The Democratic Convention will feature a lineup of everyday American speakers, including Pennsylvania farmer Rick Telesz who voted for Donald Trump in 2016
The Democratic National Convention speakership lineup features several everyday Americans, including a farmer from Pennsylvania who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 as a new poll shows likely voters in the swing state favor Joe Biden.
‘Over the last several months in planning this convention, we had two goals in mind: to include more Americans than ever before, and to ensure that all Americans see themselves reflected in what they were viewing,’ Stephanie Cutter, the 2020 Democratic National Convention Program Executive, said in a press release announcing nine of the speakers.
Rick Telesz, who runs a farm in Western Pennsylvania, is one of those speakers.
While he voted for Trump in 2016, he is supporting Joe Biden in November, claiming Trump’s trade war has threatened his farm, which has been in his family for generations.
The slew of everyday American speakers for the Demoratic convention comes as a new poll released Monday shows likely voters in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two crucial swing states, favor the former vice president.
In Pennsylvania, Trump won the 2016 presidential election there with 48.2 per cent of the vote.
A new CBS News/YouGov poll taken August 4-7 shows that among 1,225 registered voters in Pennsylvania, 49 per cent will likely vote for Biden in November compared to the 43 per cent who say they will cast their ballot for Trump.
The announcement of a slew of everyday American speakers for the convention lineup comes as a new poll shows presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden winning in some key middle America swing states that went red in 2016
In Pennsylvania, Biden holds 49 per cent support from likely voters compared to the 43 per cent that say they would vote for Trump in November
Forty-eight per cent of likely voters in Wisconsin, another red swing states, say they would cast their ballot for Biden compared to the 42 per cent who will vote for Trump
Wisconsin also went red in 2016 with 47.2 per cent voting for Trump compared to the 46.5 per cent who voted for Hillary Clinton.
Of the 1,009 registered voters in Wisconsin who participated in the new survey, 48 per cent say they will go for Biden to the 42 per cent who favor Trump.
Ten per cent more voters in Pennsylvania say they think the presumptive Democratic nominee would handle the coronavirus pandemic better than the president has, and in Wisconsin 47 per cent say Biden would handle the outbreak better than the 32 per cent who said Trump.
In 2016 Hillary Clinton was widely criticized for ignoring middle America and everyday American voters, specifically in battleground swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
While campaigning in 2016, Clinton visited 37 states, while Trump made stops at 45.
The Democratic Party is taking a different approach for it’s convention this time around, making sure everyday Americans are represented at the four-day event.
‘There are people from all parts of the country, all walks of life — different professions, different financial situations — all dealing with similar things. It’s really the story of what’s happening across America right now,’ Cutter told The Washington Post of the lineup.
Biden announced last week that he won’t be traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the location of the Democratic Convention later this month, due to the prevailing coronavirus crisis and recent spikes in confirmed cases.
Instead, he will make his speech from his home state of Delaware as speakers are also encouraged to make their remarks remotely.
Telesz will bring a Pennsylvania farmer’s voice to the virtual stage and Milwaukee will still have a voice with elementary school teacher Luz Chaparro Hernandez and retired educator Julie Buckholt delivering speeches.
Hernandez will speak on education in the age of coronavirus and Buckholt will focus on speaking about her positive experiences with the Affordable care Act.
Speakers will also join from Fort Myers, Florida; Reno, Nevada; Indianapolis, Indiana; Sedona, Arizona; Lake Orion, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia.