Putnam Reacts to President-Elect Trump
DAVE ROCCO PHOTO
In an election day that echoed to every major city and every small Rust Belt town in America early Wednesday morning, Donald Trump, in stunning victory, was elected the 45th president of the United States.
Beating his Democratic foe Hillary Clinton, Trump, the Republican nominee, clinched 290 electoral votes against Clinton, who only mustered 228, according to results calculated later in the week.
In Putnam County, Trump easily cruised with almost 57 percent (25,241 votes) of the vote, while Clinton only secured 39 percent (17,363 votes). Third party candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson got three percent of the vote between the two in the county.
During the GOP primary, Trump grabbed 70 percent of the overall vote in Putnam, proving to be very popular among the strong Republican county.
Reaction to Trump’s win fell along political party lines in Putnam, with Republicans gleeful and Democrats in a state of uncomfortable shock.
Putnam Republican Committee chairman Tony Scannapieco said from the very beginning, he knew Trump was going to win, noting there was a very large silent undercurrent for the billionaire candidate. He couldn’t even watch cable news a week before the election because every pundit predicted a Clinton win.
“I knew it, I just knew in my gut feeling that he was going to win,” Scannapieco said. “All these guys on TV, all these bloggers thought they knew everything, they didn’t know anything, but I did. Maybe they should call me next time.”
Scannapieco said he couldn’t remember a time in his life where an election day turned out to be as dramatic as this one. The most comparable thing he could think of is Harry Truman’s shocking presidential upset over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election before he was alive. (Truman was the Democrat in the race and held up a newspaper mistakenly declaring Dewey was the winner, an iconic photo to this day.)
“Holding up the Herald Tribune which said Dewey wins, that’s all I could think about,” Scannapieco said. “I was walking around (the Board of Elections) that night saying ‘Dewey wins!’”
Putnam Valley resident and Trump supporter Dan Vera said he hopes to see Trump trim a federal government that has grown too large. Because Trump has so much pride in his work, he’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill campaign promises like strong border security, Vera said. He wants to see Trump make America a respected country throughout the world again.
“I was so afraid she was going to win and that would be the downfall of this country,” Vera said, referring to Clinton. “In the last eight years this country has gone down.”
He called Trump a “bright light in the sky” and that he’s a man that won’t be influenced by interest groups or powerful politicians.
Southeast Councilman and Republican Bob Cullen watched results late into the night and was shocked by the final outcome.
“Americans wanted a government that puts them first,” Cullen said. “Not corrupt insiders.”
Putnam Democratic Committee chairman Jim Borkowski said in a statement after 50 years of the country taking many steps forward, including civil rights, women rights, economic freedom, voting rights and freedom of choice, the country is taking a step back. He called the thought of a Trump’s presidency, “shocking.”
“This battle was lost. But not the war,” Borkowski said. “Those who think beyond themselves must stand up again, dust themselves off, and fight to regain that step that was lost.”
Carmel Democratic Committee chairwoman Jennifer Colamonico said she was more horrified than shocked when she saw Trump pulling ahead of Clinton as results poured in. As someone who used to be in political polling and market research, Colamonico figured there were “people off the grid” ready to vote for Trump and that fear was soon realized.
Colamonico had both an emotional and a rational reaction. Emotionally, she was devastated and in disbelief “that this kind of person was deemed acceptable to people.”
Rationally, she wondered what the federal government and presidency would look like over the next fours years.
“Is he going to continue to be the hate monger or is he going to bring people together,” Colamonico said.
Patterson resident and a past Democratic candidate for multiple offices Andy Falk said he’s worried a Trump presidency could lead to a Supreme Court that could peel back abortion rights, gay marriage, equal protection rights, voting rights, and weaken labor unions.
“My opinion is that unchecked, the policies that President-elect Donald Trump espoused if enacted will not make America great again but will diminish us as a nation,” Falk said. “That being said, I hope I am wrong.”
He also feared Trump could dismantle many President Obama crafted programs, including the Affordable Care Act and Wall Street reform. He additionally hopes Trump’s explosive language during the campaign doesn’t lead to bullying in local communities.
“And if he builds a wall,” Falk said. “I will raise my children to tear it down.”
