Driving northwest from Philadelphia, one cannot shake it off that they have entered Trump country.
The highway is lined with homemade Donald Trump signs as an electric billboard flashes the Republican presidential nominee’s name.
But head into Reading and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and suddenly Kamala Harris signs start popping up across town.
There are neighbors with dueling yard signs, supporters of the vice president living right alongside those backing the former Republican president with their political leanings on full display.
The state is considered the biggest battleground of 2024 with 19 electoral votes up for grabs, and Berks County could be on the line as well. It also just so happens to be the hometown of superstar Taylor Swift.
The 34-year-old megastar was born in West Reading and lived in the county throughout her childhood, first moving to Wyomissing before heading to Tennessee as a teenager to pursue her music career.
Swift’s upbringing in eastern Pennsylvania has been inspiration for or referenced in some of her biggest hits. Now her hometown could could play a significant role deciding the future of the country come November.
Berks County has been trending red in presidential elections for several cycles, but the entire election potentially coming down to Pennsylvania is nothing new.
President Obama won Berks County in 2008 by nearly 16,000 votes, before it became trouble for Democrats.
It went for Trump in 2020 by more than 16,000 votes, a slightly smaller gap than the nearly 18,000 votes he won the county by in 2016. Mitt Romney won it by less than 1,000 votes in 2012.
But in the midterms, voters there were willing to split their tickets to elect Democrat Josh Shapiro as governor by roughly 6,500 votes while Republican candidate Mehmet Oz held the county in Senate race by 6,600 votes, sparking some to believe everything has changed and the county is more maroon.
Now that August slipped away and the campaign season has entered high gear, DailyMail.com found people in Swift’s hometown are paying close attention considering the swing state’s reputation.
Multiple voters said they are trying not to cause bad blood with those around them and have shied away from talking politics all together.
One woman told DailyMail.com that she’s the only Democrat in her red precinct, and it has made her uncomfortable to speak about her support for Harris.
But she also admitted Pennsylvania rejecting Trump is her wildest dream.
But others there were fearless in sharing their thoughts on the delicate subject of politics on a gorgeous fall afternoon, where all one needed was a favorite old cardigan to stay warm.
Tanja Carlisle from Reading is a Democrat who will be voting for Harris come November.
She likes what the vice president has said about tackling rising grocery prices, helping first time home buyers, border security, negotiating Medicare drug pricing and women making their own choices ‘when it comes to their own bodies.’
Carlisle said she believes people in the community are closely paying attention now more than ever with Democracy on the line.
‘I just think that Kamala would be the best candidate for 2024,’ Carlisle said.
Renee Riddle agreed. She said she does not want to see the U.S. ever getting back together with Trump.
‘I just think he’s all about the rich and doesn’t really care about what’s going to happen to the rest,’ Riddle explained.
For her, the most important issues are women’s rights and protecting health insurance benefits.
But Republican James Van Buren of Wyomissing said the ex-president is his man.
‘I think Donald Trump has a good track record for what he’s done and what he stands for,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘I don’t know as though I’ve heard a whole lot of any of what Kamala Harris is going to be for and what she’s really done while she’s been there as vice president,’ he added.
For Van Buren, the most important issues are the economy and immigration.
‘I don’t believe that they’ve done anything that they’re legally required to do in controlling our border,’ he said of the Biden administration.
While polling shows just a moment in time, the latest numbers reveal neither candidate is out of the woods in the Keystone State. The Real Clear Politics average has each candidate tied at 47 percent.
No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since Harry Truman in 1948.
Ad spending shows both campaigns know all too well it’s going to be a cruel final sprint in the state.
Democrats have $75 million already in ad reservations in Pennsylvania for the final two months before November 5.
Republicans have $68 million in reservations, according to tracking by AdImpact. The state has the most ad spending of any swing state.
But while the voters in Berks County may disagree on who should be elected at the top of the ticket this fall, they do agree on one thing: Swift is untouchable even as she makes an endorsement in the highly contentious presidential race.
The songstress announced on on social media Tuesday that she would be backing the vice president for president.
‘I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,’ she wrote.
She noted ‘I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.’
Swift signed her post ‘Childless Cat Lady.’
