Pocono News Section

Breaking Down the Presidential Vote

Breaking Down the Presidential Vote - Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 5:02PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008 @ 05:02pm EST
In our 19 county viewing area there were more than 670,000 votes cast Tuesday. Senator Obama won our area by less than 2,400 votes, but he didn't win every county. In fact he lost a large majority of the counties in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.

When voters went to the polls Tuesday, they wanted change. Misericordia University Assistant History Professor Brian Carso said local voters had one main concern. “The economy was probably the single biggest issue. There's a lot of worry about that," he said.

Across the region, Senator John McCain won 15 counties. His biggest win came in Lycoming County, where he won 62% of the vote.

But all of those ballots were offset by voters in the Wyoming Valley and the Poconos, which went heavily for Obama. In Lackawanna County alone Obama got nearly 28,000 more votes. Dr. David Sosar of King's College said, “The population density in those areas, be they only a few counties, is extremely heavy."

Sosar is a Political Science Professor and says volunteers in the metro areas had a better “get out the vote” ability. “I do believe it was because of a lot of the younger voters that came on out. It was because of a lot of the newer voters, whether they be young or old, they were pushing the Democratic button," he said.

Now that the political ads are all off TV and the high-profile campaign stops across the area are over, experts say Senator Obama has a lot of work to do to keep the rural, middle-class vote. ”They have to get back to really working for the people that make-up this country and that's Scranton, PA," said Sosar.

“Scranton has a place in America right now and I hope we continue to get that attention,” added Carso.

Statewide Barack Obama won 55% of the vote. According to exit polls he won every age category except voters who were over the age of 65.