[Betty Jane]

That was very interesting. I just looked at the 2000 and 2004 Presidential races. Bush took 18% and 19% of Philadelphia. If the racial component holds there and McCain gets at least 30% of Philly Obama can't win Pennsylvania. At 25%, McCain will probably win PA because he would have gained votes in Pittsburgh and other areas also. At the same numbers as Katz, McCain wins in a landslide.

Thanks for the information.

[Claud]

My pleasure! And thanks for the added info on the Presidential elections....where did you find that?

I was doing a little more research on the last Philly mayoral election which was also a black Democrat (Michael Nutter) against a white Republican. Nutter won in a huge landslide. But Nutter wasn’t a polarizing figure as Street was...he was able to win a good deal of support among whites and had a broad appeal.

I guess it all comes down to how white Democrats view Obama—that will determine whether or not the racial voting will come into play. Like you said, if McCain can pull Katz’s numbers or close to it, Obama doesn’t have a prayer in PA.