question about rendell?

[WalterMitty]

i was looking at the 2002 election results and two things stuck out at me:

1. rendell did very well for a democrat in the philly suburbs.
2. rendell seemed to 'underperform' in the pittsburgh area.

i understand why number 1 is true.

i dont understand why he didnt do better in the pittsburgh area.  is it because of the pittsburgh-philly intrastate rivalry?  is it because rendell isnt a whore to the labor unions?  both perhaps?

[nini2287]

Mike Fisher was from Western PA, that could probably be it.

[TeePee4Prez]

i was looking at the 2002 election results and two things stuck out at me:

1. rendell did very well for a democrat in the philly suburbs.
2. rendell seemed to 'underperform' in the pittsburgh area.

i understand why number 1 is true.

i dont understand why he didnt do better in the pittsburgh area.  is it because of the pittsburgh-philly intrastate rivalry?  is it because rendell isnt a whore to the labor unions?  both perhaps?

Simple:

1.  Left wing shift in the suburbs.  Social issues taking precedence
2.  In the 1980s, the Pittsburgh area was in terrible shape economically, but always was socially conservative.  They've kept their old social conservatism intact to an extent, unlike the NE corridor suburbs and have economically improved.

Also:

You're right about the intrastate rivalry.  Philly is not liked outside of the 5 county area.  *cough* Not like there's much better outside of Philly in PA. *cough*

[WalterMitty]

how long was rendell mayor of philly?

[TeePee4Prez]

how long was rendell mayor of philly?

From 1991 to 1999.  IHMO, I'd give him an A-.  Not perfect, but MUCH better than the clowns in front of and in back of him.  I'd still rate him higher than Frank Rizzo Sr. as well.

[danwxman]

Southwestern Pennsylvania is conservative-populist while southeastern Pennsylvania is liberal-libertarian. You can't get any further apart on the political compass. The two ends of the state might as well just be different states, because they have nothing in common. So naturally the Southwest was wary of Rendell.

Besides that, Democrats have been underperforming in the Southwest for years. Rendell wasn't an exception.

[TeePee4Prez]

Southwestern Pennsylvania is conservative-populist while southeastern Pennsylvania is liberal-libertarian. You can't get any further apart on the political compass. The two ends of the state might as well just be different states, because they have nothing in common. So naturally the Southwest was wary of Rendell.

Besides that, Democrats have been underperforming in the Southwest for years. Rendell wasn't an exception.

You need us in the Southeast to carry PA blue.  SW Pennsylvania is still generally populist along with the NE Pennsylvania counties of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Carbon.   

[J. J.]

Besides that, Democrats have been underperforming in the Southwest for years. Rendell wasn't an exception.

I don't remember if Lawrence County is included in this figure, but in 1992 Spector (in his closest re-election bid) carried the SW by 911 votes.  There was a 2:1 D voter registration edge there at the time.  Both candidates were from SEPA.

There is a long list GOP candidates running well above registration in SWPA.  Ridge (1994), Spector (1986, 2004), Thornburgh (1982), Santorum (1994),  GW Bush (2000, 2004), Dole (1996), GHW Bush (1988), even Reagan (1980, 1984) all have benefited from this.

Arguably, this happened, to a lesser extent, with Scranton (1986).  Note also that sometimes it isn't enough to push the GOP over the top.