'Giving them power would be just pointless': Some PA swing voters balking at voting for Republicans

Any belief by Republicans that swing voters in Pennsylvania will embrace them once again after almost a year and a half into the Joe Biden administration may be dampened by a report at the conservative Bulwark.

According to campaign and messaging analysts Rich Thau and Mitch Stefee, a recent focus group with 12 Pennsylvania voters -- six Republicans, four Democrats, and three independents -- revealed both frustrations with the state of the country as well as a lack of enthusiasm for handing the reins of power back to the GOP.

According to their Bulwark report, "We were surprised to hear them reject the conventional wisdom that persuadable voters such as themselves will vote for Republican senate candidates in November merely out of frustration with the Democrats’ inability to control inflation, crime, and various other problems," adding, "The conventional wisdom is that 2022 is shaping up to be a wave election for Republicans. But only one of our respondents personified this view."

One panelist, David from Phoenixville, suggested, "I think maybe we need to have Republicans controlling the House and the Senate to provide good checks and balances for Biden," but others were not so sure.

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Brian, 40, chimed in, "For me, it depends. Are they being backed by Trump? Are they big Trump fans? Are they preaching the election was stolen? All that jazz that I just can’t stomach . . . I couldn’t fathom voting for a Republican that is pro-Trump, that might think like him, act like him. No way is that happening."

Amy, 43, was less than enthused about the GOP coming back into power, explaining, "I think both parties have made mistakes and there are issues with both of them. I can’t put the blame on one over the other . . . I don’t know that Republicans would make any better choices [if they regain control of Congress].”

Stacy from Marcus Hook got into specifics when it comes to what the GOP stands for.

“To me, [Republicans in Congress] seem like babies and very, very petty . . . I feel like we can never truly move forward because they block things just to block things,” Stacy detailed. "It’s never to understand the other opinion. It’s never to understand the other side. It’s merely because they don’t have control. . . . Giving them power would be just pointless in my opinion. It would go totally the other way, and they would make decisions quickly, in their favor. And in their favor, nine times out of 10, do not benefit minorities or people that don’t have a lot of money—middle class or lower.”

“If Republicans were the majority of the House and Senate, I think we’d see a lot of moving backwards, personally, in my opinion, when it comes to social issues . . . Just knowing that some of the things that have been coming up in bills that have been raised in a lot of our southern states, it makes me nervous, being a woman," Cristina from Conshohocken added.

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