Lori Falce: Make up your minds, undecided voters

Who do we have to thank for the constant drumbeat of the presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania right now?

You might say the Democrats. You might blame the Republicans. They are a symptom, not the disease.

What about the Electoral College? You’re not wrong. The unusual institution that acts as a bridge between voters and candidates, making the whole process an SAT-level math problem, is definitely a contributing factor. But it’s what makes Pennsylvania a valuable swing state, not what is really driving the never-ending candidate visits.

No, for that we have to blame one specific group: undecided voters.

GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump has had a reliable bloc of committed followers since his 2016 run. The lowest poll number he has at the moment is an Ipsos survey from last week that had Trump at 37%. It’s a familiar number, reflective of his average approval rating as president.

As of Tuesday, his presidential polling numbers were averaged by FiveThirtyEight.com at 46.1%. Not a majority, close to the middle but about 9 points over that consistent core group of Trump supporters.

Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has shown good growth since rising to the top of the ticket in July. Her aggregate poll numbers are 48.5%, just 2.4 points above Trump.

That 2.4% gap is important because of the roughly 3% of Pennsylvanians who still haven’t decided who will get their votes. Most of those voters are neither Democrat nor Republican; Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research said 40% of independent voters still were on the fence.

But this is Trump’s third consecutive time on the ballot. Harris won as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 before becoming his successor as he stepped down from the campaign over the summer. Is there anything left to know about either of them, their plans or positions?

It’s hard to imagine anyone who intends to vote hasn’t picked a side and strapped in for the ride. Are they waiting for Trump to stop by for meatloaf on a Wednesday night and chat about tariffs? Do they want to talk economic policy with Harris over a pumpkin spice latte? What will give them the nudge they need to make a choice?

We might never know. They might never know. Maybe they will toss their votes to a third-party candidate. Maybe they won’t vote at all. Regardless, whether by decision or apathy, these people waiting to be wooed are the real reason the candidates and their surrogates are stopping at restaurants, filling up venues and speaking to large and small crowds across Pennsylvania.

What we do know is there is less than three weeks until Election Day, and mail-in voting already has started in the Keystone State. Time is running out for the campaigns to make their cases — and for that thin slice of the electorate to make up their minds.