ALLENTOWN, PA – You could have mistaken Ben Forest for a special police officer.

Here he was directing traffic outside a union hall as volunteers showed up Saturday morning to canvas for Kamala Harris. After a while, someone even brought him a brightly-colored vest.

Forest is actually a councilman in Red Bank and like many other Democratic activists, he’s been making the trip west to help Harris win this battleground state.

“I’m here three days a week,” he said, adding that he’s up for doing anything that’s needed – including, apparently, traffic duty.

He said simply that four years of a Trump presidency were enough. And in what may have been an obvious understatement, Forest said that he has concerns about Trump’s “temperament.”

Not only is Forest not alone in crossing the Delaware, he had a hometown friend with him. That was Billy Portman, the mayor of Red Bank.

Portman’s reason for volunteering in Pennsylvania mirrored what Dems are saying across the country.

“It just feels like you have to do everything you can. This could be the end of our democracy, which is terrifying.”

Inside, scores of people were being organized in groups to hit the streets and to knock doors.

That included Matt Tuerk, the city’s mayor, who said – like any mayor would – that door knockers in Allentown were destined to meet “a lot of beautiful people.”

Or at least supportive people. The city is very Democratic, but as Forest noted, not so much the more rural countryside of what is Lehigh County.

He said he occasionally practices “conversion canvassing,” which is trying to persuade Donald Trump backers to switch sides.

But there is only so far one can go. Forest spoke of the golden rule of visiting voters in their home:

“When you’re knocking on doors, do no harm.”

Pennsylvania’s importance can’t be overestimated. Of the seven battleground states, it has the most Electoral Votes – 19.

Four years ago, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania and he won Lehigh County by about 14,000 votes. Hillary Clinton won here too in 2016, but by only 7,000 votes.

Back inside, there was a fair degree of anticipation. Yes, Election Day is only three days away.

But there was something else. Local volunteers were waiting for a bus load of canvassers coming from New Jersey and that bus was late.

This group was from Montclair, but many Democratic and left-leaning organizations throughout New Jersey are busing people into Pennsylvania to help Harris.

Finally, the bus arrived and the Montclair contingent filed into the union hall to cheers from those already there. They would be paired with a local resident and driver and then it was off to meet voters.

One of those disembarking was Tony Turner, who like the Red Bank mayor said simply that he felt as if he had to do something.

Willie Walker, another passenger, was a bit more to the point.

“I want to save my granddaughter’s life,” she said. “We have to fight for these young women. We have to.”

If there is one issue that Dems hope can energize their base, especially women, it’s abortion rights.

Forest, the Red Bank councilman, was ready to canvas in the city itself, but he quickly adopted another plan. Call it showing the flag,

Wearing a Harris shirt and hat and carrying Harris signs, that meant walking around and greeting people.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he said with a big smile as a three-person group walked by him.

Forest said hello to the folks manning the official Harris for President headquarters and then pointed out where Trump held a rally earlier this week in the center of downtown.

Forest was there – as a protester. He said that he and a small group of like-minded souls were in the designated “free speech zone.”

Canvassers by definition are very upbeat and Forest was no different. But in visiting people door-to-door, he said some voters say they respect Trump more after he survived an assassination attempt in July, which, of course, was also in Pennsylvania, albeit many miles to the west..

Other political observers have said the same thing, The question is, will these individuals switch their vote to Trump, or are they Trump supporters dating back to 2016?.

That is why we have elections.

And given its status as a battleground, there are certainly more signs of the election in Pennsylvania than there are in New Jersey. It’s tough to drive more than a few miles on the highway without seeing billboards for Harris and Trump.

But even amid the frenzied activity of the last weekend of campaigning, there are signs some seem clueless about what’s going on.

As Forest walked the streets in his  “Kamala uniform,” a car pulled up and a young woman asked what “company” he was advertising for.

When told, she said she wasn’t a voter.

Really?