‘High Noon’ at your local polling place?

In 59 of Philadelphia’s voting districts in 2012, Barack Obama received 19,605 votes. Mitt Romney received 0. Yes, zilch.

So when Donald Trump, this year’s Republican presidential candidate, said in a recent speech in Altoona, Pa., “We’re going to watch Pennsylvania,” he was talking about more than casually keeping an eye on a state he must win. Poll watchers for his campaign, he declared, will “go down (note the direction) to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.

“The only way we can lose, in my opinion – I really mean this Pennsylvania – is if cheating goes on….We have to call up law enforcement, and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching.”

It’s often impossible to know exactly what Trump means when he’s off his teleprompter leash, but in this case it was clear. His remark was preceded by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., declaring, “The people in western and central Pennsylvania have to overcome what goes on down (note the direction) in Philadelphia. The cheating, what they do – we’ve got to make sure….”

Immediately after the meeting, Trump’s campaign began a national drive to recruit “Trump Election Observers.” People signing up received an e-mail about the need to “stop crooked Hillary from rigging this election.”

Campaigns traditionally assign poll watchers to keep an eye on things, track who is turning out and contact supporters who haven’t yet voted, and, occasionally, challenge voters. The activity is normally low key, barely visible.

And perhaps that’s what Trump was trying to set up. But as with his ominous remark about Clinton picking Supreme Court justices (“Nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”), he left enough implied if unsaid to worry a lot of people.

Trump’s fear-based campaign is designed to mobilize the many Americans who are justifiably angry and afraid for their futures and who blame the existing political system.

One political risk for Trump is that extreme populists often repel as many people as they attract. Another risk – for all of us – is that the incendiary approach can reach unstable people, both supporters and opponents of the populist.

Is Trump signing up people to watch “certain areas,” such as those 59 inner-city Philadelphia districts? Might some of his “Second Amendment people” decide it would be necessary to take advantage of that state’s (and 42 other states’) open-carry laws to keep the election from being stolen?

Might some Trump opponents feel threatened and carry along their own guns?

And what about Kansas, where open carry also is allowed and no laws specifically prohibit guns in the vicinity of polling places?

Might some people be intimidated by having to maneuver around or being challenged by gun-toting “observers” in order to vote?

Surely we have not come to that. Right?

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "‘High Noon’ at your local polling place?."