Posts tagged ‘jack wagner’

Between Research 2000 and Quinnipiac, Specter is doing pretty decently in the polls.  The R2K poll, released yesterday, shows Specter up 6 points against Toomey and Quinnipiac poll showed a 7 point lead last week.

Regardless of polls, this state isn’t going to put in a Republican.  The registration advantage for Dems is too high and Toomey is too crazy.  Not to mention that PA voters recognize that Republicans are the reason that governing in this country has ground to a halt.  They obstruct everything.  A vote for Toomey is a vote for obstruction.  The evidence for this is that Toomey only leads Sestak by 3 points.  Sestak remains relatively unknown and, despite this, remains in striking distance if he wins the primary.

On the Governor’s side of things, Corbett is ahead of Onorato by only 6 points.  This is great news, since Onorato has low name recognition and after the primary, everybody will solidify behind the Democratic winner, which will inevitably provide a bounce.  Corbett’s race isn’t all that competitive, so he won’t be seeing much of a boost.  And if the Veon trials ends up with an acquittal, Corbett will look pretty bad, as that’ll be two corruption cases that he prosecuted wrongly.

The Lackawanna County Democratic Party has made their endorsements, and boy are they embarrassing.

First and foremost, in the 112th, the party endorsed Ken Smith. Nice. The party firmly believes that tax dodgers deserve to represent the people. Oh, and they obviously believe that methadone clinics are bad. And they also believe there is no problem whatsoever with taking out a taxpayer loan and not paying it back.

Not only is this endorsement embarrassing, it’s further proof that the Party has not a clue.

Kevin Haggerty and Bob Lesh didn’t show up to even ask for an endorsement. Good move. Haggerty and Lesh were out campaigning (which will get more votes than an endorsement) and Lesh said that he believes in open primaries.

The Party believes in tax-dodgers.

Joe Corcoran got a pre-arranged endorsement from the committee for State Senate. I’m sure he’ll love sharing the ticket with Ken Smith. Way to rob your boy of votes!

It gets worse.

Joe Sestak, the candidate running against Arlen Specter for PA’s US Senate seat, showed up to ask for the endorsement. Yes, he actually showed up and talked to the Committee. Did they endorse him? No. They endorsed Specter, who wasn’t there. This is extraordinarily disrespectful to somebody who showed great respect by coming before the committee and asking for support and an endorsement. Somebody should’ve told Sestak it’s irrelevant, but still.

Joe Hoeffel, candidate for Governor showed up, too. And they endorsed Jack Wagner instead.

For the other races, John Moran got the nod in the 114th over Sid Michaels, Kevin Murphy got the nod in the 113th. Carney and Kanjo got the endorsements for their respective Congressional districts.

I wonder if the Party thinks their endorsements matter. I have never heard somebody tell me they vote endorsed, unless they are doing the endorsing, that is. Most people say endorsements make them LESS likely to vote for a candidate. Maybe the local committee should rethink its relevance.

One of the issues that faces the liberal world dominated by bloggers is which type candidate to support. Do we support a liberal progressive who is ideologically closer to our belief system? Or do we support somebody more likely to win against a Republican in the general election? It’s idealism versus pragmatism.

Frankly, I’m somewhere in the middle. If it weren’t for this, we wouldn’t have Jim Webb in Virginia, for example. I also tend to feel that authenticity encourages voters far more than idealism.

On that note, I am not sure what to do about the Democratic Primary this year, particularly in the Governor’s race.
Jack Wagner, who is the establishment favorite and has a lot of statewide name recognition due to his post as Auditor General, is too conservative for my tastes. He is anti-gay and he is anti-choice. Sure, that isn’t the be all and end all, but it’s important to note that on social issues, he is very regressive. He is obviously embarrassed by these positions, as well, since they don’t appear on his website, but do come up whenever he is questioned at a candidate forum.
But does his being more conservative make him more null against Tom Corbett?

I don’t think so. Why? Because Republicans aren’t voting for Wagner anyway. Democrats have this problem where they believe the best way to appeal broadly is to move to the right or to the center. I disagree, as this is inherently inauthentic. I’m not saying Wagner has moved in one direction or another as a result of his gubernatorial run, but I’m saying that Democratic candidates who are as generic as possible do not get votes in the end.

Dan Onorato isn’t much different than Wagner, except that he has more money. He is against same-sex marriage as well. Again, this is regressive. And, to me, it’s a gross display of ignorance. Our Constitution guarantees equal rights last I checked. Same-sex marriage shouldn’t even be a point of discussion, or contention. If straight people who love each other can get married, if there is equality in America, then gay people should, too.
Anthony Williams, the recent entrant who is also still running for his State Senate seat (which tells me he isn’t committed), has a disgusting set of ideas about education that make him a total no-no for me.

The only real progressive in the race is Joe Hoeffel. Aside from being liberal on social issues, he wants a single-payer health care system for Pennsylvania if (or when) the federal government fails to adequately reform the system.

So, I’m stuck. Who can win against Corbett?

I don’t know. But I don’t like generic Democrats representing me in General Elections.

Which is it? Idealism or pragmatism? Which candidate meets in the middle?

Four candidates for governor of PA participated in a forum sponsored by United Way of Pennsylvania yesterday in Harrisburg.  Who wasn’t there?  Tom Corbett.  Why not?  He must think that he doesn’t need to get his views out there.  He must think that he’s got this in the bag.

Good.

More exposure for his opponents.  If he remains this cocky, he’ll start falling behind.

Let him.

Dems Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner and Joe Hoeffel, along with Republican Sam Rohrer actually bothered to show up.  The issue discussed was funding to non-profits, which has been dramatically cut by Rendell in his budget.

I hate to sum it up this way, but, basically, the Democrats said they don’t like cutting aid to non-profits and that they won’t do it if they’re elected.  The Republican basically said non-profits need to strengthen themselves on their own.  Translation: too bad, deal with it.

For those interested, on Monday, March 29^th, the there will be another forum at the Scranton Cultural Center.  I encourage people to go and to learn where the candidates stand.  Maybe Corbett will even show up this time!  But probably not.  Only four of the six have committed to coming.  Stay home Corbett.  Let the real candidates campaign and educate voters.

The poll for the Senate race between Specter and Sestak reveals nothing really new. Sestak still has little name recognition, and Specter is still polling higher. Both lose to Toomey in the likely voter category. But there is time to gain ground, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that just yet.

The interesting one, though, is the Governor’s race. Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, and Joe Hoeffel are all tied at 6%. That means Onorato’s big money advantage and Wagner’s institutional advantage haven’t really translated into increased support. Anthony Williams, the less-than-ideal Philly candidate, came in at 1%. Good.

Hoeffel is a progressive and a liberal and very unapologetic about it. See, I think voters like people who simply state what they think and fight for what they believe without any caveats. For example, Democrats and the President are seeing their poll numbers sink. I think it’s because they aren’t doing a damn thing because they are too afraid to flex muscle and push something through that’ll offend Republicans. Newsflash: When Democrats breathe, it offends Republicans. What Dems should do is just get some work done. That’s why their numbers tank, because they aren’t being true to themselves. They’re too afraid to.
That’s why I think Hoeffel has a good shot against Corbett, if Hoeffel is the nominee.

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee was not able to rally behind a single candidate for Governor.

The Democratic establishment went overwhelmingly in favor of establishment man Jack Wagner, despite his lackluster fundraising.  Dan Onorato, who is the clear front runner with his millions in campaign funds, came in second.

Joe Hoeffel, the only true liberal, progressive in the race, was knocked out after the first round of voting.

The second round of voting looked like this:

Jack Wagner:  153 Votes
Dan Onorato: 76
Anthony Williams:  48

And 27 people abstained as a way of showing their support for Joe Hoeffel.

State Senator Anthony Williams should raise some eyebrows, because he hasn’t even officially declared for Governor.  He’s a very strong Philadelphia candidate.  Joe Hoeffel is from the Philly area, but not Philadelphia itself.  Williams rose eyebrows when he announced fundraising half a million dollars without even declaring.  He even raised more than Doherty and Hoeffel.  If he were to make it official, expect those numbers to jump.

Now, you may notice that even though Jack Wagner got 153 votes and yet didn’t get the endorsement.  That’s because an official endorsement requires a 2/3 majority.

This rule, proposed by Governor Ed Rendell a few years back, is valuable because if somebody were to get that 2/3 that demonstrates overwhelming party unity.  Democrats are very good at infighting, and this helps stave that off.

Jack Wagner and Dan Onorato currently don’t impress me, particularly after the PA Progressive Summit.  Hoeffel and Doherty were pretty progressive, but Doherty may as well be out of the race.  Hoeffel will have to pull off something big to close the gap.  Williams I know next to nothing about, except that unions rate him pretty highly, which is always good.

With the rumor going around that Chris Doherty may jump ship and run for Lieutenant Governor instead of just plain Governor, we figured it’s time to take a look at the dynamic.

Dan Onorato, from Western PA, has the most money. Simply put, that’s really all he needs to win. He’s the favorite. He polls better, he’s more well-known, and he can spend, spend, spend.

But Jack Wagner is from the same county as Onorato and has more state-wide contacts, because he’s run for state-wide office more than once, this gives him a bit of an advantage (in that realm, anyway) that he can use to try to bridge the gap with Onorato. The other issue for those two is that they’ll likely split the western PA vote.

This is good news for Doherty and Hoeffel. Joe Hoeffel is from the Philadelphia area, and the likelihood that people from Philly would vote for somebody not from Philly is pretty low. Philly has the largest population and largest concentration of Democrats in the state, particularly with the recent flip of the Philly suburbs from a Republican bastion to a Democratic one. This is only good for Hoeffel.

Doherty’s prospects aren’t all that great if he can’t get his name recognition up. His base, here in NEPA, isn’t large enough to compete with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. No wonder there’s a rumor that he’s looking at switching over to Lieutenant Governor.

The issue that needs to be considered is Tom Corbett. Who can beat him? He’s going to be a conservative governor, if elected, and he would oversee redistricting, which would be a disaster for Democrats. Not only that, but conservative policies in general are a disaster for everybody. The question is do we play to the middle to attract Independents and Republicans?
After thinking this through, I say no. Republicans who were persuadable have abandoned the Republican Party and become Democrats. Independents don’t really look at the world through “liberal” and “conservative” eyes. Many tend to look at people individually and many reflect national trends. They probably lean Republican, given the national climate, but I’m sure a decent percentage are up for grabs, as Pennsylvania tends to be pretty blue.

The obvious choice for progressives in PA would be Joe Hoeffel, who, aside from supporting gay marriage and being pro-choice and all of those other goodies, proposed a state-based single payer system for health care. I love it! The federal government is about to either fail miserably or water down health care reform to the point where it barely makes a dent. We’re one of the only civilized nations on the planet without a national health care system. It is a right, and we should have access. Money should not be a bar to good health. Another issue that I like about Hoeffel is his desire for a graduated tax system, whereby the more money you make, the more you pay. That only makes sense, and this flat tax business hurts the little guy. Ten percent of $20,000 hurts the poor more than ten percent of $200,000 hurts the rich. The rich guy can still send his kids to college.

Chris Doherty got a lot of high marks for being progressive as well, as he is also pro-choice and supports gay marriage. Not that being progressive is limited to those two issues since I keep bringing them up, but they are important. A lot of bloggers, despite giving him decent marks for his positions, said he seemed amateurish and unprepared for the big leagues as his speaking style was awkward. He is also against the legalization of medical marijuana, along with Onorato, while Wagner and Hoeffel would have no problem with it. Two are for helping sick people, two against. Simple as that.

Onorato and Wagner both fall a little flat. Wagner is the most conservative of the bunch, being anti-choice, and neither support gay marriage. Onorato is a civil union man (hey, buddy, that’s not equal, fyi). Wagner is against changing the tax system, which Onorato pointed out would require an amendment to the state’s constitution. There’s nothing wrong with the state having a Constitutional Convention – I say bring it on.

All, for the record, are thankfully in favor of maintaining state control of liquor stores.

So, the round-up is that if you want to see somebody progressive, liberal, and for the little guy, Hoeffel is your man. Then Doherty (if he stays in the race). Then Onorato and Wagner bringing up the rear.

The interest-rate swaps that the Scranton School District and Lackawanna County have gotten themselves into, and subsequently pillaged by, should, as Auditor General Jack Wagner has proposed, be banned.

Complex financial agreements, the impetus for our national financial crisis, are easy to fall prey to, as the county and district have. As a result, they are paying far more than they should in interest. Thomas Jefferson said it best, “Banking establishments are more powerful than standing armies.”
While some of the blame for this gambling rests on the public officials that agreed to it, banks serve only the interests of themselves and make their fortunes by inventing and pushing various financial rubix cubes on their clients.

There is no fix for this, as refinancing would cost a fortune. So, banks win, citizens and taxpayers lose, as per the usual.