I was there today when the votes were cast and I have never seen a more broken system in my life. The public would have been interested to know how entire committee blocks from Washington and Fayette, decided to vote in a block per their chairman’s endorsement handing Mark nearly 30 of his 46 votes, that is not a direct representation of thir democratic constituents in those areas and the memebers know it.

There has been too much emotional voting and support through out this three week circus and it needs to stop, the state committee and the govorner must step in.

I believe Mark Critz is a very nice and compassionate person, but he needs to be vetted and he hasn’t. I thought it was grossly unfair that Mark took Barbara Hafer’s comments as an attack on Congreeman Murtha’s legacy and his own, when all she did was bring up facts that the Republican Party will not only bring up, but use to destroy Mark in the general.

It is important not to blame the committee members, but the system itself. The facts are simple, women voter’s are stronger than ever in both the 18th and 12th Districts, Independent voters act as a major swing in both districts, and Hafer represented both parties which is a huge advantage amongst our conservative democrats and independents.

If this is what we have to deal with then I will support whomever candidate or candidates come out of the May 18th election as long as they are the right candidate, Unfortunately though after witnessing those rediculous voting blocks setup by a system that spits in the face of our American democracy, I would presume Mr. Russell and the Republican party are licking their chops right about now.

Voters are smarter now than ever they are doing their homework, I have a feeling if the state committee can not clean up this mess, then the voters of the 12th district will.

Critz said that “I know the Washington process because I worked with Murtha for so long.”

What a GREAT quote to be USED against Critz by anyone in the Primary that runs against him, or if by accident( or in true democratic party terms, steals the election) he wins to run in the general election.

If by chance it was recorded, what a devastating soundbite!

NEWS FLASH…… The bulk of the country DESPISES Washington. Outsiders are in!!! INSIDERS will be OUT!!!

This guy is toast…..

Michael Monsour–

Fayette Co chair is corrupt. Their votes were fixed. The vote was rigged well before. Hafer has a distinct advantage in public polling.

If you engage in corporate tax fraud like Mark has and dont expect it to be a campaign issue… you are in the wrong sport.

Thanks for sharing your insight. Critz is not electable.

I agree totally with Steelblitz1, the process was absolute CORRUPT and does not represent or reflect the people of Pennsylvania. Hafer will win with her experience and compassion!

Hafer is as much of a re-tread as Critz. She is not an outsider, she is a has been. We need someone fresh. She should stay retired and it is time for Critz to do something in the private sector.

Anyone who says this process is corrupt obviously does not have any clue of how the process worked. There were only 3 counties in which the Chairman was to select the appointees via their rules, Allegheny, Armstrong and Fayette.

Of those 3 counties, Allegheny and Armstrong both voted as a block for Hafer. Fayette voted for Critz. All of the other counties either appointed via their executive committees or their county committees.

So lets look at the 3 counties and the methods for selecting their delegates. Allegheny, only had one vote, so the chairman named himself as he did not have any State Committee members who lived in the 12th. By the way he voted for Hafer.

Next was Armstrong. None of the State Committee members in Armstrong County actually live in the 12th. So their delegation was 2 State Committee members and 4 appointments, one of which was not even a county committee member. All 6 voted for Hafer.

Finally was Fayette, the one county that everyone has pointed to as being “corrupt.” Fayette’s county bylaws allow the chair to make the recommendation to State Committee. So by all rights, Mr Lebder could choose anyone he wanted. So lets look at his 11 choices.

First was State Senator Kasunic, next the 2 Democratic County Commissioners, Vicites and Zapotosky. He then picked from his Democratic Row officers. Snyder, Lally, Winterhalter, Malosky, and Brownfield. So 8 of the 11 appointed delegates were countywide elected officials. So who were the other 3 “mystery delegates”, Boni, Miller and Fike. Well the answer is quite simple. Boni and Miller are supervisors in large Democratic townships and Fike is the mayor of the largest city in the county.

Am I to believe that appointing 11 elected officials is stacking the deck? I hardly think that the State Senator, 2 county commissioners, 5 county row officers, and 3 municipal elected officials constitute stacking the deck.

When you criticize the process you at least have the obligation to get the facts straight. All of this crying about the process is nothing more that sour grapes. The process was setup to give local elected Democrats a voice in selecting their nominee.

It has also been touted by the Hafer campaign that the vote by State Committee Members was 16 to 16. This is true, but it should also be noted that of her 16 State Committee votes, only 3 actually live in the 12th Congressional district. And 1 of the 3 had just been appointed in the last month or so. So what about the other 13? They all live in other Congressional Districts and were added to the process by Jack Hanna, a Hafer supporter. If anything the process was skewed to favor Ms. Hafer. She counted votes and knew she did not have it, so she attacked the system.

So what is her remedy? Her campaign has suggested that the Executive Committee ignore the recommendation of the local convention. This should not come as a surprise since she does much better among those outside of the district.

Here is my advise to you Ms. Hafer. Fire your campaign team because they really did do you a disservice by attacking the process. Attacking Mark Critz and his baggage is one thing, but you do not attack those that ultimately have to vote for you. Josh Morrow’s press release cost you at least 10 votes on Saturday and perhaps any chance that you had of winning the nomination.

Baffled by BS,

I have to say that you have done your homework, and I agree with alot of what you said, but my friend you can not tell me that all of the voters of both Fayette County and Washington County would have gone for Critz. I’m sorry but that is border line delusional.

You failed to mention how many votes came out of both of those counties over 30 from my count and 75% of Mark’s votes. If I am wrong about this please feel free to correct me because you were quick to point out the one vote from Allegheny, these statements are not suppose to be about political posturing it is about questioning the process with facts about want went wrong, there were two blocks who didn’t even give the candidates, all the candidates an opportunity to make there case.

It is important to question any electoral process that denies the constituents the right to have there voices heard.

Michael Monsour-

This BS character does not seem to think that the “very selective” posture of a couple of county chairs was wrong???? WTF… and then to act like thats representative of the people in their community, is really disgusting.

Why didnt fred and others pick people and not ask who they were voting for? Serious issues with undue influence here.

Michael Monsour, you are wrong. Only 19 of Critz votes came from Fayette and Washington.

Fayette 17
Washington 2

Washington was allotted 18, but only two people were represented.

If you ask me what went wrong, I would have to say allowing State Committee Members to vote when they don’t live in the 12th CD. If you want to complain about something, that is legitimate.

WESTPADEM6-

I have no idea if Lebder asked people who they were supporting before appointing them, but neither do you. You can assume so but that does not make it true.

I took the time to read this article only to think to myself “who is Josh Morrow”? Who is this guy to go around telling people who is and who is not electable? Is he some type of expert? Let’s take a look at Josh Morrow, Ms. Hafer’s campaign manager.

Morrow has previously ran campaigns for Philadelphia politicians Tom Knox and Dan McCaffery.

Knox ran for mayor of Philadelphia back in 2007 and lost when his business practices in the private sector came into question. Ironically, Knox made his money in the healthcare industry when he bought “Fidelity Insurance Group” in 1999 and then later sold it to UnitedHealth Group in 2004 for a profit of $20 million. This guy made $20 million on healthcare and there are people in this country that can’t even afford to see a doctor. At one point, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that Knox’s company was fined $125,000 in Maryland for a number of violations including hiring a finance officer that had a felony record for embezzelment. This guy makes me sick, but Morrow didn’t having any trouble leaching onto this guy for the ride. Knox of course lost in the primary.

Knox ran for the 2010 gubernational election, but dropped out in January. Again, Morrow was his campaign manager.

Let’s take a look at Dan McCaffery. In 2008 McCaffery ran for district attorney in Philadelphia. Who was his campaign manager you might ask? Josh Morrow. McCaffery of course lost. Shortly after, the Philadelphia Board of Ethics filed a law suite against Dan McCaffery’s camapaign claiming he and his treasurer diliberatley violated campaign finance law.

Who is Josh Morrow I ask you? He is a guy that is good at doing 2 things….

1. Associating himself with a cast of shady and unethical individuals.

2. Losing elections.

I think Hafer is an embarrassment to the party…she should quit. The Post gazette reported she got BOOED at the convention (probably due to her for her trashing the dead Mr. Murtha) which she deserved. We expect this from opposing parties, but not OUR OWN!!

It should be remembered that the Democratic party is NOT hafer’s party…she changed….more than once.

I have heard whispers that people think she is probably only running as as Democrat this time because she thinks that is the party that will win, trash all in her way and paint herself as a queen, and then to SWITCH BACK to Republican.

I do want this seat to be a Democratic one! More importantly, I want it to STAY A DEMOCRATIC ONE after inauguration day!!

She has demonstrated she obviously has ZERO LOYALTY to our party…that glaring fact is a gamble that the 12th district CANNOT MAKE (and anyone interested in maintaining the majority in the house.)

It is too important to simply believe she won’t do it…because she already has. TWICE!!!

Critz is, was, and always will be a Democrat. That is ALL that I (and ALL Democratic voters) need to know.

Marylou,

I hope you feel the same way about Specter’s change of parties as you do about Hafer’s. He’s another one who deserves to be retired and not heard from again.

[...] local Democratic gathering, Barbara Hafer, might be breaking out the napalm on the frontrunner. Just before Critz won the local Dem endorsement, a Hafer staffer was making the argument that Critz was [...]

I do! When people change their parties only to win elections…they simply are self-serving and cannot be trusted.

She has shown that she is one who switches time and time again only to help herself… with no regard to the people who got her there. It is simply about HER, not the people.

It is so obvious, I can’t believe the committee gave her ANY votes on saturday. The primary voters should show her THEY SEE THROUGH HER!

Mary Lou-

You can thank Barbara Hafer for Sen. Casey being a US Senator today. Im sure Bob Casey did too, as she put the democratic party above her personal ambitions.

Mark Critz could learn a thing or two from here there. With Marks personal troubles, he needs to put party above personal ambitions like Barbara did.

Shes a good fixture for the party and has been a democrat since 2002 Mary lou.

Yeah, until she SWITCHES BACK AGAIN! SHE SHOULD NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE. Fool me once shame on her, fool me twice shame on me. Maybe

She says she is whatever the voters want. What we want now is CRITZ. She can never be him, and she can’t stand it. If he was so weak, she wouldn’t even bother discussing him.

Scared desperate candidates who are losing ground everyday do stupid things. She should simply bow out now instead of wasting our time.

Joyce Murtha knows her…didn’t pick her. Singel knows her…didn’t pick her. Allegheny Labor picked Critz…he just keeps lining them up and she has NUTHIN.

It is just sad and deluded really that she continues to act like a jerk and really is hurting the person who will be the candidate, which is Critz. Maybe she is indeed already working with the Republicans trying to trash OUR CANDIDATE.

She is soooo trying to pull a fast one on the Democrats of the 12th. We won’t let her. No way.

Did you seriously say “good fixture!” A “fellow” Democrat trashing John Murtha!!?? In his own district? That is laughable. Then she called it “misconstrued” when people turned their backs on her.

Her true colors just shine on through, no matter how she tries to paint herself as something else, don’t they?

You can take the girl out of the Republican party, but apparently you can’t take the Republican party out of the girl. They can have her.

Oh one more thing, do you mean the same Barbara Hafer that called Bob Casey Sr. a “drunken Irish redneck?” Maybe that was “misconstrued”, too.

She is just a nasty nasty, bitter sad person.

Mary Lou–

You are really entertaining me. She is not one thing. A CROOK… like critz

Considering that a lot of Pa voters (and I’m including myself here) could be considered “drunken Irish rednecks” – that characterization probably helped the dear late Governor in his landslide win in 1990.
Maybe Hafer was a mole all along!

Do we have any honest people in politics any more? Are they all slime buckets? As an outsider I read the above comments with my mouth open even though I worked in county/state politics in Missouri for a number of years and know how corrupt things can be at the local, district, and state levels. When are the people going to get sick of this crap? My daughter is in politics and is bright, hardworking and honest and refuses to get in the mudpit with these people. The manipulators and the crooks drive the good people out of politics or put up barriers so they can’t get a foot hold.