Posted on 09/14/2008 12:17:04 AM PDT by Enchante
It's game over for the Blue team. To Pittsburghers -- who grow up worshipping sports stars, dress in black and gold on Sundays and think tailgating is the eighth sacrament -- Obama, despite his smooth b-ball skills, has become the nerdy guy who bowls like a girl and calls Penn State the "Nittaly Lions."
Meanwhile, Sarah of Alaska and Western Pennsylvanians are in love.
The moose-shooting hockey mom and former basketball starlet -- whose favorite team is the Steelers and whose hubby is a he-man snowmobile racer who belongs to the Steelworkers union -- already has stolen the hearts of thousands of local sports fans. Of both sexes.
By the time Election Day rolls around, if she and her escort John McCain have been smart, Sarah will have been seen flirting with Big Ben, skating arm-and-arm with Sidney Crosby and shooting holes through Osama bin Laden targets at the Allegheny County Rifle Club.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Another confirmation that Sarah Palin is a Steelers fan.... now I’m not saying that our elections should really be influenced by sports fandom, but she’ll probably be far more popular in Western PA than Obama, who didn’t do well there in the primaries.....
Would be great if Penn went into the Republican column.
I would think she would appeal to libertarians more than to those others.
And I thought they were Seahawk fans?
Apparently Todd is the Seahawks fan and Sarah is the Steelers fan..... good political balance!
You would be amazed how many “Hilary! supporters” detest Obama and are climbing aboard the Saracuda Express!!
Now if we could just give Philly to Jersey, all would be well in PA. Might even get rid of that asshat Rendell while we're at it.
N'at.
Yes, but an actual Steeler couldn’t even win in PA.
lol
Pittsburgh + The T > Metro Philly
According to the Seattle Times the Palins are members of the Seahawkers, the fan club of you know who.
May I suggest their favorite NHL be the Avalanche.
The Detroit Red Wings would be second.
Or they can declare themselves Michigan Wolverine Hockey fans.
True but Fast Eddie had the corrupt Demagogue machine all revved up and it probably won’t be that way for Obama.....
Yes, I’ve seen that about the Seahawkers but I think that’s mainly about Todd, even if Sarah humors him with it, b/c there’s that other column I posted which has her saying in July 2007 that she is a Steelers fan....
Many couples do have divergent sports loyalties after all.....
IF PA goes for McCain/Palin, we can all go to be early on election night with visions of millions of unhinged democrats dancing thru our heads.
“whose favorite team is the Steelers”
Ohio’s an important state. What are Bengals and Browns fans going to thing about this? She needs to give Ocho Cinco and the Dog Pound a shout out at some point.
I’d like Sarah, Todd, Bryan Clay (the Olympic Gold medalist who spoke at the RNC), Angie Harmon and her husband Jason Sehorn to hold a rally at big city areas in each battleground state, including those with voter-rich, student areas. Tailor the rallies to young voters. Once per battle-ground state is enough. If they can take 5% of the votes from 0bama in each area, it would be great.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“Yes, but an actual Steeler couldn’t even win in PA.”
He (Lynn Swann) was more than just a Steeler, he was a very popular, All-Pro Steeler. And he not only lost in his political campaign, it wasn’t even close. I’d really like to see McPalin pick up PA, and it is doable, but the chances of doing so are probably in the 25% - 30% range. That could change, of course, as we get closer to election day.
The mass exodus from Pittsburgh starting in the 1950s has displaced many from this region. Pittsburgh was, at one point, the 7th largest city in the USA if I am not mistaken.
The Steelers have nationwide appeal as a result since fans have literally wound up everywhere. Almost any major town I have visited has some sort of “Steelers Bar”. In fact, I was in Key West and there was a Steelers themed bar owned by an Irish man who himself is really a Miami Dolphins fan. Hell, I ran into several Steelers fans in Milan, Italy for heaven’s sake. I guess the Dems. really scared people from this area into all parts of the world :-)!
Anyway, with people from W. PA living all over the USA coupled with the Super Bowl dynasty of the 1970s, many people flat out fell in love with them. Given Sarah’s age, I can see why she might be a Steelers fan. If she’s a hockey fan, I cannot see how she couldn’t like the Pens...they’re an exciting, young team...their Stanley Cup run this year was nothing short of amazing.
I am one of the 14 people here in Pittsburgh that dislike the Steelers. I’ve become a Browns fan...that Super Bowl against the Seahawks was a fraud and really turned me off the NFL in general....I am also one of the 14 people here in the area that still loves the Pittsburgh Pirates and wait for that year where we don’t trade our Jason Bays for two bags of rocks, AIDS, and some jello.
Sorry to go off topic, but I hope you Boston fans love Jason Bay!!!! He’s a class act and I *really* hope he gets to win a World Series up there. You’re the only large market team I respect....any Boston fan just knows baseball inside and out unlike the stupid Cubs, Yankees, and Mets bandwagoners I run into all the time ;-)! We’re just *thrilled* with Moss and Hansen as we got as part of that trade (well, Moss is looking decent, but Hansen was sent back down to the Minors).
“Yes, but an actual Steeler couldn’t even win in PA.”
Swann’s campaign was a disaster. My wife helped out a little bit with that campaign early on, but it really lost steam that summer and never recovered. He was VERY short on cash and the RNC wasn’t helping out. They saw the writing on the wall in PA. Look at the house seats we lost. I’m still shocked that Hart lost to that weasel Altimarie.
Also, with the Soviet tide that swept the state in 2006 coupled with Rendell being a lock for reelection (he is popular here), Swann didn’t have a chance. His numbers in the end were basically the same as Santorum’s. Also, there was no way Rendell/Dems. were going to lose...a hot button issue in the state was the casino licenses...you know every filthy politician has their fingers in that mess and there is no way in hell they are going to lose out on those kickbacks.
What we have going for us is that PA’s independents get swept up in political tides...that’s why I think McCain has a hugh/series chance here in November. If McCain/Palin keep this campaign running the way it is, I seriously think this state is going to flip this year. A lot of the Union people I know really dislike Obama and, like others have mentioned, I see more “Kerry/Edwards” stickers than I do “Obama”. My commute involves driving from the South Hills of Pittsburgh, through Hazelwood and Oakland, and down into Lawrenceville (liberal hell). I saw a hell of a lot more Kerry signs in ‘04 than I am seeing “Messiah” signs here in ‘08. Then again, I expect that to change come October. I just hope my anecdotal evidence has some validity :-)!
With all of this being said, if Clinton were running for POTUS, PA would be solid blue. Obama winning this thing is a gift to the Republicans. I just hope McCain can keep on surprising us.
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