Philly Suburbs Shift Toward Democrats
2006-09-25
Source: Morning Call
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rss feedGrowing disenchantment over the Iraq war is proving the great equalizer in many areas, blurring traditional social and demographic distinctions that made it easy to paint sections of the electoral map red or blue.
Take the well-off Philadelphia suburbs, bastions of sidewalk cafes and million-dollar-plus homes. Here, Ginny McGovern, a mother of two and a nutrition therapist, no longer considers herself the lone Democratic voice among a chorus of Republicans.
McGovern said she and her neighbors now are singing from the same page -- at least on issues such as the war, spending and President Bush.
"I think they were all for Bush in the beginning, but I think now they've kind of changed their tune a little bit," said McGovern, 42. "It doesn't matter if they're Republican or Democrat, they all think it's unnecessary."
The wealthy Philadelphia suburbs historically have been a Republican stronghold, but recent shifts in voter registration and voting patterns have moved the region toward the Democrats.
This summer, for the first time since the state began keeping registration records in 1934, slightly more than 49 percent of voters in the four-county region listed their affiliation as Republican.
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