Archives » Thursday, October 30, 2008
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Howard Fineman
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Oct 30, 2008 08:08 AM
The suburbs and towns that ring the central Pennsylvania city of Harrisburg have been deeply Republican since Lincoln was alive.
But strange things are happening right now---things that bode well for Sen. Barack Obama and local Democrats in this swing state, micro-level things that help mitigate the fear that some Democrats have about a last-minute catastrophe in the national effort.
The mayor of one especially affluent, hard-core Republican town quit the GOP and endorsed Obama. Driving along the banks of the Susquehanna, I saw many more Obama yard signs than Sen. John McCain ones.
And for the first time in memory, there is a hot race for the state Senate seat here. Democrat Judy Hirsh, a novice who touts herself in her brochures as a “wife, mother and small business owner,” is making a strong bid against a longtime GOP incumbent.
“He’s attacking me, which means I must be making progress,” Hirsh told me.
McCain and the GOP have long seen Pennsylvania as a holy grail of the Electoral College. McCain has been here time and again, but does not seem to have much to show for it. Statewide polls show Obama with a solid double-digit lead.
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