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Inasmuch as this is taking place in suburban Philadelphia, any Republican you meet has long known that a car with a "W" sticker on the bumper runs a fair chance of being vandalized by those lucid, inspired, gentle, peace loving, inclusive leftists (who enjoy their penchance for imagining revolution).

A fair number of them still like to assert that Ronald Reagan was an "illiterate."

I think part of the reason that Republicans don't like discussing politics with the media is that we no longer trust that we will be represented correctly. We are constantly appalled by the way the media tries to bend info they report in order to promote their own agendas and ideals in order to convince the general public (and the world) that the Democrats are leading again in hopes that the Republicans will just give up and stay at home on Election Day! For months we've heard that it is pretty much a done deal that the Dems are going to be taking over again, but now just a couple of weeks out, the media is back tracking and now saying that they MAY take only one side! All we hear is negative, yet, within our circles we are not seeing the same things that are constantly being reported, so tell me, why waste our time talking when we can take care of the entire issue on Election Day?

Pennsylvania is an interesting state, and a microcosm of America. We joke that it's Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between - that is, both large cities reliably vote Democrat and the rest of the state reliably votes Republican. This quite noticable border between worlds is always in flux. In past years, the "Red State" was inching in on the major cities. Now, Santorum is privy to the expansion of "Blue State." Casey is an old name in PA politics, and, together with the shifting tastes of the extended suburbs, he might have enough leverage to beat the incumbent.

Shame on you trying to get noise out of the silent majority. To understand Pennsylvanians, you should first understand that our state has a large majority of deep rooted Americans.
Our country is very important to us - more than simple economic issues. No one has the courage to say that the Republicans turned us off by proclaiming they are all Israelis - but they did. We may not vote.

They can run but they can't hide.

I suggest Mr. Webb schlep over to Fox News with his warm fuzzy pro-Santorum columns, or post a true sample of the responses.

GOP Drivel.

Santorum's "damning grace" seems to be that he actually practices old-style East Coast immigrant Catholicism. That makes him "too extreme" in the view of a Left that a) avows secularism with equal fervor and b) remains willfully blind to the real extremism emanating from the madrassas.

I don't know about suburban Philadephia, but here in Texas, I got my W sticker on my car...and no one in the GOP is running and hiding

I WAS a long time Pennsylvania Republican. I was thrilled when the President proclaimed victory on the aircraft carrier, when he said that Osama could "run, but he can't hide," that Iraq had WMD's, that the Republican party represented "family values," etc ad nauseum. Needless to say, I WILL vote next month, and not as a Republican!

I, too, live near King of Prussia mall.

It's not just the Republicans who don't want to talk about politics. No-one wants to get deeper than the relative merits of different soccer coaches, or when to aerate the lawn...

Writing from upstate NY... I think the reason you are having trouble finding random folks in malls willing to talk politics has to do with two things: 1) people here in America as elsewhere are wary of talking to strangers, no matter how benign they appear to be (also, they are probably busy-- Yankees have tight schedules these days), and 2) people are all talked out. Americans know what is going on-- in a couple weeks we are to choose between the lesser of evils and hope it works out. The notion of which is the lesser has little to do with anything left to discuss. Not much else to do now but wait.

Ummm... actually, Reagan wasn't illiterate -- he was senile. During his first term, Nancy was actually president. During his second, Baker was. We Americans have a long tradition of shadowy figures behind the throne who are actually in charge. "W" and Cheney are well within this tradition.
As we watch the decline (and eventual fall) of the last Empire, we would do well to remember that a nation in which scholarship, learning and science has fallen into disrepute is unlikely to have much of a glorious future. We, and the rest of the world, are paying the price for years of inattentiveness The "liberal" answer to our current difficulties seems to be to put on price controls.
Until a real workers' movement arises in the USA, able to muzzle our owners and to devote our tremendous resources to pushing humankind forward, don't expect the average American to be interested in politics. We ARE "busy" -- we have the lowest pay and benefits and the least free time of any in the developed world.

In my experience, asking strangers, or even acquaintances, about their political opinions is like asking them about their salary. It's considered a private matter. In reference to Julie's comment: no one is more annoying conversationally than the political bore who derails a pleasant neighborly chat about the shared rituals of suburban life (kid's sports, lawn care) with some off-topic screed about Bush or Hillary.

As in the UK, there is little wish for political debate because the parties are so similar.

Both countries have 2 right wing parties concerned about image with no real content to discuss.

Both US (and Uk parties) have a woeful environmental record and allow a huge underclass of diprivilege. clinton did very little of substance in his 8 years. The only reason for voting for them as they are not as bad as the republicans - hardly a motivating factor for debate or politial action/involvement.

Both countries deserve better.