{"id":112173,"date":"2024-10-09T14:03:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T07:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112173"},"modified":"2024-10-09T14:03:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T07:03:47","slug":"what-presidential-campaign-the-electoral-college-puts-most-american-voters-on-the-sidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112173","title":{"rendered":"What presidential campaign? The Electoral College puts most American voters on the sidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) \u2014 On a table at the office of the Waukegan Township Democrats sits a box of postcards with Wisconsin addresses that were collected during a postcard-writing pizza party to help turn out voters there. Leaning against the table are homemade Harris-Walz signs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know they\u2019re handing these out everywhere in Wisconsin,\u201d said Matt Muchowski, chair of the Democratic club. \u201cHere in Waukegan, it\u2019s been harder to get a hold of Harris yard signs, so we\u2019re printing out our own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One reason they\u2019ve been in short supply: Waukegan is in Illinois, which is not a presidential swing state. It just sits across the border from one.<\/p>\n<p>Muchowski said this is emblematic of the limited attention cities outside of swing states receive from presidential campaigns. The United States\u2019 unique Electoral College system, which replaces the popular vote, puts disproportionate voting power in the hands of a relative few states that are evenly divided politically and ensures that the majority of campaign dollars \u2014 and attention from the presidential candidates \u2014 goes to those states.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of attention leaves voters in much of the country feeling as if they and the issues they care about have been sidelined. It\u2019s a dividing line that is felt acutely in places such as Waukegan, one of Chicago\u2019s farthest-flung suburbs.<\/p>\n<p>The last time a presidential candidate set foot in the working class, majority Latino city was when former President Donald Trump landed at its airport in 2020. Trump walked off Air Force One, gave a single wave, and then immediately climbed into an SUV headed across the border to Kenosha, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Lost in the national conversation\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>In Racine, a Wisconsin city of a similar size just 50 miles north of Waukegan, Trump hosted <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-wisconsin-racine-rally-milwaukee-0b110793e57b7d0ffaa561348a832439\">a rally in June<\/a><\/span> near a harbor overlooking Lake Michigan, where he gushed about the development along the lakeshore, spoke about revitalization efforts in Racine and the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and emphasized their voters\u2019 importance in his attempt to return to the White House.<\/p>\n<p>Just a month earlier, before he dropped out of the race, President Joe Biden lauded a new Microsoft center in Racine County during <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/biden-microsoft-tech-election-2024-ec3501d041d7b8b563563b22fcc23db5\">a campaign stop in the city<\/a><\/span>. The city just south of Milwaukee has become a common stomping ground for presidential hopefuls as Wisconsin, one of just seven battleground states likely to determine this year\u2019s presidential race, remains heavily targeted by the campaigns of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>Cities such as Waukegan become \u201clost in the national conversation\u201d during presidential elections, said Muchowski, who has lived in the area most of his life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not so much the candidates as it is the anti-democratic Electoral College,\u201d he said. \u201c&#8230; It\u2019s frustrating that certain voters\u2019 votes count for more, and they discount and discredit the votes of more urban, more people of color voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Campaigns visits to neighboring Wisconsin: 27<\/h2>\n<p>Illinois is a reliably Democratic state \u2014 it hasn\u2019t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988. That predictability is reflected in the presidential campaigns every four years.<\/p>\n<p>Except for fundraisers, the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets have been to Illinois just twice this year \u2014 once for an appearance by Trump before a group representing Black journalists and once by Harris when she came to Chicago for her party\u2019s national convention. By comparison, they had visited Wisconsin 27 times through Tuesday, including when Biden was the presumptive nominee.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Infobox\" data-module=\"\" data-gtm-region=\"What to know about the 2024 Election Today's news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP. Ground Game: Sign up for AP's weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday. AP's Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.\" data-align-center=\"\">\n<div class=\"Infobox-items RichTextBody\">\n<p><b>What to know about the 2024 Election<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This year\u2019s presidential battleground states \u2014 Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin \u2014 represent 18% of the country\u2019s population but have dominated the attention of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and their running mates.<\/p>\n<p>Through Tuesday, they have had just over 200 total campaign stops \u2014 three-quarters of which have been to those seven states, according to a database of campaign events that is based on Associated Press reporting. Pennsylvania alone has been visited 41 times, the most of any state.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not just the state visits: The presidential campaigns are tailoring their appearances to specific counties they believe are crucial to their success. The AP\u2019s database shows their campaign events in the seven battleground states have been concentrated in counties with 22.7 million registered voters \u2014 just 10% of all voters registered nationally for this year\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n<h2>Electoral College, a system of \u2018neglect\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Many residents of Waukegan wish it also could get on the candidates\u2019 radar. They said they\u2019re proud of how multiculturalism has shaped their city, a place where almost 60% of residents are Latino and more than 16% are Black, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.<\/p>\n<p>The working class community was largely built on factory jobs that once offered residents a comfortable, middle class life. But after companies abandoned the city\u2019s lakefront, starting in the 1960s, tens of thousands of jobs disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Waukegan never fully recovered.<\/p>\n<p>Its poverty and unemployment rates rise well above the state and national averages. Its school district is one of the worst-funded in the county, struggles with understaffing and has dismal graduation rates. And its lakeshore is a sagging reminder of the city\u2019s heyday: An asbestos manufacturing plant, a coal plant and a gypsum factory all sit silent beside public beaches. Beside them are a crisscrossed network of abandoned railroad tracks.<\/p>\n<p>The industries brought with them another problem \u2014 a legacy of environmental damage. The city of around 86,000 residents has five federal Superfund sites. In 2019, the state\u2019s pollution control board ruled that Waukegan\u2019s coal plant violated environmental regulations and contaminated groundwater, and it was shuttered three years later.<\/p>\n<p>The scene in Waukegan contrasts with Racine\u2019s pristine lakefront marina, where luxury condos flank coffee shops, restaurants and hotels.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Maillard, the Democratic State Central Committeeman for Illinois\u2019 10th Congressional District and a lifelong Lake County resident, said the contrast between the two cities is clear. In Waukegan, he said he worries about gun violence and access to well-paying jobs, affordable housing, child care and health care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe history of Waukegan, unfortunately, is the history of this country\u2019s neglect of those Rust Belt communities, especially along the Great Lakes,\u201d he said. \u201c&#8230; People are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maillard pointed to the Electoral College system as a culprit, calling it \u201ca system of potential neglect.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018You need to hear us\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Sam Cunningham, a former mayor of Waukegan, said people feel forgotten in the city that he\u2019s called home since elementary school. It\u2019s clear, he said, that the national agenda prioritizes some states over others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re probably thinking, \u2018Why should we put money over here when we need it in these battleground states?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI understand the logic, but understand how we feel. Do we feel slighted? Of course we do. It doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret Padilla Carrasco, who has lived in the Waukegan area her entire life, drove to Milwaukee in August to see Harris speak. If Harris were to visit Waukegan, Carrasco said she would take her to the deteriorating houses on the south side of the city, to assisted living facilities where senior citizens are struggling to pay their bills and to a homeless shelter near her home.<\/p>\n<p>Her message to Harris, she said, is to not count on their votes. Saddled with job losses and a rising cost of living, people in Waukegan are frustrated, she said. While she still plans to vote for Harris, Carrasco hears of more and more Waukegan voters pulling away from the Democratic Party, which has long won the lion\u2019s share of the city\u2019s votes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you don\u2019t spend the time with us, then don\u2019t expect us to vote for you,\u201d said Carrasco, 65, who trains young Latinas in Waukegan to ride horses in traditional Mexican Charro style. \u201cYou need to hear us. You need to talk to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James Richard Wynn, a 35-year-old father of nine, said he feels doubly forgotten in Waukegan as a conservative in the predominantly Democratic city. He said he and the issues he cares most about \u2014 homeschooling, abortion restrictions, Second Amendment rights and government spending \u2014 often go ignored by presidential candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is probably a mindset amongst a lot of conservatives, especially in Illinois, who think there\u2019s no point in saying anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018A city of grit and imagination\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Despite limited political attention, several residents praised what they described as Waukegan\u2019s do-it-yourself spirit, which often translates into grassroots political organizing around issues such as housing and environmental justice.<\/p>\n<p>On a sunny Tuesday recently, Pastor Julie Contreras, who helps support recent immigrants in the city, had a long to-do list. She was gathering community members to rebuild the roof for an undocumented couple whose house was damaged in a storm. Then she had to collect diaper donations for a woman who had just given birth.<\/p>\n<p>This is the Waukegan most people don\u2019t see, said Contreras, an advocate with the local nonprofit United Giving Hope. She chastised candidates for just dropping in to the city\u2019s airport before they head to Wisconsin without engaging with the voters there about their struggles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re missing out on a wonderful community right here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Muchowski, of the Waukegan Township Democrats, said when the city feels ignored, its residents take care of each other. It\u2019s something they\u2019ve gotten used to, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWaukegan, for a lot of people, is a city of grit and imagination,\u201d Muchowski said. \u201cI don\u2019t know a lot of people who are like, \u2018I want to move across the country to Waukegan.\u2019 But the people that come here really see the potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If only, he said, candidates would see the potential, too.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Associated Press multimedia journalist Kevin S. Vineys in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>The Associated Press\u202freceives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP\u2019s democracy initiative <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/press-releases\/2022\/ap-announces-sweeping-democracy-journalism-initiative\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/span>. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/electoral-college-2024-wisconsin-illinois-trump-harris-cdb4141205034c830924cb94457b7be1\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) \u2014 On a table at the office of the Waukegan Township Democrats sits a box of postcards with Wisconsin addresses that were collected during a postcard-writing pizza &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112173\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}