Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is a useful stop for journalists looking for some rust-belt Americana not too far from New York. The city feels a bit like a museum. Not so long ago, Bethlehem Steel was one of the biggest steel and ship-building companies in the world. Today the vast mill, which shut down in 1995, is a cultural events centre. Next to the mill is a replacement economic hub for Bethlehem — the Wind Creek mega-casino. My colleague Matt and I spent a couple of days in and around west Bethlehem, Northampton County. Northampton voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016. Last week, by less than 1 per cent at last count, it chose Joe Biden. It is a ‘bellwether’ county. It rained for most our stay.
Know-alls on Twitter scoff at the idea that Trump is a tribune of the new working class and that voting Democrat might now be a signifier of higher social status. They point to surveys which suggest that the majority of Americans who earn under $100,000 a year still voted for Biden, while the majority who earned more voted for Trump. Maybe so, but income and class are not the same. Away from the cities, the social divide is stark. In rural Pennsylvania and the more dilapidated suburbs, you see ‘Trump-Pence’ signs everywhere. In leafier areas, in front of the bigger houses, it’s all ‘Biden-Harris’.
We stayed in an Airbnb, a large mock-Tudor house called Copper Beach Manor. Our hosts, Paul and Diane, were charming people but fierce Democrats. On their front lawn, they had not just pro-Biden but anti-Trump signs. ‘Truth over lies,’ said one. ‘Not voting is the #1 cause of unwanted presidencies,’ said another, with an image of Trump in a nappy.
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