(The Center Square) — At a Courtyard Marriott in the Philadelphia suburbs, Dave McCormick rallied his campaign troops.
Preparing to scatter across the subdivisions of southern Bucks County, they heard the Republican U.S. Senate candidate speak of the stakes in this election.
“The American dream is slipping away,” McCormick said. “So is the opportunity that we want available for every single American, for all of our kids, for all of their kids — that is the choice we have right in front of us.”
He criticized “career politician” Bob Casey Jr., the incumbent Democratic senator, as supporting extreme liberal policies, leaving Pennsylvania only two roads to go.
“One way, which is over the cliff — our country headed in the wrong direction with terrible economic policies that are gonna drive up inflation, a wide open border that’s contributing to crime and the fentanyl crisis, energy policies driving up the price of gas and killing good jobs,” McCormick said.
The other option, he noted, was “another world of commonsense policies to get our economy back on track.”
He acknowledged that the senate race is extraordinarily tight, and thanked the crowd of supporters from Americans For Prosperity Action for knocking doors on his behalf.
“I’m gonna win because of the three more doors you knock on,” McCormick said. “Thank all of you for being here. Honestly, it’s like a huge boost of energy to feel what you’re feeling and feel this energy to go take our country back, and take our commonwealth back,” McCormick said.
The key to a senate victory, he said, was talking to voters on the fence and simplifying what the vote means.
“It’s the difference between common sense policies versus an extreme liberal agenda — that’s also the formula for President Trump,” McCormick said. “He needs to just let Kamala Harris defend a set of positions that are wildly out-of-step with Pennsylvanians.”
AFP Action has endorsed a bevy of candidates nationwide with a focus on limited government. Notably, they’ve supported many Republican senate and house candidates, but declined to endorse Donald Trump in the presidential race.
They have almost 250 volunteer and paid canvassers at work across all 67 counties and estimate they’ve knocked on more than 600,000 doors this election season, but there’s a special focus on three places.
“We’re focused on Bucks, Montgomery, and Allegheny Counties,” AFP Action Senior Advisor Emily Greene said. “We know that those three counties are going to make or break statewide elections…we’re working to ensure that Dave McCormick overperforms.”
The leaflet they leave behind on doorknobs reads, “Dave McCormick will put party politics aside to deliver real solutions.” It emphasizes three issues: fight the rising cost of living, securing the border, and bringing down energy prices. On the reverse side, a sepia-toned image of a frowning Casey tells voters he “has failed Pennsylvania” on inflation, border security, and lower energy costs.
AFP Action has targeted swing voters, looking to sway the undecided or ensure that McCormick supporters make it to the polls. In a subdevelopment of Levittown, Harrisburg Grassroots Engagement Director Katrina Dolan and Deb Leacy, an AFP volunteer/paid worker, spent a couple hours knocking about 50 doors.
Dolan got involved in politics, she said, after the pandemic-era shutdowns of 2020 by former Gov. Tom Wolf led to the closure of her business. Leacy has seen her hours cut and layoffs of nearly half her coworkers at a cabinet manufacturer in Mifflin County; she's picked up paid AFP Action work to make up some of her income.
In Levittown, a substantial number of homes had boats or campers in the driveway — Trump signs outnumbered Harris 25-2. The voter data they use sends canvassers to specific houses in the neighborhood, rather than hitting every house on the street. Dolan said about 10% of people answer the door for a short conversation or accept the leaflet.
On a Tuesday afternoon, almost 20 people answered the door: 10 McCormick supporters, a Casey voter — and eight voters who were unsure.
“Everything’s a mess,” noted one Republican voter who planned to go straight-ticket, who had multiple Trump signs in his lawn.
Another woman said she’d support McCormick because Trump endorsed him.
“The Democrats aren’t Democrats anymore,” she said, a tone of frustration in her voice. “I might vote three times — because they do it.”
Distrust of mail-in ballots was a theme among a few voters, as were complaints about inflation and the economy.
“I’m tired of the way we’ve been living,” one woman said, who was looking for a part-time job to supplement her full-time work. “We need a change.”
Immigration, too, came up.
“I don’t like the Democrats’ immigration policy,” said Mahendra Patel, an immigrant who came over from India in 1999. “We didn’t jump the line; I waited 18 years to come over here. But Democrats support illegal immigrants.”
Even voters who identified as Republican and conservative, though, weren’t yet committing to Trump or McCormick. Some seemed like they haven’t yet followed the election, but others were more reticent to explain their hesitation or what issues kept them non-committal.
Others, meanwhile, were frustrated by the onslaught of political advertising without much depth.
“All these commercials are going after the other guy — you don’t know what they’re doing for us,” one man said.
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