Pennsylvania is a big prize in the electoral college that has belonged to Democrats for more than two decades, but some analysts and local politicians are wondering if the odd circumstances surrounding the 2016 election could shift the state into the red.
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With Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sidelined by pneumonia, Obama rolled up his shirtsleeves and stepped into the 2016 campaign with a stop in Philadelphia created to bring out the voters that helped him to carry Pennsylvania twice.
The president also blasted the Republican nominee in his harshest criticism yet of the campaign, virtually accusing Mr. Trump of segregationist habits and of recklessly cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about national security, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, at the Union League in Philadelphia.
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Clinton spoke to supporters during a rally at West Philadelphia High School in August.
Moreover, the president presented to his adoring audience a binary: continue forward with a qualified leader who’s both “steady and true”, or risk our democracy vanishing under an authoritarian-type personality who’s neither qualified nor steady.
“Pennsylvania goes through this every time”, Robin Kolodny, professor and chair of the political science department at Temple University in Philadelphia, tells The Christian Science Monitor. The doctor later said in a statement that Clinton was “rehydrated and recovering nicely”.
Democratic pollster Geoff Garin said North Carolina is Clinton’s “best chance” to win a state that Mitt Romney carried four years ago.
Mrs. Clinton, though she hasn’t spoken much about public education, homelessness and other issues raised by local officials today, was presented to the public by Mr. Obama as the only politician who can understand and tackle the serious challenges the country faces.
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With less than two months until Election Day, polls have begun to tighten.
