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Rohrer camp wants supporters to look out for opposition researchers

State Representative Sam Rohrer’s (R-Berks) gubernatorial campaign said Friday that party front-runner Tom Corbett’s campaign had begun opposition research of the conservative underdog, and asked its supporters to be on the lookout for any negative campaign messaging in the weeks to come.

In a memo to supporters, Rohrer’s senior adviser Jeff Coleman said an operative for Corbett, the state Attorney General, had filed a “right-to-know” request with the state House.

“This development signals that a decidedly more aggressive, negative approach to our campaign is about to begin,” Coleman wrote. “The politics of personal destruction is not new. For decades, digging for dirt or some ‘useful’ piece of information on an opponent has been effectively used to intimidate, distract and derail a campaign that threatens conventional political assumptions about who should win an election and when.”

The message further underscored Rohrer’s attempt to build a movement-based campaign, in which the candidate is enlisting supporters in the nitty-gritty of political strategy, with a new campaign Web site as a hub. Coleman asked supporters to “keep your eyes and ears open for any sign of negative or misleading campaign activity.”

In an e-mail message, Corbett’s campaign manager Brian Nutt did not directly address any opposition research being done, but implied that anything in Rohrer’s record is fair game. The Web site GrassrootsPA published a copy of the right-to-know request.

“Consistent with his previous races, Tom Corbett will not engage in these types of personal attacks,” Nutt said. “However, we believe that Republican voters of Pennsylvania deserve to know about important issues such as Rohrer’s midnight pay raise vote, voting to enrich himself by voting to boost his pension and how he has used state dollars.”

Coming about a week after Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) dropped out of the gubernatorial race and as Rohrer’s supporters increasingly voice their displeasure with how GOP leaders are dismissing his political prospects, the back-and-forth amounted to the first direct exchange, four months before a primary that Corbett is overwhelmingly favored to win.

January 16, 2010 at 11:00 am

--pa2010.com Staff

Tags: Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett

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