Why I went to Bangor to see the president's plane land

Donald Trump’s campaign decided at the last minute to do a gig in Maine yesterday after a rally in New Hampshire. Why not, right? There’s one electoral college vote up for grabs in the second congressional district and the president needs all the help he can get to reach the magic number of 270.

Since last week’s second and final debate I’ve been having a familiar sinking feeling. My gut is telling me Trump just might win again and I wanted to see for myself what was happening so I hopped in my car, plugged in to Spotify and hit the road.

First of all, have you heard the Amy Winehouse song “Valerie” Live at BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, in London? If not you must.

Of the many privileges of being privileged, cruise control with radar is one of my favorites. It makes road trips for tight hips fun again. Normally my standard Bangor trip involves a mandatory stop at the rest area south of the Queen City on I-95 but this time I didn’t stop and that was a good move. Just as I arrived the president’s plane was landing. I jumped out of my car and ran to the fence separating the airport from the crowds of people out in force to greet their guy. There were cheers and lots of trucks and flags but to my great relief no public display of guns or support for the Confederacy.

Minutes later we could see through the fence the helicopter that presumably contained our orange-faced leader and campaign strongman rise and flutter and then zoom out of view. Who cares what he would eventually say in an orchard 20 minutes north to 3000 or so mask-less fans? What he says doesn’t matter. Its the show people love. Trump’s imagery of strength is powerful. I felt it standing there 6 feet away from hundreds of people wildly happy to be outdoors together on a crisp autumn day in northern, Maine.

And I wasn’t scared — at least not scared of being tarred and feathered or shot — but I passed on trying to get to the orchard event because the best route took me ironically past the city’s drive-through COVID testing facility so the traffic was jammed and because unlike Trump’s base I believe super spreaders are real.

The president’s campaign did not respond to my request for press credentials so I was among the great unwashed when I went to Bangor to see if Trump supporters are worse than Bernie Bros. Turns out they are the same.

I went to Bangor to see if I would find hate, macho gun brandishing and militias. What I found was a crowd of very enthusiastic right wingnuts exercising flagrantly their freedom of expression and their choice to test fate.