PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania is of vital importance to Sen. John McCain. But the numbers in the commonwealth are making things more difficult for the Republicans than what they experienced four years ago.
The voter registration numbers have shifted dramatically since 2004, especially in the Philadelphia region, Fox 29’s Bruce Gordon reported.
A county-by-county look at the changing nature of the electorate shows that a lot of red has become blue.
In Bucks County, there were more registered Republicans than Democrats four years ago. Now, there’s a small margin for the Democrats.
Montgomery County was solidly red in 2004. But since then there has been a huge increase in Democratic registrations and a drop in Republican registrations. It’s now blue.
In Chester County, what had been a 75,000-voter margin for the GOP is now just a 25,000-Republican advantage, so they’re still in control but it’s much closer than it had been.
And Delaware County shows the same trend. It’s still red, but change since 2004 has resulted in lots more Democrats and fewer Republicans.
Finally, Philadelphia for years has been reliably blue. But since 2004, 153,000 new Democratic registrations, along with a small drop in those identifying themselves as Republicans. The result is an overwhelming advantage for the Democrats that will allow Sen. Barack Obama to win Philadelphia by a huge margin.
If Obama plays to a tie in the suburbs around Philly, he could win Pennsylvania by capturing only a handful of its 67 counties.
It’s a huge, uphill battle for McCain in Pennsylvania, Gordon reported.