Fecteau: The Futile Anti-Trump Protests

Friday, November 18, 2016

 

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PHOTO: thinkprogress.org

I was just as appalled as most people when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. This was a scary prospect after he ran such a divisive, and bigoted campaign. The Trump campaign was a grotesque parody of what a serious campaign should look like. I felt I was watching a grim reality television show at times. 

Recently, protestors have taken to the busy streets across to the United States, to proclaim Mr. Trump doesn’t represent them. While civil disobedience should be highly respected, my burning question to many of these protestors is merely, where were you on election day? 

Considering the stakes of this election, a noteworthy amount of eligible voters simply did not vote. According to the United States election project, only 58% of qualified Americans voted in the last election. This meant Trump outright won the presidency with some 40% or around 100 million of the entitled voting population not even casting a ballot. 

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Protestors didn’t vote in larger numbers compared to that of the general voting population. In Portland, Oregon for example, one survey found only about half of those arrested for protesting voted. In other words, a number of people couldn’t find their way into a polling place this past election, but can find days to protest the results and risk years in jail. 

Many had a good chance to rebut Trump, but some did nothing.  If only more people voted, the results would have been much different. In fact, according to some scientific polls, if millennials voted in larger numbers, Mrs. Hillary Clinton would have been our next president.  

While there is a purpose for some protests, the point is mooted with the anti-Trump protests, especially after the election. These dissents seem to be more about protesting the man, than objecting to any bizarre or outlandish policy he has yet to introduce.  Protests are great to inspire, but what exactly are the protestors inspiring? It will not change the election result. 

While we should come out against any mentally unbalanced plan Trump might gradually introduce, protesting the man himself seems silly, and meaningless. Trump isn’t going to stop being Trump. Those sexual assault allegations, you likely knew about them before the election. Those unethical business practices were talked about ad nauseam. That KKK endorsement, well, that was out there too. Somehow though, a lot of people failed to vote to rebuke him. 

The election is over.  Mr. Trump won.  Save your energy for his next unhinged policy proposal, better yet, cast a ballot next election – that is the ultimate form of protest against the current status quo.  

 

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Matt Fecteau ([email protected]) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island lost to state Senator Jamie Doyle in 2016’s Democratic primary. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq war veteran.

 

Related Slideshow: Winners and Losers - 2016 Election

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Winner

Joe Trillo and John DePetro

While most Republicans in Rhode Island were hiding in the bushes, Trillo (the former GOP lawmaker) and DePetro (the WPRO talk show host) were loyal advocates for Donald Trump from the beginning and through the rough spots.

Both could be big winners and could score slots with the administration -- want to go to the White House? You now know the rings you need to kiss.

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Winner

Donald Trump, President of the United States

The most unlikely candidate pulled off the biggest victory in Presidential history. The billionaire developer was underestimated which set forth much of his success during the primaries and in the election. The next four years will never be dull.   

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Winner

General Michael Flynn

The Rhode Island native and URI grad will have a major roll in the Trump Administration and America's foreign policy. As top GOP consultant Ian Prior wrote in GoLocal in July about Flynn when he was on the VP shortlist:

Of course, there are any number of national security experts that can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton, but Flynn is unique. He is a registered Democrat that was appointed by President Obama in 2012 to serve as Director of the DIA. Even more importantly, he resigned two years later over what he believed to be a misguided approach by the administration as it concerned ISIS.

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Loser

Nellie Gorbea, Secretary of State

This year's election was one of the the most mismanaged in modern Rhode Island history. First, the Chief-of Staff of the Secretary of State's office gets into a battle with talk show host John DePetro on social media. The action seemed inappropriate at best for the head of the office administering the election.

Then, the state's Presidential election hit a number of rough spots with faulty equipment and a failed repair and triage system that lead to long lines and frustration in a number of communities across the state.

The job of Secretary of State has three major components:

1) Take care of the State's achieves

2) Maintain a database of businesses

3) Run the state's elections

She needs to assure voters that she understands the problems and correct the mistakes.

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Loser

Brandon Bell, GOP Chair

Both Democratic Congressional candidates won big. The GOP had a net loss in the legislature.

Bell went all in on taking out Speaker Nick Mattiello -- a pro-business legislator, instead of recruiting a large number of competitive candidates. If Mattiello delivers of paper ballots like his campaign claims - Bell will have wildly miscalculated at every level and will have left the GOP a weaker party.

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Losers

Cicilline and Langevin

A Trump win greatly increases the likelihood that Rhode Island will lose a Congressional seat in the next federal redistricting. Rhode Island will be more like Vermont and Delaware -- two Senators and just one House member. This will mean a big loss for Rhode Island's clout in D.C.

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Winner

Allan Fung, Republican Mayor of Cranston

Fung had just the kind of night he wanted to have. He ran up big numbers against Democrat Mike Sepe and put parkinggate in his proverbial rear window.

The margin of victory is impressive -- Fung ran up 68% of the vote and has established himself as one of the top Republicans in Rhode Island.

Now, the personable Fung is the GOP frontrunner to challenge Raimondo as it does not look like she is going to Washington, D.C. now.

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Loser

RI's Broken Technology Infrastructure 

No money, no car, and no vote.

Lets see if we got this right. You have to wait in line to vote in some locations for as much as two hours because not enough scanners were deployed. Some days you can't register your car because the Hewlett-Packard system is not deployed and the state is now suing the company. And, tens of thousands of folks most in need have not been able to get their most critical benefits (or the from benefits) because the UHIP technology was flawed despite hundreds of millions being spent. 

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Winner

Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello

If Mattiello does hold on to his House seat, he will be a stronger Speaker than ever before. He has added more Democrats to his majority and was the architect to many of the Democrats victories. 

The simmering stress between Mattiello and Raimondo will turn into a vibrant boil over during the next two years. Raimondo was no help to Mattiello or House members -- they had to clean up for her truck tolls and absorb her unwillingness to release 38 Studios documents.

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Loser

Gina Raimondo, Governor

Raimondo's options and national political network just took a major blow. No longer can Raimondo jump to the Clinton Administration to avoid a difficult reelection. Moreover, national Democratic connections are now in Siberia as the Presidency, the House and the Senate are all in Republican hands.

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Loser

Peter F. Neronha United States Attorney District of Rhode Island 

In a short period, it is highly likely the Neronha and a few other high profile political appointees will be replaced by the Trump White House. 

The impact of Ray Gallison and others is an unknown.

 
 

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