A block away from the Harris fundraiser in downtown Pittsfield, a representative of Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s campaign told WAMC that the divisive nature of the presidential election is auspicious for smaller parties.
“People are disgusted with both parties," Cheryl Rose of Dalton said. "A lot of people don't realize, though, how similar the two parties are, that they really, that this 2025 Project that everybody's very excited about is really just the GOP agenda that's been happening over decades, and the Democrats have basically allowed this, or even been complicit in some instances.”
She says she used to vote Democrat before raising the Green banner.
“I took me a while to wake up and realize that, in fact, the Democratic Party was never going to allow a true progressive agenda to happen, to be implemented," Rose continued. "But Jill Stein doesn't take big money, and that really is a foundational piece of saying you're not working for the big money. Jill Stein's candidacy is about people, planet, and peace. It's a pro-worker campaign, an anti-climate catastrophe campaign, and an antiwar campaign. We find that the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, constantly say they don't have money for health care, housing, all the existential crises in people's lives these days. And yet, when it comes to war and bailing out Wall Street, they find billions of dollars with a snap of a finger.”
The Stein campaign is fighting to get her on the ballot in Massachusetts.
“There's a lot of media that makes people very afraid of Trump, but I feel that that has a lot to do with them being a little less informed about the total picture of what Democrats have been doing," said Rose. "Somehow, they are able to forget what happened on campuses this last spring with the- We've lost our right to protest, we're losing our right to dissent, and frankly, just getting a third-party candidate on the ballot, the incumbent parties put so many obstacles up, it's quite challenging and sometimes not possible when you're not taking billionaire money to make it happen.”
Closer to the Colonial Theatre where Harris addressed a sold-out crowd and raised $1.4 million for her presidential bid, a man in a Tom Brady jersey bearing a Robert F. Kennedy sign spoke with WAMC.
“Kennedy should have been on the debate stage, he should be on the next debate stage. He has a lot to offer, and one of his central, in my opinion, one of his central efforts, is to get big money out of Washington and reverse Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, 2010. It's a shame, it's an insult to we, the people, that corporations are running Washington," said Dominic Villani of Lanesborough. “I do not want Trump in the White House. I believe he’s not what would be good for this country. I do believe that Kennedy has the resources and mindfulness to bring this country in a right direction and perhaps back together. He's an ethical man. He's got a track record that I've seen, starting with Hudson River Keeper. So, to me, he's got strong ethics. I am upset the way the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have managed to muscle him out of the discussions, and so that's why I stand here today.”
A handful of former President Donald Trump’s supporters were also on the scene.
“We're hoping to defeat Kamala Harris or whoever it is they decide to run after their convention, and we're going to make America great again. We're going to restore energy independence, we're going to export our oil and gas bring revenue in, we're going to lower taxes, we're going to close the border, and we're going to stop fentanyl, we're going to stop human trafficking," said Christopher J. Ryan, the Massachusetts Republican Party State Committee member representing the Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester State Senate District. “We're going to bring inflation back down so young kids can afford their first house, because they're paying, what is it, 6% or 7% right now? They can't afford it. We're going to restore the economy that it was under President Trump. It was humming along, and we're going to extend his first term and repair all the damage of the Biden-Harris administration.”
The Republican says he doesn’t think Harris poses a real challenge to Trump’s bid for a second term.
“The little bump she's getting right now is going to wear off as she starts doing one-on-one interviews, because, as you know, she's very bad on one-on-ones," he said. "She's good on teleprompter. I'm watching her do teleprompter. She's pretty good, but when it comes to sit down, she's just vacuous. I mean, she doesn't know what the hell's going on.”
Ryan rejects Democratic rhetoric that frames Trump’s ambitions as dictatorial and paints his followers as belonging to a fascist cult of personality.
“We're not Nazis, that's ridiculous, the Republican told WAMC. "There's no evidence he's going to govern like a dictator. He's going to govern, and I felt more involved in my government when he was president than I do now. I go home every, I go to bed every night wondering if I'm going to get a knock on the door.”
The general election is November 5th.
