Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey has endorsed Barack Obama. As you may recall, in 1992, Bill Clinton (and the DNC) would not allow Casey's father (who was the governor of Pennsylvania) to speak at the Democratic Convention -- because he was pro-Life and wanted to give a pro-life speech. Might this be a pay-back to the Clintons?
But while this news certainly favors Obama, what happened yesterday was not good news for his chances in the Keystone state. As I noted yesterday, it has been revealed that Rev. Wright also made some past racist comments regarding Italians.
I asked GOP Strategist Chris LaCivita -- who hails from McKeesport, PA -- if this would hurt Obama in Western, PA.
I also reminded him of Fraco's Army -- a large group of Steelers fans who were proud of Franco Harris' Italian heritage (he was half Italian), and who often brought Italian flags to the games in the 70s.
According to LaCivita,
Franco’s army never was a voting bloc – was just a group (a large one nonetheless) that liked Franco Harris –
But, yes, your other point is more valid --
This is the last thing the Obama campaign wants going into PA – Italian Americans are fiercely patriotic – and don’t take kindly to being insulted.
The only question remaining is – how many other ethnic groups has Obama’s “uncle” insulted?