PAUL GORDON

For me, 1976 was sort of a magical year. I turned 18, graduated high school, was within 20 feet of the stage when Rush opened for Aerosmith, started college and voted in my first election.

That’s just part of what made the year big for me. And while all were important, that I voted in my first presidential election is the one I’ve always considered a key point in my life these last 48 years.

I voted for Jimmy Carter. And I am proud that I did. I was born into a Democratic family, but my folks didn’t pressure me to vote that way. They wanted me to decide for myself.

At 18, I thought I knew it all, of course. So my decision would be the correct one. However, in reality, I was quite politically naive.

The main reason I voted for Carter was because I thought the Democrat would fare better since both chambers of Congress were controlled by Democrats.

Well, it did not always work out that way. Carter and Congress butted heads quite a bit. But the think tank Miller Center says Carter had more success on domestic issues than his immediate predecessors and successors. Among them were energy policies and creation of the Department of Energy.

From the Miller Center: “Carter gained a reputation for political ineptitude, even though his actual record in dealing with Congress belied that image. His success rate in getting presidential initiatives through Congress was much higher than that of his predecessors Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and successors Reagan and Bush. One might expect a president with a majority in Congress to do better than presidents facing the opposition party majorities. But Carter was also close to Johnson’s success rates. Carter did not like to bargain and appeared arrogant and aloof, but at the end of the day, he usually wound up with much of what he sought from Congress. His major problem was that the perception of his leadership did not correspond with the reality.”

Jimmy Carter was a better president than he was given credit for. He was criticized during the 1980 campaign for eschewing the campaign trail and staying at the White House because of the hostage crisis. I found it heroic and now I think it showed the reality of Jimmy Carter the person. The person we all came to know after his time in Washington was finished.

The praise bestowed on him during his funeral was evidence of how people of both parties came to respect him.

Somehow, I can’t imagine that happening when the current president passes. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t expect him to be any different going forward.

Donald Trump is once again President of the United States. And he has a Congress — both chambers — controlled by the GOP, by people who fear him. That is frightening.

Hold on to your butts.

Gulf of State Farm?

So President Trump wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He can do that, apparently, but Mexico and other countries don’t have to agree to the change.

Why not sell the gulf’s naming rights to the highest bidder, the way they do for baseball stadiums and basketball arenas?

Can you imagine how much money Trump could raise? State Farm seems to get its name on just about everything, so why not this? Gulf of State Farm has a nice ring to it, doncha think? Or Gulf of American Airlines? Gulf of Miller Beer would probably get a lot of tourism traffic.

Something to think about.