Talk of the Towns 11/9/18

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Engineer: Denis Howard Community concerns and opportunities: 2018 Post Election Reflection Key Discussion Points: How would you characterize the 2018 elections… any general observations about the election process this year and any results you would like to highlight? Review results known in Maine (Governor, Congress, Senate seat, make-up of the new legislature)… What stands out for you in these results? Review results of Congressional Mid-Term elections (Control of House, Senate) What stands out for you? Though he wasn’t running, President Trump seemed to be a factor in these mid-terms, highlighting some of the stark differences between Republicans (under Trump) and Democrats. How did this seem to play out? Was it unusually polarizing? How did Trump seem to influence the results? In the wake of the Women’s March, the Me-Too movement, the Kavanaugh hearings, the Parkland student’s leadership of the March for our Lives demonstrations in March, Pantsuit Nation, Indivisible, outrage ties to white nationalism and racism, shootings and bombings… we saw impressive attempts to engage women, people of color, young-people? Any obvious results that affected this election cycle? Guests: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine, host of Democracy Forum that airs the third Friday of the month at 10 AM on WERU Jamie McKown, James Russell Wiggins Chair in Government and Polity, College of the Atlantic