HARRISBURG —Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Robert A. Gleason, Jr. is confident that our Party’s efforts to register Republican voters after the Primary will be successful.  It is clear that millions of people, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, are waiting for November to cast their vote for John McCain who continues to poll ahead of both Democrat Presidential candidates in the Keystone State. 

“Our Party is committed to reaching out to every single Pennsylvania voter that temporarily switched Party registration and we are eager to welcome them back to the Republican Party, where we will continue to stand for the ideals of lower taxes, reduced government spending, and a strong national defense,” Gleason said.  “With both Democrat Presidential contenders spending millions of dollars on television and radio advertisements and deploying hundreds of paid staffers into the Keystone State to register voters, coupled with the exhaustive media attention focused on this divisive and contested Primary battle, we understand why the Democrats saw a bump in their registration.  If our Party’s roles were reversed and candidates from the Republican Party were involved in a heated Primary, I trust we would have experienced similar gains in our registration numbers.  Nevertheless, after this Primary race is over and the hype surrounding this Primary dissipates, we are confident that voters will be registering Republican to help elect the only candidate with the necessary experience, Senator John McCain.

“I would caution the Democrat Party not to be too giddy over this recent voter registration advantage.  These new registration numbers don’t represent a mass change of the public’s political ideology.  In fact, I believe a number of the new Party registrants represent a group of people who are interested in casting a vote against one of the Democrat candidates.  Recent polling information that shows only a little over half of either Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama supporters would vote for the other Democrat candidate when matched up against Senator McCain in a General Election.  Additionally, most polls show Senator McCain leading or in a dead heat with either one of the Democrat Presidential contenders in the Keystone State, despite Clinton and Obama spending weeks and millions of dollars in the Commonwealth.  That must be very troubling for the Democrats considering the more they get to know Clinton and Obama, the more they like John McCain.”

According to the latest Rasmussen Poll of Pennsylvania voters, if Barack Obama wins the Democrat nomination, just 55% of Clinton voters said they are even somewhat likely to vote for him against Senator McCain.  Similarly, if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, just 55% of Obama voters say they are at least somewhat likely to vote for her against Senator McCain.  ("Pennsylvania Democratic Presidential Primary,” Rasmussen Reports, http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/pennsylvania/pennsylvania_democratic_presidential_primary, 3/25/08)

“Democrats can’t run away from the fact that the Democrat Presidential candidates do not have an agenda that the average Pennsylvanian supports,” Gleason said.  “With Senator McCain at the top of our ticket, we anticipate securing big Republican victories in every elected office from the White House to the State House, but we will need your help.  Please visit www.pagop.org to find out how to register Republican today.”

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