Report from the field in Butler, PA

[Joe Cool]

I am at the Trump rally! The energy here is incredible! There is no way Harris could ever get these vibes nor this huge crowd. After standing in a field all day and listening to one of the greatest orators in American history speak, I have decided to register as a Republican and vote for the greatest American and President in US history, Donald Trump.


Just kidding.

The woman who has lived across the street from me for about 15 years is a very mild-mannered individual. She has had a grand total of one political sign in her yard in 15 years. The sign was for a city council candidate. She told me that she was friends with the candidate’s (not councilman) wife.
After doing a few things this morning and returning home, I was shocked to see a Trump/Vance sign in her yard.



Just kidding. Again.

She has Harris/Walz and a Bob Casey for Senate signs in her front yard.
I’m not shocked she supports them but am shocked the signs are in her yard given her temperament and history of only one political sign.

[MLF1981]

1. Having lived in Western PA, and having been to Butler...

All I can say is that the only things they had were heroin addiction and despair. And they're almost out of heroin.

[twodogsbarking]

2. It once was a nice town.

[MLF1981]

3. Story of the Rust Belt...

I have family who are from that area. Vibrant communities that were dependent on steel or coal are hollowed out relics of what they once were. Trump came along and offered them false hope, and they bought it hook, line and sinker. I guess false hope is better than no hope at all.

[lees1975]

6. They've closed down schools, consolidating into some of the better buildings, since the old ones were

pretty dilapidated. I lived in Butler County for 8 years, just a mile and a half from the county line to the west going into Lawrence County, which is even worse. New Castle, the county seat, is a run down, dilapidated, opioid addicted, heroine addicted hell hole. And sadly, it had a high rate of fatalities during COVID because the one local hospital in the county got swamped and they had no other resources to turn to, because, of course, there was no federal help until Biden came into office, and the state legislators, mostly Republican at the time, did nothing.

Fortunately Allegheny County, the next one to the south, has 1.2 million people and a 60% Democratic voter majority.

I did hear, from a friend who lives down the road, that the cars were streaming by long before buffoon finished speaking.

[MLF1981]

7. Huh...

I actually lived in Allegheny county, Dormont to be specific, but I traveled all over the area for work. Not just Western PA, but Eastern Ohio and Northern WV too. I remember the first time I was going to Butler to recruit people for jobs in the area, a coworker of mine who was from there asked me, "Have you ever been to Butler before?" I told him, truthfully, that I had not.

He said, "Well, get ready to see some shit." And indeed, that's exactly how it turned out. I interviewed over a hundred people for jobs doing pipeline construction, and do you know how many were able to pass the drug test?

Three.

This was in 2017. I can only imagine how much worse it's gotten since then...

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Butler, Pennsylvania

Population 13,502 *(and has been declining consistentlt since the 1940 census)
...
Demographics
93.6% White, 2.7% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.52% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.88% of the population
...
There were 6,740 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.2% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.96.
...
The median income for a household in the city was $25,154, and the median income for a family was $35,893. Males had a median income of $30,607 versus $20,950 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,457. About 14.7% of families and 19.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
...
In 2024, The New York Times characterized the Butler area as being politically conservative.[38] That year, Mayor Bob Dandoy, a Democrat, stated that the city limits has a higher concentration of non-Republicans compared to the surrounding county. According to Dandoy, "President Trump enjoys a lot of support here."[16]
Snip...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler,_Pennsylvania

*My observation from the data

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Bureau of Elections

Bureau of Elections
Our office is located at 227 West Cunningham St, Butler, PA 16001

https://www.butlercountypa.gov/160/Bureau-of-Elections
Current Registered Voters 142,299
As of 09/26/2024

Democratic Voters - 40,109
Republican Voters - 81,436
Libertarian Voters - 857
Other Voters - 19,897