Yea right. The electorate went to the polls last November and went straight Democrat in Fayette County. With the exception of a few counties, the Republicans cleaned the Democrats clock, but Fayette County went Democrat.

So is that 88 year old willing to end the generational theft known as Social Insecurity and Medifraud?

Really? Last time I checked Republicans controlled almost every local and state office in the county.

Specter is loosing it.

I find the take of national figures to be comical. They look at the Presidential race and see it was close, but they fail to look at the state and local numbers in the district. PA-12 is roughly 3 to 1 Democrat in terms of registration and consistently votes Democrat at the municipal, county, state and federal levels. Based on these factors, PA-12 is the most Democratic district outside of Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

More good news.

I am not against broadening the scope of the sales tax if the rate is cut because the current rate picks economic winners and losers.

That said, the budget is too large. We are cutting transportation and law enforcement, but increasing do nothing social programs?

Russell did only marginally better than Irey in 2006 and Russell spent far more.

Do the people of Fayette County oppose socialism? The evidence points to the area being in love with social programs. Most of the county is on government health care and financial assistance. The schools are the worst outside of Philadelphia. Unions are still viewed positively. A majority of kids receive school lunch benefits. It is consistently the poorest county based on per capita income and also has the highest poverty rate outside of Philadelphia. If the campaign was about values issues, I say the Republicans have a chance. If this campaign gets about economics, the people of Fayette County will be the loyal to their big government loving roots.

Fayette County, other than the 2008 Presidential election, has a consistent record of supporting Democrats. Rendell and Casey won by margins larger than the state average in 2006. Hoeffel won the county in 2004. The county has pretty consistently sent a bunch of socialists to Harrisburg. Outside of Philadelphia, no other county has a record of being so Democratic as Fayette.

The Mon Valley is a demographic oddity. First, they are far less German. Greene County is one of the least German counties in the state. Second, the Mon Valley contains far more Eastern European. It was the last region of the state to be settled.

Interesting enough, my ancestors from the region are of German and English ancestry. They never got involved in mining and served as mine and state police. Personally I think the difference is that they endorsed socialism where as most more established citizens in the interior did not.

Really? This county went heavily for the Democrats 3 months ago in the local elections. No Republican won a countywide office beyond Jury Commission which one Republican has to be elected to. Fayette County voted straight Democrat for Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth Court when the vast majority of the counties including the SEPA and Pittsburgh suburban counties went Republican. It gets even more pathetic when you look at the county and municipal races. Most of the county resembles a one party state.

Considering how almost every other county in the state swung very strong to the Republicans, Fayette County's stand with the Democrats is even more telling of the fundamental mindset of the people. I suspect Fayette County was the Democrats best county in the state behind Philadelphia County in the November judicial elections.