The democrat machine definitely skews PA voting to the left in federal elections. PA would be about the most conservative state without the machines in Philly and Pitt. It's by no means as far to the left as NJ, DE, NY, MD, or CT. I want to see PA go GOP in 2012!
I wouldn't be so sure of that. I would easily argue the Philadelphia suburbs might be as socially liberal or even more so than the city proper. Unions and African Americans make it so Democratic. And I wouldn't exactly call parts of the "T" that conservative. You still have Harrisburg, State College, Scranton/Wilkes Barre, etc. Even with the shift to the right in western PA, you still have many parts of the state shifting left easily offsetting that trend. And per issue, PA IIRC ranked about #10 in the nation support of gay marriage and about #15 in support of abortion rights. Has the entire upper Midwest beat except for Illinois and while not as liberal as those states you listed above, it certainly ranks right under them. Not what I call a conservative state.
You forget that that still includes Urban Philly and Union Pittsburgh. The rest of the state, including SWB, State College, Harrisburg that you had mentioned has a moderate stance. Even union dominated Allentown (
) had a Republican mayor as recently as 2002. And so the removal of Philadelphia that many small town Pennsylvanites long for would instantly make this already swing state a leaning republican state.
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