PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Days before the polls open on Nov. 8, former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama and President Joe Biden made a final push in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that is likely to decide who controls the U.S. Senate. They urged voters to support candidates from their respective parties but for very different reasons. Voters on both sides have also expressed widely varying concerns as they choose candidates in the midterm elections.
Biden and Obama teamed up Saturday to stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and Senate candidate John Fetterman in Philadelphia.
“Democracy is literally on the ballot. This is a defining moment for the nation,” Biden said.
The same day, Trump campaigned for Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He told supporters to vote for “America first” Republicans “in a giant red wave,” saying that the United States is being destroyed by the far-left.
Democrat Voters: ‘Democracy’ and Abortion Top List
“Democracy” and abortion are among the top concerns for many Democrat voters. Democrats spoke to The Epoch Times as they entered the Liacouras Center for the rally.“President Biden has said that this election is a referendum on democracy. And I tend to believe that,” said Hal Pschunder, a retired systems engineer.
He blamed Republicans for “not [being] interested in respecting the tradition of democracy” regarding the 2020 election.
“You’ve lost the election, and you have to accept that. And I see that some people on the other side are unwilling to do that,” Pschunder said.
Pschunder said the second thing he cares about most as the father of two daughters is abortion. “I’m concerned about the rollback of the Roe versus Wade done by the Supreme Court earlier this year. I’m very disappointed that happened.”
Nick Pittana, a meteorologist, said he is concerned about the future of democracy. As a former Republican, Pittana said it’s essential to show the world that “we can put our differences aside and come together for democracy because that is on the ballot this year.”
He said he is looking past the midterms to the 2024 elections. “Yes, this is a very important election,” said Pittana, “But ultimately, what happens in the presidential election in two years is going to shape what happens as a nation.”
For Pam, a retired professional violinist who did not disclose her last name, the number one concern is “the threat to our democracy.”
She accused the Republicans of trying to “steal democracy” with “the election deniers, the QAnon conspiracy theorists, and the lack of a plan to help with everyday Americans.”
Pam listed “voter election integrity” as her number two concern. She believes “there is a lot of racial inequity across America right now” and said there is a need to “codify some sort of voter election integrity laws that will allow us to have fair elections going forward.”
“The Democrats want people to vote, want a free and fair election for everybody,” continued Pam, “I think the Republicans do not. They only want a ‘free and fair election’ if the outcome is that they win.”
Republic Voters Voice Concern About ‘Kitchen Table’ Issues
Trump has billed the Nov. 8 elections as a referendum on the Biden administration’s policies.“This election is a referendum on skyrocketing inflation, rampant crime, soaring murders, crushing gas prices, millions and millions of illegal aliens pouring across our border, race and gender indoctrination converting our schools,” Trump said at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in September.
Many Republican voters echoed concerns aligned with Trump’s at Oz’s “Get Out the Vote” rally in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 1.
“Crime is my number one concern before [finance],” said entrepreneur Don Jackson, co-founder of Philadelphia Technician Training Institute, “We have a high level of fentanyl problems, which still leads back to crime, and it affects the economy.”
As a Philadelphian, Jackson says crime is a critical issue. “I’m constantly seeing people murdered every day. It’s not because of the neighborhood that I live in. It’s throughout the city.”
Data from the Philadelphia Police Department shows that the number of homicide victims in the city was 447 as of Nov. 5, on pace to exceed last year’s record of 562 murders.
“That’s why I have an organization. What we are designed to do is to start a gun reduction strategy program,” said Jackson. Last year the trade school educator co-founded Urban Navigation, a community organization that aims to divert urban youth from violence.
Jamie Kane, a software engineer living in Bensalem, which borders Philadelphia, lists crime and the economy as his top two issues.
Kane worries that crime is spreading from the city of Philadelphia to the suburbs. “I just found out from our mayor that more than half the crime in this town is from people coming from the Philadelphia city border.”
With a quarter of his paycheck going to student loans, Kane feels the pressure of inflation. “More and more, my paycheck means nothing, and now it’s costing more and more for me to do just about anything,” he said.
Financial adviser Andy Meehan said Oz focuses on “the issues that matter to people at the ‘kitchen table,' like the crime, the border, and the inflation.” Meehan said, “I think that’s what most Americans care about.”
He also expressed outrage at big government and its COVID policies. “We don’t want our schools shut down. We don’t want our children masked. We don’t want our businesses shut down over these COVID things,” said Meehan, “That’s a big issue here in Pennsylvania.”
Meehan continued, “Liberty is on the docket. We want our liberty back. We want smaller government and our constitutional rights protected.”
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