The Ruins of Trenton

As the most historic election in recent memory was underway Tuesday there were many a gleeful face in Trenton, as residents gathered at a variety of polling places to get their chance to make history and cast a vote in support of the man who will now become the nation’s first African-American president

Many Trenton voters probably didn’t think about the other way this election could be historic, in a more localized manner, in that last night’s Obama victory may end up provide an opportunity for a down-to-earth executive ready to tackle the city’s issues, by relieving the city of the duty of having to put up with Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

Apparently Sen. Barack Obama has the potential to tap Trenton’s maligned mayor for some sort of urban affairs position, thereby moving Trenton’s larger-than-life absentee mayor onto the national scene.

No one knows how likely such a proposition is, and it certainly appears to be a funny one, considering how Mayor Palmer was one of the few Trentonians - if you can describe him as such - who was actively pushing for the nomination of Sen. Hillary Clinton instead of Sen. Obama.

That was presumably because of his closer relationship with the Clinton clan and the greater probability that with Sen. Clinton’s election Mayor Palmer could ride her coattails out his hometown and into Washington, D.C. But the primary in Trenton didn’t go Sen. Clinton’s way, despite Mayor Palmer’s efforts, and neither did the rest of the national primaries.

Despite all that, and if the rumor and gossip is true, perhaps presidential hopefuls like Sen. Obama are willing to forget many of the stupid decisions made by other party faithful during the primary and offer up federal positions to those who supported others, like Mayor Palmer.

Maybe Mayor Palmer could do better work in some federal position, which would allow him to finally feel like he was in a position appropriately important for his own ego, without abusing the interests and tax dollars of 80,000 residents.

In that case, this election will be doubly historic – Sen. Obama becomes President Obama, and Mayor Palmer would be headed on out of Trenton. That may not be a good thing for the nation, but it would certainly be a welcome thing for this city.