Candidates are investing an enormous amount of money working to get their message out on television in crucial states like Pennsylvania. Democrats have reserved more than 78 million dollars, while Republicans have reserved more than 72 million.
And Pennsylvania voters are taking notice.
“Oh I hate them,” 64-year-old college administrator Larry Mercurio said of the influx of television ads. “Every election cycle it gets worse. And this year, it’s very bad already.”
“How can anybody be swayed by this BS,” Mercurio’s partner, Tammy Ryan, 63, chimed in, dismissing the ads attacking Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ryan says she’s excited Harris is using Pittsburgh as her home base to prep for next week’s crucial debate.
The couple describe the Democratic nominee as more qualified, compassionate and prepared than former President Donald Trump, though Mercurio said he hasn’t always voted solely for Democratic candidates.
Some of the college students walking just off Forbes Avenue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh were not aware the vice president was in town, but all of them told CNN they were registered to vote.
They cited issues like reproductive rights and the economy as the issues of most concern to them but some didn’t want to disclose who they were voting for in the fall.
Sabina Kadariya, a freshman, said she wasn’t sure if she was informed enough to make a “proper vote,” but said the economy was her number one issue and that she’d consider voting for Trump.
Rishi Wadgaonkar, a 23-year-old grad student at Carnegie Mellon studying mechanical engineering, said he’s most worried about LGBTQ rights and women’s rights and that Harris best reflects his values. He recently changed his voter registration from New York to Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania is really a state that really could go either way,” he told CNN.
