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In Northampton County, Pennsylvania, or “Swing County USA,” as some would say, voters expect a tight race between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. But if the question is who would come out on top, the answer is the same: any candidate who supports the person.
The northeastern Pennsylvania county of about 300,000 people relied on manufacturing. It has been the center of cement production for nearly 100 years and home to Bethlehem Steel, one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers, until 2003. Hardly the largest county in Pennsylvania, eyes are on Northampton for its leader status. He voted for the winning presidential candidate in nearly every election since 1932, including twice for President Barack Obama and once for Trump.
“I supported gay rights, women’s rights and all I wanted was someone to protect my work and no one wanted to do that,” Gary Read, a Nazareth resident who works in the construction industry, who voted for Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2016. said Newsweek.
Countless hours are spent analyzing the political positions of the candidates and their impact. But many voters are not getting into the undergrowth of what a candidate intends to do and instead are relying on intuition to guide their choice on the ballot. For some Northampton County voters, the impressions of Trump and Biden, not the details of their platforms, are the deciding factor.
Bruce Haines, owner of a specialty racing store in Bethlehem, always liked Biden. Why? “He seems like a normal guy” who “doesn’t seem like he wants to screw everyone,” Haines said of Biden.
The store owner also acknowledged that he may be naïve, but compared to other politicians, he does not feel “fooled” when Biden speaks, and the mistrust Trump evokes does not exist with the Democratic candidate.
“People see him as someone who really understands what he’s going through,” Matt Munsey, chairman of the Northampton County Democrats, said of the former vice president.
Biden was born in Pennsylvania and spent the first 10 years of his life in Scranton, a working-class area just 60 miles northwest of Northampton County. The candidate’s frequent thanks to his hometown, seen by some as politically motivated, resonate with voters because it shows that he has not forgotten “where he came from” and that he “stayed connected to his roots” no matter where life took him. . Said Lamont McClure, Northampton County Executive.
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Trump only won the county by 3.78 percentage points, down from Obama’s 4.71 points in 2012. Becky Wamsely, chair of the Bethlehem City Democratic Committee, said part of the problem was that voters did not trust , liked or believed in the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. They did not see her as someone who “would be on their side.” Yet four years later, people believe Biden will.
“I wasn’t surprised that Clinton lost the county, but that Biden won wouldn’t surprise me at all,” said Sam Chen, Republican strategist and assistant professor at Northampton Community College. Chen added that his “gut” is telling him that a Democratic victory is coming.
Chen said there was a level of “tone deafness” coming from Clinton, particularly with the comments he made about the fate of the coal industry. When voters vote on their “everyday life,” they are looking for the candidate who will protect their jobs and make sure they can raise their family in the same place where they grew up.
As a candidate, Trump campaigned vigorously for America’s “forgotten men and women.” Michael Feldman, Biden’s director of communications in Pennsylvania, said that communities that felt “ignored or overlooked” by politics gave Trump “a chance” in 2016. According to Feldman, all Trump has accomplished is ” broken promises and more economic turmoil. “
“That’s why Joe Biden talks about rebuilding better. It’s not just about going back to what was happening before the pandemic, it’s about addressing issues that have long affected these communities,” Feldman said.
With a focus on “made in America” and manufacturing, Biden’s nationalist plan for the economy was seen as a contradiction to Trump’s “America First” agenda and the president’s supporters took note of similar themes. Haines, who predicted a Biden victory, hadn’t gotten into the “nitty gritty” of the plan, but said he was “tied up” with the idea of Trump taking back the coal industry. Rather than invest in things that were prominent 30 or 40 years ago, he advocated investing money and time in industries that will be here in 30 or 40 years, like clean energy that is included in Biden’s plan.
Regardless of which side of the aisle a person is on, the economy is the number one issue for voters, Haines said, because “if you can’t put food on the table, the rest of the matter is separate, right? “
In 2008, Obama’s eloquent speech had Matthew Walter, a trucker, “hook and bob.” The former president was the reason Walter registered to vote in his twenties and became politically engaged. But he was disappointed after Obama’s first term and in 2016 he voted for Trump.
As “strange” as that may sound given Trump’s billionaire status, the self-described “staunch” supporter said that some of Trump’s support comes from people being able to “relate to him” and the feeling he projects that he is “for the people.” people”. “Read said he” spoke my language “and was tired of being let down by the immigration reform that affected his industry.
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The new coronavirus pandemic left millions of people out of work and forced the closure of small businesses, so McClure predicts that Trump will be harshly judged on the economic question raised by Ronald Reagan in 1980: “Are you better than four years ago ? ” Walter, however, sees the economic recovery during the pandemic as a “driving force” for people to support Trump because while the record low unemployment level seen in winter was “very impressive,” the rate of job recovery is “even more impressive”. “
Obama’s eloquence also led Easton resident Lauren Jessop to vote for him in 2008 and 2012. Although Trump is not “eloquent in the least,” Jessop said his actions speak louder than Obama’s words. A person with no party loyalty, he liked that no one owned Trump and that “neither side wanted him,” but at the end of the day, the economy is at the top of the voter rolls.
It’s no secret that the economy can make or break an election and Nick Trainer, director of battlefield strategy for the Trump campaign, said: “Kitchen table issues will be key here.”
Polls have Trump lagging behind in Pennsylvania, and the “hunch” in the Northampton area is that it’s going to be a narrow-margin battle between the two rivals.
Meanwhile, Walter backs Trump to win Northampton. But having traveled the area as a truck driver, he thinks it will be closer than in 2016.
“I still see the enthusiasm for Trump in the Lehigh Valley, but where I saw nothing but Trump posters in 2016 … I see a little more enthusiasm from the folks who support Joe Biden,” Walter said.
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McClure doesn’t trust political signage because, after all, “signs don’t vote” and the mix of voters is evident in Martin’s Creek. Driving to work one day, Jessop drove down a road that was so “symbolic of America right now” that she was tempted to stop for a photo. In what she compared to a “war sign,” on one side of the road was a house full of Trump signs and across the street, the neighbor’s house had a Biden sign and a flag on the porch. .
Munsey “has no illusions” that Trump will keep the majority of his base and, by virtue of the support of his own party chairman, he will likely receive 45 or 46 percent of the vote, McClure said. But Munsey noted that removing 5 or 10 percent of Trump supporters in 2016 gives Biden a “good chance” to take over the county.
“We have always said this will be a close race everywhere, so I think especially there we will not take any vote for granted and will fight hard for every vote,” Feldman said.
Trainer said 1,400 people have changed their party’s registration from Democratic to Republican, and while it will be “a close fight,” Trump would win Northampton again. Part of that victory will come from those who are “keeping quiet” about their vote, said Bonnie Mertz, who voted for Trump in 2016 and is excited to do so again.
“Even though people are trying to make it look like they are not going to win, I live here and I watch the people and I watch the rallies with trucks waving flags in the breeze,” Mertz said. “I think people are going to vote for him.”
With 90 percent of voters already decided on who they will vote for, the choice could come down to which candidate mobilizes voters not just to talk about the election, but also to stand on Election Day. And with the enthusiasm that Trump supporters feel for their candidate, Haines becomes “nervous” as a Democrat.
“Even if there is a three-foot blizzard on Nov. 3, they will be out and I feel like a portion of Biden’s voters are not as engaged,” Haines said.
