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Undertaker enters the ring: Trump’s (very late) appearance in Traverse City

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By the time Donald Trump arrived three hours late in Traverse City for a campaign rally at a hangar near the airport on Friday, Oct. 25—11 days before the presidential election—the thousands of MAGA faithful gathered there were cold, tired and hungry. Toddlers dozed in their parents’ laps or curled like branches around their shoulders. Two women huddled together against a lamppost outside the hangar while they puffed on cigarettes. An exhausted couple lay on the cold concrete near the press area, eating corndogs. Hundreds left when they realized that Trump wouldn’t arrive any time close to his 7:30 scheduled appearance. The crowd gathered in Traverse City represented a cross section of northern Michigan. Some had driven across several counties to get here. There were medical workers, realtors, food service workers, and a few college students. They were very young, middle aged, and old, some very old. They showed kindness and compassion to their fellow attendees. When an exhausted and dehydrated person fell over, strangers raced to him and offered support, water bottles, and encouragement. Nevertheless, a sense of caution, even mistrust, undergirded some at the rally.

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Childless locals care for Leelanau’s future

There are many reasons women choose not to have children, and there are situations where it is not even a matter of choice but a physical impossibility. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance asked in a 2021 interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” A group Vance targeted with this question is one he defines as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” Not long after, while speaking at a recent Trump rally, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas Governor and former White House Press Secretary for Donald Trump, claimed that her children are “a permanent reminder of what’s important,” following with a comment about Vice President Kamala Harris’ lack of anything to keep her humble. What Vance and Sanders are alluding to is their belief that women without biological children are inherently selfish and see no direct stake in the future of our nation. At a time when politicians are taking to the national stage to chastise women without biological children, Abby Chatfield spoke to 10 Leelanau women without kids of their own who collectively believe that we all have a stake in the future, regardless of whether or not we bear children. These locals show their dedication to Leelanau County’s future by investing in its youth, improving services for senior citizens, and fighting for the environment.

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Trump’s mass deportation threat worries Leelanau’s tight-knit Latino community

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They pick our cherries in the summer and our apples in the fall. They care for our vineyards and clean our rental houses. They raise children here, enroll them in public schools and celebrate quinceañeras in local parks. Many have lived in Leelanau County for decades. Out of 22,000 residents—according to the latest Census—as many as 1,000 of our neighbors identify as Hispanic or Latino. Many have an undocumented parent or family member living here in northern Michigan, now as rooted here as the pine trees, though they crossed illegally into the United States years ago. The local Latino community is acutely aware that the subject of immigration is tossed around like a political football during this presidential election season. They hear Republican candidate Donald Trump’s threats to carry out the “largest deportation in American history” and his maligning of non-white immigrant communities—and it frustrates and concerns them. Some worry about being racially profiled; some have grown more cautious about sharing their legal status with fellow community members; some worry about an environment of anxiety surrounding their kids, most of whom were born here and have U.S. citizenship.

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A brutal murder, politicizing a family’s pain, scuffing the thin blue line

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Leelanau County sheriff Mike Borkovich flanked Donald Trump at a campaign appearance in Grand Rapids on April 2, where Trump used bombastic, anti-immigrant rhetoric following the murder of Ruby Garcia by an undocumented immigrant in late March. The victim’s family accused Trump of politicizing their pain. He said that he had spoken with the Garcia family, which he did not. At the Leelanau Board of Commissioners meeting on April 9, some constituents are expected to voice their displeasure with Borkovich traveling, in uniform, to stand with Trump.

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Republican votes rise, Democratic votes fall in Leelanau in 2024 Michigan Primary

Significantly more Leelanau County residents voted on the Republican than on the Democratic side of the ballot in yesterday’s Michigan presidential primary election — the opposite of the results from the 2020 primary election. Voter turnout yesterday in Leelanau was 35 percent of eligible voters, compared to 39 percent in 2020. That being said, Biden won more votes (2,803) than Trump (2,567) yesterday, which could prove instructive once the campaign eventually becomes a two-way race. It’s unclear how many votes for Haley yesterday were Democratic-leaning voters who switched ballots in order to vote against Trump.

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Protect American democracy. Restore our values. Fire Trump.

This particular election season falls during dangerous times. The United States, our democracy, our code of honor, our ability to keep our fellow citizens out of harm’s way, our time-honored identity as a nation of immigrants, all seem more fragile than ever before. At the polls on November 3, or beforehand if you are voting by mail, we must team up and elect Joe Biden as our next president.

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Northern Michigan constituents clamor for time with Congressman, as protests surge nationwide

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Northern Michigan’s newest member of Congress, Rep. Jack Bergman, is showing up all over the 1st District — just not always in person. Progressive-minded citizens have unsuccessfully sought an audience with Bergman to voice their concerns about the Trump presidency, the new White House cabinet, the administration’s Russian connection, executive orders that target Muslims, refugees and Latino immigrants, and a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Instead they have posted “Where’s Jack?” posters on social media and in physical locations in towns across the district.

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Nation of immigrants

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore hosted a naturalization ceremony on July 21 for 20 new United States citizens, who hail from 15 different countries. They are white, black and brown; their names and native country religions are Protestant, Catholic and Muslim. Like American immigrants for the last 238 years, they are hardworking, creative and devoted to their new nation.

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