Things Have Changed But ...
I don't think it's too late.
It started with the stories.
I was in Connecticut recently and over a salmon and broccoli dinner one night, I listened to friends (who have always lived in the Land of Steady Habits) tell of recent and rising “red/blue” tensions with friends and loved ones. This in a deeply blue state that nobody questions will vote blue in November.
But the signs are there. Literally.
This beauty greeted us as we drove into my hometown.
Watertown, CT is Trump Country?
Things have changed.
And there were more signs like that.
Some for the other American candidate, too. But the racist and misogynistic right-wing felon was obviously the favorite of those who wished to convey political sentiments in my hometown.
It was shocking to me, even though I had heard the stories. Here were authoritarian support signs planted in front yards in a highly-educated coastal state that hasn’t had a Republican governor since 2011 or a Republican senator since 1989.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have been shocked.
Connecticut is a wealthy state but my hometown isn’t wealthy — and the folks there have always had a bit of a chip on their shoulders. I could see how a New York conman might lead a small-town crowd from “Let’s take care of our neighbors” to “THEY DIDN’T FUCKING EARN IT LIKE WE DID!”
Wait, There’s More
And then we stopped in the local drugstore.
After looking around the front of the store for what we needed, I asked the clerk at the register where the Kleenex travel packs were … and he glared at me.
I waited — unsure of why he wasn’t answering (there weren’t any other customers in the front of the store)— and then he spat his evenly-spaced-words at me.
“They’re.in.the.back. Near.the.other.tissues.”
Now I really didn’t get it.
What had I said to anger this older man? Yankees can be curt but I’m used to that. But, as I turned to head to the back of the store, I suddenly remembered what I was wearing.
It was just a normal Seattle outfit: one t-shirt with a small rainbow and a baseball cap with a small “kamala” on it.
Ohhhh.
Watertown, CT is Trump Country.
As we slid into the rental Jeep, my girlfriend said she had noticed stares from patrons in the coffee shop we had visited. (I had been oblivious because the obviously queer barista was mega-friendly.) I guess this corner of Connecticut wasn’t used to seeing two women holding hands.
Later, in the rental return place at JFK Airport, I suddenly recognized that I felt more relaxed. I turned to my girlfriend and said, “I feel safer here in New York City than in Watertown. Isn’t that funny? So many people of different races and ethnicities here. It feels more like home than my hometown.”
Like Bettye LaVette sings in this smokin’ version of a Bob Dylan song: things have changed.
Politics as Sport
But here’s the part that wasn’t so clear until I went to Connecticut: some (many?) of the right-wing supporters aren’t thinking of the long-term consequences of this election.
They’re bored and frustrated people — and they see this election more like a sports game. They support one guy. And you support that woman. This is fun to them. They’re not horrified or serious — they’re amused. One of my friends has a Trumper ex-husband who bought her t-shirts and pins that support Harris. Why?
Because he knew that was her team.
It’s a sports game to them.
Things have changed.
The Book That Makes a Lot of Sense Now
Back in 2020, I read Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein. One of his premises is that politics have become a sport in America — and that concept seems to have accelerated since then. Every day, we’re like: “Who’s winning? Who’s losing? What will happen next?”
But here’s the troubling part about regarding politics as sports: you’re only safe to do that if you’re a white male in America.
If you’re a white man in America, your rights are guaranteed and you’re at the top of the food chain. The rest of us? Our rights can be taken away pretty easily.
Women have already seen that happen.
That’s Not How It Should Be in the Land of the Free
Your rights aren’t a sports game. My rights aren’t a sports game.
Nobody’s rights should be taken away based on who wins and who loses an election. That’s insane. But here we are.
And what can you do?
Vote like your life depends on it … because it does.
And make sure everyone you know is making informed decisions and voting. Check up on them. Drive them if they need a ride. Help in any way you can. Because we all want to vote in more elections, not just this one last time.
And maybe things have changed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change them again.
Better Signs from NYC:
