Presidential candidates focus on swing state Pennsylvania as Election Day nears

WHYY’s senior reporter Dave Davies is covering a range of political stories in the lead up to Election Day 2016 — concentrating on Pennsylvania, which finds itself in play as a swing state for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Recently, the Democratic and Republican nominees — and even Libertarian Gary Johnson — have come through the Philadelphia area to campaign for precious votes that are key to their path to the White House.

“If anybody in our audience doesn’t see a presidential candidate in person this year, they’re not trying,” Davies told “Morning Edition” host Jennifer Lynn. “President Obama was just here. Donald Trump has been here three times within the past two weeks, the vice presidential candidates are in and out. This is an intensely contested state.”

With the distinct differences between Hillary Clinton and Trump, the idea that voters could be undecided seems tough to imagine. Davies said that’s not the case.

“I spoke to Terry Madonna — the pollster from Franklin & Marshall College — and he said if you look at the undecideds, which are not a large number, and add to them those who say they could switch their vote, then add to those two those who currently plan to vote for one of the other two candidates (Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein) … he says there’s 15 to 20 percent of voters who could be in play.

“There is some potential volatility here,” he added. “As we’ve seen, unexpected events can happen. People can faint getting into cars or revelations about emails can occur. Anything can happen.”

To hear the entire interview with Dave Davies, press play at the top of the page.