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Close Battleground State Reveals Election Day Strategies

by Katherine Gypson

   PHILADELPHIA --

   In the battle for electoral votes, every winning calculation that ends
   with the White House, begins with Pennsylvania.

   Both presidential campaigns see a potential win in this northeastern
   state that has reliably swung Democratic since 1980 but with slim
   margins. From rural areas hit hard by job losses to diverse cities that
   reflect the changing demographics of the country, this key battleground
   state that can be swayed to either party presents an election season
   challenge.

   Only hours before polls open in Pennsylvania, the campaigns' strategies
   couldn't be clearer.

   Trump looks to suburbs

   In the suburban Philadelphia office of the Trump campaign, a steady
   stream of voters picks up Trump/Pence yard signs. Volunteers call
   voters and sort through poll watcher certificates -- a necessary
   credential for the many Trump supporters who will staff their county
   polling places on Election Day. They'll be looking for signs of the
   voter fraud Republican nominee Donald Trump has warned his supporters
   about since rallies this August.

   "It's hard to believe that in some areas of Philadelphia, there are no
   Republicans" says local Republican committeewoman and Trump volunteer
   Ann Pilgreen, referring to the 2012 election when 59 voting divisions
   of Philadelphia did not post a single vote for Mitt Romney.

   FILE - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures as he
   arrives for a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 7, 2016.

   In this part of suburban Philadelphia, where as few as 500 votes
   separated Barack Obama from Mitt Romney in the previous 2012 election,
   voter fraud is less of a concern. Pilgreen says many truck drivers and
   union workers worried about the state of the country have stopped in
   for yard signs.

   On the lawns of the run-down houses lining the streets to the Trump
   office, Clinton and Trump signs are evenly balanced, showing close
   margins Pilgreen has kept in mind.

   "The vote in Philadelphia will be Democrat," she says, "We in the
   suburbs need to counter that as much as possible because the rest of
   Pennsylvania is Trump country."

   It's a reality both campaigns face, with Clinton expected to perform
   well in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, where strong African-American
   support should boost her numbers over Trump's strong support in the
   rural, less-populated areas of the state.

   Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally
   at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Nov. 7, 2016.

   Balancing the ballot

   But Trump could be a tough sell for the moderate voters in the nearby
   higher-income community of Malvern, outside of Philadelphia.

   Husband and wife Stick and Nancy Klavans come from Democratic and
   Republican families respectively but don't vote according to any party
   allegiance. They both say they have switched according to the
   particular candidates of each individual presidential election year.

   "I don't think a non-vote is really a good idea and so I will be one of
   those voting against Trump as opposed to specifically voting for
   Hillary," says Nancy Klavens, who specifically mentions the lack of a
   viable third-party alternative for her vote.

   Her husband, Stick Klavens, who was bothered by "the lack of civilized
   behavior" on both sides this election season, says his reluctant vote
   for Clinton has a built-in safeguard.

   He says, "If the president is going to be one [party], I'll try to vote
   for the other party for the Congress."

   He admits he has sometimes voted for undesirable candidates just to get
   the pain of voting over with, but he looks forward to a time he has no
   doubt is coming: when the country -- and the Republican Party --come
   back together.

   "I think this country is bigger than both of them," he says of Trump
   and Clinton.

   FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a
   campaign rally at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan,
   Nov. 7, 2016.

   Clinton taps star power

   Hillary Clinton spent the final hours of the 2016 campaign at a
   high-profile event on Philadelphia's Independence Mall.

   With support from entertainers and President Barack Obama and wife,
   Michelle, she made her final case to voters. Acknowledging it had been
   a long campaign, Clinton said she deeply regretted "how angry the tone
   of the campaign became," but told the crowd of tens of thousands she
   would be a president for all Americans.

   Clinton has a strong ground presence in Pennsylvania, with dozens of
   field offices compared to a handful for Trump statewide. But the
   Republican nominee's campaign has always argued that enthusiasm for his
   numerous campaign appearances statewide will translate into grassroots
   excitement on Election Day.

   In the final days of the campaign, Clinton has held a solid lead in
   Pennsylvania, polling as much as six point ahead of Donald Trump headed
   into Election Day.