Throughout 2024, WAMC has spoken with Pittsfield residents to follow how everyday Americans are responding to a historically convoluted presidential election. Pittsfielders grappled with moments ranging from President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance that precipitated his decision to halt his re-election bid to the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s expensive private fundraiser at the Colonial Theatre in July made city history by bringing the full national political carnival to town for a day filled with protests, celebration, and activists from other parties seeking to win over attendees.
For an insight into the minds of the average Pittsfielder just days before the election, WAMC once again hit downtown thoroughfare North Street to gauge public opinion heading into November 5th.
“I really see it just getting worser, man. I don't see it advancing at all. I think things are just going to get worse," Eric Miller told WAMC. “I think with job situations, homelessness- I think that pretty much, I don't see the economy going up, it’s constantly going down. I see everything, just- More debt, less jobs, things of that nature.”
Miller talked about what he sees as the biggest issues in the election.
“More jobs, more opportunities," he said. "I think they need to focus on the people that are homeless already in America before they put all their money, time, and energy to immigrants, and we already here, suffering- Black, white, different colors. We already can't get resources and money, and things that they’re getting, we can't get. And it seems like it’s downpouring on the people that's here, the people that were born as an American, than immigrants. I don't really have a problem with the immigrants, but when they’re giving all the money and resources to them, it's like, they can't help, like they don't want to help the people already here.”
He says his cynicism comes from years of disappointment in the American political system.
“I think Republican, Democrat, they tell you what they want to tell you, what you want to hear, until they get into office," Miller told WAMC. "A lot of them don't do what they say they're going to do. But if I did vote, I think I will vote for Trump.”
Miller says the Democratic Party is particularly guilty of failing to deliver for the Black community.
“The Democrats, to me, always made Black people promises, a lot, and they never follow through with them," he said. "They just pull the race card all the time, but a lot of the time, I don't really think it's racism, man, you know? I mean, I just think they just use that card for to draw Black people over to them.”
He says Trump’s message is resonating.
“I think Trump is more worried about the economy, building America back and things of that nature," said Miller. "I think that he be more focused on bringing jobs and stopping different people from other countries, getting all the resources that we can't get- And we was born here, you know I'm saying? I think that need to cease a little bit. I think he'll help with that.”
More the point, Miller thinks the Harris campaign is fully off the mark with its efforts.
“To me, [Trump] speaks upon more about helping us than [Harris] does," he said. "She just goes off like that [Trump is] racist, he's bad. She goes off on a rant, anything they can find that’s troubling about him- It's like, she plays off that instead of focusing on the economy and help with jobs, resources. She kind of plays off on that. She doesn’t really talk about that much, to me, enough.”
As he prepares to vote in a presidential election for the first time, Pittsfielder James Grandson tells WAMC that he’s not surprised to see increasing support for the Republican Party among fellow Black voters.
“In their eyes, they believe that the Democrats have said, we're going to do this for you guys, we're going to do that for you guys, and nothing's been done," he explained. "Off the strength of that, they're kind of like, alright, if you're going to feed us lies but want us to vote for you, why not just go for the person who's directly telling us in our face that we're not going to do anything for you, you know? Which I can respect, but that doesn't make it much better than what they're still going to do. Just because they're telling you in your face, that doesn't make it better.”
Grandson is leaning toward a Harris vote due to her promised tax credit for parents of newborns.
“With this $6,000 parental payout she's doing, even though I don't plan on having kids anytime soon, I think that's a nice starting point for most people who don't have a choice, or have a choice, and they're like, I kind of want to have the kid, but I don't have the necessary backing for it- That could set them up well and it's a good start for them,” said Grandson.
He says it’s been hard to generate enthusiasm for either candidate.
“I'm more worried about how we're perceived from other countries, because, I don't remember, I think it was when they both debated each other, and it was kind of like- It felt like watching kids argue in kindergarten a little bit," Grandson said. "And I understand how, with stuff happening to other countries right now, like, I don't want to say- Yes, more serious things happen in other countries, and then they're looking at the US, who some look to for aid when they're having issues, and then we're having like, kindergarteners argue on TV, and I'm like, aw, man. Like, I get it. I get that they're joking, but they're very serious, but other countries might not take that as- They might not see the seriousness underneath the joking and stuff. So, I don't know. I'm kind of like, like I said, I'm just all over the place. It's funny to me, but it's not funny because it's a very serious situation.”
Additionally, Grandson says some of his biggest priorities haven’t been reflected by Harris or Trump.
“It's not something that everybody would want to speak up [about], but issues in certain Black communities, what could they do for- We are a decent group in America," he told WAMC. "I'm not saying that everything needs to be put around us, but I haven't heard either side say anything like, hey, we understand that Blacks are jobless or being pushed out through gentrification, or their schools, they're not really being taught about history- Anything like that. It's just something I would like to hear. I'm not saying that it needs to be the whole, their whole speech needs to be about it, but, like, a little something in there would be nice. So, it's just simple things, simple things.”
While at first Grandson wasn’t sure if he was going to vote, a chance encounter pushed him to action.
“It's funny, I just had this conversation with my friend's mom in New York," he explained. "I just came back from [there], and she was immediately asking me who [I was voting for]? And I was like, I'm undecided, but she was like, in her country, they, if you don't vote, you get fined. So, I was like, okay, yeah, let me do like, double the amount research real quick and try to figure this out. So, yeah, it's crazy.”
Over in the Common, a public park adjacent to downtown Pittsfield, Omarily Cirino watched her children play on the basketball court on a sunny autumn afternoon. WAMC asked what’s on her mind as America goes to the polls.
“Whatever is best for the future, whatever is best for the future, for the kids," she answered. "That's all I can say. I mean, I don't really have too much to say about politics.”
She explained why she’s feeling politically fatigued.
“It’s not that honest," Cirino said. "There’s no- I don't feel like there's any, there's no honesty in politicians, you know what I'm saying? They say a lot of what they want to do, and half of the things they say they're going to do they really don't do. So, I mean, that's all I can say.”
Her slate of issues that she wished she heard more about include supporting and protecting children.
“How they can keep funding better programs for the younger students so they can stay out of the streets and off their phones and off this nonsense," said Cirino. "I think that's what they should do, like the Girls Inc., or Boys and Girls Club, or any, like, keep those programs funded and keep them for a long time, because they actually do help, and come up with different type of programs for those young kids so they can stay out the street, stay out of trouble. Less population of pregnancy, less population of crimes, especially with the young people, and they won't be so lost.”
Sitting surrounded by her kids, Cirino says her hands are full enough with tending to her family and finding work to worry much about the election.
“I have a son, he's autistic, he has epilepsy," she said. "I'm trying to get my kids back. Just a lot of things like that.”
In front of local burrito chain Hot Harry’s on North Street, another Pittsfield voter told WAMC she’s committed to voting for Harris because the VP represents a vision of America closer to her own.
“It's really idealized, I will fully admit that. But I am, I don't know- I just want, again, very idealized, but I'm really hoping just for less hate, less fighting amongst one another, less of that pointing at one another and being like, oh, you're the evil one, you're the evil one, you want to do X, Y and Z," said lifelong Pittsfielder Isabelle Kite. “I am a transgender woman, and fortunately, in Massachusetts, that is one of the best places to be, it seems. And I want to be in an America where I feel like I can go and see the country and meet different people without the fear of being- I don't want to say shot, because that feels extreme, but attacked for who I am and the happiness that I found with myself.”
She says the vitriol from the modern Republican Party and Trump campaign toward the trans community has raised the stakes of the election.
“It sucks, it's terrible, because you have these people making such broad remarks about, oh, the trans people are planning on doing this and that," said Kite. "And it's like, motherfucker, I just want to go to work, wear a very nice dress so when I spin around, the skirt goes whoosh. I love that. I'm not here to force your children to be like me, I'm not here to push any belief down your throat. I am just existing here, and if you have a question, I'm always open for an answer.”
Against her wishes, election day has been reduced in some ways to an act of self-protection.
“I hate to just- It feels like downgrading the whole spectrum of everything by just saying, well, this side is obviously like less of a threat than the other, but like, everything I see out of the Trump campaign terrifies me, and I- I don't know. I remember what those years were while we had him in office, I remember dreading turning on the news every day to see what fresh hell we've gotten ourselves into," she told WAMC. "I hated seeing the excuses that people now had for their prejudices, their racism, sexisms, all that stuff. And I'm hoping that with a new – technically new administration, because Kamala isn’t technically, you know what I mean – that we would come together and be a little bit more open and honest with one another. Again, like I said before, it's very silly and very idealistic, but you’ve got to have something to believe in.”
Early voting in Massachusetts continues through November 1st. Election Day is November 5th.
