Uh oh.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that many working-class voters in deep-blue Philadelphia continue to support Republicans over Democrats.
This could cause significant problems for VP Kamala Harris:
Gabriel Lopez grew up in a family of Democrats in the Kensington neighborhood of deep-blue Philadelphia. So in 2016, the first presidential election he was old enough to vote in, he picked Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.
But Lopez, now 27, says his views have changed. He switched his registration to Republican this year, and he plans to vote for Trump, who’s running for president a third time.
“Democrats keep saying [Trump] is going to bring down the economy, but he was already president for four years, and taxes were lower,” Lopez said. “We’re tired of the same politics. We got a different type of guy, and the people actually love him.”
A home health aide and rideshare driver, Lopez said Democrats haven’t kept their promises to bring down prices or improve life in his community. Trump, he said, is “at least straightforward.”
The thing is, the left and media cannot blame racism or sexism because the shift began years ago.
Philly houses 20% of the state’s Democrats.
The county lost more Democrat votes in 2020 than any other county.
In 2020, President Joe Biden “performed worse than [Hillary] Clinton in 41 of the city’s 66 political wards.”
The most significant shift occurred in working-class communities, especially those “where education levels were lowest and poverty rates were highest.”
Yikes:
The trend was consistent across racial groups, though it was most pronounced in majority-Latino neighborhoods. In two North Philadelphia political wards — including the one where Lopez lives — Biden in 2020 performed worse in nearly every voting division than Clinton did in 2016.
In some areas, voters increasingly cast ballots for Trump. In others, Democratic vote totals declined because turnout did — fewer people showing up in blue strongholds is effectively a gain for Republicans.
The Pennsylvania Democrat Party has brushed aside concerns, which I expected to hear. The party claimed Harris has “a robust get-out-the-vote program” and bragged about supposed high enthusiasm for Harris, “especially among younger voters and voters of color who were skeptical of Biden before he dropped out of the race in July.”
One recent poll showed Harris performing better than Biden did in 2020.
However, “enthusiasm to vote was lowest in the city’s working-class neighborhoods.”
Retired trucker Jim Kohn voted Democrat all his life until 2016, when he chose Trump over Hillary:
Kohn, a retired truck driver who lives in South Philly and for years voted along with the Teamsters union, is still a registered Democrat. But he’s planning to vote for Trump for the third time, and he believes more of his neighbors frustrated with inflation and the high cost of goods will, too.
“When Trump was president, everything was cheaper,” he said. “Now, everything is so sky high.”
Trump’s presidency was capped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a historically sharp economic downturn that economists say shifted prices upward for years to come.
Hillary won Kohn’s “largely white, working-class neighborhood” in 2016.
Trump won in 2020. The votes for Trump went up by 52%.
Scott Pressler has been on the ground in Pennsylvania for a long time. He has helped people register to vote and change their registration.
Let’s keep registering new voters in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/t2pAK099Zp
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 13, 2024
Pressler’s hard work is paying off:
Voter registration trends may be on their side. Republicans have outpaced Democrats in the registration battle statewide, including in Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 7-to-1 in the city.
Since the end of 2023, the GOP gained more than 10,300 registrants in Philadelphia, while Democrats netted about 9,800, according to data from the Department of State. The number of unaffiliated voters is roughly flat.
Charlie O’Connor, a GOP leader in the 45th ward, which includes parts of Lower Northeast Philadelphia, said the party has registered hundreds of Republicans in his area since the primary. Records show scores of them were former Democrats.
“The question you ask at the door — doesn’t matter, Black, white — is: are you better off than you were four years ago?” O’Connor said. “That’s the universal message. And people aren’t.”
Pressler helped switch Bucks County, just northeast of Philadelphia, red.
Pennsylvania Voter Registration
Bucks County
June 2020:
🟦 201,254
🟥 185,672🟦 +15,582
October 2024:
🟦 199,464
🟥 202,018🟥 +2,554
In the last 4 years, Bucks County has shifted 18,136 voters to the ➡️
in a state that was decided by 80,000 votes.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) October 1, 2024
For the last few weeks, Republicans have been netting a gain of ~400 voters in Bucks County, PA.
In the last 7 days, alone, 151 🔵 flipped to 🔴.
It’s after the primary — there’s no real reason to switch other than to send a message.
Something special is happening in Bucks.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) October 1, 2024
The Democrats remain in fantasyland, claiming the party’s problem is communication, not policy.
Oh, look. The Latino communities also shifted to the right! Why? Well, Felix Alvarado said Harris has “been a little wishy washy” on border security.
Weird. I heard only white people want a secure border.
The Democrats should also listen to Sen. John Fetterman. Last month, he said that Trump has a “special kind of place” in Pennsylvania.
Fetterman knows Trump will have a “strong” showing in November:
“Trump has created a special kind of hold within the coronet he’s remade – the party – and he has a special kind of place in Pennsylvania, and I think that only deepened after the first assassination attempt,” Fetterman said.
A deranged gunman attempted to assassinate Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. The shooting, which Trump miraculously survived with only a wound on the side of his head, sharpened support among his die-hard base.
“I also want people to understand, you know, and it’s not science, but there is, there’s energy and there are kinds of anger on the ground in Pennsylvania — and people are very committed and strong,” Fetterman said Thursday. “And I joked that his signs became like the state flower – and you see that everywhere.”
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Comments
Deep-blue Philadelphia is losing Democrat voters and gaining Republican voters.
At the same time, the crime rate has gone down significantly.
Holy moly.
postal service working on those mail in ballots for dnc
IMO, Harris has a robust printing press program. “You will vote whether you get out or not.”
The way Harris was coronated and her weird running mate leads me to believe the Democrats are trying to lose this election but the MSM want Harris no matter what due to TDS.
At any point prior to this election cycle, I would dismiss this as crazy talk. But, it would explain a lot of things. My wife commented to me last night as we watched the debate, ‘This is the best guy they could find?’ Maybe he was. We heard that it was Harris that didn’t pick Shapiro. But, maybe that’s simply not the case. Maybe none of them wanted to be on the losing ticket including Shapiro. But, as you say, the media simply refuses to play ball because their hatred for Trump is overwhelming.
There seems to be some sense of resignation in d/prog circles about the Presidential race. They are trying to salvage down ballot races particularly the Senate and HoR. The d/prog (and the DC establishment) have a habit of creating problems and leaving the GoP to try and fix them, then take the blame when their efforts fail due to d/prog resistance.
We got lots of issues that will require very bold decisions and a dramatic break with policies of the past to truly fix them. Budget deficit of $2T ish per year, national debt of $36 Trillion and increasing by an additional $1 Trillion every 100 days. Social.security shortfall looming with a 20-25% cut by 2034. Broken military which needs massive investment into new ships and aircraft to replace those worn and outdated in service.
That’s a bunch of $ needed and each competing for scarce resources. Folks are not always gonna like the solutions but they will be necessary. As one example when ICE is raiding homes/business for illegal aliens and every day has new video looking like the Elian Gonzalez images…many folks, even on our side, are gonna want to back off. That’s the issue, we either do what it takes to fix the problems which will absolutely PO a bunch of folks or we let the problems fester and grow.
Indeed. Chemo and radiation are rough on someone with cancer but the alternative is rougher. You do what you need to do and enjoy the benefits later.
.
More people figure out all the time that Dems are scheming liars, that they aspire to kill democracy and rule the roost in perpetuity.
“The trend was consistent across racial groups, though it was most pronounced in majority-Latino neighborhoods.”
Kamala is kicking her behind that she didn’t break our border with Iran instead.
Nobody that works for a living should ever support that communist Kamala
dont worry … they have already printed out the ballots 3 tractor trailers full that will be found at 3 in the morning on Nov 6.
I would have upvoted your comment in past election cycles for its pure entertainment value. Don’t get me wrong, what you’re saying is funny, but it bites and stings because I believe it is true.
Since when is it a federal crime to say or believe that there were irregularities in an election? But, yet, here we are.
Any person who votes for Kamala and her security blanket aren’t serious adults and shouldn’t be allowed out without a helmet on!