True Believers In McCain Flock to Pa.

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Efforts Increase in Crucial Pennsylvania

The state of Pennsylvania is once again a cherished battleground state for presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Joe White canvasses for the McCain campaign as Election Day rapidly approaches, and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin rallies Republican supporters in State College, Pa.

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Which is why White, the South Carolina volunteer, decided to travel to this college town in central Pennsylvania last week. While driving through the state, he listened to a cycle of competing campaign commercials on radio stations and heard news broadcasts announcing one small-town presidential rally after the next. White had never volunteered for a presidential candidate before, but he thinks that McCain would make a better guardian of the country than Obama. "I think we'll be safer with him as commander in chief, and that's too important to mess with," White said.

He took a 10-day vacation from his small business as a medical supplier and signed up for a volunteer program called McCain's Mavericks. When he arrived in State College, he visited McCain's local office to procure a list of addresses for registered voters.

As he trudged through the snow, White drew enough cold stares to understand McCain's challenge. For the first time in 30 years, Centre County has more registered Democrats than Republicans -- the result of a 10,000-person registration drive for Obama at Penn State University. Among its 100,000 voters, Centre now has 5,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. White knocked on the doors of enough bitter conservatives to learn that "these kind of places are just getting more liberal."

But White also learned enough about politics in Pennsylvania to maintain his optimism. Even two of the state's most powerful Democrats -- Gov. Edward G. Rendell and Rep. John P. Murtha -- seemed to suggest McCain had a chance. Rendell told a reporter that, "the undecideds are most likely not going to go in Obama's direction." Murtha recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that "there is no question western Pennsylvania is a racist area," a comment that has put his own reelection in jeopardy even though he apologized. A new Mason-Dixon poll this week showed Obama's lead in Pennsylvania at a tenuous 4 percent -- though other polls still show him with a larger margin.

"We're really ahead in this election, but we're not going to let anybody know until next Tuesday," White told one McCain supporter who answered the door. "You'd be surprised how many people I've already talked to around here who said they just won't vote for Obama. I'm telling you, there's a whole community of us."

The McCain believers showed up en masse Tuesday night on the Penn State campus, forming a 7,000-person line in the snow for a chance to attend a Palin rally in a student gymnasium. They came to see the potential vice president, but many supporters said they were more impressed by the crowd. Three thousand people crammed onto the floor, two levels of arena seats filled to capacity and hundreds of people waved McCain signs. It was a visual reinforcement of Republican support.

Alex Smith, a Penn State junior and the president of the College Republicans, stood shirtless in the upper deck, his chest painted with a purple "C" to help spell out "MAVERICK." He had been teased regularly for the last three months, an outsider on a campus dominated by Obama supporters. Now, he gestured at the crowd. "It feels good to be around like minds," he said.

Ken Pasch, a 55-year-old independent, helped direct traffic near the stage. He had "pinballed between Obama and McCain" before finally deciding to support McCain three weeks ago. "I think there's a chance McCain can take it," he said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

Mitch Hagmaier, a 36-year-old Democrat, stood near the entrance and pointed out a handful of other Democrats he recognized in the crowd. A self-described "national security" voter, Hagmaier had decided to support McCain after Obama defeated Clinton in the Democratic primary. For the last three weeks, Hagmaier had volunteered in McCain's State College office six days each week, calling undecided voters from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.

"If McCain can hit Pennsylvania, he has it made," Hagmaier said. "It's striking how many registered Democrats are here or working in the office. We're starting to get some momentum going our way. With Palin coming here, and this crowd, you can feel it starting to turn."

But after Palin spoke, the crowd exited the arena to a somber reminder of the difficult task ahead. More than two hundred Obama supporters stood across the street, handing out bumper stickers and waving signs. As the Palin crowd walked by, a few student Democrats held up a sign showing Obama's lead in the Pennsylvania polls, and began to taunt.

" Scoreboard," they chanted, over and over.