now with little more than two weeks to
go before the u.s presidential election
donald trump has been campaigning in the
battleground states that will decide
this contest
one of the most important areas is the
so-called rust belt that's america's old
industrial heartland in the north
east of the country four years ago the
state of pennsylvania was unexpectedly
won by donald trump
it was the first time the state had
voted for a republican candidate in
almost 30 years
nick bryant reports now on how
pennsylvania could play a critical role
in this year's election
an ugly american election is being
forced amidst this beautiful american
landscape
what often feels like a shared continent
occupied by warring tribes
this is the trump house in rural
pennsylvania
a site of pilgrimage for a political
base that often exhibits a near
cult-like devotion a shrine decorated
with the iconography
of the modern day american right its
owner leslie rossi points to how the
republicans have registered more than
twice as many new voters in pennsylvania
as the democrats
a portent of victory they love what
president trump has done that he kept
his word that he kept his promises that
he did all the things he said or tried
to
um he's you know the people's president
and they get that
this is the post-industrial landscape
that provided the seed bed for the trump
presidency
the rusting steel works became echo
chambers for the slogan make america
great again
but this year he hasn't come up with a
ringing phrase that's reverberated
through these valleys
the 2020 election is not a rerun
of the 2016 election donald trump is not
an insurgent he's the incumbent he has a
record
to defend and then there's that question
that often decides presidential contests
is the country better off now than it
was four years ago
some plants have seen new investment but
the steel industry now employs almost 2
000 fewer workers than it did four years
ago largely as a result of the trump
trade war
this isn't coming back places like this
will never come
back this style of manufacturing that
existed
throughout the 20th century is gone
has donald trump revive these
communities no not
not in the way that these communities
wanted to be revived
manufacturer manufacturing hasn't come
back
steel hasn't come back and it won't
the political rationale for joe biden's
candidacy was that he was the democrat
best place to win back white voters in
the rust belt
former trump supporters like chuck
howenstein
in 2020 i think it's a perfect storm for
joe biden
because i think people are tired they
want to see normalcy back in this
country
uh they want to see decency they want to
see uh this
this hatred stop and they want to see
this country united
and uh i think all that together um
is gonna bring joe biden the presidency
many voters here still cling to the
nostalgic nationalism that donald trump
offers and view him as a president of
american resurgence
but are there enough of them in these
broken communities
to win him four more years nick bryant
bbc news
pennsylvania