Folks who are not "from here" think of Pennsylvania as a blue bastion, uncompromisingly Democratic, safe from the ravages of the GOP.
Then, you remember Santorum.
Pennsylvanians can celebrate a small victory today in the State Senate after former County Councilman Wayne Fontana beat state representative Michael Diven in what was a very, very ugly race. Smear campaigns, fights over taxes, unflattering pictures, the whole nine yards.
More below the fold.
There's a good article in the Post-Gazette
Here.
Democrats were banking on Fontana to stop a recent string of GOP successes in picking off Democratic Senate seats. After Republicans took a seat in the Lehigh Valley in a special election April 5, they held a 30-18 advantage in the Senate. Four more seats would give the GOP the power to override any Rendell veto.
Surprisingly, Pennsylvania's state house and senate are overrun with republicans. The reason is easy. Pennsylvania's most populated cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, are true blue and will likely stay that way into the foreseeable future. However, the entire middle of the state, with the possible exception of State College area, is very, very red. It's those people who are responsible for Santorum, the rural and small town Pennsylvanians, people from Hershey and Harrisburg and DuBois and Lancaster and Williamsport.
Sure, there are some small cities and towns where reason prevails. Erie, Allentown, come to mind. Working-class towns. College towns-California, PA and State College.
(By default, I'm more familiar with west of central PA so please forgive me omissions or slight transgressions.)
One saving grace in all this "pensyltuckey red" is that many of the inner-state republicans are folks like Arlen Specter, moderates who are not motivated by the Religious Reich. Santorum is an abberation for Pennsylvania, and many of those who voted for him in past elections are getting pretty embarrassed. I've talked to a few.
So small victories, like the one in the State Senate today, matter. We continue to chip away, to fight, and to help reason prevail over time. One small election at a time.