Rural Pennsylvania is a rehash. Fields of burning sunflowers and corncobs with dead feet, forests, cemeteries, small sleepy towns. Partial mirage. Rural Pennsylvania deceives the distracted visitor by pretending to possess an immutable character. But something is happening in York County, in the south of the state, home to some 460,000 people. An uncertain but important undertaking, two months before the American presidential elections: the Democrats have decided not to abandon the sparsely urbanized areas to the Republicans.
The well-kept streets of the small town of Stewartstown show their neutrality. The countryside has not yet invaded the storefronts, the gardens, the roadsides. Janet Winters, 66, placed Democratic ticket signs for Kamala Harris-Tim Walz on her porch, waiting for volunteers to place them in the manicured lawns of her residential neighborhood. Her three children are grown. They live far away, in Taiwan, because “adventure sought”as teachers. Janet Winters has long worked for a food assistance program for women and young children. She is not a little proud of her new responsibility: she heads the small Democratic network in South County.
“I am a minority in the area”, he says with a smile when we mention the numerous signs that say “Trump 2024.” “Many people settled here fleeing the problems of Baltimore. [Maryland], the big neighboring city, she explains. There are gun enthusiasts, too. But I find it hard to accept the idea that so many people could vote for this man who brings out the worst in everyone and the entire country. A man who supports white supremacists. »
Janet Winters once considered displaying a Black Lives Matter sign in solidarity with the movement against police violence, but decided against it. It was too bold for the neighborhood. When she moved to Stewartstown thirty years ago, she thought she was the only Democrat there. Then Janet Winters met other people at the town library who became her friends.
In rural areas like York County – which overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump (61.5%) in 2020 – Kamala Harris’ goal is not to win, but to narrow the gap. And the Democratic strategy relies on a network of enthusiastic activists.
Leading a grassroots campaign
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