4 Minutes 
The Swing Voter Project, an ongoing collaboration between Sago and Engagious, returns to Pennsylvania for its latest focus group round. These online sessions offer a platform for swing voters—those who cast their ballots for Trump in 2016 and then for Biden in 2020—to express their views on crucial political issues affecting their country and state.
Context for the Pennsylvania Swing Voter Group
As a key battleground state, Pennsylvania has voted for the presidential winner in 83 percent of all elections. Most recently, Biden won the state in 2020 by a margin of 1.17 percent. Before that, Trump claimed the state by an even narrower margin of 0.72 percent.
This month, our focus group comprised 14 swing voters: seven registered Republicans, four Democrats, and three Independents. Here are some of the highlights from our conversations with them.
On Abolishing Abortion
A federal judge in Texas has decided to suspend the FDA’s approval of a commonly used abortion drug: Mifepristone (Mifeprex). All but two respondents felt this move was an overreach. For the record, half of our respondents are pro-life.
“Even though I am pro-life, I’m not crazy about the government telling people who don’t share my beliefs what to do.”
“That’s up to them. That’s between them and their god.”
On Gender Issues and Woke-ism
Nearly all our respondents objected to trans-females competing on women’s sports teams. And nearly all objected to classroom instruction on gender identity with young school children.
Only three of the 14 thought a hypothetical anti-woke politician would be an attractive candidate, taking particular issue with the idea of censoring or banning books.
“I feel like [such a candidate] would be taking something that’s actually not such a terrible thing and making it look sinister.”
“I feel like the politician should focus on things that actually matter to their constituents.”
On the Justice System and Trump
None of the respondents believe the entire criminal justice system has been weaponized against Republicans. Nor do any feel that Congress should defund the FBI and DOJ.
No swing voters think prosecutors are victimizing Trump, although two do believe he is the subject of a witch hunt. Overall, 10 out of 14 believe Trump is being prosecuted for legitimate reasons.
On AI
All our respondents were familiar with the term artificial intelligence, but many of them struggled to define it.
10 out of 14 had heard of ChatGPT and four had actually tried it out.
“It was freaky. It scared me. It was impressive.”
We decided to conduct a brief demo of the technology during our session. We asked ChatGPT a question about The Beatles, then asked it to make a poem out of its answer.
The older subjects on our panel were shocked, amazed, and impressed by the results of the poem.
“It’s next-level technology that I wasn’t expecting to see in my lifetime.”
However, the younger subjects were somewhat less impressed:
“My impression is that the AI stuff is really just supposed to simplify work processes. It’s not going to be the next Shakespeare; it’s not going to make art that’s going to last through time.”
“I like the technology from what I see, but from what I read there’s still a lot of flaws.”
Does AI Pose More Promise or More Danger?
Half of the respondents think tech companies can get it right when it comes to limiting the negative impacts of AI, but notably, none think tech companies will get it right.
Nine out of 14 are concerned AI could replace the job of someone they know.
Those nervous about their own jobs in the age of AI include respondents who work in logistics management, supply chain management, law, and customer service—all industries that seem especially vulnerable to an AI takeover.
“It’s a watershed moment. It’s been introduced, it’s going to happen.”
The Top Issue
Other topics tackled during these sessions included housing affordability, inflation, Ukraine, news sources, and presidential age—all subjects we felt were pressing given current events. But when asked which topic was weighing heaviest on their minds, gun violence was the most popular choice, followed by the economy/inflation.
To check out all the highlights from this month’s group discussions, check out the Engagious channel on YouTube. Join us again next month for our next round of focus group discussions.
