Governor Palin And Pennsylvania



(image via theelectoralmap)

“Pennsylvania is a must-win state for both sides,” The Times Leader reports Obama advisor David Axelrod said after the candidates appearance at Schott North America plant in Duryea. "We will contest here vigorously."

If McCain/Palin wins the great state of Pennsylvania, then they will probably win the election and everyone can call it a night. Upon first hearing about the rollout of Governor Palin and her adamantine position on abortion, The Corsair thought -- Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. If there is a state tailor-made for Governor Sarah Palin to flip, it is Pennsylvania. The state is traditionally a Democrat stronghold, but it went for Senator Hillary Clinton. Abortion is a big issue in the state, and Catholics went in for Hillary over Obama by a 40 percent margin. Cambria County, in western Pennsylvania, is traditionally Catholic, Democratic and union. It voted for Bush in the 2004 election.

Senator Joe Biden -- a Catholic born in Scranton, Pennsylvania -- has been often to pennsylvania since the McCain pick. Biden and Obama are both focusing on the economy and pocketbook issues in Pennsylvania to perhaps offset some of the McCain/ Palin advantages in the state. Senator Obama's comments on guns and bitterness cost him the state when he ran against the daughter of Scranton and they could cost him against Palin, who is a registered member of the NRA, anti-abortion and a woman who may peel off enough Hillary Democrats to turn the state from blue to red.

From The Times Leader:

"Up for grabs are thousands of votes that were cast for Clinton in the April Pennsylvania primary. The New York senator with strong roots in Scranton easily out-distanced Obama by a 3-to-1 margin in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

"'She was a strong, formidable candidate,' Axelrod said. 'I think you will probably see her campaigning for Obama here in Pennsylvania.'

"The McCain camp has a different view.

"'Traditionally a Democrat should win in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties,' said Mike Duhaime, political director for the McCain campaign.

"'However, we are confident that John McCain will do far better than any Republican ever has in Northeastern Pennsylvania,' he said. 'Sen. McCain will also do well in other surrounding counties, and that’s why we’re confident he will win the state.'"

Paul Alexander, today on Gambling, said of the Palin surge and the fundraising flowing into republican coffers, "If Obama loses this race it's because he didn't put Hillary on the ticket." How ironic would it be if Huffington Post reporting -- which this blogger sometimes does -- on an Obama comment cost the Democrats the White House.