The United States began with hard fought battles during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Northern New York played key roles in each and evidence of that legacy of liberty remains. Every year the victory by American forces in 1814 on Lake Champlain in the Battle of Plattsburgh is remembered. This year, they were also pondering the future of the country as the presidential election nears. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley has the first story in WAMC’s special news series “Who We Are Now.”
It’s early September and crowds have gathered in downtown for the annual Battle of Plattsburgh festival and commemoration. The festivities and parade are patriotically themed and as people look back at the battle on the bay that helped preserve the fledgling nation, they are also talking about the importance of the upcoming election and what their vote might mean for the future of the country.
“How are you doing?” a woman asks as I approach.
“Okay, how are you?”
“I’m good,” she replies.
“I’m talking to people about their perceptions of the presidential campaign,” I start and she responds with a laugh.
Wayne County resident Sherry Conner is keeping her eye on her grandson near the kids play tent. She is a registered Republican.
“I don't know about either one. I don't. I can't. I like him but I don't like him. I don't like his voice. He's so like a bully. But he has good ideas sometimes and I think he did do pretty good when he was president the first time. I think he found a lot of good jobs and stuff. Kamala Harris has got a really good energy, but I've never seen her do anything as vice president. So I don't know. I'm stuck in the middle here,” Conner ruminates.
“So a lot of people would sit back and say how can somebody be undecided? How do you respond to those folks?”
“I guess I just haven't seen anything that has caught my 'Okay, that's a good idea.' And the whole system kind of is goofy to me. I don't know if you can believe half of what anybody else says.” Connor adds, “And then the President can say he wants to, he or she wants to, do X, Y and Z. But then, who is it, Congress is the one to say no well we're not going to do that. Too bad.
“We've had some twists and turns. Biden was the original candidate. He dropped out. Harris came in. We've had Trump going on for quite a while with the campaign. Overall what do you make of all of these twists and turns and changes and has that impacted your, I want to say undecidedness, but I don't know if that's a good word.”
“Yes and no, because I think Trump had it when Biden was in and as soon as he dropped out, boom, Kamala climbed right up in there. But again, I didn't see Kamala Harris do anything when she was in vice president,” Conner says.
“Do you know yet if you're going to vote?”
Conner nods and smiles. “Oh, I'm definitely going to vote. Yep. Just don't know who I'll be voting for just yet.”
Further down City Hall Place, Plattsburgh resident Eric Peary is watching bed races. Beds mounted on wheels, each with a local celebrity sitting on it, are pushed up and down the street by teams of SUNY Plattsburgh students in elimination rounds until a winner is determined. Peary feels the election is extremely important.
“I feel the core of our country is at stake.”
“So what do you make of the presidential campaign so far?” I ask.
“I think it's been a little lopsided,” Peary says. “I don't like the fact that the Democratic side, they've kind of basically ignored the people and have made little to no effort to get out, talk to the people, address their policies, where she stands on different issues and things. I feel like there's a lot of flip flopping going on with her. As far as you know, what she's going to do, what she's not going to do. I don't really agree with the way things were handled. I think a more democratic process should have happened as far as who the Democrats were going to put out for a candidate, not just kind of slide someone in, you know, and okay this is who you guys need to accept and didn't really give us any choice or any say in the matter. It's kind of coming down to, you know, the lesser the two evils which is unfortunate for the country. It's tough. It's really tough right now.
“Have you decided who you're going to vote for?”
“Absolutely. I will be voting for Trump,” asserts Peary. “I felt like we were a lot better. Yeah, I mean, he has some very cringe-worthy moments and all but I had more money in my pocket. It was easier to do things, housing, gas, food, a lot more affordable, more money in my retirement, my savings accounts, versus how it's been for the last three and a half, almost four years. It's just, it's been brutal. You can't get ahead. I think there needs to be an awakening, eye opening, as far as how things have been and you know, you want things to change in this country, people need to get out and vote and make their voices heard and hopefully that still counts for something in this country.”
BJ, who didn’t want to give her last name, was chatting with League of Women Voters representatives at the Battle of Plattsburgh festivities. She says democracy is on the line this year.
“I think Harris is great. I think she's going to be a great leader and I think we need to support her. Trump is a disaster waiting to happen again,” BJ contends.
“How concerned are you that the race so far remains close?”
“There are too many negatives regarding Trump,” BJ says. “I can't understand it. I don't know what people are thinking.”
“What have been the most important issues for you this year?”
BJ thinks for a moment. “Well, freedom. Freedom and women's rights. We don't need to go backward as Harris says. Those are the main ones.”
A group of SUNY Plattsburgh students are gathered on the sidewalk as they wait their turn to provide the muscle for the races occurring up and down City Hall Place. Communications Junior Joseph Earcher feels that this will be one of the most important elections ever for the country and he unabashedly supports Donald Trump.
“Because our country is shit. It's falling apart. Gas is up. Everything's up. It just needs to change. We need change in the White House,” declares Earcher.
“So what do you make of the presidential campaign?”
“So two options. Honestly, I know who I'm voting for. Donald J Trump is who I'm voting for in November,” Earcher proudly declares.
Standing next to Earcher, Kevin Murray blurts out, “Oh yeah!”
“Why?” I ask Earcher.
“Because he, I liked what he did last time and he's gonna bring exactly what he did last time to the table,” explains Earcher. “So that's who I'm voting for. I'm standing by it.”
“How many students on campus do you think do support Trump?”
“I think 80% of the kids on campus are for Donald J. Trump to be the next president of United States,” Earcher estimates.
“A lot of you guys are nodding. Why do you support Trump?”
Political Science Junior Kevin Murray jumps into the conversation.
“You look at the economy over the past three years and gas prices have been up severely. I'd say grocery prices, you know, you look up 25% increase over the years. Jobs are getting plummeted. Guys are working four days a week, five days a week, and not making as much as they should in the past 10 years,” Murray observes. “I mean, education is through the roof right now. I mean, you know, you need a master's program to even get it considered a job at this point.”
“What do you make of the twist and turns that have occurred? Initially, it was Trump versus Biden. Now it's Trump versus Harris.”
“I feel like he knew he wasn't going to make it,” replies Earcher. “I mean, you saw how his debates went. Sloppy, stuttering, you know, and you look in the news about, like, how his actions, he's falling over the place. So he knew he had to step down. And it would be 10 to, I would have stepped down if that's what happened to me. So, I mean, it's, it's a little confusing. It's like, a little like, all right, like, what's going on with our country, but now that we have two people ready to go and vote for, I feel like now the twists and turns are all over and you know, come time vote, we'll be all ready to go.”
Later in Trinity Park, Watertown native Kolin Kriner is picking up litter and debris left by revelers following the parade. The public relations and journalism major at SUNY Plattsburgh sees a divisive campaign.
“There's things both sides want but each side doesn't want the exact thing that the other side wants and so I feel like it's causing a lot of dispute and disruption between both sides. We're in a spot where we're not really unified as a nation. We're more divided,” Kriner says.
“Have you decided who you're going to vote for?”
“This year I'm planning on voting for Harris. I feel like neither of them are my favorite choice but I do stand by a lot of what she believes in,” Kriner says. “Personally, I find myself being more of a socially liberal, economically conservative person. But I just feel like even after the debates, no one's been really clear on any plans or anything. So I want to just vote where I know there will at least be something good coming out of it, rather than having to play a guessing game of the good that could come economically, I guess. I'm not registered as Republican or Democrat. I consider myself more of an independent, choosing what's more right for the country."
"How do you think historians will look at this presidential campaign?"
"I think they'll definitely look back on it and be like, wow America was wild then," predicts Kriner. "I mean, we have our first black woman being the nominee for the Democratic Party which is pretty amazing. We have a convicted felon running for president. Nobody wants to talk policy ever since, like, the last few debates. Not even this year, but in the past looking back, they felt so much more like formal and the candidates would agree on things and it felt just a lot more like the candidates respected each other. But I feel like suddenly, out of nowhere, it's just like them trying to make a laughing stock of each other.
The general election is November 5th and early voting has begun in many areas.
