In 1992, while living in Pennsylvania, one of my fondest memories was walking to the polling center to cast my vote for president. It was a lovely November morning and although a a bit groggy at 7am, excitement was bubbling for the possibility of "Change" which was well needed in those tough economical times. There is no need to explain the years from 1992 -2000 as everyone should remember how America flew like an eagle.
The election of 1992 is not unlike 2008; the difference being that the economy is in much worse shape today. "Change" is needed now more than ever. Like 1992, I am happy to have cast my vote for what I feel will be a historical change. If that change doesn't happen, Pennsylvania could potentially be the reason why.
John McCain has spent a great deal of time in Pennsylvania as his team feels they can pull off an upset (see link below) even though it has been a long time since a Republican has won the state in a presidential election and Barack Obama is leading in every poll.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22pennsylvania.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
One reason McCain has a chance here, is because of the areas surrounding the major cities that are vastly rural and different than inner city life. Here is what James Carville (Clinton's 1992 campaign manager) said about Pennsylvania:
"Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between".
Is he right? You can be the judge by reading an eloquent description from a longtime friend who has lived in Pennsylvania most of his life and went to college in the western city of Pittsburgh.
PA is PA. It's the 2nd oldest state, per capita, in the US; it has the highest number of colleges and universities in the country, yet retains the fewest number of graduates within its borders; has been associated with the term Pennsyltucky due to the central region of the state that looks mostly like West Virginia and Kentucky, two states with the lowest number of minority residents; and as older voters go (as I mentioned above PA as a lot of them), they are the most likely, statistically, whether black or white, to harbor racist or backward leaning views.
A Pennsylvania congressman was bold in his assessment of his constituency which could cost him his seat in Washington. Below is his view from a CNN article (link below) along with an opinion of a top labor leader in the state:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/murtha.racism.apology/index.html
Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, a supporter of Barack Obama's presidential bid, apologized Thursday for calling western Pennsylvania "a racist area."
In recent weeks, a YouTube video of labor leader Richard Trumka describing a racist reaction to Obama he encountered on a trip back to his western Pennsylvania hometown has become an Internet sensation. "Our kids are moving away because there's no future here," Trumka says in a widely circulated clip of his speech to a United Steelworkers convention this year. "And here's a man, Barack Obama, who's going to fight for people like us, and you won't vote for him because of the color of his skin? Are you out of your ever-loving mind?"
Those previous opinions speak volumes about why McCain thinks he can win Pennsylvania.
Three memories stand out prominently about my time living in Pennsylvania:
1) My high school was very diverse and it was wonderful to see blacks and whites dating and being friends. The racial harmony was good although there were some underlying issues. In addition, I played basketball from an early age and the issue of race was rarely evident in all my games from age 9 to 17.
2) One of my best friends growing up was white and his family was like none I have ever met. They were warm, loving and treated me like one of their own. I was welcomed with open arms and race was never an issue. I was a groomsmen at his wedding in Pennsylvania and 3 of the 4 groomsmen were black; a rare sight at a predominately white wedding! His choice of representation on his most important day tells you how valuable the values of his parents were to his being. I mention this because I have met families where race played a major part (i.e. # 3 below) in the division of the family.
3) While living in Pennsylvania, I dated a lovely, charming and interesting woman which for my taste was rare in my hometown. We genuinely liked each other and had a fantastic 2 weeks together. The fatal mistake was stopping by her house one day to pick up something. I didn't want to go into her home as I felt there was no benefit but I decided to against my better judgement. Her dad was there with a frozen face as he reached out to shake my hand. I could sense his instability by the way he looked at me. At that moment, I knew our blissful dating would never be the same.
I didn't see her for the next week which puzzled me. She finally appeared one day and we talked. Her dad told her in no uncertain terms, "If you see him again, I will disown you". I couldn't believe it as I had never witnessed such intense hate personally but her facial expression proved this was no joke. She never realized that her father was a racist until that moment and didn't know how to handle it and it was not my job to show her how. Nothing more was said as I knew I would never see her again. With a father like hers, I hope she found the courage to confront or "disown" HIM for his wicked ways.
Finally, the aforementioned friend who wrote about Pennsylvania gave me his assessment about America, our future and this election:
America is demographically speaking at least 10 years from finally being able to throw off the vestiges of the heaviest hands of racial and ethnic stereotyping. In addition, as the waves of immigrants who have migrated here over the past 20 years (in record numbers, even eclipsing the numbers at the turn of the 20th century) begin to fully engage in our representative democracy, we'll see that their lack of fear of government will take hold at the ballot box. The Reagan Revolution with its "the government is evil" rhetoric has spawned an extraordinary period in America. At a time when people need to rely on the power of government, roughly half the country is cynical, and disparaging of the ability of government to do good. Excessive government intervention isn't good, but no intervention is bad, really bad. Let's hope we get it right in this election.
Will Pennsylvania be on the winning side of "Change"? I hope so, but there is always that chance that those who fear change will want to stay in the same dark period of the last 8 years.
Our slogan in Pennsylvania (Keystone State) is "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania".
That friend will either be John McCain or Barack Obama on Tuesday November 4. The choice could be pivotal in determining our next president.
I hope Pennsylvania and America make a well-educated decision.
Happy Gswede Sunday!
These lovely girls live in Pennsylvania and are the children of two friends. What will America and the world be like when they are able to vote?
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