February 11, 2009 2:06 PM
- Text
Rolling The Campaign Dice In Pennsylvania
(CBS)
It's game night inside the Kline household near Allentown, Pa., and the family is gathered around a deck of cards.
But picking a president this year is the real contest in the home, CBS News' Jeff Glor reports.
"This is probably the one that stands out the most as far as being undecided," said Jane Kline, a registered Republican.
Both Jane and her husband Rick, 50, are registered Republicans. But Rick especially believes he has reason to cross party lines.
"In 2006 and again this year I've been laid off from two different jobs, and I look at it, and it's all happened under the current party," he said.
Even though John McCain is behind in the state, which hasn't gone for a Republican in a presidential election since 1988, his campaign has come to believe that Pennsylvania is essential.
"It seems inevitable that the McCain camp is going to lose some Western states, and if they can somehow offset those losses with wins in Pennsylvania, and its 21 electoral votes, it really does give them the chance that they're hoping for," said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
McCain spent six days in Pennsylvania in the past two weeks - and Obama's noticed, launching a two-day swing this week, and bringing in Bill Clinton Wednesday.
While McCain is being outspent on TV ads, the commercials he is running in the Keystone State are overwhelmingly negative.
"They rolled the dice here," Borick said. "They rolled the dice in making a negative campaign, and so far the results simply don't show that it's bearing any fruit."
Rick Kline said: "I don't think it's necessary to be that ugly and that nasty against your opponent."
His wife added: "I think it actually hurts their cause rather than helps it - at least for me it does."
That said, she's still likely voting Republican.
"I'm in the middle, but I'm leaning slightly towards McCain," she said.
Her husband, likely not.
"Obama, most likely," he said.
A split decision here, as McCain keeps swinging for a last-chance late-round knockout.
But picking a president this year is the real contest in the home, CBS News' Jeff Glor reports.
"This is probably the one that stands out the most as far as being undecided," said Jane Kline, a registered Republican.
Both Jane and her husband Rick, 50, are registered Republicans. But Rick especially believes he has reason to cross party lines.
"In 2006 and again this year I've been laid off from two different jobs, and I look at it, and it's all happened under the current party," he said.
Even though John McCain is behind in the state, which hasn't gone for a Republican in a presidential election since 1988, his campaign has come to believe that Pennsylvania is essential.
"It seems inevitable that the McCain camp is going to lose some Western states, and if they can somehow offset those losses with wins in Pennsylvania, and its 21 electoral votes, it really does give them the chance that they're hoping for," said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
McCain spent six days in Pennsylvania in the past two weeks - and Obama's noticed, launching a two-day swing this week, and bringing in Bill Clinton Wednesday.
While McCain is being outspent on TV ads, the commercials he is running in the Keystone State are overwhelmingly negative.
"They rolled the dice here," Borick said. "They rolled the dice in making a negative campaign, and so far the results simply don't show that it's bearing any fruit."
Rick Kline said: "I don't think it's necessary to be that ugly and that nasty against your opponent."
His wife added: "I think it actually hurts their cause rather than helps it - at least for me it does."
That said, she's still likely voting Republican.
"I'm in the middle, but I'm leaning slightly towards McCain," she said.
Her husband, likely not.
"Obama, most likely," he said.
A split decision here, as McCain keeps swinging for a last-chance late-round knockout.
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