Donald Trump's promises strike a chord in Pennsylvania

Lewisberry, Pennsylvania - Sitting in the bar of a roadside restaurant with a friend, Rick Shaffer sums up what he thinks of the situation in this northeastern US state with three words: "We need change."

Shaffer and his friend, both construction workers in their 50s, support Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. They believe the United States needs a strong military and that undocumented immigrants should be deported.

Pennsylvania has backed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992. Even so, the state is "not reliably Democrat", says political analyst Bill Schneider.

While the state's largest city, Philadelphia, and its surrounding counties have a large number of affluent white voters and minorities who are heavily against Trump, Schneider says, Pennsylvania is also home to a large white working-class population with lower income and education levels than the national average.

This demographic group includes miners and factory workers who have seen their jobs disappear as a result of economic changes reshaping the country's industrial landscape.

"They are the core of Trump's constituency. They're angry and resentful," Schneider says.

Trump won 77 percent in the Republican primary in Luzerne county in northeast Pennsylvania.

In the county's main city of Wilkes-Barre, a former mining hub, thousands of supporters turned up for his rally this week.

"They've taken our jobs out of Pennsylvania. We'll be bringing them back folks, believe me," Trump thundered from the stage.

His fired-up fans cheered, chanting, "USA, USA," some waving "Trump digs coal" signs.

Such charged rhetoric resonates strongly with Trump supporters here: promises of jobs and prosperity, that Trump is not a politician or part of the establishment in Washington.

"I like he's an outsider," said Matthew, who brought his seven-year-old son to the rally.

"We're fed up with disgusting DC, with the corruption and greed, politicians just working for themselves.

"If Hillary Clinton gets to the White House ..." he continues, but his son cuts in: "Then we're doomed! She's a crook."

Matthew, who did not want to give his full name to protect his privacy, blames bad trade pacts for the loss of jobs in the county.

He still has a job: he works in the dental prosthesis industry in Wilkes-Barre. But he has witnessed jobs being outsourced to countries like China where manufacturing costs are lower.

Matthew fits into some of the categories that statistically make him inclined to support Trump: male without a college education, in a rural area, of mostly white descent. But he is also married to a South American woman, taught English to immigrants and lived in Peru. Nevertheless, he backs Trump's strict immigration policies.

He argues that given the existing system of work visas and other ways to enter the US legally, a crackdown on undocumented immigrants is justified. And he thinks refugees should be hosted close to their home countries, where problems of assimiliation will not arise and they can eventually return home.

"It's not xenophobia or anything. What makes America great is that it's a melting pot, it's like the world in one country and that's a beautiful thing," Matthew said. "But rules are for a reason. When you start to move away from them, you create chaos."

Wilkes-Barre's economic fortunes have been in decline since appetite for its coal dwindled after the first world war.

While the mining industry in the area once employed some 180,000 people, that number is now down to 300, according to Larry Newman, who promotes business in Wilkes-Barre.

Thousands of jobs were created in industrial parks after the mining industry's demise, but they were relatively low-skilled positions that could easily be outsourced.

Factories producing shoes, garments and other goods have shut down, and the main employers in the area today are warehouses and distribution centres, which pay much lower wages than work at the assembly lines in the factories did.

Still, Newman does not agree with the bleak picture of the city painted by Trump supporters.

He says the city centre has become a "start-up cluster", with tech-based companies and other new businesses renting office spaces. However, these are jobs that require college education and are not available to workers displaced by factory closures.

Those employed in the start-ups are "the children and grandchildren of the people struggling", Newman says.

"Trump's message about jobs resonate with many people here. They see him as a change agent."

Trump has promised repeatedly throughout his campaign to save the US coal industry and to renegotiate international trade deals.

Karen Baranoski, a teacher and Democratic volunteer, is excited at the prospect of electing the first female president and is convinced that the US cannot get a more qualified leader than Clinton.

She is encouraged by recent poll numbers that give Clinton a lead of more than eight percent over Trump at 47.3 to 39.0 percent in Pennsylvania.

Trump's candidacy has indeed survived controversy after controversy, with his offensive comments about Hispanics, Muslims, women and the disabled grabbing headlines at different times.

In recent days, his campaign has taken its strongest hit yet after the publication of a 2005 video in which he is heard bragging in foul language about groping women.

While Trump himself has tried to play down his remarks as "locker-room talk", several prominent Republicans have abandoned their candidate.

At the Wilkes-Barre rally, the lewd comments did not seem to bother female Trump supporters whom Al Jazeera spoke to.

"We're not electing the pope," said Eileen Johanssen, a nutrition education adviser. "No one is free from sin … This is a great man."

Back in the bar in Lewisberry, warehouse employee Melissa Comer says it does not matter who wins the election - as long as it is not Trump.

She supported Democrat Bernie Sanders in the primaries, and now faces a dilemma: vote for Clinton to keep Trump out of office, or vote for a third party whose manifesto hews closer to her political views.

"It's a choice between a douche and a turd," she said. And there is at least one thing she is sure of: "We need a revolution in this country, we need to overthrow the two-party system!"

Pauline Cuk, working in the restaurant, has no idea what choice she will make on Election Day.

She watched the latest presidential debate and found the way the candidates spoke to each other "appalling".

"They're like two kids," she said. "I feel physically ill when I think of it, that one of these idiots will be in charge of our future. I would vote for Mickey Mouse if I could."

Funny how this recent quote has gone down the MSM memory black hole...

“We are going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business”
— Hillary Clinton

....”Why build a wall? Landmines will do the same!”....

The whole point is to build a big, BEAUTIFUL wall, worthy of a great civilization!!!!

It will be designed to keep the unwanted out—not to kill or maim. And it will be designed to be impressive to people on both sides of the border.

There are wall-like border barriers across only parts of our southern border. But because they do not cover much of the border, they are not effective. And they look like crap!!

Because of his background as a builder, Donald Trump conceived of building a wall—a beautiful wall!! It was a stroke of genius, and he can do it. Few others can!!!!

At the debate, Trump should tell ever American to look at their paycheck and ask if they want to pay more taxes or get a tax cut and bring home more money for their families! Independents need to hear this!!!!!!!

Then he needs to remind everyone what a liar Hillary Clinton is - so much so that she lies when she doesn’t even have to lie because that’s her nature. Examples:

She lied and said she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary - when he didn’t become famous until 6 years after she was born.

Hillary’s claim she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire in 1996 has been proven false.

The worst, of course, is her looking into the eyes of the Benghazi victim’s parents and telling them that the attacks that killed their sons were because of a video - and then she basically calls them liars for pointing out what she told them.

"It's not xenophobia or anything. What makes America great is that it's a melting pot, it's like the world in one country and that's a beautiful thing," Matthew said.

Isn't it time to put "The United Nations of America" to rest? This isn't why The Greatest Generation went to war.

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