Posted on 10/20/2012 5:27:34 PM PDT by kristinn
For months, Pennsylvania was considered a cakewalk for Democrats, with Sen. Bob Casey easily cruising to reelection and its 20 electoral votes in the bag for President Barack Obama.
But enter Republican Tom Smith and his personal fortune, and suddenly the Keystone State has the potential of upending the national political landscape. Buoyed by a tightening presidential race here, Smith — a no-name GOP Senate candidate and self-funding multi-millionaire — has suddenly made Republicans bullish about picking off the Keystone State to make Mitch McConnell majority leader and Mitt Romney more competitive here.
“He wasn’t on any endangered list,” Rep. Bob Brady, the Democratic congressman from the Philadelphia area, said of Casey. “But he is now.”
What’s happening in Pennsylvania reflects a national trend: Romney has risen in the polls following his first debate performance, giving him new opportunities in states seen as prime Democratic terrain. And a rapidly shifting Senate landscape has prompted GOP leaders to reassess Democratic-leaning states like Connecticut and Pennsylvania, putting the Northeast suddenly at the heart of the GOP’s dwindling hopes of winning a Senate majority
SNIP
Polls have shown there’s a reason for Republicans to believe they have some hope here. Two public polls in the past 10 days have suggested that Smith’s ad campaign — where he’s dubbed Casey as an “invisible senator” — has erased the Democrat’s double digit lead, dropping his lead down to single digits, with an Allentown Morning Call poll even putting the Democrat’s advantage at 2 points. According to a Quinnipiac poll, Romney has sliced Obama’s 12-point lead down to 4, while a GOP poll released Friday even put Romney ahead by 4 points here, and Smith up by 2.
SNIP
From Huffington Post tonight:
Mitt Romney's Campaign, RNC Have 60+ Staffers In Pennsyvania, Planning More
(Excerpt) Read more at dyn.politico.com ...
Fully one-quarter of the state is bordered by W. Va., a state that gave 41% of Bobo's primary vote earlier this year to a registered felon. If every last rural voter gets it in gear, and Philly is down by a handful of points, PA can be won.
Spend a few days in Filthadelphia—all questions will be answered....
Philly is what it is—but I think the ‘burbs have come to their senses in many places—BO didn’t beat McCain by that much in a lot of the ‘burbs,I would say, and Romney will do much better than McCain. There’s hope.
I think McCain might be staging a comeback, I saw a "Democrats for McCain" yard sign this morning!
I am also starting to see "Casey + Obama-$16 Trillion Debt" signs in the area. Still haven't seen a pro-Casey sign yet.
Was PA part of Obama’s “firewall” list?
Agreed. If PA goes red early I will be at the bar in an instant, and every Republican in my county will be hung over Nov 7.
The headline is still wrong though.
” GO ROMNEY AND TOM SMITH!”
B U M P
Casey only won because Santorum was who he ran against and because of his name... he is a non entity and certainly can be beat.
I know folks here love Santorum, but there is a reason he was sent packing by 17 points folks... he’s not remotely what he sells himself as.
Casey is the stiffest most boring person in Politics, he literally no showed his race against Santorum and won by nearly 20 points. Given the current political climate I think Smith has better than even odds of taking the Senate.
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