2008 will forever be known as a historic presidential race for the US.  For the first time we are poised to see the political landscape of the highest profile position in US politics be sought after by an african american man or a caucasian woman.  Either way this is a defining contest, Pennsylvania is a very dynamic state.  Historical importance aside, it is a state, or several states within a state, of vastly diverse landscape and population.  Pardon my ignorance but growing up in New York City, I see Pennsylvania as a one time steel giant, Pittsburgh;  a great place for cheese steaks, Philadelphia; a great place to go camping and skiing, the rest of the state.  In addition, there is the mining, farming and industrial complex that employs and has employed so many people in the state.  Pennsylvania is many things and is many people.  This race will hopefully answer the question that so many people are asking, is Obama electable?  One demographic that Obama has been lacking in is the laboring white male, Pennsylvania has a lot of them, especially in-between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

I believe that the outcome at the polls can come in three forms and luckily, I also have a theory as to what each means. 

The first outcome;

Hillary wins!  What this would tell us is that, among other things, there are a group of americans, represented by the make up of Pennsylvania that do NOT feel Obama is electable.

The second outcome;

Obama wins!  If this is the case then we can assume the Obama machine and idea spans all race, class and culture in the US and Obama will go on to become the first african american president of the US.

The third outcome;

Low turnouts at the polls, read as McCain wins!  This would signify, to me anyway, that the cross section of the US, known here as Pennsylvania, is not ready for either Hillary or Obama.  That the democrats of Pennsylvania would rather stay home and wait to cast their ballot for McCain in the general election.  This would be bad for the democratic party.  So many people say that this election is the democrats to lose and McCain, being middle of the road, may just be the one to take it from them.

Of course these are only theories and in politics, as in life, there are many variations.  Perhaps people just don’t agree with ones policy rather than their gender or race, or perhaps people simply don’t like a certain candidate.

The results from this primary will answer one question and raise many more.  In our wonderful system of representative democracy, I have a question for the democratic party.  If my elected representative and I both vote on the same issue, for example, whom do we feel would be a better president, and I vote one way, and they vote another way, is it still a representative democracy?