Newspaper: PA is still in play

Seth Gitell, writing in the New York Sun, says Barack Obama should be much further ahead in the polls in Pennsylvania. The fact that he isn't (and he lost to state's primary to Hillary Clinton) means the Keystone State could be won by John McCain under the right circumstances.

From his article, "Battle of Pennsylvania" --

None of this poll data is to suggest that Mr. McCain is likely to win Pennsylvania, a state that went for Ronald Reagan but has been won by Democrats in the last four elections. But Republicans do believe they have a chance here. Mr. McCain has visited Pennsylvania 10 times since the contentious Democratic primary.

"I think McCain still has a chance," the chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Committee, James Roddey, said. "We're hearing from more and more Democrats that they're just not going to vote for Obama."

Part of the quandary for Mr. Obama is that Hillary Clinton defeated him by 9.2% in the April primary. Many of her most devoted backers, such as Governor Rendell, have moved their organizational muscle firmly behind Mr. Obama. But others have not. Prominent election signs for Senator Clinton still dot the heavily Democratic Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.