Two Days in a Swing State

I haven't been able to post at all this week. My grandfather died on Sunday, and I flew across the country to get to the funeral, etc. Blogging had to take a back seat.

What it meant was that I spent two days in the swing state of Pennsylvania, and while I was not focused on politics, in a swing state two weeks before the election you can't escape it. It's all around you. Yard signs, commercials, chatter in the air. Living in LA, I've heard more about my local city council than I have from Kerry, Bush, Boxer, or Jones. But Pennsylvania is far different. Within two minutes on Wednesday morning, I saw four straight Republican attack ads, against Joe Hoeffel, against Lois Murphy, against Allyson Schwartz. The Murphy ad accused her of aligning herself with an organization (moveon.org) that is pro-terrorist and anti-troops. It's a disingenuous and distasteful ad, and it was wedged in with the rest of them. You barely had time to think about it before the next one popped up.

Yard signs were everywhere. I traveled mostly in Bucks County, in the Philadelphia suburbs. There were plenty of Kerry and Bush signs. I saw signs for Mike Fitzpatrick, Allyson Schwartz, Specter, Hoeefel, and several other Congressional candidates. Strangely, I saw none for Ginny Schrader.

Politics is so in the air, that even at a funeral, even after the funeral, talk can turn to it. The two issues most on Philadelphian's minds, based on my unscientific random sample, was the flu vaccine and the draft. My 13 year-old cousin (who's from Palm Beach County, FL) said "I'd rather vote for my dog than Bush. If he's still President, then my brother (who's 19) might have to go to Iraq!" Others couldn't believe that elderly people (of which there were lots at this setting) might not be able to get their flu shots this year. At one point, my father (who is, in a word, blunt) took an informal poll by shouting, "All right, who's voting for Kerry!?!" I'd say 90% raised their hands.

Postscript: When I was waiting in the airport to fly home yesterday, I looked up to find a woman standing over me, and she pointed to my left and said, "Air Force One." The President was in Downington (Philly suburbs) yesterday, and he flew into Philly International. It shut down the airport for about an hour, with nobody going in or out. Needless to say, the natives were restless about having to wait. One lady behind me said, to nobody in particular, "Great. Another reason not to vote for this guy."