How do we fix this though?
I’m looking at CNN Election totals and PA maps from 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2008.
Bush kept is close because he was able to beat Gore and Kerry in Chester and Berks Counties, run about even in Bucks and Montgomery, and was able to offset the losses he suffered in Delaware and Philadelphia, with the central counties, York, Adams, Lancaster, etc. In fact, had Bush carried the western counties McCain got in 2008, Bush would have won PA in 2004.
However, the map for 2006 and 2008 is both bleak. Casey and Obama took every major suburban county around Philadelphia by 20+ points. McCain’s marginal loss was smaller than Santorum’s only because he carried the western counties outside Pittsburgh and Erie.
The GOP needs somebody who can carry (by at least 8-10%) Berks and Lehigh Counties and get the other Phili counties into respectable margins. Is there a GOP conservative in PA who can realistically do this?
By 2010 people won’t be voting by party-
they’ll be voting for whoever can fix the economy, which will be in the crapper a lot worse than now
that means they’ll vote for “change” - again