Joe Biden’s bond with his hometown of Scranton burns so strongly that he keeps returning to the childhood home where he spent his first decade.
But neighbors down the street are nervous about Kamala Harris’ inability to win over residents of Pennsylvania, the president’s beloved home state.
The Keystone State and its 19 electoral college votes could determine the outcome of the general election and have been the focus of both campaigns in recent weeks.
“People like me have more of a connection with him than with her, even though he supports her,” said Jamie Hayes, 73, a retired university employee who watched the race from a neighbor’s porch a few doors down from the house where Biden forged. lifetime bonds.
“So I’m with her, and I’m definitely against the other side. But I think any help they can get in Pennsylvania would be a good thing, because we know this is critical. And that goes for Trump too,” she added, saying Biden could provide the necessary “boost.”
Jamie Hayes, 73, a few doors down from Joe Biden’s parents’ home, said the electoral situation was “terrifying” for her. The Harris supporter says she’s closer to Biden, and the president should spend more time on his old turf to boost her
Hayes was there as residents crowded around Biden during his latest visit to his old Green Ridge neighborhood as part of a campaign restart.
Biden said at the time that he was looking at the economy “through the eyes of Scranton” rather than through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. He also came on Election Day 2020.
Hayes worries that after getting a debate bump, the hurricanes and war in Israel will put Harris in a precarious position with voters. “It’s definitely scary for me,” she says.
Having worked with young students, she says Democrats may need to leverage the support of celebrities like Taylor Swift to motivate voters. “I know the impact she has, but that’s what they’re going to have to do,” she said.
At Hank’s Hoagies, a Biden favorite just steps from his old home, retired software engineer Deanne Loftus called Biden’s decision to step back “selfless,” and says Harris has her vote.
She only has an inkling that Harris may gain the upper hand. ‘I think so. I’m concerned about the Senate race,” she said, pointing to the bid of Scranton-born Sen. Bob Casey, who grew up a few blocks away.
It’s not just the sandwiches and the old memories that will keep Biden coming back. ‘Scranton climbs into your heart. There’s no way to get it out even if I wanted to. I don’t do that,” the president said days ago in his eulogy here for childhood friend Tommy Bell at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, where he worshiped as a child.
It is a potential source of Democratic support, surrounded by rural areas where Trump has made inroads in a state that Biden took away from him in 2020. Biden defeated Trump that year in Lackawanna County, winning by 9,000 votes, 54 to 45. Scranton has a population of about 75,000.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing. It’s over — the whole thing,” Trump said as he traveled to the state for a pair of rallies Wednesday, including one in Scranton that drew a few thousand.
Top political experts agree. Pennsylvania is the most controversial state in the country due to the large number of 19 electoral votes, the proximity of the polls and the way in which there is a transition between Trump and Biden. For Harris, this is the most worrying part of the “blue wall.”
One of those Trump voters close to Biden is John, a firefighter and union member from Scranton who did not want to give his middle name and who remains loyal to the former president after previously voting for Barack Obama. (The International Firefighters Union was the first to endorse Biden in 2020 and has not endorsed this year.)
‘When he first came, the economy was good. I know some of that is due to Barack Obama before him. But I do like his tough stance on both domestic foreign policy and promoting economic growth here in the United States, he says as he walks past Biden’s old house with his dachshund.
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President Joe Biden revisited his childhood home in Scranton in April as he sought re-election. Now voters in the area are worried about whether Kamala Harris can win the state he carried
‘Scranton climbs into your heart. There is no way to get it out,” Biden said in a recent eulogy in his hometown
After picking up hoagies at Biden’s deli, Deanne Loftus says Kamala Harris can probably pull off a victory. She’s afraid of the state’s Democratic senator, Bob Casey
Mia Scotti studies at Catholic Marywood University, a stone’s throw from Biden’s childhood home. She is preparing to cast her first vote for Donald Trump
Baden Hancock freshman is banking on Trump’s economics as he sets his sights on a new Mazda sports car
Dave Castellani, a self-described right-wing Republican, cast a vote for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania. He called Trump a threat to the Constitution
Biden spent a decade in the house on North Washington Street, and still visits occasionally
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing. It’s over, the whole thing,” Trump said in Pennsylvania on Wednesday
Just a few steps up a hill from Biden’s childhood home is Marywood University, a Catholic institution where some students earned extra credits by registering to vote.
Mia Scotti says she will cast her first vote for Trump. “I just feel like he has more of a voice, and he’s done that before,” she said as she took a break from her studies in the school’s education program.
Baden Hancock, a freshman studying math, is also preparing to cast his first vote for Trump after earning five extra credits in his psychology class after registering. The golf enthusiast is hoping to scrape together enough cash to buy a sporty new Maza sports car.
“Maybe I agree with him,” he says of Trump. “I just want a better economy.” As for Harris, “I don’t think she’s as strong as Trump. I think she would prefer to be a weaker candidate, I think Trump, I know he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do.”
Biden has not lived in the Green Ridge neighborhood since 1952. But there’s still a real Biden Street in Scranton — renamed after he was elected in the city’s struggling downtown. (There is also a Biden highway with large green signs diverting motorists from the Pennsylvania Route 307 highway).
Like many industrial downtowns, there are signs of economic trouble on Biden Street, which is littered with vacant businesses — including one in a prominent corner decorated with Trump signs.
But here, Harris has already secured exactly the kind of votes she needs if she wants to bring the state to a center of government in Lackawanna County, just a few feet below Biden Street.
Dave Castellani, a self-described right-wing Republican and retired Proctor & Gamble employee, had just withdrawn his vote for Harris on Wednesday.
When asked how he feels after his vote, he replied: “It’s doubtful.”
“You have to look at the worst of two evils,” he continued,
“You know, you might not think that Harris is the greatest, is going to be the best president, but then you look at Trump and you have to make a decision whether you’re going to stick with the Constitution or whether you’re going to look at someone who wants to try to be whoever he wants to be. He wants to be someone who looks like Putin,” he says after handing in his ballot.
“He has a huge following, so it’s like a cult situation. I mean, look at his vice president; all the people who worked with him said he should not be in office. He is a danger to the Constitution, to the American way of life. And I believe that,” said Castellani, who voted for Trump in 2016.
“At the time I thought it was possible he could be a different kind of person,” he said.
