Posted on 07/26/2013 11:32:00 PM PDT by neverdem
Democratic politicians are becoming a rare breed in Pennsylvania, a state that voted twice for Obama. According to PoliticsPa, the last voting cycle was “the (Democratic) party’s worst performance in congressional races in a presidential cycle since before the Great Depression.”
Aside from rural rednecks who “cling to guns or religion,” what accounts for the reddening of PA? Redistricting may be partly to blame, and if so, some very savvy Republican must have been in charge of drawing up this map.
PoliticsPA reports: “Major prognosticators list 10 of the GOP’s 13 Pennsylvania U.S. House seats as ‘safe’ with three seats occasionally popping up on the ‘likely Republican’ or ‘lean Republican’ lists… As such, barring an unforeseen tsunami in a mid-term election with the party’s president in the White House, Democrats will continue to languish with a paltry number of U.S. House seats that – just like in neighboring Ohio – is historically unprecedented.”
Pennsylvanians seems confused, however, or maybe they just like to mix it up. In 2012, despite giving their electoral votes to Obama, Keystone State voters “elected the lowest number (five) and lowest rate (27 percent) of U.S. Representatives by a major party whilst simultaneously casting its electoral votes for that party’s presidential nominee.”
(This is made all the more surprising when one considers the trouble PA has had in trying to implement voting ID laws.)
Democrats are doing their best to cut their losses before Pennsylvania ends up looking like Oklahoma. They are in the process of mounting a momentous 2014 campaign to topple Republican Governor Tom Corbett, the so-called “most endangered governor in the country.” His approval ratings are down and falling, and few Pennsylvanians (24 percent) are keen on seeing him re-elected.
“While Democrats remain optimistic about their chances to win Pennsylvania’s 2014 gubernatorial race, that will not alleviate their deficit in the nation’s lower legislative chamber, at least to the extent redistricting has cornered the party into several ‘unwinnable’ districts across the state.”
Pennsylvania should be red. It makes sense. You have union workers in Pittsburgh, and minorities and cosmopolitan liberals in Philly who tend to dominate the elections. What’s left, though, is affectionately known as “Pennsyltucky,” a wilderness of backwoods hunting, fishing, farming, camping, gun-toting, truck-driving, blue-collar, good-old boys and girls, and a healthy dose of Amish who, if they vote, are anything but progressive. (I am from there. I can say these things.)
Red’s Communist. Enough of the Orwellian newspeak.
Their vote in concentrated in their hellhole areas. They have as many seats as they should have.
It bugs me too. It escapes me how Eagle Publishing's Human Events decided to call it Redstate.com.
Exactly right. And if it wasn’t for the Philly dead voters and obama worshippers who voted straight ‘D’, Tom Smith would have won instead of the invisible, incompetent Casey. The obama voters could have cared less about who won senator, they just wanted to make sure they got their boy in for pResident. They walked into the voting booth, filled in the ‘D’ and walked out. Philly City won the state for obama.
PA still voted in a Liberal Pansy A$$ed firearm hating woman as Attorney General.Also don’t forget that Toomey turned into a flaming RINO!
Uh huh.
Reason for destroying the economy, more food stamps welfare social security and disability made easy for your vote.
Another GOP mirage! Have no fear the RATS will come out of the woodwork to vote early and often, with the help of the DOJ who will not go after fraud voting.
Rural PA (which is most of it) is mainly conservative. Every day I hear someone complain about Obama, at the store or the gas station or wherever. And yet, populism runs deep and people also express resentment against big business and the rich. Worst of all, although I live rather far from any city — even the nearest mall is pretty far off — it is clear that in our area, there’s a tidal wave of refugees from the urban areas, from Philly, NY and NJ, mostly African-Americans and not a few muslims. The former are mainly looking for peace and quiet, a way out of the crime-ridden cities; the muslims — “we come in peace,” supposedly. These groups are not conservative and won’t vote R.
It was Gleason who strong-armed wavering GOP state senators to make sure it never made it past committee hearings. His excuse: we can win all 20. Yeah, we can, in a landslide election year like 1988 where they won't make a difference in the outcome. But in close election years, I'd sure as hell prefer 13 or 15 of them to zero.
The problem here in Pa. is that the liberal wing of the GOP controls the state leadership and effectively blocks conservative initiatives and candidates.
Fraud and corruption in the cities will continue to carry the Presidential elections. Until PA resodents gather the courage and wherewithal to destroy the powerbase of fraud and corruption, it will prevail
Some of the most conservative Liberals I know are from PA. It really makes me scratch my head. One guy in particular, is probably one of the most socially conservative guys I know...very upstanding, church going...a great guy. But he belongs to a Union and that is the end of his story politically. The mind reels....
A few trends helping in PA.
1. Republicans control the house, senate and Governor. They could do anything in the next 2 year. Maybe they will. Maybe even right to work.
2. Philly. Philadelphia has massive voter fraud. Voter ID may stick this time.
3. Philly. Philadelphia (and suburbia) public unions are insane, powerful and support democrats 99.999%. However, layoff after layoff and been reducing their power.
4. Philly. Nearly the old “big dog” philly democrat bosses are in jail or dead. Philly was also redistricted. Philly has much less power in Harrisburg nowadays. They are also bankrupt without getting much help from other state taxpayers.
5. PA (compared nearly all the socialist states it borders) is a low tax, gun friendly and freedom loving place. It attacts many like minded people. Shall issue CCW. Class III - no issues. 3% flat tax no matter how much income. No tax on IRAs, pensions or 401k withdrawals.
6. There is hope.
Even when PA liberal retirees from Philadelphia and Pittswurgh move to FL, the state stays liberal. But we hear of conservatives in the interior of the state, as shown by the House delegations. Isn’t this the same with Portland dominating OR?
I hope Sam Rohrer runs again. He would have made a far better choice than Tom Smith (Tom is also a real gentleman, by the way). There are powers that be in the PA Republican party that do a fine job suppressing Tea Party and conservative candidates..and that has to be rooted out. We still have the repressive Liquor Control Board..and there is plenty of Republicans in power who stonewall the efforts to get rid of it.
Thanks neverdem.
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