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When President Donald Trump said Friday in his inaugural address that his arrival in the White House signals a transfer of power not just from Democrats to Republicans, but from Washington, D.C., elites to average Americans, his words resonated with Robert Goffredo.
"For too long, a small group in our nation"s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost," Trump said minutes into his speech.
Goffredo, eating lunch at Detzi"s Tavern in Wind Gap on Friday, said he thinks politicians have ruined the federal government, and he"s encouraged that the nation"s new president is a businessman rather than a politician. But can Trump deliver on his promise to put the little guy first?
"I"m as confident as anyone else is," Goffredo said. "I don"t think he"s going to go the political route. I think he"ll be a man of his word."
Trump won big in Wind Gap and across Northampton County"s Slate Belt on his way to taking Northampton County, which voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. It"s a region of rural townships and struggling boroughs still feeling the loss of the textile and slate quarrying industries.
The eatery"s co-owner John Detzi, a Trump supporter, put fox news" live inaugural coverage on televisions in every corner of the sports bar Friday, joking with one customer who asked him to turn the sound down that he was "teaching a history lesson today."
That suited Goffredo just fine. The owner of a construction management firm, Goffredo is a registered Republican and Trump voter. He said his company"s health care costs have skyrocketed under President Obama"s Affordable Care Act. He"d like the law to be repealed early in the Trump administration, something Trump his promised to do.
A Christian, he said he also liked that Trump sprinkled a few references to G*d in his speech.
Much as Trump"s speech spoke in sweeping generalities about his administration"s plans and goals for the country, most of Detzi"s patrons expressed their hopes for the Trump presidency in broad strokes, saying they"d like to see him put America first, boost the economy and protect the borders.
Tom Curcio, 72, who works as a bridge toll collector but plans to retire soon, said he liked Trump"s "America First" emphasis. Over a large spinach salad, Curcio, a Republican, said he thinks the U.S. has spent too much time focused on propping up other nations and in international entanglements.
"From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land," Trump said in his speech. "From this day forward, it"s going to be only America first, America first."
We should be spending money at home, helping seniors and the poor and fixing our infrastructure, Curcio said. "I"m hoping he does well," said Curcio, who ran an auto dealership before selling it in 1998. "Give the guy a chance."
Detzi, who owns the bar with his two brothers, said he thought Trump"s speech did a nice job trying to bring the country together. "We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny," Trump said at one point in his address.
"He had to try to unify the country with this past election," Detzi said, taking a break to fill a pint glass with Coors Light. "And I think he did that."
Sitting at the bar nearby, Tom Quear, 64, of Pen Argyl, was encouraged. A Democrat, he didn"t vote for Trump, but he appreciated the tone of the new president"s speech. "I liked it," he said. "I think he addressed some issues, and it was positive. I want to see what happens. Let"s give him 100 days."
Across the room, at a table in the dining room, Scott Deischer of Plainfield Township, harbors deep misgivings.
"I have mixed thoughts," said Deischer, 67, a Democrat. "I hope for the best for our country and hope President Trump does well. I also am in the same respect proud of what the country has been able to achieve over the last eight years."
Deischer worries that progress, on issues such as health care, the environment and human rights, will be lost under Trump.
scott.kraus@mcall.com
Twitter @skraus
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Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/elections/mc-trump-inauguration-wind-gap-bar-20170120-story.html
