Posted on 10/20/2012 5:27:34 PM PDT by kristinn
For months, Pennsylvania was considered a cakewalk for Democrats, with Sen. Bob Casey easily cruising to reelection and its 20 electoral votes in the bag for President Barack Obama.
But enter Republican Tom Smith and his personal fortune, and suddenly the Keystone State has the potential of upending the national political landscape. Buoyed by a tightening presidential race here, Smith — a no-name GOP Senate candidate and self-funding multi-millionaire — has suddenly made Republicans bullish about picking off the Keystone State to make Mitch McConnell majority leader and Mitt Romney more competitive here.
“He wasn’t on any endangered list,” Rep. Bob Brady, the Democratic congressman from the Philadelphia area, said of Casey. “But he is now.”
What’s happening in Pennsylvania reflects a national trend: Romney has risen in the polls following his first debate performance, giving him new opportunities in states seen as prime Democratic terrain. And a rapidly shifting Senate landscape has prompted GOP leaders to reassess Democratic-leaning states like Connecticut and Pennsylvania, putting the Northeast suddenly at the heart of the GOP’s dwindling hopes of winning a Senate majority
SNIP
Polls have shown there’s a reason for Republicans to believe they have some hope here. Two public polls in the past 10 days have suggested that Smith’s ad campaign — where he’s dubbed Casey as an “invisible senator” — has erased the Democrat’s double digit lead, dropping his lead down to single digits, with an Allentown Morning Call poll even putting the Democrat’s advantage at 2 points. According to a Quinnipiac poll, Romney has sliced Obama’s 12-point lead down to 4, while a GOP poll released Friday even put Romney ahead by 4 points here, and Smith up by 2.
SNIP
From Huffington Post tonight:
Mitt Romney's Campaign, RNC Have 60+ Staffers In Pennsyvania, Planning More
(Excerpt) Read more at dyn.politico.com ...
The scranton area is an old coal mining region, very union and very democratic and very catholic....all three. It’s a generational thing. I grew up in a little town called Dunmore, Pa. just outside of Scranton. There was a joke that if you wanted your garbage collected in Dunmore you had to be democrat.
Don't forget a Republican Sec. o' State.
Please, no more Boehner or McConnell.”
And they all said AMEN!
But it has a Republican governor and Senator Pat Toomey, as of 2010. It could happen.
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This is true but, still it hasn’t went red in over 20 years?
We’ll see.
You betcha we have!!!!!
http://www.ifapray.org/
Had an old buddy from that general area. Gun clinging, pro life religious guy that voted democrat. Good American guy but so damn misguided politically.
Thanks for the link. Not much downside to campaigning out there. Coal country and Ohio right next door so to speak. It may be a feint but then again Romney may have the numbers that say Philly ain’t turning out 110% this year and the suburbs have come to their senses. Won’t be long now and we’ll know. I would like to go to one more inaugaration ball before I hit the clouds though. :-}
John W, I want to be proven wrong more than anything. Hopefully the state is getting more red thanks to the conservatives fleeing MD for lower taxes and lower cost of housing.
Ohio insurance. Obama has invested enormous resources into the Ohio ground game.
I found it particularly interesting that they quoted a 27-year old banker and an 18-year old college student, both with enthusiastic comments for RR. But I thought EVERYONE under 30 was an Obama fan.
Thanks for the reminder. Interesting info.
Democrats ran as moderates appealing to suburban voters. That’s why PA has been a lock for them.
Obama is a hard core leftist and I don’t believe the suburban counties around PHL and PB have warmed up to him. No one really likes him.
And Romney feels he can win there. Expect him to spend more time in the PA-OH media market. He can campaign in both states on the same day.
They are not shaken in the media yet but they should be. It doesn’t look good for The One.
Know whatcha mean....my remedy is more range time............
Fat fingers and tired eyes. :)))
Pennsylvania is blue.
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