FANNETTSBURG, Pennsylvania — The first time I accidentally stumbled onto the cracked Back Road street sign in this Franklin County unincorporated town years ago, while covering the 2012 presidential race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, I knew I had to turn onto it even though I had no idea where it led.

It was impulsive but proved helpful in taking my reporting in a different direction, to understand what voters were thinking. It helped me understand, with all of the potential of flipping this state red, why voters were using their energy and dissatisfaction with Obama to decide to sit that race out, but not to vote for his opponent.