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LEFTOVERS: Hoeffel on transporation, Dems mock a Burns typo, blogger drafting Shea

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel headed to a closed, dilapidated bridge in West Philadelphia Wednesday to pitch his transportation plan. The Democratic candidate for governor wants to double the amount of money allocated to the state Department of Transportation, which he’d raise partly by increasing gasoline taxes and other fees.

“I believe in a safe, efficient, green and sustainable transportation infrastructure,” Hoeffel said in a statement later. “As an aging state with much of our infrastructure on life support, we can afford nothing less.”

Meanwhile, Democrats were quick to pounce on an apparent typo in an e-mail from 12th District Republican candidate Tim Burns. In the e-mail to supporters Wednesday afternoon, his campaign described Burns as a candidate for Congress in “District 20.” Alas, there are only 19 House districts in Pennsylvania, and Burns is running in the 12th. There’s nothing to indicate that it was anything more than a typo, but that didn’t stop the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from mocking the misstep.

“It’s almost like Tim Burns is going out of his way to prove he’s clueless and out of touch with western Pennsylvania,” DCCC spokesman Shripal Shah said in a statement. “Someone should tell Tim Burns that there aren’t even 20 Congressional districts in Pennsylvania and that he’s actually running in the 12th district.”

And if labor leader Jack Shea decides to run against Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4), he’ll have a friend in John Morgan. Author of The Pennsylvania Progressive, Morgan is one of the most prominent and influential liberal bloggers in the state. And now he’s trying to get Shea to challenge Altmire, who was one of only two Democrats in the state to vote against health care reform legislation on Sunday. A new Facebook page titled Jack Shea for Congress, which lists Morgan as its creator, asks visitors to “help persuade the union leader to challenge Congressman Altmire.”

March 24, 2010 at 11:45 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: DCCC, Jack Shea, Jason Altmire, Joe Hoeffel, PA-12, PA-4, Tim Burns

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