PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As Nov. 5 ticks ever closer, the political climate in Pennsylvania gets more tense. Democratic leadership sees momentum and is happy with internal research and polling. Republican leadership is upbeat. But both sides are expecting a photo finish in both the presidential and U.S. Senate races.
Longtime Philadelphia Democratic Party Chair Bob Brady tells me he totally rejects reports in the local and national media that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is failing to reach non-white voters, is not leaning enough on local leaders’ networks, and is being out-messaged by former President Donald Trump’s team.
Brady, who spent 25 years in Congress, says Philadelphia Democrats have the best pre-election ground game of any big city in the country. “I have never seen more cooperation and preparation for a big ground game like I’m seeing now.”
He expects Philadelphia and the suburbs to be all powerful, but he admits Trump has a pocket of strength in sections of the city’s northeast. He says watch the Democratic strength in Lancaster and Erie.
Further, he says, the vice president has united people — Democrats, progressives, moderates — and he expects a massive Democratic voter turnout in Eastern Pennsylvania.
The Republican leadership is upbeat. Among key insiders I spoke to on the Republican side, I hear about “high hopes,” support for Trump in the Scranton-Wikes Barre area, and a powerful bloc of voters in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
State Republican leaders admit to having some concern about Trump’s ground game, but they don’t expect his followers to need much prodding to get out and vote.
They are also thrilled the GOP is embracing the use of mail-in voting — although Trump is undermining that already by indicating that, if he loses Pa., he will use mail-in voting as a cause for denial.
Trump has a real tie to the state, forged by the dramatic attempt on his life in July. He also has allies in the state from 2016 and 2020 — most of whom have remained faithful. The unknown factor, still, is voter turnout.
Two of the five leaders I talked to say the biggest challenge to Trump is Trump. They are hoping he turns down the rhetoric.
I believe that history will look at this “Battle of Pennsylvania” as one of the most controversial ever — and no contest will leave a mark quite as dirty as that of the U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick.
Their campaigns are even more vicious and personally offensive than the race for the White House, which has already set a low bar. It’s a takedown election. Both sides expect a photo-finish. And it will be interesting to see how this most negative of battles will turn out.
The problem is that, when money talks, sometimes the truth walks. And there is very little accountability for falsehoods and exaggeration. When the Supreme Court gave the green light to unlimited campaign spending, they never issued a yellow light of caution for ethics.