While Obama is at the moment enjoying a comfortable 7 point lead over McCain in a national poll on Pollster.com, the importance of the state of Pennyslvania still looms on the horizon. Pennsylvania is crucial for two major reasons. For starters, it has a lofty 21 electoral votes for whoever is wins the state. Secondly, in the words of Mark Siegel, who is the former Democratic Party executive, "Pennsylvania is America... to understand the voters there is to understand the country." These two factors go to show why Pennsylvania carries so much weight in the minds of the candidates.
While right now Obama is ahead in the Pennsylvania polls by a margin of approximately 8 points, the state is far from lost for McCain. Despite how the numbers are stacked against McCain, he still continues to fight for votes in the state. Also, according to Bob Maranto, a political scientist at Villanova, Obama's ivy league, elitist characterization is causing many Pennsylvania voters to be swayed into taking a closer look at Obama. The fact that many voters are now becoming unsure of Obama in this crucial state, this could spell trouble for Obama and success for McCain. Although, while Pennsylvania voters may be taking another close examination of Obama, it may be too little to late for McCain.
Sources:
Zito, Salena. "Closing the Deal", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/zito/s_596355.html. 2. November. 2008
Pollster.com- 2008 Election Polls, Trends, Charts and Analysis, http://www.pollster.com/, 2. November. 2008
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