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Vermont Conversation: Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin on the next Trump presidency
https://vtdigger.org/2024/11/06/vermont-conversation-former-gov-madeleine-kunin-on-the-next-trump-presidency/“When I woke up this morning, I didn’t feel very inspirational … But as the day goes on … the fighting spirit is fighting its way back into my mind. I know we can’t give up.”
Such an exceptional person.
America has chosen a strongman — with an emphasis on “man.”
Donald Trump wagered that that a key to victory was to appeal to men. His misogynist comments, his contempt for social and political norms, his embrace of authoritarian strongmen around the world was aimed at winning over men especially young non-college educated men. It worked: the 2024 election results reflected an historic gender gap, in which most men voted for Trump, while most women voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The two-century-old tradition of electing men to lead the U.S. continues, at least for another four years.
At the age of 91, Gov. Madeleine Kunin has a unique and long perspective on politics. She is the only woman to be elected governor in Vermont, serving three terms from 1985 to 1991. She went on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Deputy Secretary of Education under Pres. Bill Clinton. Kunin founded Emerge Vermont to recruit and train Democratic women to run for office.
Kunin’s politics have long been informed by her personal experience with authoritarianism. A Swiss Jew, her family fled Europe in 1940 as Nazism spread.
“I’m inspired in a strange way by my proximity to the Holocaust,” she said the morning after Trump’s election. “We have to speak up. We have to participate. We can’t just sit down and shut the door and stay by the fire. We have to fight more than ever and figure out how to be most effective.”
“We will have to fight hard to protect democracy from here on in.”
Donald Trump wagered that that a key to victory was to appeal to men. His misogynist comments, his contempt for social and political norms, his embrace of authoritarian strongmen around the world was aimed at winning over men especially young non-college educated men. It worked: the 2024 election results reflected an historic gender gap, in which most men voted for Trump, while most women voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The two-century-old tradition of electing men to lead the U.S. continues, at least for another four years.
At the age of 91, Gov. Madeleine Kunin has a unique and long perspective on politics. She is the only woman to be elected governor in Vermont, serving three terms from 1985 to 1991. She went on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Deputy Secretary of Education under Pres. Bill Clinton. Kunin founded Emerge Vermont to recruit and train Democratic women to run for office.
Kunin’s politics have long been informed by her personal experience with authoritarianism. A Swiss Jew, her family fled Europe in 1940 as Nazism spread.
“I’m inspired in a strange way by my proximity to the Holocaust,” she said the morning after Trump’s election. “We have to speak up. We have to participate. We can’t just sit down and shut the door and stay by the fire. We have to fight more than ever and figure out how to be most effective.”
“We will have to fight hard to protect democracy from here on in.”