Posted on 08/31/2012 3:27:33 PM PDT by kingattax
A swing through Pennsylvania’s delegation revealed one common denominator: delegates were confident that they could deliver their state’s 20 electoral votes to the Romney-Ryan ticket this fall, thus putting the Keystone State in the GOP presidential column for the first time since 1988.
“Look at the base we’re starting with,” State Party Chairman Rob Gleason told Human Events on the convention floor, “We’re going into 2010 with a record number of state legislators, five new congressmen, a governor, lieutenant governor and a U.S. senator.” He also noted that 53 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania are in Republican hands.
Gleason also referred to the state’s controversial new law requiring a photo ID to vote and mentioned Al Schmidt, the Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia who recently created an uproar when he released a study showing numerous cases of fraudulent or erroneous voting in the city in ’08. The state’s new law requiring a photo ID to vote, Gleason said, “will go a long way toward ensuring that doesn’t happen in 2012.”
The chairman added that vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan “is playing very, very well in Pennsylvania.”
“Pennsylvania’s very much in play right now,” said former Rep. Phil English, who represented Erie County from 1994-2008, “Polls show President Obama, at most, six-to-eight percentage points ahead of Mitt Romney in our state. I’ve never seen it this close at this time. If the traditional Republican base comes together with blue-collar “swing voters”—the populist Reagan Democrats—then the Romney-Ryan ticket can win.”
English agreed with Gleason that the selection of Ryan as a running mate would help in forging that coalition and was “a brilliant choice.”
Keystone State GOPers are confident of a strong turnout in the most Republican counties. Ann Womble, longtime party activist in Lancaster County, told us that volunteers were “fired up and ready to go ” for the Romney-Ryan ticket. She also gave high marks to the choice of Ryan as a running mate, calling his convention address “picture perfect—out of sight.”
Throughout the week in Tampa, there has been particular focus on the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan—none of which have gone Republican for president in 24 years and all of which are very much in play now. Wisconsin (12 electoral votes) is Paul Ryan’s homestate and Michigan (10 electoral votes) is Romney’s state of birth. And Pennsylvania and its twenty electoral votes, as we learned this week, will be hotly competed for by the Romney-Ryan team.
Feel good story of the day.
Surely there has to be point where non government union workers will start thinking differently about where the jobs will come from.
Working hard to make that happen no matter what polls say. We need to oust Casey from the Senate as well. Go Romney, Ryan and Smith.
I did in 2008, however, I think this year will be different.
I’ll believe it when I see it. When I think PA elections, I think Philly and “Murtha Country”, neither of which inspire me to believe the state will shake off its blue shroud.
I really believe had it not been for fraud, GW Bush would have won PA in 2004.
Absent a landslide election, it’s not going to happen.
By the way, he is not as conservative as I am, in fact he flirted with voting for 0bama in 2008, this is not “happy talk” or “wishful thinking talk”.
Murtha’s district doesn’t exist anymore.
The merged district it’s a part of now has overwhelmingly solid Republican counties and areas to offset his old lockstep FDR D voters.
The primary that the D’s ran here between Altmire and Critz was just plain UGLY. The only reason Critz won, big labor.
Altmire, love him, hate him, I loathed him, was able to play in a closely mixed district. Critz most certainly will not.
I’m not counting on PA going for Romney, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did but I wouldn’t count on it.
You can obviously say one thing, if PA goes Romney, GG Barry.
And let's keep in mind 2010 wasn't a landslide in the Senate race here. Sestak was only defeated by 1 or 2 points. And I'm pretty sure 2012 will not be as slanted towards Republicans as 2010 was nationally. A presidential election is when all the Dummies who skipped the mid-terms turn out.
We can do this, SoFlo. We have worked very, very hard to make it so...starting with Toomey. If Jersey or Delaware would annex Philadelphia, no problem at all.
Yes, but PA is also coal miners and bitter clingers. We CAN do this.
I know what you mean. I think all of us have been burned by the teaser states of PA, MD, and WI in particular.
Just wanted to add-I made 7 trips to P’burgh from March of 2010 to May of 2011. I didn’t dare out myself as a conservative there, and I was all over town. Funny thing, though-on my last two trips, people everywhere I went were openly vehement against Obama!
Since you’re a local, could you please share your thoughts with me?
Many here are still thinking about Obama’s verbal slap about the bitter Pennsylvanians and their guns and Bibles...and we are holding tighter to both these days - getting ready to slap him back with our votes.
I'd be more than willing to give the RAT party their four safe electoral votes in return for making 12 of our 20 competitive.
The GOP candidate may very well win Pennsylvania in a blow-out type election where 20 electoral votes won't make a difference. It would be far more valuable to win 8, 10, 12 or 16 electoral votes in a close election where it would make a difference in the national result.
It would help statewide people running for office too. Less reward for stealing 20 electoral votes = less phony votes in RAT heavy areas of our commonwealth for morons like Bob Casey, Jr.
Hey!!
Jersey DOES NOT WANT Philthydelphia!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.