William Penn, atop Philadelphia’s City Hall.
New York can often feel like some big bubble wherein even the Republicans are sort of progressive.* While that’s good if you’re a lefty, living in such a deeply blue place makes for pretty boring electoral campaigns.
I was just back home in Philly visiting the fam, and I was blown away by the big difference in tenor in an actual battleground state . I saw a ton of campaign spots for Obama and McCain in the three days I was there this week. Yesterday, I was asked to register to vote by two nice old ladies with big hats sitting outside the Rite-Aid. (They were Obama supporters).
Obama’s clinging to a small lead here in most polls, but it’s pretty much within the margin of error. So, voter turnout is crucial there, and Philly should be a big boon to Obama in the final tally on Nov. 4: a major city with a substantial black population and lots of colleges/universities.
*When Giuliani and his ex-wife, Donna Hanover, had their very public divorce, he stayed in an apartment of some good friends of his, a same-sex couple. Michael Bloomberg, the current mayor — and the richest person in the city — was a Democrat for his entire career, but switched parties to become a Republican due to the logjam of Democrats in the mayoral primaries; he’s now an independent.
