Yes, the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns are now a fact of life in Pennsylvania. But Republican candidate John McCain is paying some visits as well.
Tomorrow, he's meeting up with employees of Turbine Airfoil Design in Harrisburg. And on Friday, he's attending a town hall meeting in Springfield.
For now, McCain's presence is more low-key in Pennsylvania than either of his would-be Democratic challengers. With his party's nomination in the bag, there's no need to expend a lot of funds and energy this far from November.
At the same time, his campaign would be wise to check in with Pennsylvanians as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fight a pitched and noisy battle for the state's delegates. As a swing state, Pennsylvania will be of enormous strategic importance to McCain as the general election approaches. So it's not a bad idea for McCain to occasionally say "Hey, don't forget about me."
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that McCain will visit York County sooner or later.
Local Democrats have been making some strides in registration, but York County is still solidly Republican turf. Both those reasons alone give McCain a powerful incentive to come here and shore up the Republican base.
Besides, McCain has a pal here, in the person of U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County.
In July of 2006, McCain paid a visit to York County -- specifically, to Platts' house. His ostensible reason for visiting was to back Platts in his run for re-election against local Democrat Phil Avillo. In a small press conference that took place in Platts' driveway, the pair publicly declared their political friendship.
During the question-and-answer period, I asked McCain if he would consider Platts as a running mate if he were to run for president. The pair laughed, and McCain -- only half-joking, it seemed -- said he thought that Platts' talents might be wasted in a job such as vice president.
Almost exactly a year ago, Platts publicly backed McCain for president. At the time, McCain's odds of making the Republican nomination seemed pretty slim, and Platts appeared to be sticking his neck out. Now, of course, it seems that Platts chose well.
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