Rage against the machine

“Rage Against the Machine” is an American rock band. It is also a perfect phrase for what happened in Massachusetts on Tuesday, as the Democratic machine was rocked by a state Senator who happens to drive a truck. And because of Republicans, independents and even some Democrats, this “people’s representative” is heading to Washington to initiate a calm and measured dialogue regarding health care. One thing is crystal clear after Brown’s history-making victory:  Voters don’t…

Working for Ferrick

There’s something gratifying about writing for a man whose work you grew up admiring.

So I wrote two stories for pa href="http://www.phlmetropolis.com/2010/01/campaign-2010-us-sen-arlen-specter.php" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.phlmetropolis.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phlmetropolis.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fcampaign-2010-us-sen-arlen-specter.php','One%22s+got+analysis+on+Arlen+Specter.')" target="_blank"One’s got analysis on Arlen Specter./a/p
pa href="http://www.phlmetropolis.com/2010/01/campaign-2010-us-rep-joe-sestak.php" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.phlmetropolis.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phlmetropolis.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fcampaign-2010-us-rep-joe-sestak.php','The+other+has+it+on+Joe+Sestak.')" target="_blank">The other has it on Joe Sestak.

Let me know what you think.

Welch’s pitch to party leaders

If you’re wondering how Steven Welch plans to pitch GOP leaders in his insurgent primary bid against incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach,

Political dealings

Republicans have been complaining about the non-conference committee for health care, where the two bills (House and Senate) will be reconciled. They have repeatedly said this should be done out in the open.

Honestly, that won’t accomplish anything but a good feeling (putting aside the fact that this whole effort seems to be dying now anyway). After talking with some people that have been involved in such conference committees, the fact is this: The deals…

I’m slow

You know, it’s not that I’m not used to being first. No reporter likes being beat to a story, but I can handle it.

But when seemingly every political reporter in the state besides yours truly has found someone to confirm on-record that

Gerlach says Welch is ‘no Scott Brown’

Hours after Republican p“My campaign is 12-days old, and it’s pretty sad that Mr. Welch feels the need to attack my candidacy and long record of service to taxpayers,” Gerlach said in a statement Thursday night. “The bottom-line, Steve Welch is no Scott Brown, as I’m pretty confident that Senator Brown never flipped political parties twice in three years, never contributed to progressive Democrat candidates, and never voted for Barack Obama for President. It’s laughable for him to turn around now and claim to be a life long Republican.”/p
pAs empa2010.com/ema href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/12/welch-catches-some-heat-in-the-conservative-blogosphere/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F12%2Fwelch-catches-some-heat-in-the-conservative-blogosphere%2F','documented+last+month')" target="_blank" documented last month/a, Welch has been registered with the GOP for most of his adult life, except for late 2006 until mid-2009. He contributed $300 to Joe Sestak’s first congressional campaign in 2006, something he wrote about in a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/the-7th-deserves-better/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fthe-7th-deserves-better%2F','a+pa2010.com+op-ed.')" target="_blank">a pa2010.com op-ed. Gerlach attributed Welch’s support for Obama to a statement Welch supposedly made—a comment that could not immediately verified—Wednesday night at a local Chester County GOP committee meeting. Gerlach’s campaign said Welch lost a straw poll at that meeting 63 percent to 27 percent, a few nights after

Gerlach Sets Record Straight on Welch

By GERLACH FOR CONGRESS

(Glenmoore, PA) – Recent Democrat and now Republican candidate for Congress Steve Welch attacked Republican Congressman Jim Gerlach in a PoliticsPA story today, invoking the spirit of Scott Brown’s Senate campaign and calling himself a “life long Republican” who could best bring “change” to Washington. Respectfully setting the record straight – a review of Welch’s publicly available voting records from Montgomery County Voter Services tells a very different story. Welch abandoned…

On financial reform, Kanjorski gets an indirect Obama boost (Updated)

Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) received something of an indirect boost from the White House Thursday when attacks from a primary opponent who accuses him of being too close to Wall Street, the president’s seemingly new-found interest…

Disappointed but not panicking

Much has been said and written about Tuesday’s race in Massachusetts. And while it was an obvious disappointment to Democrats after making historic gains in 2008, everyone knows that 2010 will be a difficult year.

That goes for everyone, not just Democrats.

What we saw on Tuesday was more anxiety about how Washington conducts its business. Middle class voters came out and spoke about their frustrations. But no one is more frustrated about the conditions…

Fitzpatrick to announce 8th District rematch on Saturday

Former Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick on Saturday will launch a rematch against the man who unseated him three years ago , setting up yet another competitive House race in Pennslvania.

Fitzpatrick, a Republican who lost his 8th District seat to Democrat Patrick Murphy by a razor-thin margin in 2006, confirmed multiple reports Thursday afternoon that his announcement will come Saturday in Langhorne.

Murphy, now a second-term congressman, has been considered relatively safe, but