Two things I've noticed of late. One is that there is a decided lack of Trump/Pence stickers and signs in the area, especially when compared to 2016 when they were all over the place. While they are out there this year, the numbers are way down as compared to the last election.
There are even fewer Harris/Biden/Harris stickers and signs, however. I think there is more leftover Bernie stuff, actually. Given that Hickory is a university town, that is probably to be expected.
Second is the makeup of the protesters in Dem cities. In the sixties and seventies, most protesters and rioters were members of the college age cohort. The mantra at the time was "Don't trust anyone over 30."
The protesters these days are high school age all the way up to senior citizens. There are many middle aged and senior folks participating in the protests. From my viewing of riot videos, the older folks tend to leave before the violence starts, however. Rioting and looting is a young person's game after all.
I think both of these factors point to less support for Trump, unfortunately. Fewer yard signs and bumper stickers for Trump in a largely conservative area is telling to me. While we have had a couple of protests locally, the were low key and everyone was well behaved. Folks were even sharing cold water bottles across the lines despite their political differences.
And the much larger age spread of the protesters would indicate greater support for the protests and riots than one would like to think is really out there.