How Can GOP Attract More Voters Next Time Around?

Post-election, Republicans consider rebranding message, demographics

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — There was a particular moment this election season when Clarke Cooper says he began to see the tide turn in the Republican Party. It was at the outset of the 2012 election cycle, when the National Republican Congressional Committee announced the first 10 candidates it would champion. “There were racial minorities, there were more women, a gay guy, and some religious minorities, all in that first tranche that was pushed out by the party,” Cooper said. “That was a smart thing to do.” But it was only a start. Cooper is the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Log Cabin Republicans, a national grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans. After the GOP’s Election Day defeats, …

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Adam Smith

10:28 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013

Those getting "Subsidies" consist largely of Social Security recipients, and the working poor. "The Dept. of Health data suggests 1.7% of the total population that derive over 50% of their income from Welfare supports. The number stated that receive any portion of their support from from welfare assistance--including food stamps--it is 29,900,000 or roughly 8% of the total population in the …   more ›

Presidential Election

The Man Who Wins Lehigh Valley Will Win Pa.

The Lehigh Valley is a great predictor of how Pennsylvania will vote in presidential elections.

Muhlenberg College professor and pollster Christopher Borick won’t predict who is going to win Tuesday's presidential election. And he won’t say who will take Pennsylvania. But he will say this: “I’m very confident that who ever wins the Valley will win Pennsylvania.” The Lehigh Valley, with its cities, suburbs and rural areas, has become a bellwether for Pennsylvania politics. In 2008, both Northampton and Lehigh counties went for Barack Obama, just like the state. The Lehigh Valley went for Democrats John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000, as did Pennsylvania as whole. “Pennsylvania hasn’t been a very good predictor of elections,” said Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. But “the Lehigh Valley as a …

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Northampton Dems Have 31,000 Voter Edge

Northampton County Democrats have a 31,017 edge over Republicans but hundreds of voter registrations are still being tallied and verified. Registration exceeds the 2008 presidential election.

With last minute surges in voter registration, Northampton County Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 31,017, as of Friday morning. But the Northampton County Election Office still had hundreds more registrations to check addresses for and to put into the computer system, said Dee Rumsey, county director of elections. As of Friday morning (Oct. 12), Northampton County had 101,338 registered Democrats, 70,321 Republicans and 37,426 independents and members of other parties, according to Rumsey. That’s a total number of 209,085 voters, though it was being updated by the minute. That tops registration for the 2008 Presidential Election, when Northampton County, had 208,521 registered voters. In that election, county residents cast 130,417 …

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