The Scranton Times-Tribune and the Allentown Morning Call both endorsed Obama this morning. And that’s helpful because both cities represent areas where Obama needs to cut into Clinton’s lead if he is going to be successful statewide. Allentown is in the Lehigh Valley area and it is the third biggest city in Pennsylvania. This is the area of the now defunct Bethlehem Steel. You may remember that Billy Joel sang about the steelworkers of Allentown:
Well we’re living here in Allentown
And they’re closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they’re killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line.Well our fathers fought the Second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore
Met our mothers at the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we’re living here in Allentown.
Scranton is in the Lackawanna River Valley further to the north. It’s less important for its size than for its tendency to vote Democratic. Scranton serves as Sen. Bob Casey’s homebase, but despite his endorsement it is likely to favor Clinton in the primary. The local paper’s endorsement will help shave some of her advantage there.
On the other side of the state, the people of Erie are wondering why they haven’t seen Obama or his wife. He needs to make an appearance there. Erie is the fourth largest city in the state and it has a lot of Democratic votes.
