Several disclaimers are in order:
• Yes, I was born and raised in Pennsylvania
• Got my undergrad degree in PA
• And my first professional job - near Harrisburg, the state capital
However:
• I haven’t lived there in almost 30 years
• My adult life has mostly been spent overseas
• I already voted for Obama in the Democrats Abroad Primary
But I am a Pennsylvanian born and bred, and I support Barack Obama! Anything for a Google entry.
If a polling agency were to do a profile, I’d probably fit into the Clinton camp: son of Irish immigrants; brought up in a working class, union family. But that would especially be true if I were in the Molly Maguire country of Scranton, Hazleton, or in the western part of the state around Pittsburgh, the areas where Hillary Clinton was seen trying to impress the locals by quaffing “a shot and a beer.” For an in depth look at the area in the context of the Democratic Primary, look at this Nation article, "Bowling for Pennsylvania," by Gaiutra Bahadur.
But Pennsylvania – the nation’s 6th most populous state, and tending Democratic when it doesn’t vote for moderate Republicans – is much more than the blighted coal mining rustbelt towns that are so much in the news. Consider the western Philadelphia suburbs, my native stomping grounds, in this profile by Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP (carried by my hometown paper, “The North Penn Reporter”
Barack Obama will have to face racism, whether it's in Pennsylvania during the primaries or in the nation at large should he become the Democratic nominee. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Clinton backer, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "You've got some conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate." I'd rather not try to game the relative strengths of racists vs. misogynists in Pennsylvania, nor would I want any Democratic contender to appeal to either group. And my gut feeling is that both racists and misogynists are pretty much in the same camp, so it's a zero-sum game to appeal to either.
I wish my home state a good turnout on Tuesday.
• Yes, I was born and raised in Pennsylvania
• Got my undergrad degree in PA
• And my first professional job - near Harrisburg, the state capital
However:
• I haven’t lived there in almost 30 years
• My adult life has mostly been spent overseas
• I already voted for Obama in the Democrats Abroad Primary
But I am a Pennsylvanian born and bred, and I support Barack Obama! Anything for a Google entry.
If a polling agency were to do a profile, I’d probably fit into the Clinton camp: son of Irish immigrants; brought up in a working class, union family. But that would especially be true if I were in the Molly Maguire country of Scranton, Hazleton, or in the western part of the state around Pittsburgh, the areas where Hillary Clinton was seen trying to impress the locals by quaffing “a shot and a beer.” For an in depth look at the area in the context of the Democratic Primary, look at this Nation article, "Bowling for Pennsylvania," by Gaiutra Bahadur.
But Pennsylvania – the nation’s 6th most populous state, and tending Democratic when it doesn’t vote for moderate Republicans – is much more than the blighted coal mining rustbelt towns that are so much in the news. Consider the western Philadelphia suburbs, my native stomping grounds, in this profile by Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP (carried by my hometown paper, “The North Penn Reporter”
Philly suburbs hold the key in Tuesday's primaryKuhnhenn and Sestak capture an aspect of Pennsylvania that wasn’t depicted in “The Deer Hunter,” that Seventies ode to gun-toting good ole boys who have adjustment problems after Vietnam. Southeastern Pennsylvania, starting with Philadelphia, has a long liberal tradition starting with the state’s founder, William Penn, whose Quaker pacifism left its imprint. My own alma mater, state-supported Temple University, has a long history of diversity, and thrives in the middle of one of Philadelphia’s poorest African American neighborhoods.
MEDIA, - To bisect the heart of the Democratic presidential contest, take the Chester exit of I-95 and wend your way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. If Barack Obama has any chance of cultivating an upset on April 22, this 20-mile stretch is fertile land. These are Philadelphia's western suburbs - a patchwork of charming small towns, elite colleges and working class neighborhoods that constitute one of the most competitive political battlegrounds in the state.
"It is, without question, right at the center of the fight for Pennsylvania," said Rep Joe Sestak, D-Pa., the retired admiral who represents this district and who has endorsed Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "How my district goes is how the state may go."
Clinton holds a lead in statewide polls. But Obama is strongly favored in Philadelphia and polls show him holding a slight lead in the arc of four increasingly Democratic counties around the city. Delaware County, the one which makes up most of Sestak's 7th congressional district, is his toughest with demographics that also suit Clinton and her blue collar appeal.
Barack Obama will have to face racism, whether it's in Pennsylvania during the primaries or in the nation at large should he become the Democratic nominee. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Clinton backer, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "You've got some conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate." I'd rather not try to game the relative strengths of racists vs. misogynists in Pennsylvania, nor would I want any Democratic contender to appeal to either group. And my gut feeling is that both racists and misogynists are pretty much in the same camp, so it's a zero-sum game to appeal to either.
I wish my home state a good turnout on Tuesday.