Romney returns to battleground Pa., with stops in Phila. and Delaware County (PA in play?)

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 09/29/2012 | Jeremy Roebuck and Sean Carlin

[SeekAndFind]

Mitt Romney made a bold prediction Friday during his first public campaign stop in months in a state where polls show him lagging and that GOP insiders say he has all but given up.

"We're going to take Pennsylvania," he promised an animated crowd at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne.

His assessment earlier in the day at a Union League fund-raiser in Philadelphia was sober, yet optimistic.

"We really would shock people if early in the evening on Nov. 6, it looked like Pennsylvania was going to come our way," he told donors before adding that he was confident he could do it.

Whether those remarks amounted to mere campaign bluster or signaled a late reassessment of the Republican presidential candidate's chances in the Keystone State remained anyone's guess.

"I wish I could say," said one state GOP leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But coming back to Pennsylvania is certainly a good step."

Recent polls have almost consistently shown President Obama pulling ahead by seven to 12 points in the battle for Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes.

And last month, a pair of Romney-affiliated super PACs suspended all advertising in the state, opting to focus their resources in places the former Massachusetts governor appeared more competitive.

But Pennsylvania GOP leaders have sought for weeks to convince the national campaign that it's too early to give up.

As well-heeled donors at the Union League munched Friday morning on fruit parfaits in stem glasses, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) reminded the crowd of another come-from-behind victory

[Mr. Silverback]

If Obama has to fight for Wisconsin and Romney thinks he can take PA, this may very well be 2004 all over again...or 2010 all over again.

[Frank_2001]

“obama and his sycophants.”

You mean “psycho-phants”;)