TRUMP AND CHEATING IN PENNSYLVANIA

++For the past 6 presidential elections,the Democrats have won Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton ,according to Quinnipiac, has a 52%-42% lead. Now Donald Trump claims in Altoona that if he doesn't win, she cheated. He encouraged his audience to watch every voter to make sure they don't vote four times.

++Now knowing something of real fraud in elections, the aggregates of all the polls should alert one to areas of fraud. Secondly before you make such allegations, which disparage every poll worker, the unpaid heroes of the day,you actually know what voting entails. A journalist should ask Trump whether he has ever voted at a polling place. His talks on the subject indicate he isn't familiar with voting.

++The next issue is that Trump is claiming if he loses the general election Hillary would have stolen it. From a regular Republican, I would interpret this as projection because of their history of voter fraud and voter suppression. But from Trump it is dangerous. 

++His discussion this week of second amendment people was addressed to the white supremacists and militia types who will engage in violence.  He doesn't take back these comments.

++His own campaign staff in areas like North Carolina have shown poor impulse control when around guns. One pointed a loaded gun at a fellow campaign worker's kneecap and threatened to blow it up. He resigned but only after the incident was made public.

++Karl Rove appeared ion Fox News and raved about Trump's inability to keep on message and re-litigating the primaries and stepping on his own message. Rove recommended Trump not respond to all the republicans who have abandoned him because he has 88 days left until the election. Rove said you can raise more money, you can find new supporters but you can create more time. Or as Khruschev used to say,"Cavier we have, Vodka will have, but time will do not."

++Reince Preibus showed up at the Trump rally --to Trump sit as one pundit. Reince urged the people not to believe anything the newspapers say about Trump. I don;'t know whether Reince was there to protect Toomey in a Senate race or to avoid another Trump disaster.

++Where I was in New York and Pennsylvania this week was amenable to Trump's message. The local newspapers actually were clever in just quoting Trump supporters about what he should not do. They said,"He should just shut up." They pointed out that a rally has a different dynamic than a television appearance but with Trump the "red meat" becomes the television perception and he looks awful. They also said that at first he was refreshing but then he kept saying things they only said at home. "Telling it like it is" became boorish behavior. 

++These are white "working class" voters who have several part-time jobs, which are seasonal because the industries have moved away. They were left behind decades ago and feel Trump speaks to them. The xenophobia and racism is a byproduct of their condition but not an essential characteristic. There is absolutely no point in discussing white privilege to them. In fact, some are involved in the local tourist industry and see "wealthier" weekenders show up and resent their dependence of them. They are accurately aware of the inequality of wealth issue because they have seen their standard of living lowered over a period of time. It is like the gig-economy for older white people. 

++The irony is that SUNY has several branches where i was and Pennsylvania teems with colleges and community colleges. So the younger local people don't believe a word of what Trump says but the older whites tend to think he explains what has happened in their lives.

++The issues they confront are real and not just a product of cultural grievances. So they are susceptible to a demagogue and one who claims elections are rigged.