JOHNSTOWN, Pa. _ Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican candidate for vice president, climbed atop a makeshift stage in a dusty gravel industrial lot here Thursday evening to lead a revival.
It will come, he said, with the election of his running mate, Donald Trump, to the presidency.
"Donald Trump has given voice to the frustrations and aspirations of the American people like no leader since Ronald Reagan," Pence said to several hundred enthusiastic supporters at JWF Industries along the Conemaugh River.
"People of both political parties are longing for change. The country is heading in the wrong direction. ... All the happy talk about the economy that you hear from the other side. It's breathtaking. They tell us things are better, they like to roll out statistics. I don't know about you here in Pennsylvania, but over in Indiana, we feel a little bit different. Whatever progress we've made in the Hoosier State is in spite of Washington, D.C., not because of it."
He then rattled through a litany of negative statistics and expressed shock that the Democrats "would offer more of the same."
Pence spoke at the invitation of Bill Polacek, who in 2007 started JWF Industries, a thriving armor-fabricating company with 450 employees. The company operates in renovated mill buildings that provided a backdrop of rusted steel and smoke-stained red brick for the rally.
Describing himself as "a deplorable," Polacek decried "the rippling effect of losing these manufacturing jobs. Donald Trump and Mike Pence support manufacturing. And that's why we support them."
The event had all the trappings of a small-town election rally, with a lineup of local politicians, the high school's marching band, and red-white-and-blue signs handed out by the campaign.
But underlying the cheering and clapping was a current of anger that Pence was quick to tap into with blistering criticism of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, and the policies of President Barack Obama.
"We're going to get Pennsylvania working again," Pence said, "and the war on coal will come to a crashing halt. And we're going to develop all the resources of our land."
Pence focused the bulk of his 30-minute speech on praising Trump and ripping Ms. Clinton, only briefly mentioning his debate this week with his Democratic counterpart, Tim Kaine.
"Some people think I won that debate," he said. "But I'll tell you, from where I sat, Donald Trump won that debate. Donald Trump's vision to make America great again won that debate.
"You know, I've gotten to know him and we've become really good friends. He's just a great guy and he just drives the media crazy. They just can't figure him out.
"They think they've got him for some kind of tweet he sent out. Or they think they got him for some statement he made now or a thousand years ago. And then you turn the television on the next morning and Donald Trump is still standing stronger than ever before."
Pence concluded his remarks with a rallying call for those in attendance to help get out the vote next month.
"Pennsylvania always looms large in our national elections, but it's especially true in this one," he said, encouraging everyone to get family members, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers to vote for the Trump-Pence ticket.
It was a message that lifelong Johnstown resident John Barley took to heart.
Barley, 67, and his wife, Joanne, said they were loyal Democrats and union members until this year, when they changed their voter registration to Republican to support Trump.
"I just think the country is headed in the wrong direction, and neither the Democrats or the Republicans are going to fix it," Barley said. "It's going to take an outsider, like Trump."
