  I was thrilled to wake up this morning and find out that Kerry and Edwards are embarking on a campaign tour "from sea to shining sea". First stop? Harrisburg and Scranton, two Pennsylvania counties that went Republican by a slim margin in the last election. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but have since become an adopted South Carolinian. Down South, we have a tried and true aphorism about the Keystone State: Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between. Check out the last gubanatorial election, which send former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell into Harrisburg: Rendell cleaned up in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs, due to his appeal as both Democrat and as a hometown mayor. He also picked up metropolitan Pittsburgh, whose strong labor presence can be counted upon to go red. However, the geographical majority of Pennsylvania - the Alabama contingent - went to the ballot box for Bob Casey, Jr. Luckily, there were enough Democrats in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas to win the day. In the last presidential election, the results for the Philadelphia area were nearly identical, but with one important abberation.
Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks Counties, known as the "Main Line" for their proximity to the city, all came out Democrat as predicted. But Chester County, on the western-most edge of the Philly suburbs, changed its record and voted for Dubya. Why the turn-around? Though all the Philadelphia suburbs have high rates of real-estate development (think McMansions), Chester County has enjoyed an unprecendented rate of growth in the past ten years (think over-development and more McMansions).
It has skyrocketed from an area of rolling farmlands to sprawling suburbs which now boast the highest per-capita income (and two of the biggest malls) in the state. With the electorate more polarized than it has been in any time since the 1960s, Kerry and Edwards need all the votes they can muster, particularly in battleground states like Pennsylvania. In order to assure electorial votes, our nouveau JFK needs to reach out and win votes in hotly contested counties - and unlike some parts of "Alabama", Chester county could swing.
With high incomes and suburban sprawl, Chester County sounds stereotypically Republican. However, there is an important - and oft overlooked - factor: ISG Plate, formerly Lukens Steel, still operates out of Coatesville. Once the largest steel mill in the world, this plant supplied the materials for the World Trade Center and the Golden Gate Bridge. The US Army and Navy still purchase their armor there - and the surrounding town is dying. It might be hard for Kerry and Edwards to pick up the secure suburbanites in yuppie Chesco. But Coatesville, propped up by its steel mill, is another story, with its population of predominately urban blacks and blue-collar union families. With five downtown Catholic churches, Kerry is sure to get a welcome reception as the first Catholic presidential candidate in decades; Edwards' milltown background will resonate with local workers, who have seen their pensions shrink and their health-care benfits shredded. Kerry and Edwards need to pick up some votes in "Alabama", that's for sure. In this battleground state, every vote counts.
But they also need to fight hard to get back the ground lost in previous elections. With the right strategy - emphasis on the middle class, on workers' pensions, on jobs and health care - Chester county, and particularly Coatesville, could go back to Democrat. It's up to Kerry, Edwards, and their campaign staff to tap their resources, mobilize the volunteers, and address the issues that these small-town, blue-collar voters want heard. 
