Autumn, finally: A season to calm our politics

September has arrived, which means autumn is here. It couldn't come soon enough. Politics all day long You see, a 2026 Change Research survey finds that 30% of voters name politics as the single biggest source of stress in their lives — more than money, health or work. Look, politics is important. An informed, engaged public is essential to our country's continued success at the local, state and federal levels. Not so long ago, politics knew its place. It lived in the opinion section of the Sunday newspaper. It was discussed for no more than 15 minutes every night on the network news. It inspired the occasional heated debate at the VFW — during which disagreeing friends still tripped over themselves to buy the next round of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, politics is something we wear, drive, eat, drink, watch, buy and sometimes even lose our jobs over. You can't wear a red baseball cap, even if that's what your softball team wore long before Trump became president. You can't display the American flag in your yard without worrying that somebody may vandalize it. You can't put a political sign in your front yard showing support for a specific candidate — not if you still hope to borrow a snowblower from the neighbor supporting another candidate. Alas, autumn is here, so let's take this opportunity to chill. Embracing autumn Consider: We each have little control over who becomes president — just one vote. But we have total control over how we respond to who becomes president. A president's policies do affect our day-to-day lives — health insurance policies, taxes and regulations do impact us some. But what is also true is that our politicians otherwise have limited impact on most of what happens in our daily lives.