There's an old joke that goes:
Pennsylvania: Pittsburg on the west, Philadelphia on the east, and northern Alabama in between them.
There's an old joke that goes:
I am not hating on PA, (or MD even, which is lovely in a ot of ways). I am just saying PA is fairly typical blue leaning/ purple state. I guess a great step up from NJ or whatever but not a place (from a legal regime standpoint) I would be looking to move to.
The only reason why PA is a swing state is Philly and it's suburbs.
That's a corruption of a James Carville quote, who was for a long time, considered one of the best democrat political consultants.
Between Paoli and Penn Hills, Pennsylvania is Alabama without the blacks. They didn't film The Deer Hunter there for nothing – the state has the second-highest concentration of NRA members, behind Texas