The Field: The Battle for Pennsylvania’s White Working Class

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode contains strong language. Over the summer, Dave Mitchko started a makeshift pro-Trump sign operation from his garage. By his estimate he has handed out around 26,000 signs, put together with the help of his family. Mr. Mitchko might seem like the kind of voter Joseph R. Biden Jr. wants to peel away from the Republicans in November. He had always been a Democrat — he voted for Barack Obama twice — but opted for Donald Trump in 2016. Today, we speak to voters and politicians on the ground in northeastern Pennsylvania, exploring the factors that swung former Democratic strongholds toward Mr. Trump and asking whether Mr. Biden can win them back. Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily Background reading: After the turbulent first presidential debate, Mr. Biden embarked on an old-fashioned train tour to cities where the president won over working-class white voters four years ago.

Transcript

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0:00.0	So can I ask you, you're a Democrat, so how common is it for Democrats to vote for Republicans here?
0:06.6	I think I told you on the phone, I'm gonna give you an example.
0:10.4	When the election came around when Trump was running, I'm working to polls that day as a Democrat
0:17.6	and usually in Hazel Township because the population is so small, Election Day, it's
0:23.5	8 o'clock in the morning, you're gonna get drips and drabs, two hours later, nothing,
0:28.7	lunchtime people are coming under lunch hours and four flock to get the rush.
0:33.2	That day, those people were lined up to the highway. I was like,
0:40.4	are you kidding me? Like, what are these people doing here today?
0:44.8	People just came out the vote for Donald Trump that day, that's what they were there for.
0:48.6	From the New York Times, this is the field, I'm Shane Goldmacher, in Pennsylvania.
0:56.7	Hi! Hi, how are you doing?
1:02.4	Yeah, what are we doing here?
1:04.3	So a few weeks ago, I went with my colleagues Andy Mills and Elise Beagle to LaZern County,
1:09.8	one of the most important counties in one of the most important swing states.
1:13.6	Welcome to the Nanny Cook!
1:15.2	Yeah, we do know how to pronounce it.
1:17.6	Say it again. Nanny Cook.
1:20.2	Paul showed no sign that Donald Trump is making inroads in the cities and suburbs.
1:24.2	So in order to win Pennsylvania and the White House again, Donald Trump not only has to keep
1:29.4	the White Working Class voters he got in LaZern and places like it in 2016.
1:34.4	This time, he's gonna have to win even more.
1:36.8	Could you just introduce yourself to your name, your title?
	...

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