SALON: In 2010, the governor’s mansion in four key Rust Belt swing states — Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan — flipped from Democratic to Republican control. This was supposed to be a boon to whomever became the 2012 Republican nominee. “Republican control of the majority of 2012 swing states is a major roadblock to the President’s reelection,” Haley Barbour crowed at the time. But increasingly, these erstwhile allies are turning into greater liabilities than assets.
Take, for example, Pennsylvania. Democrats there are already hard at work to tie Mitt Romney to Gov. Tom Corbett, whose antiabortion statements and austere budgets have proved unpopular in the state.
“He is becoming a more polarizing figure,” says Muhlenberg College political science professor Christopher Borick, who calls the gender gap a “treasure trove” for Democrats. “If I’m putting an ad out in Pennsylvania and I want to show Republicans to be opposed to women’s issues, I run sound bites from Tom Corbett next to those of Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh, and anybody else I can find.” … (more)
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