Unity does exist in this aptly named Maine town -- everyone avoids talking politics

Sep. 22—UNITY — Ashli Pelletier doesn't pay too much attention to national politics. She mostly relies on her husband to fill her in after he watches the news.

She knows the "world feels really chaotic right now" and that many people around the country are sharply divided over the presidential election, among many other issues.

It doesn't feel that way in Unity, Pelletier said as she loaded quarters into a washing machine at Depot Village Laundry on a recent morning.

"It feels really easy in a small town where you have everything you need — you do feel that unity in Unity — to feel safe in the local community where you know people," Pelletier said. "At the small-town level, you can kind of just quiet the noise."

It's a sentiment that's shared by many people in the town of just under 2,300 in central Maine, although they readily admit that choosing not to have political discussions with their neighbors is key to keeping the peace.

Compared with 2023, Americans now see less common ground between the two major parties on key issues, according to a June report from the Pew Research Center. The center found 38% of people saw at least some common ground in January 2023, compared with 26% in May 2024.

If election results are any indicator, residents in Unity are sharply divided. Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by a margin of 48% to 46% in 2020 — a difference of 11 votes. In 2022, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills defeated former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, by two percentage points.

The town has seen its share of local issues that have generated controversy. A proposal last year to house asylum seekers on the former Unity College campus generated debate among residents, not long after pushback to the town's first-ever Pride month celebration.

But Unity is also home to the Common Ground Country Fair, one of Maine's most beloved and unifying traditions — a celebration of locally grown and organic food and farming that takes place each year on the rolling hills on the outskirts of town. (The fair wraps up its three-day run Sunday.)

Residents last week were quick to agree that national politics seem divided. But locally, they said their town appears to be living up to its namesake. It's important to get along when you have to share the same grocery store or library. Social media can be contentious, but in real life, it's easier to have a conversation.

Many people also avoid talking about politics altogether, knowing they're likely to alienate friends, neighbors and customers at their businesses if they do so.

"It's really gotten to (where) you don't talk politics to people you don't know and even sometimes with people you do know. You're surprised sometimes," said Jen Whelan, who lives in nearby Troy. "You have to kind of put your toe in the water first. ... It's hard."

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Whelan, who works at the Children's Discovery Museum of Central Maine in Waterville, didn't hesitate to say she thinks the country is divided when stopped by a reporter outside a grocery store on School Street, a main thoroughfare in Unity. But she also reads a lot of history, and said the current atmosphere reminds her of other times.

"I think because we get information so quickly these days, it's so reactionary," said Whelan, 44. "I'm reading a book now on (the Vietnam War) and it's like, 'The generations can't talk to each other. Wow, that sounds familiar.'"

Locally, Whelan, a Democrat who plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, said it can be hard to engage with people on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Most people find their "echo chambers" and stay in them, she said.

"People are like, 'You call all Republicans racist and antisemites and say we're against this and against that,' and it's like, 'You're for someone who is for that,' " Whelan said, referring to former President Donald Trump. "Even though I want to say I want to have a discussion, it's hard when people believe in things that will hurt my friends."

Larry King is a Republican who retired to Unity about nine years ago, settling into a house at the end of a dirt road on Unity Pond with his wife and dog. King also avoids discussing politics and said he thinks most people do.

"The people we deal with pretty much keep to themselves on politics," said King, 70. "We can talk for hours, but we're not going to talk politics. That kind of goes even with town politics."

Nationally, King said, "the Republican and Democratic parties are both really on far ends."

But locally, some residents say they don't hear much from the other side and have noticed fewer campaign signs around town this year. They also say the closure of the college has diminished the number of liberal voices in town.

Unity College closed to in-person learning during the pandemic and never reopened as the school moved its operations online and to a campus in New Gloucester.

"When it comes to political issues, it's pretty monolithic," said David McCrea, who lives in Troy and said most people in the area, including himself, are Trump supporters.

"I don't see (the division locally)," said McCrea, 64. "And you don't see many Democratic signs."

Nationally, McCrea said the country is "horribly divided," in large part due to the abortion issue. McCrea, a Republican, said he supports abortion rights and believes it's a medical procedure that should be available as an option.

"I really kind of fear for my country," McCrea said. "There's so much polarization and vitriol on both sides. Two attempted assassination attempts (on Trump) — it's like what? It's unprecedented, and not in a good way."

The Unity Public Library is one place where there's an active effort to build community. The library opened in 2022 in response to the closure of the college — something that still weighs on the minds of many residents since it took with it a lot of economic and cultural opportunities. Whereas residents used to rely on the college library, they now visit the new one on School Street.

"It's hard to say nationally how we're going," said Jean Bourg, the library's director. "We're very busy building community in our little town."

The library tries hard to be a welcoming place for everyone and it strives for nonpartisanship. A display at the entrance reflects that — Liz Cheney's book on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and JD Vance's memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, are featured prominently alongside an autobiography of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But the library isn't totally removed from the debates and disagreements happening in so many places, nor does it always try to be. Books in libraries and schools have become a political flashpoint around the country, and one particularly controversial book, "Gender Queer," has disappeared from the shelves of the Unity library three times.

The library has hosted One Small Step, a radio program that brings two strangers with opposing political views together for conversation. "The way those conversations were structured is wonderful," Bourg said. "You're more exploring each other's backgrounds and how you came to think the way you think and you leave good friends."

Outside of the library, Bourg said national politics don't come up much in Unity. "Everybody kind of knows not to talk about it," she said.

Her wife, Melissa Bastien, agreed. "It's like, 'We disagree. We know that. And we're still neighbors. We still have to get along,'" said Bastien, who surmised that the pandemic and the isolation it brought have toned down the political rhetoric.

"I just find people are more civil," Bastien said.

But she does worry if the outcome of the election could hurt efforts to keep the peace in their small town. She pointed to Springfield, Ohio, where Trump and his running mate, Vance, an Ohio senator, have magnified false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets that local officials say have no merit.

"It can blow up so quickly," said Bastien, 71. "One nasty comment about Haitians eating pets — it goes ballistic, crazy and it's totally turned that town upside-down. They didn't have an issue until that was said ... and now the town is shut down."

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For many people in Unity, the closure of the college and the cost of day-to-day living — groceries, rent and heat — are their top concerns. And there's a sense that those problems will persist no matter who is elected.

"I honestly haven't paid much attention to it," said Joe Feero, who works in Unity and lives in nearby Brooks, when asked about the presidential election. A self-described moderate Republican, Feero said he hasn't quite decided on whom he will vote for but, "I probably won't vote for Kamala."

He doesn't support the Democrat's proposal to give $25,000 to first-time homebuyers and said people should have to earn that kind of assistance.

"Trump, I don't know what to do with him," said Feero, 45. "He needs to learn to keep his mouth in line. ... He's stirred up controversy and made people think, but I don't know if we all can handle his presentation of shaking things up."

He's skeptical that whoever wins the election will have much impact on his day-to-day life. "I'll still have bills to pay and I can't afford to pay them because the government takes money and gives it to everyone else," Feero said.

At the laundromat, Pelletier, a 36-year-old mom of two and self-employed masseuse, didn't want to weigh in on the presidential election out of concern that it could drive away clients. She said she worries about the high cost of living and that it will persist no matter who is elected, since they will be coming in with new policies that will require time to take effect.

"Our whole state is built of these little communities that are just in survival mode. ... Life is tough here, with the Maine winters and people thinking, 'Are we going to do some extra overtime or how are we going to pay for groceries and heat?" she said.

Instead of thinking about the election, Pelletier said she has focused more on building herself up through education and work. And she relishes her small town, where a special on organic haircuts is being advertised just a few blocks away ahead of the weekend's fair.

"This is sort of a pro-hippie town," Pelletier said. "And you just sort of lean into that peace that's established."

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