Southwest PA News

With one debate down, and two to go, I feel compelled to share something that the professional pollsters will scoff at. Don’t be surprised if Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania again this November—sometimes, you don’t need a poll to predict the outcome of a presidential election. 

For 16 years, I took the same route to work at a local radio station in Pennsylvania, driving through a predominantly liberal suburb. To my amazement, I started noticing a remarkable change during the 2016 election season — the same households that backed President Obama in 2008 and 2012 were now supporting Donald Trump.

I know that anecdotal evidence isn’t necessarily an accurate predictor of electoral outcomes, but 2016 felt different. And that feeling proved prophetic. Many of the signs I saw on the street were not the typical campaign merchandise available for a few dollars online. People were making their own posters, sticking them to windows, and planting them in their yards. This was not a typical election. 

I also felt a monumental shift in the regional political landscape while hosting my radio program — as the election season rolled on, I received more and more calls from disgruntled Democrats who were fed up with their own party. They often told my producer that they wanted to go on air but wouldn’t give their name for fear of being singled out by someone they knew.

There are many parallels between 2016 and this year’s presidential election. Just as he did in 2016, Donald Trump is facing an establishment Democrat politician who plots an immediate U-turn to the Obama era. Just look at what Joe Biden said at the debate. The only argument he made for himself was that he would be President Obama’s third term. 

Four years ago, pollsters claimed that the Democrat nominee was miles ahead in key swing states and that Trump had virtually no chance of winning. The pollsters are saying the very same today.

But just like in 2016, there are subtle signs of another Trump victory in Pennsylvania — signs that the mainstream media is destined to ignore ahead of this pivotal election. 

Time and again, I am hearing from union workers who have been lifelong Democrats and who are now considering casting their vote for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in decades. They have seen the results of President Trump’s policies for themselves and are now determined to re-elect him this November. 

One man in particular approached me at a gun store and told me he was a union member working for a local plastic manufacturing firm. He said it was seeing Trump’s promises become something tangible in his own life that secured his support and his vote to re-elect President Trump in 2020.

Small business and restaurant owners across the state are also recognizing the importance of re-electing this president. For the past six months, the Trump administration has undertaken Herculean efforts to help small businesses overcome the coronavirus pandemic — and entrepreneurs have taken notice.  More importantly, President Trump continues to pressure state and local authorities to safely lift the job-killing coronavirus restrictions that are destroying the very businesses that will power our economic recovery.

“How do I go back to a party that has forsaken me?” a local businesswoman asked me recently, explaining that she has been unable to re-open because of Pennsylvania’s draconian lockdown rules. She will be voting Republican across the board for the first time this November. 

I’ve also noticed a sizable political shift among the men and women of law enforcement — unlike previous elections, police officers are largely united in enthusiastically supporting the Republican nominee because he is the only person running for office who has their backs. 

Don’t believe the Democrat spin about the female vote, either. Women are coming out in droves, looking for volunteering opportunities to support the president. They don’t want to live in a country that is ruled by an angry mob of rioting radicals who burn our churches and loot local stores. They don’t want their children to grow up in a society that gives violent criminals a pass. 

While this is not a data-driven forecast of the upcoming presidential election, it is a reflection of the hundreds of conversations that I’ve had with Pennsylvanians over the past few months. The Democrat Party elites think they are destined to win this November, but that’s only because they continue to ignore the millions of Americans who have had enough of their empty rhetoric.

Rose Somma Tennent has for 20 years worked in both radio and television in Pittsburgh. She is currently the host of “Rose Unplugged” and serves on the Advisory Board for Moms for America and Women for Trump. She lives in Washington County.