In spending time in my hometown in rural Juniata county, Pennsylvania during the presidential campaign, I witnessed where Trump got his starting support base. People in areas like mine were fed up with the perceived corruption in Washington D.C. and absolutely hated political correctness. I noticed that the more inflammatory Trump’s words, the more people in my area loved it. And with each inflammatory statement, Trump also received lots of free air time from the mainstream media, more so than the other candidates in the Republican field. This gave Trump the support base he needed to win the primaries….
For much of the campaign Hillary Clinton led the polls, and few people expected Trump to win. After all, he wasn’t a politician; an outsider hasn’t been elected in many years. However, the American people wanted a change. When the FBI announced they were going to re-open their investigation in Clinton’s emails, Trump gained momentum and some of Clinton’s voters…. The working-class and the Christian voters in areas across the country turned out in higher numbers than in previous years, and most of these people were supporters of Trump.
On election day, Trump trounced Clinton in Juniata County 78% to 17%, by far the largest margin of victory for a presidential candidate since 1960 as seen in the chart below.
Juniata County (PA) voting in presidential elections
| R | D | I | |
| 2016 | 78% | 17% | |
| 2012 | 72% | 27% | |
| 2008 | 66% | 31% | |
| 2004 | 71% | 28% | |
| 2000 | 67% | 31% | |
| 1996 | 52% | 36% | 11% |
| 1992 | 47% | 31% | 22% |
| 1988 | 63% | 37% | |
| 1984 | 66% | 34% | |
| 1980 | 58% | 38% | 4% |
| 1976 | 55% | 43% | |
| 1972 | 66% | 32% | |
| 1968 | 59% | 34% | 7% |
| 1964 | 43% | 57% | |
| 1960 | 65% | 35% |
If there was any indication that Trump had a chance of winning, it came at his campaign rallies. Donald Trump set an attendance record at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania for one of his rallies. Lots of famous musicians and comedians play the Giant Center, but Trump set an attendance record, and drew huge crowds at other venues across the country. Some of the people attending these rallies came from places like Juniata county, Pennsylvania, which turned out in big numbers for Trump on election day.
History on the Bridge 