I went to the Town of Scituate where residents cast the highest percentage of votes in Rhode Island for Donald Trump in 2016. When you ask Trump supporters in this town what motivates them to vote, they say things like this:
“Getting more Republicans in.”
“We cannot let anybody overtake what we have done now, what Trump has done.”
“I mean the economy is, the way the country is. I mean, he’s doing a phenomenal job. At least he’s trying.”
That was Karen Lavigne, Beverly Najjar and Vera Ricci. I met Lavigne pushing a cart with a mum plant down the produce isles of a local market. She grew up in a conservative household on Federal Hill in Providence. And she said she’s frustrated by people protesting what she considers harmless traditions, like religious displays in front of public buildings.
“I feel like we’re losing some of the innocent things we used to say or do that people are taking wrong now,’’ she said.
Lavigne is among the nearly 60 percent of Scituate voters who cast ballots for Trump in 2016. And she sees this mid-term election as a kind of referendum on Trump’s presidency.
“A big turnaround happened when President Trump came in,’’ she said. “It’s crazy but I like that it’s stirring things up.”
To give you an idea of how Trump is stirring things up in this town, consider what happened here during the last election. Four political newcomers running as the “Independent Men” engineered a takeover of the Town Council. One of them boasted: “We’re like a team of Donald Trumps.”
“It’s definitely a little coarser politics,’’ said Michael J. Marcello, a former state Representative from Scituate. “It’s a lot more confrontational than it had been.”
Marcello is running for School Committee. He’s also a Democrat, which makes him something of a minority in this town. He showed me the town’s new police station – spearheaded by the Independent Men – and Scituate’s biggest asset: its reservoir.
“This is Kent Dam and it’s probably one of the most beautiful sites in Scituate (and) in Rhode Island,’’ Marcello said. “And this is the dam that creates the reservoir.”
The reservoir is surrounded by woods and three-acre house lots, which helps preserve the town’s rural appeal. The median annual household income here is just under $82,000.
And Beverly said business here is growing. She owns the Coldbrook Café, a homey coffee shop in town.
“And as long as my economy is good, my business is really good,’’ she said, “and people have a few dollars; less people on welfare, absolutely.”
Najjar and her husband are American citizens who immigrated to this country from Lebanon. And she’s proud of the business they worked hard to build. Too many people in this country, she said, feel like the government owes them something. She’s concerned when she sees people shopping with food stamps
“I’m not depriving people of food,’’ she said, “but when you kind of know that these people aren’t working…”
The perception that people using food stamps aren’t working runs counter to studies that show most able-bodied adults who get food stamps also work. But it’s a perception I heard from a lot of Republicans I talked to. So is the idea that America needs more secure borders.
“I think it’s important that we really crack down on whose coming into the country,’’ said Mary Ellen Zavota, who was watching her nephew play soccer. “Not that I don’t want people to come into the country, but I just think there needs to be more rules about it. It needs to be a safer place.”
Besides immigration, Zavota said, “the abortion issue is big with me. And I’m for no abortions.”
But not all people I spoke to said they’re happy with the direction the country is headed.
“I don’t like it at all, I think it’s terrible,’’ said Kenneth Polselli, his eyes on his 12-year-old grandson, Jake.
Polselli is a retired businessman. He’s also a Democrat. And he’s angered by what he thinks is a lack of leadership in response to President Trump. “Apparently the Republican Party is willing to follow whatever the hell he comes up with,’’ he said, “and I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
And Polselli said his dissatisfaction with Trump will drive his vote in the mid-terms. “I hope everyone else feels that way,’’ he said. “But the problem is there were 90 million registered voters that time that didn’t bother to vote. So there we go.”
Actually, there were even more voters who didn’t cast ballots in 2016; the estimate is closer to 100 million. Though voting historically declines during midterms, a new Rhode Island Public Radio, Providence Journal, Channel 6 poll shows that three-quarters of Rhode Islanders express strong interest in next month’s election. And research shows voter turnout also is affected by the economy and the popularity of the president.
The biggest wildcard in Rhode Island’s election may be unafilliated voters. People like Norman Ramos, who I met at a local diner.
What do you think about the Trump administration?
“Not much… I’m not a Donald Trump fan.”
Ramos retired 10 years ago from his job in the flooring business. He said he’s not a big fan of politicians, but he votes because he feels it’s his civic duty.
When I asked if Trump motivates him to vote in this mid-term election, his response was emphatic.
“Yes, resounding yes!’’ Ramos said. “I see this guy, my president – I didn’t vote for him but he is my president – I see how people we’re lax enough to let him get in. And I think that if I cast my vote maybe it’ll just sway things the other way.”
So whether you’re happy with the direction the country is headed or not, people in this town agree on one thing: The stakes are high going into this mid-term election.
