By Thomas B Edsall,  Campaign Stops Op Eds @ nytimes.com, September 23, 2012

[....]Pennsylvania demographics suggested that the state was fair game for Republicans. [....] By the end of August, however, ad buying stopped. The Romney campaign effectively conceded the state. [....]

Romney’s failure to gain traction in Pennsylvania sheds light on his struggles in other states with similar demographics, including Michigan and Ohio. The rapidly changing composition of the electorate here in Lehigh County [....] parallels similar shifts taking place in other regions of the country. [....]

Even if there were a higher percentage of working class whites in the region, Romney would have faced an uphill struggle. A new survey of 2,501 adults, “Beyond Guns and God: Understanding the Complexities of the White Working Class in America,” published on Sept. 20 by the Public Religion Research Institute, reveals clearly that the white working class (broadly defined) cannot, at present, be described as a secure Republican constituency.

The P.R.R.I. study focuses on a group it defines as non-Hispanic whites without a four-year college degrees who are paid by the hour or by the job. That’s roughly one-third (36%) of all Americans. The study shows that Romney’s nationwide 48-35 advantage among these voters masks crucial regional differences [....]