Our part of Pa (I live in Indiana County, I assume 4yearlurker lives in my county or in Cambria county just to the east.) A lot of the people in our counties were immigrants or children of immigrants (myself included) who were/are coal miners and steel workers. They looked to the unions to protect them. That union mentality is ingrained in people. Even my aged mom, retired from the maintenance dept. of our local university, still has that mentality. It's sad, really. Pathetic.
If you look at a blue/red map of Pa., you will note that MOST of the counties went red at the last Presidential election. Unfortunately too many union hacks in Pittsburgh and dead voters in Philly in the last Nov. election. That's probably how Santorum lost and Rendell won again. There's something terribly amiss in a state that will RE-elect a traitor like Murtha and NOT re-elect a good man like Santorum.