Romney predicts a win in Pennsylvania despite polling
WAYNE, PA – SEPTEMBER 28: Republican U.S. presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, center, greets supporters following a rally at Valley Forge Military Academy and College September 28, 2012 in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Romney continued to campaign for his run for the White House in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)
The Romney campaign is turning to an unlikely source – Pennsylvania – in their quest for enough swing state votes to overtake President Obama.
Mitt Romney visited the state for the first time since July on Friday, holding a high-dollar fundraiser in Philadelphia and a rally at the Valley Forge Military Academy.
“You know, I’ve got a little secret here," Romney told several hundred supporters at the rally.
"That is that the Obama campaign thinks Pennsylvania is in their pocket — they don’t need to worry about it. And you’re right, and they’re wrong.
"We’re going to win Pennsylvania. We are going to take the White House," Romney said according to NBC News.
Romney, however, admitted to donors who paid between $2,500 and $50,000 to hear him speak that a Republican win in Pennsylvania would be quite a surprise.
Polls regularly show Romney nominee trailing President Obama by anywhere from eight to 10 points or more.
The state has not elected a Republican in nearly a quarter century, reports AP.
‘We really would shock people if early in the evening of Nov. 6 it looked like Pennsylvania was going to come our way and actually did come our way," Romney said, according to AP. "That can happen."
The most recent polls have Obama leading Romney in the key swing states of New Hampshire, Nevada and North Carolina.
The state where Romney has the best chance to pull ahead is North Carolina, where Obama won in 2008 by just 14,000 votes.
The President's slim 2 point lead is within the margin of error and the Romney campaign and outside GOP groups have spent $32 million on advertising in North Carolina alone, according to AP.
In Pennsylvania, the Romney campaign may be down but they're not out yet.
"We have an aggressive operation and ground game in place," campaign spokesman Rick Gorka told CBS News.
Pennsylvania GOP released a television ad Friday hammering Obama for the state's economic record. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate, at 8.1 percent, is slightly less than the national average.