On the final day of APCO 2016, the Food for Thought Luncheon provided attendees with an opportunity to recognize each other’s achievements and consider the broad, political points of the upcoming presidential election including how it may affect not only the public safety communications industry but also the country at large.

APCO’s Executive Director and CEO Derek K. Poarch introduced the awards, including the Chapter Awards, Membership Awards and Agency Training Program Certifications.

Next up, Mr. Poarch introduced the Luncheon’s keynote speaker: Bob Woodward, an associate editor of the Washington Post and author of such political nonfiction books as All the President’s Men, The Final Days and dozens more.

To begin the keynote, Woodward asked everyone to raise their hands if they were voting for Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election, or if they weren’t voting for anyone and/or were undecided. Only a few raised their hands for Trump or Clinton, and a staggering majority raised their hands for being undecided or abstaining from voting in the election.

“This is the age of the American presidency; presidents have significantly more power now,” Woodward said.

“How do you lead a small group, and how does it relate to how presidents and CEOs lead? The first thing you have to do as president is defining what the job is. To me, the job is very clearly to define the next stage of good for the majority of American people, and then develop a strategic plan to work it out.”

Woodward discussed previous presidents and their methods of fulfilling the job, citing Nixon’s failure to work in the interest of the American people and Obama’s apparent isolation from other political figures.

Woodward then described the current party representatives up for election, discussing his interviews and interactions with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Painting Trump as a narcissist (as claimed by a top psychiatrist who read Woodward’s interview transcript with Trump) and Clinton as a determined individual with a huge problem with transparency (citing the email scandal as the notable example), Woodward offered no suggestions on who to vote for, but concluded that the American political climate is suffering from secrecy and deceit.

“There’s a lot of toxic thought going on in the presidency,” Woodward said.

“The big issue for public safety: you have to show up, spend time with people and listen. The next president has to get important things right. The only person who will help the candidates get it right is each voter, who should hold people accountable, listen to what people say and demand more from people. We cannot let democracy die in darkness.”