Obama won because there was voter shenanigans in Philly. When you get 100+% of the registered voters voting, there is something wrong. Also, the 8 years of Bush-bashing convinced some of the electorate that change was necessary.
Murtha won because he always brought home the bacon, so much that the GOP never ran a strong opponent against him. (FYI, the district was so heavily gerrymandered as to make it virtually impossible for a Republican to win. This will change in next redistricting.)
Murtha's clone won by demagoging his opponent as wanting to add a 23% sales tax along with income tax. And he enjoyed a gerrymandered district.
PA does go conservative from time to time. Typically, the governor switches from D to R and back every 8 years or so. And the union folks and rednecks are pissed at the jerk in half-white hut that they will vote against him.
Finally, PA has been a swing state for some time. There is always huge amounts of money being spent here to convince the masses. I would bet that more was spent in PA in '08 than in CA and NY combined. Don't write us off yet.
PS: Where in Shangri-la do you live?
Any chance that Casey could lose with Obama atop the ticket? I’d like to see Santorum drop out and run for his old seat..