And home of the Amish chain gangs Long
before he was identified as a mouthpiece for Bill Cinton, James Carville was
(in)famous in my home state of Pennsylvania for the guru ad, a 1986 campaign
commercial for the original Bob Casey that savaged Caseys Republican opponent
for governor, Bill Scranton III, as a follower of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The ad, which showed the image of a younger, long-haired Scranton to the
sinister accompaniment of sitar music, was aired only in the conservative
midsection of Pennsylvania and not in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Casey won.
I thought of the guru ad the other day when The Politico recycled, and
desconstructed, a famous Carville exercise in political geograophy. I always
thought Carville had described the Keystone State as Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia with Mississippi in the middle. But The Politicos version was
more parochial still: Carville described the state as Paoli (a suburb of
Philadelphia) and Penn Hills (a suburb of Pittsburgh) with Alabama in between.
Alabama, Mississippi whats the difference? Either way, Carville was
equating my native states Bible Belt and receptive audience for guru-bashing
ads as Hicksville, a point that sticks in the craw of some Southerners.
Ive been to both Penn Hills and Paoli, and they are as different from each
other as either is from Pottsville, Pa. or Punxatawney, of Groundhog Day
fame. Pennsylvania is a big place, and a diverse one, which is why Carvilles
caricature was onto something in its crude way.
Pennsylvania is enjoying its day in the political sun now that for the
first time in my career as a journalist its presidential primary is actually
the object of national attention. If nothing else, this unaccustomed attention
will mean some journalistic pilgrimages to the cheesesteak emporiums of
Philadelphia, the shot-and-a-beer bars of Pittsburgh and the pecan farms I
mean pretzel factories of Hanover.
---------------------------------
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total
Access, No Cost.
