Closing arguments always lead back to Trump

BENSALEM, Pa. – The presidential candidates and their surrogates deliver closing arguments and they have one important topic in common: Donald Trump. Voters in this crucial swing state said they’ve heard enough and have chosen sides.

Digital billboards with Vice President Kamala Harris’ name printed above the Liberty Bell and others for Trump promising “jobs for Pennsylvania” point I-95 from Philadelphia to this blue-collar city about 20 miles north. In the more conservative southern tip of Bucks County, along the Delaware River, Trump signs easily outnumber those for Harris — though the grounds of a local union hall were lined with signs touting the Democratic candidate, one of which proclaimed: “Union families for Harris!”

A man who wanted to be called only Jonathan laughed as he tended bar at a national chain restaurant around noon Monday when a Roll Call reporter explained his assignment and asked for recommendations on where he could chat with voters. “I mean, I’m not so sure they’ll be okay with that. Maybe, but I don’t know, man,” said Jonathan, who did not reveal his preference in the presidential race but said he would be happy to see the political TV ads end.

The reception Monday from some residents was chilly indeed here in a county that Hillary Clinton won by 1,988 votes in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020 by 17,345 votes. Residents are used to visits from national politicians.

Several people declined or were unsure about being interviewed, including a middle-aged male voter outside a Wawa convenience store and gas station. The man declared himself an independent voter who disagrees with any of the major political parties, saying he probably wouldn’t make the best story. Asked whether independent voters could be the most important voting bloc in the Commonwealth that needs to win, the man smiled and headed to his SUV.

An elderly woman opened a shopping cart outside a supermarket and muttered, “Don’t talk to the media.” Moments later, an employee of the big box store came up and asked the reporter to leave the premises. However, she allowed an ongoing interview to be completed.

Others were more than willing to talk – and all said they had made up their minds. Not surprisingly, in these highly partisan times, some had already said or stated that they would soon vote against one candidate as much as for the other.

“I’m very supportive of President Trump,” said an older man in a dark blazer and glasses as he returned his shopping cart on a sunny fall afternoon. “I like him better as president. I think his positions are better for the president.”

When asked about the Republican candidate’s habit of saying harsh, offensive and even racist things, the man waved his hand in the air and pointed to his wife waiting near their white SUV. When asked again if Trump’s behavior ever bothers him, the man said he had to take his wife to a medical appointment.

A young woman outside a coffee shop described her choice this way: “Harris all day.” When asked why the woman who identified herself only as Juliana had voted for the VP, she replied: “Trump is a crook. And he lies.” When asked whether she would have voted more in favor of Harris’ policy ideas or against Trump’s, she replied before entering: “Just not Trump.”

For some, Trump fatigue is real. One reason: he dominates all political affairs. Tune in to Trump at a dark-themed rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden or one of his battleground rallies and chances are Trump will be talking about Trump. Listen to Harris attend a radio interview, answer questions from reporters or speak at her own swing state rallies, and she’s probably talking about Trump.

Attend a star-studded Harris campaign rally in Georgia, a new battleground she may have to take as insurance, or must-see Pennsylvania and the music stars, entertainers and former presidents are likely to warn of a second Trump administration.

While the vice president and her campaign teammates have tried to sell her vision of an “opportunity economy” that “lifts up” middle-class Americans and small businesses while striving to reduce health care costs and improve housing, all the campaign’s messages and pitches seem to lead back to Trump.

Former President Barack Obama has stepped up his campaign for Harris in recent weeks, making comments almost exclusively about his successor at each stop as he hops from swing state to swing state.

“Just because he’s behaving strangely doesn’t mean his presidency won’t be dangerous,” Obama said Friday. “I want to explain that a good rule of thumb in politics is: don’t say you want to do something like Hitler. … But it is useful because it gives us insight into how Donald Trump thinks.” Oddly enough, when Obama delivers his Trump lines, he does so with a repeated chuckle or laugh that can somewhat dilute his message, like too much ice in a glass of bourbon.

‘I have to pick up my son’

Harris also cannot escape the cloud that is Trump.

The vice president told attendees at a rally on Sunday in Philadelphia that no one should have excessive power under the American system — a veiled swipe at Trump’s talk of having “extreme power” if he wins. Instead, she said to cheers: “power lies with the people.”

After opening a conversation with reporters Friday about reproductive rights, she quickly turned to the 45th president, who is making it difficult for enemies’ messages to get through.

“He really belittles our country. This is someone who is a former president of the United States and who has a bully pulpit, and this is how he uses it to tell the rest of the world that the United States of America is somehow… trash ,” she said. “And I think, again, that the president of the United States should be someone who elevates the discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invests in the best of who we are – not someone like Donald Trump, who is constantly humiliates and belittles who is who. the American people are.”

Former first lady Michelle Obama, deployed as Democrats’ closer, gave an impassioned speech on Sunday in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Much of that was aimed at Trump.

But with the polls deadlocked, Democrats have been reminded that tens of millions of voters appear to at least somewhat agree with Trump’s bleak assessment of the United States.

On Friday, a reporter in Houston asked Harris if “you’ve veered too far from talking about the economy and really prioritizing that in these final days of the election?”

She responded in part, “If I am elected President of the United States, my priority will include fighting for our democracy, including fighting for people’s freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, including what we should do to express ourselves to speak out against threats. for our democracy, what we must do to stand up in defense of our allies around the world.”

Even with that response, the last few points were thinly veiled responses to the Republican standard-bearer and his views.

On Monday, a young woman in a Philadelphia Flyers jersey who declined to give her name said she wasn’t as excited to vote this year, adding that she plans to vote on Election Day. She said she had made a decision, but she didn’t want her choice printed.

When asked for her thoughts on Harris and Trump’s policy proposals, the woman glanced at her Apple Watch and replied, “I have to pick up my son from the bus.”