People of Red Hook, by Lisa Gitlin

I didn’t want to ruin a beautiful day at the harbor for people hanging out at Food Bazaar’s outdoor lounge, but it was the day after the Biden – Trump debate and I felt compelled to ask:  What are your thoughts about the upcoming election?

Karen Curley – I was saddened (during the debate) by Biden’s inability to express himself without a teleprompter…I think he’s been a good president, I support him…but I was hoping that… he would come across as more coherent, and that he would be able to react quickly to some of the things Trump said, that he would be able to call him out and say, “That is a lie.” And he did a few times, but then he didn’t go on to refute some things it would have been easy to refute. Trump said thanks to the Democrats there are states where we have abortion at eight months, and where actions are taken that result in the death of newborns…and those were statements that Biden could have easily refuted, he could have said that there have always been limits on abortions…that they have always been limited to 24 weeks, that what Trump said was totally false. But he didn’t say that. And there were other things that stood out in my mind, where he couldn’t pull together a response.

Michael Funez – So we watched the debate last night and I think we’re doomed – I think we’re in trouble….They opened up the border, migrants are staying in these luxury hotels, getting these free benefits, and us, the hardworking people, what are we getting? We’re working every single day, and then we come home and we gotta deal with the kids, and when do we have our peace?… Biden’s been in public office for over 40 years, longer than I’ve been alive. Trump is a businessman turned politician. He knows how businesses work. If they could even tag team and work together, we’d be in better shape. Because they both have good views. But they’re working against each other….

So we need more alliances, to get things done…

Well yes, and speaking of alliances, Trump has alliances with Putin and Kim Jong Un. Biden hasn’t made any effort to reach across the globe…

So you think that Trump might be better for us in terms of international relations?

For international relations, yes.

So maybe we need more people spread across the political spectrum to do the complicated job that has to be done…

Yes. I think the United States has room even for two presidents, or the vice president should have the opportunity to do more…So come November we’ll see what happens.

So you don’t feel very optimistic? Or maybe you do…Maybe you feel as though there are solutions that haven’t been thought of yet.

Definitely…I think there are ways we could have peace…Peace is our overall goal right now, it’s better than war, and I think the guy that we need at this point might be Trump. Because he has those international ties.

Carter – I really lost faith in the political process after the DNC betrayed Bernie…I just think as long as there’s big money in politics it doesn’t matter who’s president. I’ve just gotten very disappointed and jaded over the past four years…

Well he and Bernie were working together at the beginning to put together a decent domestic agenda…

Well yeah, but everything got really watered down. I was never excited about Biden but he’s turned out to be even worse than I expected him to be… All his backtracking on student loan forgiveness, and walking back all his climate promises…

So are you discouraged about the immediate future of the country, in terms of politics and political leadership?

In the parties, yeah. I think there are a lot of young people doing good things outside of the political system. There are good things happening in America that the government is not responsible for, like mutual aid, people taking care of each other, forming co-ops…

But you don’t anticipate that the federal government will be very helpful to the people of America in the near future. (We both start laughing at the understatement)

Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it. When Trump is in power he encourages people to be more violent in their speech, but on a policy level, I don’t think there’s much difference between them.

Mattlen McDaniel – Yesterday’s debate was the worst that I have ever seen. It was an argument. It wasn’t even a debate. They hardly answered any of the questions that were asked…They just argued with each other. But as far as the election goes…I think it’s a strong run for Trump right now. Because the couple of times he did answer the question, he said exactly what everyone wants to hear. Every time they asked about the migrant situation, or the economy, he said all the things on social media everyone is saying. Biden was more or less saying, oh, I did this and I did that, and some of us were saying, ok, cool, but some of what Trump was saying we’re also seeing happen right now. Inflation is high.

How were you reacting to Trump?

I’m gonna be honest. He’s hilarious to me.

Well, you’re a New Yorker, right? He’s another New Yorker. A New York comedian and entertainer.

I was just gonna say that! He’s a true New Yorker. He comes right out and says what he’s gonna do. They need to pay attention to that.

Not that you’re  all enamored with his politics but you understand him, in a sense. 

Yes. I think it’s the New Yorker in me. How he talks? I can more or less relate and understand him, where with other people, it’s goin’ over their heads. I understand Biden too. He’s cool.. But right now we’re in shambles. I’m gonna give Biden a chance… I know he can’t three-sixty it in a couple of months, but…

Were you concerned about his performance yesterday?

No.  I honestly expected it. Biden stuttering and things? He always does that. So that was nothing new. Trump, he’s just confident. But I think Biden did a good job.

Do you support Biden?   

I’m just hoping he can turn things around. To be honest, I don’t know who I’m voting for in November. Every four years I usually know exactly who I’m voting for. This is the one time I actually don’t know. I don’t know what I’m gonna do with Biden, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with Trump. And Robert Kennedy Jr, I don’t even know where he’s at. I was hoping maybe he could get into it in some way. Just to have another choice. Because to be honest, nobody’s got much good to say about the two we’ve got right now.

Netty Morales – I do vote, and I am going towards Trump. His views are like my point of views. I just like the way he talks about the country. I voted for Biden the last time and I just don’t feel he’s doing enough. I think he broke a lot of promises. I don’t think he did enough on housing issues, on jobs…he hasn’t done enough for the middle class.

His supporters keep saying, the economy is buzzing along…

Well, we don’t see it. I don’t see it. Trump promises us a lot. But we do need a change. Maybe he can do better.

Do you have some of the same concerns about Trump that other people have, you know…

He’s a little too blunt. But maybe we need that. Maybe we need somebody to tell us how it is. So I think that’s why I’m voting for him this year.

Rommel Ripley – I’d rather have Trump because the economy was a lot better when Trump was in there. I can understand the need for immigration, but the way Biden opened the borders was way out of control. New York City residents are getting shafted. Immigrants are getting debit cards. They’re getting phones. They’re getting everything. But if you’re a United States citizen you have to jump through all kind of hoops just to get any kind of assistance. It’s a colossal mistake…Look what’s happened in California. I would never move to California. It’s a mess out there.

Yeah, it’s really sad. San Francisco used to be one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

And now it’s a den of homelessness. Drug use is out of control. People are living in cardboard boxes. It makes no sense. I would have wanted Trump the last time, but something happened, whatever happened, I still don’t understand it, but Biden won.

People have a lot of problems with Trump…with his personality…

Trump might be an asshole, but he’s our asshole.

Cathy Valenton – I would like for Biden to win, because I’m thinking that he’s taking charge of the community. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. It would be nice if we could have more funds, for more programs.

Did you have any concerns about his performance in the debate?

Yes, that part of it did worry me a little…This morning I was watching the news, and watching him and Trump (in the debate), and he was stuttering a lot, and I was thinking, he is getting up there.

Alice Johnson – I’m very scared. I’m still traumatized from when Trump was president before. And so the prospect of that happening again is overwhelming. It felt like we had somebody in power who was doing everything he could to hold on to that power, even after a free and fair election. We had someone in the Oval Office who had absolutely no empathy for anyone in any situation whatsoever. It didn’t feel like it was representative of who we are as a country. And until yesterday I was feeling pretty optimistic and confident that there was absolutely no chance that he every would be president again.

So you saw the debate.

Yes. And the optics did not make it seem like we had a strong case for why Biden should actually be president.

Were you surprised by his performance?

I was. Because I remember the debate four years ago and Biden doing quite well. Like I know people were still talking about his age, but still. And then I saw the (State of the Union address) and I was thinking, wow, he really nailed that one. And I was like, you know what, even though he is of a certain age, he still proves, barely, but he does prove that he deserves to be president still, and that he’s still a good representative for us.

Well, he was obviously showing his age, but you still feel okay about his policies?

Yes.  I think he’s got great environmental policies which I’m really excited about, and the idea of someone coming into office to undo all this work that has been done…it doesn’t matter who it is, even if it isn’t Trump, the thought that anyone could come in and undo it feels very disappointing. We’ve taken twenty steps back, and with Biden coming in as president we’ve taken maybe three steps forward, and we could lose any ground we’ve made so far.

James Kontzamanis – It’s a disgrace. We have two people, and one of them should be in prison, and I’m talking about Mr. Biden. Trump, he’s what he is. He’s a slob, he’s a bore – he is quite a character. He is who he is. You can’t expect more from him than he shows. He got to be president by making the other candidates look so bad. Because they were. Among those fifteen or sixteen people he ran against, he made them all seem like little boys.

And then he won.

Well, he spoke to a lot of complaints that a lot of people had.

You’ve been around a little bit, like I have. So you have a sense of history. But a lot of people think that our problems started with Trump. And they didn’t.

Trump was a symptom. I thought at the time, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe people will see that a country that could elect Trump is in big of trouble, and do something about it. And we got Biden.

Well Trump was president during the pandemic and that kind of disrupted everything.

That was something else that happened that made me not believe what anyone says anymore. It doesn’t matter who says it or what they say. You can’t trust anything anymore.

Including the media?

I haven’t bought a newspaper in twenty-five years. The mainstream media is disgraceful.

Why do you say that?

Because most of them are ignorant…Jake Tapper, Rachel Maddow…. I remember Rachel Maddow when she was on the radio, with Air America. I used to like her. But now she’s awful. She became something else. She just talks the government talking points.

So the establishment media and the government are not separate.

They’re all fused. The corporations are the government.

So what are your thoughts about the…upcoming election? You didn’t happen to see the debate yesterday?

I saw a clips. It was ridiculous.

It was pretty sad.