I utterly fail to see how having Ed Rendell put together a marriage of Doherty and Onorato is a good message to the public that change is on the way. Neither one of these guys has ever run statewide.
One guy spent $600 million for a one mile tunnel to serve 900 people a day. The other guy is the titular mayor of an adult supervised Act 46 city. This is a political package that says to voters that Rendell has done so well that we would like to continue to provide you leaders of places like Philadelphia, Scranton and Pittsburgh which are oustanding examples of Act 47 financially strapped, job deprived and declining cities.
All three cities are bankrupt because they are paying the price for politics as usual. The state is going the same way and the public knows it.
Philadelphia and Alleghenhy Counties each lost twenty thousand jobs last year alone! That is twenty percent of all jobs lost in the state.
Our prosecutor will feast on these lambs!

[...] says that could be good for Joe Hoeffel (as well as Onorato), and from Pa2010, which talks about the pushback from current Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Jonathan [...]

Great story…personally I would love to see Saidel pushed out of the race. He is a prime example of the Philly’s smoke filled backroom style of politics – the exact opposite of what the public is looking for.

From what I saw during the Progressive Summit, Onoarto is going to need some serious help to garner the support of progressives, and someone to counteract is abrasive personality. Adding Doherty, who espouses more progressive positions, could help Onorato get through the primary.

Of course, if I had my way, Hoeffel would be the nominee for Governor with Onorato as Lt. Gov – but we cant all get what we want.

Onorato certainly needs political cover on the social issues. However, I think having Doherty would turn out well for Hoeffel, as that would leave two western PA conservatives vs one eastern progressive in the race for the top spot.

Chris is an up-and-comer in the party. This is his year to get introduced to the party. I expect future election cycles will see him doing very well.

Jared … do you get the irony: calling Saidel a prime example of the Philadelphia backroom in a story about how Philadelphian Ed Rendell is doing a new backroom deal to help his backroom buddy boy Onorato to keep Ed’s older backroom deals with others going forward.
David … I don’t think you would want your logic about Doherty in this post applied to your other up and comer who is just getting introduced to the party this year!

Wagner-Doherty or Doherty-Wagner sounds better to me…Onorato has failed nominee written all over him.

Even if Doherty loses the gubernatorial primary and isn’t the LG nominee, he’s the frontrunner for Auditor General in two years.

What other up-and-comer?
I hope you aren’t referring to Sestak. His star (or rather stars) are on the decline. More and more people I meet know his reputation and how he’s not a good party Democrat and how he won’t work with people.
Some people think he’s positioning himself for future office, but he’s really just ending his political career. Oh, sure, there’s the chance we get a Dem governor, and Specter is unable it complete his term, and a replacement is needed. Sestak’s name will come up on the short list, but if Onorato is Rendell’s man, then we know it’s Rendell’s if he wants it.
The chain of events to put Sestak in higher office are limited. There are only 3 jobs bigger than congressman: senator, governor and president.
Aside from trying to fill Specter’s seat, Sestak has no shot at any of these. He certainly can’t primary Casey.
If Meehan wins, Sestak could come back in two years to take the seat back, but I can’t see him wanting that. If Meehan loses, no one will accept Sestak coming back in two years to primary an incumbent Dem.

My guess is that Joe will lose the primary, be of ZERO help in the general, unless it’s to kiss the @ss of the Dem governor’s candidate on the off-change of an appointment. He’ll have “senior-itis” for his last months in congress, as he concentrates on his next career move.
My guess is that he winds up working for some military contractor.

Great piece. Thanks for putting this together.

Nice story. Pretty funny if Hoeffel was angling for the number 2 spot himself and waited too long. No one I talk to thinks Joe is ever going to be up to the top spot, He’s too far to the left and, well, just not that bright.

David, I was joking about turning your phrases to your newly minted Democrat who may be old in service years but new to his party! This wrinkly faced young pup is showing some leg to his new party this time around judging from the Progressive Summit!

[...] As chatter of an Onorato-Doherty ticket builds, a Saidel ally is ready to fight… [...]

What great geniuses our commonwealth yields; like weeny boy Mayor Chris(tina) Doherty professional loser of a city that has 72,000 people:

1 He raised taxes
2 Increased the deficit
3 Allowed crime to increase
4 Brought in thousands of illegal aliens,
5 Wasted tax payer money
6 Ran out existing businesses
7 Stopped new businesses from starting up
8 Had the streets in Greenridge plowed while Southside was a nightmare
9 Appointed cronies to key positions, and they did nothing when they were there
10 Ran for Gov in the middle of running for mayor, making him look like an idiot

Don’t challenge Bob Brady! Philadelphia Democrats have had it with this PA bullsh*t for too many years. We need a good fight to knock off the heads of village idiots: Doherty, Ribner, etal. These dopes are looking for a place to hide and collect money. Doherty’s (sic) base is a myth. Check the numbers and decide for yourself. Saidel will reinvent the office of Lt. Governor and get taxpayers’ the answers, access and change needed from Harrisburg. As for Danny Boy Onarato – keep meddling and you will pay the price my friend! Fat Boy Eddie has ruined the Dems chances to date. Your people out West don’t like you at all. Hasn’t jack Wagner kicked the crap out of your family for years?

Well..it seems some western capmaign staffers are disseminating their venom here. Onaorato would not be in the fight if he learned to mind his own business! He tried to be King and he certainly is not king. He meddled in the Lt. Gov. race and you can be sure that he knows now to keep his mouth shut. If he was not so delusional there would be no Hoeffel! And that crap about Doherty -who is mayor of a town that has 75,000 (generously)-is NEVER going to work. He’s a disgrace. He ran for Mayor -just to run for office. He has no understanding of state governement and how to “effectively” lead. If I were Saidel I would run for Governor. Why? He is the most intelligent candidate D or R in the Governor’s race! He has no peer.

Wagner-Saidel would be a great ticket. Brady should put that together. That would certainly fix Governor Ed’s and Chairman Rooney’s wagon. It would also teach the turncoat Allegheny Dems a lesson.

Saidel is a joke. And an Onorato-Saidel ticket is a disaster. Onorato-Doherty is the only shot the Democrats have this Fall. And that is a long shot. How can Onorato campaign for 2 years, have all that money, and still be in a competitive race. He NEEDS help even if he won’t admit it.

Onorato spent almost two million dollars on consultants and polls. Doherty spent one million on consultants and polls. Maybe this is a good pairing of big spenders. It explains what Ed Spendell likes about this ticket.

interesting all this spending on consultants by doherty and onerato…wonder how closely those consultants are aligned with the guv…with eddie not running this year, how are those concultants gloing to make money and be relevant going forward if eddies boys danny and chrissy are not in the game…hmmmmmmm

Saidel is the loud, obnoxious uncle who shows up to every family party, makes you uncomfortable, and then, finally, much to your relief, leaves.
He’s certainly not a bad guy, but he would be a terrible candidate for statewide office. He is also good for at least a gaffe a month.

doherty is the worst mayor scranton ever seen, the infrastructure is collapsing,the city is buried in debt, its been distressed for the entire 8 years doherty has been mayor and is worse off now, the police have resorted to buying their own vehicles, the majority of fire apparatus is 15 to 20 years old or more,the uniformed departments have not had a raise in 8 years, the cities debt increased,the budget ballooned to its highest ever, taxes have increased, he sold off city assets,crime has increased and this is a guy anyone would want to lead pennsylvania. just look at the city yourself and not the fluff pieces in the only peper in town that supports him that located out of the city themselves.

Could someone please explain to me what Jonathan Saidel brings to the table? I mean seriously, we are going to win Philly in the general election. Surely he is not going to increase Philly turnout any more than Specter/Sestak. Maybe a few thousand votes, but not more.

I see him as a potential liability for the Democratic slate. We already know the Senate nominee will come from the southeast, but what happens if Hoeffel wins for Governor? We would have all 3 candidates from the southeast. We would get slaughtered in the southwest and Erie.

I am not sure that Doherty helps us if Hoeffel is the nominee. Is there not someone else that could add something to the ticket with the potential for devastation? Isn’t the first rule with VP/Lt Gov, do no harm? I don’t have any axe to grind against Saidel, I just don’t see what he brings to the table.

Doherty is a liability for Onorato ! Doherty cant raise enough money so he wants to slide in as lt.Doherty’s stance on abortion,he cant seem to make up his mind he is like Casey.He claims to have an economic plan.While business’s leave the city.Just 2 this week already.Doherty is a habitual LIAR,who hire crony’s with out experience thats why the city is in shambles.Bad oecd loans bad decisions one after another.

DOHERTY, IS A UNION BREAKER

Doherty is not a good mayor.He was born with the silver spoon in his mouth and has never done a real days work in his life. He was pushed into office using ties with the Lynetts and Haggertys. They control this one rag town. Doherty, should as all other elected officials, focus on his job and not be allowed to seek another office while working through his current term. Enough with these career politions. It’s time for real change.

For 68 years I have been a Scranton resident and witnessed the highs and lows of my beloved city. With the loss of the coal and garment industries, we experienced a sustained economic depression. As a teacher for 33 years in the Scranton Public Schools, I watched our best and brightest exodus to more lucrative jobs in other states. For years I saw stagnation. In the past 8 years we have had a rebirth, a new energy evidenced by our new medical college,a revitalized downtown business and residential area,increased support for the arts and most importantly our young leaders are returning to and joining with pride our vibrant community. A renaissance is happening in Scranton and Mayor Chris Doherty is its leader. Carole Kocher

Doherty has to run on the coattails of someone else. Without his local support and his appointed cronies, most with no experiance in the jobs they hold, he’ll never go anywhere. All you have to do is take a good hard look at Scranton, it’s going down faster than an olympic down hill skier. As far as the medical school, Doherty took credit for it, only he had very little to do with it actually coming to Scranton. He actually worked almost blew it when the original site’s price was blown way out of scale, due to his friends trying to make a fast buck. The Times is totally behind him and thats a great thing for a politician. Too bad this area only has one rag to bring us the news that they want printed. Doherty is your typical politician. When he was running for office the second time, he needed the west side vote, so the sewer authority hired 12 people from west side.

Doherty had nothing to do with the medical school!He likes to say he did.He has people believing he is so great for this city,but he actually has ruined it.Oecd loans gone bad hiring of contractors.aka cronies.SSA,Spa city hall he hires unqualified people his friends.There is no re birth down town is dead business’s are leaving people open your eyes.A vibrant community lady where are you living.

Sounds like some Scrantonians are missing out on some of the fun in our vibrant city. How about joining us in the parties in Nay Aug Park, various ethic festivals there and in the downtown, the Everhart Museum exibitions, First Friday art celebrations, Scranton Philharmonic, Broadway Theater League,”The Office” convention,parties downtown on the roof tops,communal community art murals,the Scranton marathon and more. The vitality of a community reponds to what you bring to it. You cannot put a gallon into a pint! Carole

I enjoy Nay Aug park like the rest of Scranton and enjoy the festivals.But the Doherty facts speaks volumes,the city debt the roads hirings of cronies,drunks and addicts.They have two parties a year on the roof top and run out of beer ,wine and food.The parks animals are gone also.If you want to give him credit thats fine but look at the statistics.He is a LIAR !And is way out of his league! And drinks a little to much! Phillip