Barletta’s primary challenger does his own messaging (Updated)

In going after political opponents, most candidates for office look to staffers to do the dirty work of writing up press releases and crafting the message of their campaigns.

Not Chris Paige.

A few months into his Republican bid for Congress in the 11th District, and barely a month after he got a primary opponent in Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, Paige appears to have settled into a comfortable rhythm as his own spokesman. He blogs. He e-mails reporters details policy statements. And he seemed to score his first PR coup of the race this week when his critique of Barletta’s plan to sell the city’s water authority to a private company prompted The Times-Leader to scrutinize it more carefully.

In an interview with pa2010.com, Paige, who is general counsel for a hedge fund management company, said that directly engaging Barletta was the only way to give voters a true policy debate.

“The only way policy issues get debated in our society is to get one candidate in favor and one against,” Paige said. “The reason I am injecting myself is because this is the way policy is debated in our society.”

With overwhelming party support in his third run for Congress this decade, Barletta undoubtedly remains the front-runner in this year’s primary. But in a new media landscape that allows candidates to bypass the media filter more often than before—and with a chunk of change from his own bank account—Paige could prove more formidable than some think. While he wouldn’t give a specific number, Paige said he does plan to spend his own money on the race.

Once he hires a campaign manager soon, Paige said, “I don’t think that you’ll hear from me as often, but I think I’ll always be the main spokesman. I view that as one of my comparative advantages. I think I write well, I think I speak well, so I’ll probably be out thre more than other candidates.”

While he acknowledged that his direct-messaging strategy is unusual, Paige said that “people right now are looking for something different.”

Barletta’s senior adviser Vince Galko said Barletta would have plenty of venues through which to get his own message out.

“Mr. Paige has certainly been very active sending out releases and posting things to his blog,” Galko said. “I think he also benefits from the fact that the media likes the idea of a Republican primary. they’re intriguide by Mr. Paige’s recent switched to the Republican Party and the dynamics behind that. Mayor Barletta just got into the race and will be getting his message out there. But he’s also working very hard as the mayor of a city. It’s nice that Mr. Paige has the time to do that stuff.”