Politico.com has an article about how and why Republican John McCain is trying hard to flip Pennsylvania into the GOP column for the first time in two decades. Politico correctly notes that sinking sooo much money and effort in a state solidly in Democrat Barack Obama’s column (average poll lead has him up 13.8 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.com) means taking resources away from places like Ohio and Florida.
Here’s Politico’s strategy breakdown:
For Obama, that means trying to offset white, working-class voters’ uneasiness with him by hammering McCain as out of touch on their economic struggles, and driving a huge turnout here in the state’s most populous city (Philadelphia), where he spent Saturday barnstorming four neighborhoods.
For McCain, it means courting the politically competitive but historically Republican suburbs ringing Philadelphia, as well as the industrial and rural parts of the state that carried Hillary Clinton to a 9-point victory over Obama in the Democratic primary in April. The McCain campaign believes it can sway voters in those areas by emphasizing a socially conservative message and branding Obama an elitist liberal with shady past associates.
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McCain has also poured considerable resources into the state — -in the week after last month’s GOP convention, he outspent Obama on Pennsylvania television ads $1.6 million to $950,000, and he spent the same amount again in the first week of October.
The problem is that Obama dropped $2.2 million in the first week of the month, his third highest total behind Ohio and Florida, and his campaign has 79 offices in the Keystone State — nearly twice McCain’s total, which could give Obama an edge in the get-out-the-vote battle.
