NBC's Garrett Haake reports on the rather grandiloquent claim:
Mitt Romney returned to Pennsylvania today for the first time since July, holding a high-dollar fundraiser in Downtown Philadelphia and a rally here at the Valley Forge Military Academy; predicting at both he could mount an improbable victory in this politically divided state.
“You know, I’ve got a little secret here," Romney told a rally crowd of a few hundred supporters. "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."
At the fundraiser earlier this morning in Philadelphia, Romney was more circumspect about his chances, telling donors it would "really shock people" if, on Nov. 6th, Pennsylvania seemed to be going his way. He first predicted "it could happen" before closing with an outright prediction: "I'm going to win Pennsylvania."
Romney hasn't made any sort of play for Pennsylvania (no ads and no footprint), and that begs the question: why was he even there?
Well, the answer is that he wasn't there to campaign alone; he was also at a pricy fundraiser.
Obama has led in 21 of 22 Pennsylvania surveys this year, and his lead in the RCP average of PA polls stands at 8%.
