A rust-belt fantasy: How Trump campaign hinges on promise of a miracle comeback
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — Here’s what a Christmas story sounds like in a rust-belt town with a broken economy, fed-up voters and a political climate ripe for the nostalgic slogans of a candidate like Donald Trump.
It sounds like a yearning for Christmas past.
Kids used to get nice toys when their dads worked in the steel mill, the mayor recalls. His dad worked there. So did the immigrant forefathers of famous residents of Aliquippa, Pa.: composer Henry Mancini, and sports legends Mike Ditka and Pete Maravich.
People arrived from everywhere to work the raw material of American might — the steel in skyscrapers that sprouted above cities, automobiles that rolled down new highways and weapons that won two world wars.