To join America’s political elite, you have to defect to a wealthy metropolitan area. It’s corroding our democracy. - The Washington Post

Ido not remember the year, but I remember the moment. It was a beautiful summer afternoon in Plattsburgh, the small town where I was raised in the North Country in far Upstate New York. Every year the dark winters gave way to a bright summer defined by Lake Champlain on one side of the town and the Adirondack Mountains on the other. The summers were anchored by a singular event, the Mayor’s Cup Regatta and Festival, which drew spectators from all over the region to celebrate the boats sailing on Lake Champlain. My family had just finished our fun at the neighborhood beach watching the boats when we went shopping at the Grand Union supermarket. We entered the checkout aisle, and there, right in front of me, I met a celebrity equal in my mind at the time to Michael Jordan and Michael J. Fox together: the mayor of Plattsburgh. Mayor Carlton Rennell. My father thanked him for promoting the Mayor’s Cup along with the socialist mayor across Lake Champlain (a young Bernie Sanders). My mother

Ido not remember the year, but I remember the moment. It was a beautiful summer afternoon in Plattsburgh, the small town where I was raised in the North Country in far Upstate New York. Every year the dark winters gave way to a bright summer defined by Lake Champlain on one side of the town and the Adirondack Mountains on the other. The summers were anchored by a singular event, the Mayor’s Cup Regatta and Festival, which drew spectators from all over the region to celebrate the boats sailing on Lake Champlain. My family had just finished our fun at the neighborhood beach watching the boats wh

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• Samuel Turner