Mayfair Philadelphia

Most people outside of the northeast political world may have never heard of a neighborhood in Philadelphia called Mayfair. However, this mostly white, working-class neighborhood located in the northeastern part of Philadelphia could be the key to John McCain's victory in Pennsylvania. In 2004 John Kerry won the city of Philadelphia but a little more than 400,000 votes and eventually went on to win Pennsylvania by a margin of about 100,000 votes. As for the 2008 election, it has been said that Barack Obama will need to Philadelphia by at least 350,000 votes in order to win the state. In 2004 John Kerry won the neighborhood of Mayfield by a 15 point margin but Republicans are encouraged by what they saw during the Democratic primary race in April. There was very strong support for Hillary Clinton in the neighborhood, receiving 75% of the primary votes. This shows that there is a low support for Obama in this area and that McCain may have the chance to capitalize on the Democrats who aren't "sold" on Obama yet. The McCain campaign set up their Philadelphia headquarters in Mayfair hoping to capitalize on the larger northeastern part of Philadelphia that has a population of about 400,000. Another bright spots for Republicans is the fact in 2004 George Bush was highly criticized in Mayfair and the rest of Philadelphia but John McCain is seen as a more moderate with better policies that immediately keep with problems such as: high gas and health care costs. After all that being said, Obama's choice to have Joe Biden on the ticket with him, has increased the Democrats connection and strength within the entire Northeast. The race for Pennsylvania may lie in this one small but meaning Philadelphia neighborhood.