04741 has voted: Trump, Poliquin and a bunch of no’s

Maine and New England’s northern-most voter cast his absentee ballot today (11/2) and reported in to Mainely Thoughts. This anonymous reader lives in Estcourt Station, Maine, says he’s the only registered voter in the zip code that straddles the border, and votes at the Fort Kent town office.

The kind gentleman to whom I spoke at the Fort Kent town office said that to the best of his knowledge my reader is only registered voter there, but I’d have to wait for the clerk to return on Monday for an official statement.

My wonderful readers are an eclectic bunch:  I’ve heard from Democrats, Republicans, and un-enrolled voters from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds all over the state. This particular reader (an early fan of my contribution work in the BDN before I even had a blog) likes to tongue-and-cheek brag that his views are just right of Ghengis Khan’s.

We’ve had our share of back and forth’s over this election cycle. Like all our back and forth’s, it included areas of agreement and disagreement, plenty of intellectual banter, and an ever-present undercurrent of humor.

Unlike our other back and forth’s, most of the laughter was followed by the dark sighs of realizing that our politics have grown so toxic, we probably shouldn’t be laughing anymore.

That’s our biggest area of agreement — something I think all voters of all opinions and persuasions can agree too:  this election cycle has been a travesty of our democratic process in every possible way. I think we can all agree to words like disturbing, depressing or any other number of words that represent an ongoing yuckiness we just can’t shake.

So I promised my reader we’d do a post running down the early results in 04741–

Stock image

Stock image

The presidential election:  Trump

My reader, who is a college-educated (degree in economics), semi-retired successful business owner and veteran, said his vote was not about confidence in Trump, per se, but a repudiation of Clinton.  He said he’s “not totally convinced that Trump is what he would call the ideal candidate,” but he is “convinced that Clinton should be indicted.”

In past conversations this reader has acknowledged Trump’s many flaws and a preference that he weren’t the Republican nominee. However he is “really, really concerned about Clinton Incorporated,” and doesn’t want to see it continued, referring the ongoing releases of information regarding the former president and secretary’s speaking engagements and other income-generated activities. 

Congressional District 2 race:  Poliquin

Again, neither candidate was exactly ideal for my reader, but he does not begrudge Poliquin’s success on Wall Street, as Emily Cain’s campaign suggests he should.  He does begrudge the big Democratic money behind Cain, and thinks it’s “hypocritical” of her to throw stones about Poliquin’s links to Wall Street without acknowledging the special interests pouring money into her campaign.

Maine State Senate, District 1:  Whoever was running against Troy Jackson

Which happens to be Republican Timothy Guerrette. My reader was tired from the long ride to and from Fort Kent, and chuckled when I asked about legislative races. He said, “You know, I can’t even remember who I voted for, but it was whoever was running against Troy Jackson. Who it was didn’t even matter to me.”

The six referenda:  All no’s

My reader has intelligently articulated concerns about each of the questions.  In general, though, like me, my reader has concerns about out of state money using the referendum process to draft legislation best duked out in the legislature, were the legislature more functional. He’s the first to cry foul over “out of staters coming here and passing laws like they have back where they came from, trying to turn Maine into wherever they came from.”

As for the bonds, my reader does believe we need to invest in our infrastructure, but he’s a former contractor. He says he’s run the numbers on some of the housing contracts that used to awarded through the Maine State Housing Authority in the past and had serious concerns about whether taxpayers were always getting the best price/quality per square foot.

He’d like to see some of the infrastructure contracts evaluated in a similar way given the significant sums being borrowed.

Anything else to vote on up there?  No, there’s not much going on up there.

My reader was talking to me on the phone from Sinclair, Maine, where he also owns property. Tongue in cheek, I asked him if he planned to accept the outcome of the election.

(It’s an inside joke:  we both agree that third debate moderator Chris Wallace should have also asked Clinton if she planned to accept the outcome, should Trump win. We presume it would be a lot harder for Clinton to form her lips around the title “President Trump” than vice versa.)

My reader replied that he “was waiting to see if this nation is truly going to end up in the sewage treatment plant,” and may consider secession.

Again, laughter followed by a dark sigh …

Patricia Callahan

About Patricia Callahan

Trish is a writer who lives in Augusta. She has worked professionally in education and social services.