Last November in Kenton County, 30,000 people voted against Donald Trump – and countless others, unfortunately, stayed home.
But as one outrageous day leads to the next embarrassing week, more and more Kenton Countians are coming to the realization that our nation elected an unqualified, undignified, unprepared reality show host to lead this country.
You know it; I know it; tens of thousands of our neighbors also know that the Republic Party made a huge mistake by putting their party’s electoral success above the welfare of our nation.
And yet even now, as Mr. Trump continues to teeter-totter from one disastrous position to the next, our local leaders from the Republic Party remain quiet – refusing to publicly denounce or dispute the many ridiculous and even dangerous things that their party’s elected leader does and says.
Does Republican State Representative Diane St. Onge approve of all the disparaging remarks that Mr. Trump has made about women?
Does our Republican Sheriff Korzenborn agree that Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for defying a lawful order of a Federal District Judge, should have been pardoned – even before he was sentenced?
Does our Republican Congressman Thomas Massie believe that there were “fine people” among the mob that marched with torches in Charlottesville?
Does Republican State Representative Kim Moser agree with Mr. Trump, that building a wall will end the opioid crisis that is killing so many of our fellow citizens?
How about Republican Representative Adam Koenig – what does he think about Trump’s decision to allow employers to drop birth control coverage for their employees?
Do our Republican County Commissioners agree with Governor Bevin’s plan to address Kentucky’s pension crisis by attacking teachers and reducing retirement benefits for government workers?
As the newly-elected leader of Kenton County’s Democratic Party, I’m proud to speak for my fellow Democrats in saying that our answer to each of these questions is a resounding, “NO”.
And to be clear: it doesn’t take any courage on my part to state this publicly; no rational person believes that Nazis are “fine people”, that a Sheriff should be encouraged to defy court orders, or that an imaginary wall is going to make our country any more secure.
Why, then, can’t our elected Republican officials say this publicly?
Perhaps it’s because there are no local elections this year, and they are hoping that the voters will forget their current outrage by the time the 2018 election comes around.
Maybe it’s because they think that our President will eventually grow up, and things will be less outrageous by next November.
Or maybe they just believe that the voters of Kenton County are so blindly beholden to the GOP that they’ll vote for any republican candidate, regardless of their positions or beliefs.
Tip O’Neill once famously said that “All politics is local.”
I believe this is true – and I believe that the voters of Kenton County will have a chance to prove this when they go to the polls next November.
If you’re outraged by what Mr. Trump is doing, then you should probably be outraged that your elected officials won’t denounce him.
Tom Elfers
Edgewood