I remain forever intrigued by the reaction this column sometimes generates.
Just hours after last Friday’s Recorder hit the newsstands, I received what can best be described as an “electronic confrontation” from a liberal friend in a certain amount of distress over my analysis of the prospects of a Donald Trump presidency.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “You sounded like you were CHEERING for the guy.”
Yeah. I am — and so should every other American, regardless of which side of the ideological aisle you happen to be standing.
I get that people are angry, but explain to me how we form a “more perfect union” by praying for the failure of the person who is going to lead us over the next four years? Like it or not, Trump’s failures will soon become the nation’s failures, and, call me crazy, but I’m hoping he is successful — just like I did when Barack Obama was elected eight years ago.
Needless to say, that position was little comfort to my friend.
“Aren’t you even a little bit freaked out?” he thundered. “He’s going to destroy our democracy.”
That I also don’t buy and, even if I did, what does freaking out get us? Living in fear of a Trump presidency is kind of like being afraid to put solar panels on your house because you might end up with no electricity if the sun burns out. I happen to think our democracy is strong enough to survive a Trump presidency, and if it’s not, why are we so concerned about preserving it?
This republic is bigger than one man or one administration, even with a Republican Congress. But if you are that worried, start getting involved at the local level where the governing that really matters happens. A lot of people are already doing that, something that may wind up being the silver lining in what is, for some, the darkest political cloud to come along in quite some time.
If there is one local race that might compare to the Trump victory, it has to be 13 years ago when Greenfield elected its first mayor.
It was Ed Berlin against Chris Forgey, and if you recall, it wasn’t expected to be much of a race. Berlin was the first candidate to announce, came in first in the primary, and appeared to have all of the institutional support. All he had to do was show up on Election Day — not unlike a certain retired secretary of state currently cooling her heels in Chappaqua, N.Y.
“It didn’t quite work out that way, did it?” former Greenfield Town Council Vice President Dan Guin said. “Not many people gave Chris a chance, but there were a few of us who had little doubt how it would end up.”
Guin did as much as anyone to help get Forgey elected, as did the late Marty McGuane, who kept telling me that my prognostications of a Berlin sweep were way off — something he went out of his way to remind me in later years whenever the subject of Greenfield’s first mayoral election came up.
I’d give all the money in my Christmas fund to be able to hear Marty’s thoughts on this election, ones that I’m pretty sure wouldn’t be printable here.
Sorry gang, the Electoral College isn’t going anywhere — but that’s not going to stop certain Massachusetts lawmakers from doing their best to get rid of it.
State Sen. Eric Lesser of the 1st Hampden and Hampshire District filed a bill asking the Legislature to call on Congress to do away with the Electoral College as the means of electing the president.
Lesser — like a lot of other Dems burned up by Trump’s win despite Hillary winning the popular vote by over 1.6 million — believes the Electoral College is an arcane way of deciding presidential elections. Of course, had the totals been reversed, I’m guessing this wouldn’t be quite the bone of contention it is, but I still find Lesser’s argument somewhat baffling, especially from a senator who represents an at least partially rural constituency.
The founders established the Electoral College specifically to ensure that both rural and more densely-populated districts would play an equal role in electing the president. Without it, major urban areas would have much more of a say in deciding national elections, leaving those of us who choose to live in the hinterlands on the outside looking in during the national presidential election.
I realize that this election has been a bitter pill for many to swallow, just like 2000 was, but you don’t scrap a system which has worked pretty well for a few hundred years based on a couple of aberrations, which I’m guessing is the message Congress will deliver to our friends in the General Court if Lesser’s cause ever does go from rhetoric to reality.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.