send to a friend | print | comment

Metcalfe: I ‘blindsided’ the party

State Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) is pretty happy with himself. In a political culture and media environment that makes keeping secrets a tall order, Metcalfe slipped one by political insiders earlier this month, when he surprised all watchers by filing nominating petitions to run for Lieutenant Governor earlier this month.

His candidacy made it a whopping nine Republicans on the ballot for the office, and with unrest in the party’s base palpable, a movement conservative like Metcalfe could be just the candidate to harness it.

“I’m the individual that’s had the most opportunities to talk about the issues that matter to the base,” Metcalfe told pa2010.com in a recent interview.

Not that there aren’t significant obstacles in his way. In joining a crowded field and with the party establishment firmly behind its endorsed candidate, Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley, gaining enough statewide traction will be a formidable challenge for any of the other candidates. Metcalfe, who’s been called the General Assembly’s “No. 1 Conservative” by The Post-Gazette, said he’s running a mostly-volunteer operation. His campaign manager, Carl Glock, is a longtime supporter and retired public school teacher, but he’s never run a campaign before.

“A lot of the folks that have been involved with me over the years, my campaign is usually the first they’ve worked on,” said Metcalfe, who officially opened his campaign headquarters late last week. “We’re going to be running a very aggressive, volunteer, grassroots operation.”

And by choosing to run for Lt. Gov. while simultaneously seeking reelection to his House seat, Metcalfe runs the risk of alienating the same conservatives that make up his base of support. Bob Guzzardi, a conservative activist who is prominent in the grassroots and was mulling a run for Lt. Gov. himself, made the point Tuesday morning, in one of the many blast e-mail missives for which he is known.

“…which of two state offices that Rep. Metcalfe is running for does he really want?” Guzzardi asked. “If he is running for Lt. Gov. can he really be committed to representing his own district and where does a state Representative get time to run for another office?”

In the interview, Metcalfe said he kept his drive to get on the ballot for Lt. Gov. below the radar to keep the party establishment off guard and “stop them from targeting my state House seat with one of their RINOs.” Boasting that he “blindsided” the party by filing at the last minute, Metcalfe kept up the anti-establishment message to which he’s pegged his campaign. If elected, Metcalfe has promised to challenge his own party’s governor in a primary if the governor breaks campaign promises.

“That’s something that’s needed on this day in our country’s history, and on the next day in our government’s future,” Metcalfe said. “That’s a unique platform we haven’t seen.”

Metcalfe kept up that tack in an open letter to members of the Republican State Committee, which his campaign released Tuesday morning.

“I am asking for the support of every independent-minded Republican State Committee person that is fed up with being asked to settle for the G.O.P. establishment’s RINO candidates,” Metcalfe wrote. “I know if you fit the above description you are in the minority. What the public does not generally know is that individual State Committee votes are not released, the majority of the State Committee members are just puppets, yes men and yes women, pawns of the powerbrokers and kingmakers who try to control the party.”

March 30, 2010 at 12:03 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Daryl Metcalfe, Jim Cawley, Lt. Gov.

comments

comments [9] | post a comment