouse over light brown pants speaks. She holds a glass of iced water in her right hand and her phone in her left hand. To her right in frame stands a young man wearing a charcoal grey polo shirt over khaki chinos. All three stand in a room with yellow walls and white molding. — Terri Triplett Delauder, veteran to most of the Us & Them Dinner Parties who identifies as conservative, welcomes new guests Alexus Steele and Michael Borsuk, who are students at Marshall University. Steele, who is registered as a Democrat, says she is fiscally conservative on some issues, but is far left on social issues. Borsuk identifies proudly as a Republican, however, he does not consider himself far right, but rather in the middle of the Republican spectrum.
*Credit: Us & Them Team*

Us & Them host Trey Kay kicks off the gathering with introductions, including from left to right, Felicia Bush, Joe Solomon, and Jay Gould. All three were part of the first virtual dinner party and have participated in most of the subsequent gatherings. Bush, who lives near Parkersburg, identifies as a fiscally conservative Democrat but a social justice liberal. Solomon, a Democrat, serves on Charleston, West Virginia’s City Council and is active in helping people who live with substance use disorder. Gould, from Montgomery, West Virginia, is mostly retired from a business that repairs mining equipment. He describes himself as a conservative Democrat but adds, “There’s no such critter anymore, so I’m registered Republican.”
*Credit: Us & Them Team*

Three men sit on the long end of a dinner table arrayed with alternating red and blue gingham cloths and place settings. The bald man on the left wears rectangular glasses and a blue and yellow checkered button down, and he looks down at his plate as he prepares a forkful of mac and cheese. The man in the middle wears a multicolored, paneled baseball cap and glasses, as well as a tan shirt that can be seen to have lettering stamped on it in a ruddy hue. The bald man on the right wears a salmon button down and wire-frame glasses. He looks over towards the other two. All three men visibly wear lapel microphones. In the background can be seen framed artwork haning from the wall, as well as set lights and a streaming camera on a tall tripod. — Frank Annie (L) serves on the Charleston City Council alongside Joe Solomon. Annie is a registered Republican and describes himself as right of center on most issues. Although he and Solomon hold different political views, they see eye to eye on many issues and often collaborate on solutions. They campaigned for office together and refer to themselves as the Bipartisan Bros.
*Credit: Us & Them Team*

A man wearing a dark blue sports jacket over a white button down shirt tucked into black pants gesticulates in a wood paneled room with a wall of windows in the background. In front of the windows stand three people. To the left is a woman wearing a long sleeved denim dress. The man in the middle wears a multicolored, paneled baseball cap and glasses, as well as a tan shirt that can be seen to have lettering stamped on it in a ruddy hue over khaki pants. The bald man on the right wears wire-frame glasses and a salmon button down over blue jeans. — Us & Them host Trey Kay kicks off the gathering with introductions, including from left to right, Felicia Bush, Joe Solomon, and Jay Gould. All three were part of the first virtual dinner party and have participated in most of the subsequent gatherings. Bush, who lives near Parkersburg, identifies as a fiscally conservative Democrat but a social justice liberal. Solomon, a Democrat, serves on Charleston, West Virginia’s City Council and is active in helping people who live with substance use disorder. Gould, from Montgomery, West Virginia, is mostly retired from a business that repairs mining equipment. He describes himself as a conservative Democrat but adds, “There’s no such critter anymore, so I’m registered Republican.”
*Credit: Us & Them Team*

A young man wearing a charcoal grey button down sits at a dinner table next to an older man wearing a very pale blue gingham button down. Behind them can be seen set lights and a streaming camera on a tall tripod — Elliot Hicks (R) sits next to Marshall University student Michael Borsuk (L). Hicks, an attorney based in Charleston, West Virginia, is a registered Democrat who describes himself as progressive on social issues, but reasonable on fiscal issues.
*Credit: Us & Them Team*

The Dinner Party guests discussed some of the year’s biggest stories shaping the upcoming election. Topics included the Trump-Biden debate, the assassination attempt on former President Trump, trust in elections, campus carry laws, and gun rights. Everyone admitted to having strong feelings about the election’s outcome in November. The group has committed to gathering again on the Thursday after the election.

Alexus Steele: I’m excited to hear what you guys have to say [in November]. I am nervous about it, but not so much about talking to you guys, just seeing how it’s gonna change our country.

Michael Borsuk: I’m all for coming back. My only fear is doing it that Thursday immediately after—we might not have results.

Trey Kay: And that might be part of the tension that we need to wade through.

Felicia Bush: I can come and be elated or devastated, and I’ll still feel safe expressing it here. There’s nothing to fear here. We’re just Americans.

Jay Gould: Last night, I listened to our discussion last year. A big topic of that was trust. Can you name anything that has happened since last year that would have increased our trust in our country and in the officials and so forth? I can name you a whole bunch that would have diminished it.

Terri Triplett Delauder: I wanted to say something that’s positive about voter integrity now. Judicial Watch, which is a right-leaning, a bunch of lawyers that do really good work – they sued California, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, to clean up their voter rolls. So we should have a little bit more confidence in especially those states, that those rolls are cleaned up. It makes me feel a little better.

Eliott Hicks: Right, but what we have to be in mourning for is that there is somebody who has led this whole argument that our elections weren’t fair… And we know we’ve had voter identity issues in West Virginia. We know we’ve had that, but we keep getting better. What I’m in mourning for, is that there’s somebody who continues to agitate and people who jumped on the bandwagon with him to tell people that our elections are not fair when we get better every single time we get better at this.

Frank Annie: I’m happy with the decision by the President [Biden] to step down. I think it was very timely… I think people are tired overall, collectively. They kind of want a little bit [of the] 70 days to be done. It’s been an interesting couple months so far.

Joe Solomon: I feel like a real kinship and affinity with this group and the space that creates… I worry about other long shadows, but I don’t worry about more long conversations.

Editor’s Note: Elliot Hicks serves as the volunteer president of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Friends Board.

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