Alex Chaney talks about political polarization and key issues at stake in the elections during an interview at Karma Coffee House in downtown Cullman.

President Donald Trump’s battles on Capitol Hill over immigration, trade deficits and health care have large, unwavering support in the north-central Alabama community of Cullman.

The mood is exemplified on a warm September evening in Karma’s Coffee House as Alex Chaney settles in with a single shot of espresso before making the short drive to Tuscaloosa for another Alabama Crimson Tide beat down of a lowly challenger to college football’s reigning champion.

Even in Alabama’s solidly Republican cradle, Chaney, an attorney who recently lost his bid for the Alabama House of Representatives, believes the outcome of elections and conservative momentum can’t be taken for granted.

“We do have a lot at stake with Doug Jones coming in and winning the Senate seat, even though it was against Roy Moore,” Chaney said. “I think that was an exception, but we’re also in an age where the polarization is growing deeper. First there was (President Barrack) Obama for eight years, then Trump came along and a lot of people were looking for a change, to try to push things forward.”

More than halfway through his presidency, Trump, who overwhelming carried Cullman County in 2016 with more than an 87 percent vote margin, has been the center. His style of leadership, Chaney said, has been different in the methods he employs to reach voters.

“I think for some people he has been polarizing, sometimes shocking in how he wades into issues. And for others, he’s applauded for not holding back,” Chaney said. “I think he’s right to push some of these issues such as health care and immigration to the front, but I wish he wouldn’t use Twitter so much.”

No matter the president’s penchant for social media, Chaney sees a need to change health care as presented by Obama, which has been a thorny subject in Congress.

“The problem is that it forces people into having health care or your penalized,” Chaney said. “I agree health care is a crisis. Medicaid and Medicare are important for so many people, but there has to be a better answer than what we got from the national health plan.”

Chaney finds a similar frustration in the immigration debate that has boiled since the presidential election.

“I’ve worked with clients to help them with becoming citizens, and it’s incredibly expensive and a long process,” Chaney said. “There are a lot of ideas from creating easier paths to citizenship to somehow allowing those already here to become citizens. But I don’t know if I agree with rewarding people for breaking the law.

“Some people are upset about the wall the president wants, and it can probably do some good, but the real answer — the long-term answer — is in establishing an effective policy that is manageable and is in the interest of our country.”

While Chaney sees a lot of drawing lines in the sand where issues are concerned, he stresses that more people should take time to weigh the efforts of the president instead of lashing out immediately.

Tariffs, he notes as an example, has caused a lot of concern in global economy, but to date the economy has remained on a positive track.

“I think President Trump has the interest of our country in mind when he proposed better security at the borders or puts the trade deficit on the table,” Chaney said. “In Alabama, steel is booming and coal is doing well. When Obama was in office, too many regulations were slowing the economy, hurting businesses. And I’m not saying we need to ignore our environment, but we can make doing business in our country easier and more productive for companies.”

After considering the issues facing the country and the efforts from the White House to engage what may help the nation, Chaney said polarization is being proliferated by social media and the feeding of what’s described as fake news or information.

“I’m extremely cautious when it comes to social media. People are using it as a weapon,” Chaney said. “So much has changed in just the last eight years or so and how campaigns are run and how candidates communicate. I know it’s going to stay around but there needs to be more reliance on proven methods of getting across facts and ideas.”