In Pennsylvania, wary voters wonder if Harris can deliver

They want specifics on how she will address housing shortage, high prices

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In a packed college gym in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on the evening of Sept 13, Vice-President Kamala Harris closed out a long, successful week by elaborating on her vision for “an opportunity economy".

It is the centrepiece of her presidential campaign: Three million new homes, a pledge to take on "corporate price gouging", tax cuts for more than 100 million Americans.

About a mile away, Ms Judith Johnson was watching Ms Harris' rally on TV in her apartment. A registered Republican, Ms Johnson, 54, thought Ms Harris had been "wonderful" in the Sept 10 debate; she was eager to learn more, especially about the economy.

But Ms Johnson's vote, at least for now, remains with former president Donald Trump. "He is a businessman," she said. "And I think he sees what is going on."

Ms Johnson exemplifies the challenge facing Ms Harris in Pennsylvania and in other crucial battleground states. People like her say they are open to switching their vote. But they want to know: An opportunity economy - how? And for whom? Wilkes-Barre, a former industrial city, is the seat of Luzerne County, which Trump has won handily, twice. While Democrats tend to do best in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions, they see narrowing the gap in places like Wilkes-Barre as key to winning the state.

In 2020, President Joe Biden, who was born in nearby Scranton, ate into Trump's margin there by several points, part of a wave of support that lifted him to victory in the state.

Polls suggest Ms Harris may struggle to replicate that success.

Despite her modest upbringing and her emphasis, on the campaign trail, on the needs of "middle-class, working people", as she put it on Sept 13, she is still labouring to convince many voters that she understands them, or that she can deliver on her promises.