As goes PA 13, so goes America.

The results 13th Congressional District of suburban Philadelphia will determine the outcome of the general election this November. If the district swings towards Obama, it will be a mandate away from the establishment, and John McCain will face a hopeless task this Fall. The district is a microcosm of America.

Within its bounds lie key attributes of modern America. Moving west from the banks on the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the rolling hills of rural Montgomery County, the district runs from deep blue Dem territory to bright GOP turf. The district transforms from scenes of post-industrial decline in the City with miles shuddered factories, old row-homed neighborhoods, into shiny new office parks, the most prosperous suburbs in Pennsylvania, in the west, green fields. Voters are split nearly dead even between Republicans (49) and Democrats (51), however the trend has been favoring the Democratic Party. Demographically as well, the picture is balanced; approximately 75% white, 10 % black and 10% Hispanic. More than a vignette of Pennsylvania, it is a picture of America. The race between Hillary and Barack in this district is a test of the mood of the nation. If the 13th goes strongly for Barack, it will be a mandate for change. John McCain will have no chance at all.

Keep your eyes on the results for this district. As it goes, so will America. I know the place pretty well. It’s home and where I ran for Congress.

 

Do You Believe in Miracles? Go America, GO!

As I was discussing the fundamentals of Go, America GO! with someone that moved here from Canada in the late 1970’s yesterday, I realized that that era was not dissimilar to the nation’s demeanor today. He explained the challenges of thirty years ago, which Raj and I are too young to remember clearly, and articulated how America really needed a quintessential moment of triumph, which came in the form of an gold medal for the men’s hockey team. Sports imitate life, and Americans need to translate the enthusiasm they have for their sports teams into productivity in their own lives.

The Reagan era came and went in the 1980s, followed by prosperity in the 1990s, and as what goes up must come down, all has come down.

Unlike the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, the United States today is not in an underdog position. We are the top superpower in the world, and to defend such status, we must return to the principles set forth by our founding fathers. In Colonial America, our founding fathers were the underdogs. They believed in miracles, and also in hard work. Then 204 years later so did Herb Brooks. His hardnosed style and penchant for hard work laid the fundamentals for success. If he was here today I believe he would embrace the ten principles set forth by Bhakta in “Go America, GO! Ten things you can do to save America.”

Today, who is going to be the Mark Johnson to tie up the score? Who is going to be the Mike Eruzione to secure the victory?  [Mark Johnson seen below right with the author]

The greatest sports moment of the 20th century - as titled by Sports Illustrated- is what Go America, GO! would be if it had skates.

What will be our medal for 2008? What will be today’s moment of triumph? That is up to you, America. Each person must exemplify personal responsibility so collectively all Americans can live a life like that hockey team once did, piled up on top of each other on the ice in sweet victory knowing that dreams do come true.

Only in America.

Go America, GO! We believe in miracles.