YOUNGSTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Ken Reed sat down at the main bar of the Tin Lizzy tavern with two things in mind: to dig into the tavern\u2019s oversize cheese steak, and watch the presidential debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am hungry and undecided, in that order,\u201d he said, digging into the savory dish in a bar that dates back to 1746.<\/p>\n
Kady Letoksy, a paralegal by day, a waitress and bartender at night at the Tin Lizzy, sat beside him. At 28, she has never voted before, and she is now thinking it might be a good idea to start.<\/p>\n
Letosky entered the evening undecided in a town that is heavily Democratic in registration. Her sister and father are on opposite sides of the political aisle. Donald \u201cTrump had the upper hand this evening,\u201d she said, citing his command of the back-and-forth between him and Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n
Reed, 35, is a registered Democrat and small businessman. \u201cBy the end of the debate, Clinton never said a thing to persuade me that she had anything to offer me or my family or my community,\u201d he said, sitting at the same bar that has boasted local icons as regulars, such as the late Fred Rogers, and Arnold Palmer, who had his own stash of PM Whiskey hidden behind newer bottles of whiskey for his regular visits.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave to say Trump had the edge this evening, he came out swinging but also talked about specifics on jobs and the economy,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n Reed said Clinton came across as either smug or as though she was reading her r\u00e9sum\u00e9, adding there was nothing on her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that touched on his life. \u201cI am a small businessman, a farmer, come from a long line of farmers and coal miners. The policies she talked about tonight ultimately either hurt me or ignore me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n How apropos for this presidential election that these patrons chose the Tin Lizzy \u2014 a 270-year-old tavern in this small Westmoreland County town \u2014 as the place to watch the historic debate between Clinton and Trump.<\/p>\n The tavern\u2019s namesake is the Model T, the first affordable automobile available to America\u2019s working class, which eventually became slang for something quite different.<\/p>\n If someone said you were \u201cgoing the way of the Tin Lizzy,\u201d it meant your job or industry was in decline, no longer useful.<\/p>\n That is how today\u2019s cosmopolitan and political classes view Main Street voters \u2014\u00a0as people whose values, traditions, skills, jobs and lives are being replaced by something new.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/youngstownpa_debatewatch_04.jpg\")
\nat the Tin Lizzy.Photo: Justin Merriman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n