How Gov. Corbett Could Still Win This Thing

The key: Philadelphia stays away from the polls on Election Day.

Sure Gov. Corbett is far behind Democratic challenger Tom Wolf in this fall’s election campaign. But Pittsburgh Tribune columnist Brad Bumsted says the governor could still win.

The scenario:

For one, there needs to be low voter turnout statewide, especially in Philadelphia, where the most Democrats in the state live. Republicans are good at getting out the GOP vote even in unexciting elections like this one. There’s no presidential race, no big draw other than Wolf-Corbett (yawn).

President Obama’s unpopularity continues to play out on health care and the “war on coal.”

Corbett needs to define Wolf before Wolf really defines himself further.

Mostly, though, Bumstead says the governor needs to campaign hard on a big reform initiative — say, like calling for term limits — and pray voters don’t notice he didn’t totally deliver on his previous reform promises. “Still,” Bumsted writes, “a win is not out of the question.”