Life in PA is pretty much the same since the last Dems trifecta … not!

If a rising tide lifts all boats, then a blue tsunami lifts all ballots – at least, that was certainly the case in Pennsylvania, where voters delivered a long-awaited trifecta to Democrats, who suddenly have found themselves looking at control of the state House, the state Senate and the governor’s office come January.

Just how long was this awaited? Try 34 years. A lot has changed in that time. How much, you may ask? Just take a look at what we were focused on in 1992:

• President George H.W. Bush, who effectively ended his political career by raising taxes – after telling Americans to “Read my lips: No new taxes” – lost to Democratic challenger Bill Clinton, the self-styled “Comeback Kid”
• “Silence of the Lambs” swept the Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress categories at the Oscars
• “Some Gave All,” by Billy Ray Cyrus, better known today as Miley Cyrus’s father, was the top-selling album of the year
• Philadelphia’s own Boyz II Men walked away with the Billboard Song of the Year, “End of the Road”

• The Dream Team, featuring the greatest collection of basketball players ever to lace up a pair of high tops, dominated the 25th Summer Olympics
• The Philadelphia 76ers traded their star, Dream Teamer and future Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, to the Phoenix Suns

• The average home price in Pennsylvania was around $73,000 – or $175,000 in 2026 dollars (the average home price in the state today is $287,000)

• The top processing speed for a PC was 66 MHz (today, that number is around 6GHz, or 90.9 times as fast)
• Bill Cowher began his Hall of Fame run as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers 
• The Pittsburgh International Airport opened its doors

• The highest-rated TV show was “60 Minutes.” While it is still on the air today, it commands only a fraction of that audience; The Cartoon Network also started airing in 1992

• The 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prevents Congress from granting itself a pay raise that takes effect during the current session and was originally proposed by James Madison in 1789 as part of the original Bill of Rights, was ratified

• According to The New York Times, “The issues of most concern to Pennsylvania voters, according to survey data, are jobs and unemployment, the economy and health care.” Well, at least not everything has changed in three-plus decades.