The Keystone State is very much in play, says many of its delegation members.

TAMPA, Fla.�??A swing through Pennsylvania�??s delegation revealed one common denominator: delegates were confident that they could deliver their state�??s 20 electoral votes to the Romney-Ryan ticket this fall, thus putting the Keystone State in the GOP presidential column for the first time since 1988.

�??Look at the base we�??re starting with,�?� State Party Chairman Rob Gleason told Human Events on the convention floor, �??We�??re going into 2010 with a record number of state legislators, five new congressmen, a governor, lieutenant governor and a U.S. senator.�?� He also noted that 53 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania are in Republican hands.

Gleason also referred to the state�??s controversial new law requiring a photo ID to vote and mentioned Al Schmidt, the Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia who recently created an uproar when he released a study showing numerous cases of fraudulent or erroneous voting in the city in �??08. The state�??s new law requiring a photo ID to vote, Gleason said, �??will go a long way toward ensuring that doesn�??t happen in 2012.�?�

The chairman added that vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan �??is playing very, very well in Pennsylvania.�?�

�??Pennsylvania�??s very much in play right now,�?� said former Rep. Phil English, who represented Erie County from 1994-2008, �??Polls show President Obama, at most, six-to-eight percentage points ahead of Mitt Romney in our state. I�??ve never seen it this close at this time. If the traditional Republican base comes together with blue-collar �??swing voters�?��??the populist Reagan Democrats�??then the Romney-Ryan ticket can win.�?�

English agreed with Gleason that the selection of Ryan as a running mate would help in forging that coalition and was �??a brilliant choice.�?�

Keystone State GOPers are confident of a strong turnout in the most Republican counties. Ann Womble, longtime party activist in Lancaster County, told us that volunteers were �??fired up and ready to go �?� for the Romney-Ryan ticket. She also gave high marks to the choice of Ryan as a running mate, calling his convention address �??picture perfect�??out of sight.�?�

Throughout the week in Tampa, there has been particular focus on the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan�??none of which have gone Republican for president in 24 years and all of which are very much in play now. Wisconsin (12 electoral votes) is Paul Ryan�??s homestate and Michigan (10 electoral votes) is Romney�??s state of birth. And Pennsylvania and its twenty electoral votes, as we learned this week, will be hotly competed for by the Romney-Ryan team.