In April, on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, voters in this Philadelphia suburb were finding plenty of fault with both Barack Obama and John McCain. Many were preparing to — and soon did — vote for Hillary Clinton, helping her to a decisive victory in this state.<\/p>\n
This week, those voters are part of a mass movement to Obama, driven by much greater familiarity with the Illinois senator’s views and by a pronounced distaste for McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin.<\/p>\n
The striking shift in Montgomery County, often a bellwether, makes McCain’s task of recapturing Pennsylvania from the Democrats look almost like Mission Impossible.<\/p>\n
Robert Stutz, a recently retired hospital administrator, was, like many of his neighbors, skeptical of both the eventual nominees when they were on the primary ballot, “so I was mostly listening to Hillary at that point.” But he’s been impressed with Obama’s health-care plan and says that McCain virtually disqualified himself with his vice presidential choice. “I can’t imagine putting Sarah Palin in a position to be president of the United States,” he said.<\/p>\n