Pennsylvania is getting a history lesson from South Carolina today.
I guess we don't know our own state that well. All this time, you thought the reason that the Keystone State hasn't gone Republican in a presidential election since the days of big-hair rockers and break dancing -- and that we now have two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor -- was because soccer moms in Montgomery County were tired of anti-choice judicial appointments and global warming denial, because waitresses out in Pittsburgh were sick of waiting for health care, because the culture wars that created so many "Reagan Democrats" a generation ago now had many people exhausted and ready for change.
Silly you -- didn't you realize it was "forced unionization." Let South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint explain (h/t TPMDC):
"I don't think many Americans are going to agree that the Republican party has become too conservative," he said. "If you look at our record of spending, our record on every issue, the problem I think we have is Americans no longer believe that we believe what we say we do."
DeMint says he isn't worried. He denied that the GOP has become a southern party, attributing Republican losses in the northeast to some northern voters who have left the region and moved south hoping to avoid labor unions and "forced unionization." He said Americans will eventually come back into the Republican fold because of growing alarm about the size of government and President Obama's fiscal policies.
"I think you'll see this next election to be totally different," DeMint predicted. "Pat Toomey, who is running in Pennsylvania, is one of the most maintream Americans I know."
I'm not old enough to remember what exactly "forced " all the unionization in Pennsylvania, whether it was the wonderful conditions in the state's coal mines and the company towns or something to do with the Homestead massacre. Whatever...I don't know how DeMint explains how Barack Obama got so many more votes than John McCain last fall in the entire United States, unless forced unionization now has people moving to China or Mexico.
Seriously, what's in the water, or Kool-aid, that people are drinking down there? Has anyone checked on the supply lines to Fort Sumter lately?
---}}} "I think you'll see this next election to be totally different," DeMint predicted. "Pat Toomey, who is running in Pennsylvania, is one of the most maintream Americans I know." {{{--- Get Beck on the TV, Rush on the radio, and Demint at the press conference. Please. And pass the popcorn.— Talking point sleuth
Comment removed.- who in their right mind would rather live in SC than PA? hey senator, you're state is a poor pathetic dump. maybe if you had some unions you might actually have some semblance of a middle class.— Ryan
- "who in their right mind would rather live in SC than PA? hey senator, you're state is a poor pathetic dump."...South Carolina is good enough for BMW to build its only US manufacturing plant. How many new manufacturing businesses have Pennsylvania and its leaders attracted? For all the talk about attracting new jobs to Philly and the state, maybe will and people like you should ask what can I do to help my city and state, instead of throwing rocks at the do-ers.— E Plebnista
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- I live in the York lancaster area... Whould you like a lis of big employers that left for the more favorable conditions in the south? York International, Carrier Transicold, Catapillar, Armstrong, bulova, Alcoa (scaling back production). Tens of thousands of local jobs driven off by by a combination of expensive union labor, excessive taxes and regulations. Where would you rather go to eat? A place that pays their cooks $30/hour to get a $10 burger or to a place that pays $10/hr tot he cook and sells the exact same burger for $3. Likewise, where would a company go to start production? A plant that has to pay $35/hour here or $20/hour down south. It is just that simple.— chrisrr
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- It's no secret that PA's most prosperous days are long ago, before new deal unions. that said, the national party destroyed the local party, not the other way around. PA was better off for having competitive elections and folks like gerlach weren't the same as santorum. God knwos we could use soem club for Growth in Philadelphia. or is that 25% poverty rate considered good for solidifying the democractic base here?— dreinterests
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- LJL - There is such a thing as cost of living... If you make 50k in New York City, you are going to have to live on Ramen noodles and live in a refrigerator box, if you make 50k in the south, you can live comfortably. The same house in the south could cost half as much.— chrisrr
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- Guys like DeMint have absolutely gutted the cause of conservatism for decades to come. He is typical of the "radical conservatives" who really don't have a conservative bone in their body. No matter who tries to lead the Republican Party, they are going to be cursed by the spector of authoritarian, cowardly, religious zealots. They scoff at the concept of big government but yearn for the days of an unchecked executive. The pound their chests and scream about the rule of law, but that law was to be written not by Congress, but in the fine print of signing statements and Justice Department memos. In their fear of attack they throw away everything their forefathers fought for so bravely. They chose brutality over competence.— SteveMG
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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