Why did Biden not get a birthplace bonus in Lackawanna County, PA?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

He ran behind all the downballot Democratic candidates for statewide office there, including 2 who did worse than Biden statewide. Why was this?

[Liminal Trans Girl]

He ran behind all the downballot Democratic candidates for statewide office there, including 2 who did worse than Biden statewide. Why was this?

Lincoln did very poorly in his birth county in 1860. This isn't new.

[Ebowed]

He was born there like a billion years ago and hasn't lived there at any point in his political career, so actually the swing he did achieve there looks non-negligible.  That area is not trending in a way that is favorable to Dems long-term.  Hillary Clinton came close to losing it in 2016 which is nothing short of remarkable considering how safe it used to be.

[Devils30]

I think he did get a bonus. Traditional Dem counties like it such as Muskegon and Mahoning swung further right.

[Mr. Smith]

I don't recall Hillary getting a bonus in Illinois? And Romney in Oakland [or Wayne?], MI?

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Biden was born there like a zillion years ago. To illustrate this, someone Biden's age during that time would have been born during the Civil War.

[Vice President Christian Man]

He's a poor fit for the region

[CumbrianLefty]

I don't recall Hillary getting a bonus in Illinois? And Romney in Oakland [or Wayne?], MI?

I take your point about Hillary, but Mitt got a big enough boost in Wayne County that he won the state, albeit VERY narrowly, so depending on the candidate the birth state "bonus" is not make-believe.

Mitt Romney won Michigan - when exactly?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Working class folks don't take kindly to oligarchs who promise the status quo to rooms of billionaires.  Even if they were born down the street. 

[Redban]

He was born in PA during the Harry Truman administration

[King of Kensington]

FDR administration.

[HereswhatLiberals]

I don't recall Hillary getting a bonus in Illinois? And Romney in Oakland [or Wayne?], MI?

I take your point about Hillary, but Mitt got a big enough boost in Wayne County that he won the state, albeit VERY narrowly, so depending on the candidate the birth state "bonus" is not make-believe.

Mitt Romney won Michigan - when exactly?

On Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I don't recall Hillary getting a bonus in Illinois? And Romney in Oakland [or Wayne?], MI?

I take your point about Hillary, but Mitt got a big enough boost in Wayne County that he won the state, albeit VERY narrowly, so depending on the candidate the birth state "bonus" is not make-believe.

Mitt Romney won Michigan - when exactly?

Also, George W Bush and Connecticut

[Politician]

He did. It swung and trended D despite its demographics being hostile to the woke Democrats. Look at areas such as Mahoning, Trumbull, to see how he did with these voters generally.

[Skill and Chance]

He did. It swung and trended D despite its demographics being hostile to the woke Democrats. Look at areas such as Mahoning, Trumbull, to see how he did with these voters generally.

Yes, it's entirely possible Biden would have lost PA without having a personal connection to it.  Way closer than anyone expected. 

[sting in the rafters]

He did, he did in all of NEPA among people who normally vote. It's just that Trump spent his entire presidency running for re-election and thus got overwhelming turnout from people who both flipped their registration from D---->R and went from nothing---->R once engaged.

It's hard to understate how Trump got the voter outreach in exurban/rural Lackawanna (and the rest of PA, hell rural areas in general) that the GOP's craved for decades. And now with the way things are looking in the country, those former low-propensity voters are Rs for life. We often talk ab how political identity is formed at coming of age, however it's also true for older people who were previously disconnected.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

The number of people in Lackawanna County who otherwise would not have voted for Biden but were persuaded to do so because he's a "local" is probably not that far from zero.

I mean, Biden doesn't really even have much of a connection to there, he moved with his family to Delaware before most current Scranton residents were alive, and his political career has always been Delaware-based. The "Scranton Joe" image is a compelling one, but it's about as accurate as calling George W Bush a New England politician.

[SWE]

I don't recall Hillary getting a bonus in Illinois?

It was one of the few states that swung in her favor

[Skill and Chance]

I think he did because it didn't swing hard right like, say, Youngstown.