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Seeking conservative mantle, Rohrer enters governor’s race (Video)

WEST LAWN—Hoping to seize on growing unrest within conservative ranks and promising to run an unconventional, grassroots campaign, state Representative Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) formally entered the GOP primary for governor Tuesday evening.

Speaking before a raucous crowd of supporters in what eventually became a town-hall style Q & A inside a fire station here, Rohrer ruminated on his upbringing, his time in public service, and the fears he shares with conservatives that the state—and the country—is spending too much, too fast. He took the crowd of more than 300 supporters on a 25-minute, stream of consciousness-like recap of his life and his deliberations on whether to run before finally saying what everyone had come to hear.

“Tonight I want to tell you,” Rohrer said, “that I have made the decision to officially announce this evening that I intend to pursue the office of governor.”

He later laid out some central campaign platforms, which were big on traditional conservative ideas but short on specifics, including tax cuts, reducing the size of government, instituting ethics reforms and eliminating school property taxes (Rohrer did not say how he would pay for education funding instead).

In jumping into the primary, Rohrer, a longtime state lawmaker with a reputation deep on conservative credentials and long on opposition to tax increases, faces a steep uphill fight against Attorney General Tom Corbett and Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6). Both are expected to be significantly better-funded, and Corbett has the backing of much of the party establishment. But in preparing a campaign heavy on grassroots organizing and new-tech-style campaigning, Rohrer is also testing whether conservatives have the power to build a movement potent enough to win a statewide contest without major party support.

“I’m telling you, this camaign is going to be different from the others, because what this campaign has that the others don’t, is all you,” Rohrer told his supporters. “I really beleive that this election will be driven by the heart and the soul of the people of this state, not just the heart and soul of the Republican Party.”

And indeed, the entire evening underscored the urgency of trying to build what has always been a passionate but relatively small following for Rohrer into a statewide organizing machine, while doing it in a politically unconventional way. Rohrer dined with conservative leaders before the announcement. Supporters who entered the fire station were immediately given volunteer cards asking them to check a box for numerous options on how they would help. Rohrer and the speakers who preceded him urged those in attendance spread the word while cautioning that the road ahead would be difficult.

”To make this happen,” state Representative Jim Cox (R-Berks) said, “we need your commitment, every day, every time you meet someone, every time you see an old friend.”

And the whole thing, broadcast live over the Internet, played out against the backdrop of a conservative mentality that is increasingly uneasy with—and even hostile to—establishment politicians, Democrat and Republican alike. If not for the electoral subject matter, it could have passed for a Tea Party rally in Washington.

“The party establishment has begun to draft the election script for 2010 a little too early,” state Representative Gordon Denlinger (R-Lancaster) said. “The people must write the script.”

Jeff Coleman, a former House colleague of Rohrer’s and now his senior political strategist, called it a “great night for the conservative movement.”

“The big question is—is the conservative movement mature enough, broad enough, to win a statewide election?” Coleman told pa2010.com later.

Even if Rohrer  beats the odds in a primary, it is a question that many analysts think could be answered with a resounding “no.”

“It’s still a pretty big long-shot, but his message would be the type of message that, in a Republican primary, would hit home with a lot of people,” Chris Borick, a Muhlenberg College pollster, said earlier this month. “I’m not sold yet on how it plays in a general election.”

But at least for now, Corbett and Gerlach both have to worry about losing primary votes to a candidate hoping to be the conservative standard-bearer.

“Nobody is entitled to the nomination,” Coleman said. “Everyone will have to earn it.”

See a video excerpt of Rohrer’s announcement below:

November 18, 2009 at 7:00 am

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Jim Gerlach, Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett

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