Issue date: 10/17/08 Section: News

With more people registered as Democrats than as Republicans in both Philadelphia and the state, Pennsylvania is looking a lot less like a swing state.

But experts say more registered Democrats won't necessarily result in a victory for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

There 860,507 people registered as Democrats in Philadelphia and only 145,282 registered as Republicans. Statewide, 4,424,022 people are registered as Democrats and 3,229,806 are registered as Republicans, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State as of yesterday.

This is "no surprise," according to Randall Miller, a St. Joseph's University history professor and political analyst. Miller added that "this trend didn't just happen in 2008."

Democrats have put a lot of time and money into registration efforts over the last few years because they "need to attract new voters to be competitive in Pennsylvania," he said.

Democratic registrations in Pennsylvania are up from 3,985,486 in November 2004. Republican registrations, however, have dropped by 175,472 people from 3,405,278 in 2004.

Miller attributes the Democrats' high registration numbers "partly to their methods," but also to the appeal of Obama and the current political climate. "The Democrats really have something to sell this year," he said.

Continued...

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