Some states in Presidential elections matter more than others.
This year Pennsylvania might be the most important of all.
The state carries 19 electoral college votes this time around and was won by its native son Joe Biden in 2020 by just over 80,000 votes.
We hit the road in Pennsylvania to speak to ordinary voters in the days after Kamala Harris hosted a rally in Philadelphia to announce her Vice Presidential Candidate pick Tim Walz.
It was clear, after speaking to as many voters as we could, that Donald Trump has a Pennsylvania problem.
We focussed our efforts in towns around Northampton County.
It’s known as a “boomerang county” because it voted for Barack Obama in 2012, Donald Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
The enthusiasm for Kamala Harris was palpable.
Democrat voters we spoke to had pivoted from a resigned determination to simply vote against Donald Trump, to actual excitement about Harris as a candidate.
Most couldn’t name any successful policy she’d been attached to over the last four years, but couldn’t think of any issues either. And most hadn’t noticed she was completely avoiding any media interviews.
She’s the fresh face that’s been there all along.
In one sense, why wouldn’t they be excited?
These same voters were staring down an electoral annihilation with Joe Biden’s clear cognitive decline on full display. Now they’re back from the brink and within arm’s reach of a win.
Enthusiasm matters in a system where voting is not compulsory. And that’s the problem we found among likely Trump voters.
When people told us they were going to vote for Donald Trump, most for a third time, it wasn’t with any hope or optimism.
The fact he’d survived an assassination attempt in the same state a few weeks ago didn’t drive the enthusiastic defence of their president I was expecting either.
Polling shows Donald Trump is more trusted on the economy than Kamala Harris.
But few voters we asked, of either political persuasion, felt economically worse off compared to four years ago.
Billboards advertised desperate call outs for jobs in local industries with good benefits.
The small town of Easton had major building projects running in the centre of town and the local market was bustling.
Mail in ballots for Pennsylvania are sent out 50 days before the election.
Which means ballots will be hitting mailboxes from September 16. Just six days after the first debate between Trump and Harris.
Time is running out for Donald Trump to turn things around. If our days in Pennsylvania are anything to go by, this is now Kamala’s race to lose.
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Publish date : 2024-08-11 12:44:00
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