Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan held campaign visits in Pennsylvania last week and GOP officials were declaring that the state "is very much in play" in the November presidential election.
What does that mean?
Well, it can only mean good things for the state, whether the campaign stops involve President Obama, Vice President Biden, Ryan or Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Let's face it, Pennsylvania is not viewed nationally as a state as sexy as California, Texas or Florida. And it doesn't have the kingmaker status of Ohio, which seems to be the state that makes or breaks presidential hopes.
But among the nine states considered swing states in the upcoming presidential election, Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes rank as the second biggest prize in the race for the White House.
That means attention from both presidential campaigns.
And attention is a good thing. It gives the people of Pennsylvania a chance to express to candidates and the surrogates what matters to citizens of this state.
If we were asked, we'd be telling the presidential hopefuls that Pennsylvania is a state still struggling to transition from an old-school manufacturing economy to a service and diversified industry existence. The state's economy and employment roles have been boosted by the natural gas drilling explosion, but that comes with pressures on the state's infrastructure and environment.
Pennsylvanians, like much of the rest of the country's populous, are concerned about maintaining an efficient, less-costly health care system. They are concerned about a national debt that threatens future generations.
They've got no problem with legitimate government programs that help those who most need the help, but they don't want to see Social Security and Medicare benefits forfeited because of runaway government waste in all other areas.
And, most of all, we'd want candidates to know Pennsylvania is much more than just Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Maybe that understandable platform will get a little more attention this fall with candidates for the nation's highest office paying attention to Pennsylvania.
