DAVID MARCUS: Bedford, Pa., has a history picking presidents. Trump's surge is talk of the town

'Special Report' panelists react to recent polling data as Trump, Harris court voters in battleground states ahead of 2024 presidential election.

Bedford, Pennsylvania is as pretty as a picture postcard and has almost as long an association with the American presidency as is possible, which is to say, yes, George Washington slept here.

The cover of the Bedford Gazette said it all, as I scooped it up on Wednesday entering my lovely 18th Century hotel, "County Preps for Upcoming Election," blared the headline, and it isn’t just the county, it's the residents.

I met Carol at the Village News, a restaurant which is aptly named. Not only was it a newsstand back when such things existed, but it is now where the denizens of this historic town share the news, both local and national.

Carol was on her way to buy a stamp, to mail her husband's voter registration. It seems he hadn’t voted for some time, but this year he is.

VOTERS IN PENNSYLVANIA SWING COUNTY SAY ECONOMY IS WEIGHING ON THEM: ‘DON’T SEE IT GETTING ANY BETTER’

"Is that because he sees this election as uniquely important?" I asked her.

"Maybe," she said, with the laconic charm I saw all over the town.

"The country is a business", she told me, "And we need a businessman to run it."........

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