Such a development would be disastrous for Obama. The president faces even longer odds of carrying the traditionally red states he won in 2008, including Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana. So Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes, becomes all the more crucial in an election most analysts expect to be closely contested. Obama's ace in the hole is Vice President Biden, who was raised in a Catholic family in Scranton. Biden will be dispatched routinely during election season in hopes of shoring up the president's deficiencies with blue-collar voters, according to campaign officials. And Team Obama is also banking on...
