A State of Independence

Pennsylvania Deployment

October 22-24, 2010
By: Dan Garcia

Seems like nowadays, every state is becoming the “swing state” in this 2010 election however, only one state is the true canary in the mine for the Democrats in Congress…and that is right here in Pennsylvania.  While the fat lady has yet to flash her pipes, I have heard that she is now in the building ready for her Election Day debut.  

Pennsylvania has been plagued by Democrats for many years now.  Governor Ed Rendell has used Harrisburg as his own personal purse, spending Pennsylvanians into a very large and economically dangerous hole.  Our Congressmen and women have latched on to the big government, big spending, liberal philosophies of both Obama and Rendell with little to no opposition from Republicans…that is until now.   The Republican Party here in Pennsylvania has finally fielded an incredible group of candidates and we Young Republicans are very proud to support them.  

Polling here in Pennsylvania started strong for the GOP, but thanks to a targeted fundraising effort by the Democrats, those polls have become razor-thin and, in some cases, show a worst case scenario.  Pennsylvania has become critical.  In the east, candidates like Mike Fitzpatrick in the 8^th District, Pat Meehan in the 7^th District, and Lou Barletta in the 11^th District have organized strong campaign and fundraising teams moving their races from leaning Democrat into the tossup column.  Here in Western Pennsylvania, candidates Keith Rothfus in the 4^th District, Tim Burns in the 12^th District, and  Mike Kelly in the 3^rd District have also made some solid runs in their respective districts.  On the state level, Tom Corbett has built a lead over Democrat Dan Onorato but this lead is no reason to sit back and wait for 8pm on Election Day.  As with most elections, the biggest gains and falls can happen in the final week leading up to Election Day.  In the Senate race, Pat Toomey offers a tried and true alternative to Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak.  In no single race are the differences between two candidates so obvious as in this Senate race.  Despite the difference, there is a very narrow margin between the two candidates and some polling is showing Joe Sestak actually ahead by 3 percentage points.

This brings me to this weekend.  Our fearless leader and YRNF Chairman, Lisa Stickan, offered a hand to help us here in Pennsylvania to turn this tide of Democrat money and polling.  She put out a call to all YRs to come into our great state and help my YR groups push for Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett.  Several YRs heard the call and responded.  From Andrew Torella in Indiana to Andy Ballard in Ohio, and the Jersey Boys from, well, Jersey, we had an All-Star Team of YRs eager to knock on doors and show their excitement for our Republican candidates.  

The day started a little late, but as with most campaign work, that was to be expected.  These gave us a chance to gameplan and throw the football around in the parking lot.  Once we had our teams together, we all set out to the beautiful suburbs of Pittsburgh known as Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, and Bethel Park.  If you have ever seen the movie Father of the Bride, think about the neighborhood Steve Martin lived in.  The leaves brightened up this overcast day with a deluge of reds, yellows, orange glows.  Children were running around with their neighbors, families were watching football games, dads were raking leaves, young couples were walking their dogs…it was a typical Saturday in the ‘Burgh.

And then there were hills.

 It’s one thing to drive a district; it’s entirely something else to walk it.  As a fat guy, walking door to door took a whole lot out of me.  So much, that Lisa and I had to make a trip to the Chick-fil-a for a mid-morning snack, after all, I have to keep my body looking round and healthy.  Our walk was far from uneventful.  Between houses…and between heavy breathing due to my allergies, we met some very interesting characters.  One such character was a very sweet lady and her Bichon Frise.  She was very happy to see the Young Republicans were alive and well here in Allegheny and gave us the names and addresses of people in her neighborhood who were friendly to our cause.  We even took a picture together as we chatted in the middle of her street.  Lisa and I also met a couple of interesting characters…WILD TURKEYS! I had just pulled into a parking spot in our new neighborhood when we spotted two very large turkeys milling around a couple of Pine trees.  We assumed they were working for the Democrat candidate, as they were smelly, scared of us, and well, they were turkeys. 

Then the fun started

Once all of our YR teams were done with their doors, we all headed back to the Victory Center in Greentree to start making phone calls.  The phone banking center was buzzing.  In fact, every phone was covered by the very dedicated team of College Republicans from the University of Pittsburgh.  These students were working tirelessly all day, every day, to beat Delaware County in voter contacts.  Some of these YRs and CRs were even using two phones to get the job done.  It was a well-oiled machine.  Little did we know that this night would be a record setting night for the Pennsylvania GOP.  Our YRs and CRs teamed up to contact….wait for it….wait for it….12, 927 voters…in ONE DAY.  That’s right, one day.  Twelve Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty Seven.  

I could not be prouder of the work our visiting YRs did this weekend.  They were dedicated machines working hard to help us elect Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett.  This was a huge weekend for our candidates and I think this may have tipped the balance here in Western Pennsylvania. 

Celebrate

That night, after the call center was shut down, the Allegheny County YRs took the visiting YRs out to a Pittsburgh staple, Primani Bros!  We had a great time that night getting to know our fellow YRs and I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship with our friends to the east and west.