Yeah but it's not a looney fringe analysis either. Pennsylvania is NOT a uniformly Midwestern state. The East half is very northeastern and cosmopolitan. Philadelphia is way more similar to New York and Jersey City and definitely Baltimore than it is to Altoona, Pittsburgh, and Erie. Granted, the western half is very midwestern.
And it's very hard if not possible for Democrats to win the non-Pittsburgh western half of the state. Back when Dems were the party of Appalachia, it was easier, but now those voters are republican as hell. Dems would be wise to try and boost turnout in Pittsburgh, Erie, Scranton, Philly, as well as Bucks and Montgomery county and the entire Eastern chunk of PA.
While quite an oversimplification, I'm reminded of what James Carville said of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Alabama in between.
