{"id":1489585,"date":"2024-09-13T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1489585"},"modified":"2024-09-13T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T04:20:00","slug":"pennsylvania-voters-reflect-on-2024-election-their-hopes-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/pennsylvania-voters-reflect-on-2024-election-their-hopes-for-the-future\/1489585\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Voters Reflect On 2024 Election, Their Hopes For The Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania Voters Reflect On 2024 Election, Their Hopes For The Future<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Joseph Lord, Madalina Vasiliu and Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

With its 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is shaping up to be the most critical swing state in the 2024 election for both major candidates.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Top L\u2013R) Lawrence Clark at his business 4 Thee Family II convenience store in downtown York, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024, Susan Diehl, 66, in Newburgh, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024, and Michael Nicolazzo in Butler, Pa., on Sept. 6, 2024. (Bottom L\u2013R) Dave Brueggeman, 60, a U.S. Army veteran, in downtown York, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024, Mikki Breitmos in Butler, Pa., on Sept. 6, 2024, and Marco Ceo, 54, in downtown York, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In 2016, Pennsylvania\u2014along with the rest of the Rust Belt\u2014slotted into former President Donald Trump\u2019s column, delivering him a sweeping Electoral College win. In 2020, the state swung to Biden.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania carries the most electoral votes of any state considered a swing state. The next closest are North Carolina and Georgia, with 16 electoral votes apiece.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Epoch Times spoke to some of the Keystone State\u2019s voters, traveling across eastern and southern Pennsylvania and the outskirts of Philadelphia. Here\u2019s what they told us.<\/p>\n

Several Pennsylvanians indicated frustration with the current election, and the two-party system more broadly.<\/p>\n

Susan Diehl, a gas station employee in Newburg, seemed jaded with politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t they just tell the truth about whatever they\u2019re going to do or not do? I always feel that politicians, all of them, lie just to get elected<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Epoch Times found mixed signs of support for both candidates.<\/p>\n

Several independents indicated they have frustrations with Trump and his trademark communication style, which they described as too abrasive.<\/p>\n

Many said they were ultimately undecided, and expressed dissatisfaction with both candidates.<\/p>\n

Dave Brueggeman, a 60-year-old Army veteran from York, hasn\u2019t made a decision yet.<\/p>\n

Brueggeman, who described himself as \u201ca Democrat, but … not the kind of Democrat today,\u201d said that he had initially planned to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running as an independent before recently dropping out and backing Trump.<\/p>\n

Following Kennedy\u2019s departure from the race, Brueggeman said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure about Trump, I\u2019m just not sure. I haven\u2019t really made up my mind yet completely.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brueggeman thinks Harris will ultimately win the race\u2014a situation he said would dissatisfy many, but which he blamed on the two-party system.<\/p>\n

Brueggeman said he hopes both candidates will pursue Social Security reforms, specifically in changing the rules around how much income Social Security recipients can make each month.<\/p>\n

Lawrence Clark, a 52-year-old from Mt. Wolf, says he\u2019s also still weighing his options, but the lifelong Democrat said one thing is certain: he won\u2019t be voting for Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she\u2019s as qualified as Trump. Trump already has experience<\/strong>,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

Clark was among those released from prison under Trump\u2019s First Step Act, which allowed inmates to reduce their sentence by accumulating \u201cgood behavior\u201d credits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy was better when [Trump] was in office,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s hopeful that the next president will continue to pursue criminal justice reform, and believes Trump will do so.<\/p>\n

Downtown York, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Marco Ceo, a 45-year-old from eastern Pennsylvania, says he\u2019s leaning toward voting for Harris and that he dislikes Trump\u2019s \u201cedge.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Ceo indicated ambivalence about Harris\u2019s executive experience, noting it\u2019s one area in which Trump has Harris beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she has some experience there. And clearly the Republican candidate has experience being the former president, but … I like inspiration more than bullying,\u201d Ceo said.<\/p>\n

These considerations, Ceo said, have left him \u201creally torn\u201d about who to vote for.<\/p>\n

Ceo was critical of the \u201cnon-stop assault with campaign messaging\u201d directed at independents in crucial swing states like him. The ads, he said, don\u2019t respect the intelligence of voters.<\/p>\n

He hopes that the candidates will look more into rising tuition costs, which he says have taken a toll on his family\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n

Among those more open to Harris, some expressed a feeling of resignation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zach Miller, a 43-year-old from Lancaster, said that he\u2019s primarily motivated to vote against Trump, rather than a preference for Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t evoke any strong emotion from my being whatsoever,<\/strong>\u201d the Pennsylvanian said of the vice president.<\/p>\n

Zach Miller, 43, works at a food truck on a bar rooftop in Lancaster, Pa., on Sept. 5, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Mikki Breitmos was once a labor union Democrat. She left the party 18 years ago, however, and now has decided on Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that he is more of a businessman than a politician, and that\u2019s why I voted for him the last time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She expressed hope that Trump will tone down the rhetoric\u2014and expressed optimism that former First Lady Melania Trump could help on that front.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that maybe with Melania\u2019s influence, he would direct himself away from that and then make the country whole again<\/strong>,\u201d Breitmos said.<\/p>\n

Michael Nicolazzo, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, has seen many presidential elections come and go in his lifetime. But his first time voting in one came in 2016, when he cast his ballot for Trump.<\/p>\n

Nicolazzo lost his pension due to a clerical error and later a fire that destroyed his service records, but says he hopes Trump will be able to help during a second term.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s helped me. And I think Trump could be the only one, because he likes veterans,\u201d Nicolazzo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 09\/12\/2024 – 20:20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/pennsylvania-voters-reflect-2024-election-their-hopes-future<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania Voters Reflect On 2024 Election, Their Hopes For The Future Authored by Joseph Lord, Madalina Vasiliu and Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1489586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1489585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1489585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1489586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1489585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1489585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1489585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}