Biden Cannot Afford to Lose a Single Pennsylvania Voter
PHILADELPHIA -- Northeast Philadelphia native Marc Rayfield is a registered Democrat, considers himself a liberal and voted for Democrats John Fetterman (for Senate) and Josh Shapiro (for governor) in 2022 and for Joe Biden in 2020. Now, though, he says he finds himself estranged from the party due to rising crime and homelessness in his beloved city of Philadelphia.
Because of his crime concerns, Rayfield is now doing something he thought he'd never do in his life: buying a gun and going to target practice. So is his wife.
"I see what's taken place in cities across the country," said Rayfield, who is well-respected in the community for his years of volunteer efforts for various Philadelphia organizations. "I travel a lot. I've been to every major city in the last year in the country."
Rayfield is a 60-year-old former executive at CBS Radio who took the skills he learned in the news business for over three decades into the organic spirit business as an entrepreneur. His new gun decision, he said, was "largely influenced by a lot of the social policies that are really impacting our cities coming out of the death of George Floyd and COVID."
"We decided, as somebody who had never fired a gun in my life, that it was about time to be open-minded and considerate," he explained of taking gun safety lessons through a program that uses certified instructors.
"The final straw was sort of seeing what's taking place as a result of what's going on in Gaza and how that's impacting college campuses and the rise in antisemitism," he said.
Rayfield is by no stretch of the imagination an uninformed voter. He says he knows what is at stake in this year's presidential election, yet he finds himself unhappy with his choices thanks to issues such as crime and the southern border crisis.
"Well, first of all, I would never vote for Trump, never, but I don't feel great about Biden at all, and I would not vote for Kamala Harris."
Rayfield says he is hoping for two things: Either a third-party candidate emerges who would ensure Trump loses, or Biden dramatically deciding over the summer to bow out.
"I'm hoping that maybe during the convention, he pulls the Lyndon Johnson and says that he's not going to run again and they've already identified somebody ... it would have to be anyone else but Biden and Harris," he said.
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