Exaggerating the political consequences of the health care bill

What will be the effect on local congressional races if the Democrats pass health care using the reconciliation tactic? To hear Republicans tell it, it will be an outrage that spells the final doom for the Democratic Congress. Democrats, meanwhile. suggest it will inspire their base and revive their fortunes.

Who is right?

My guess is that both sides are exaggerating. I don’t think it will turn out any large number of liberal voters, but…

Gibbs (kind of) denies Sestak’s job-offer story

After being prodded by reporters for weeks about Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) claim that the White House offered him a job to dissuade him from runner for Senate, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday answered the question—kind of.

“I have talked to several people in the White House,” Gibbs said,

Hoeffel hypes poll showing him over Corbett in SEPA

Democrat Joe Hoeffel’s campaign this week is highlighting an internal poll that shows him performing better than gubernatorial rival Dan Onorato in critical southeast Pennsylvania, as he seeks to leverage his name recognition from a previous statewide run into an argument about electability.

His campaign on Tuesday circulated a poll memo for a survey that found him topping state Attorney General Tom Corbett, the likely GOP nominee, by 5 points in the five-county Philadelphia region,…

Hoeffel Hammers Onorato for Challenging Petitions

By JOE HOEFFEL 2010

March 17, 2010 – Democrat Joe Hoeffel’s campaign for governor of Pennsylvania today called fellow Democrat Dan Onorato’s challenge of Hoeffel’s nominating petitions a “cowardly act” that “clearly shows Onorato is scared and he has turned desperate.”
Persons acting on behalf of Onorato Tuesday filed suit in Commonwealth Court seeking to challenge a sufficient number of Hoeffel’s signatures to have him removed from the ballot.
Lauren Townsend, co-manager of…

Another Dem goes neutral in the 6th District

State Representative Josh Shapiro (D-Montgomery) has decided to pull his endorsement of congressional hopeful Doug Pike, making him one of the most high-profile Democrats to change his mind in the contentious 6th District primary between Pike and Manan Trivedi.

Shapiro, a three-term state lawmaker with a big profile in the region, confirmed to pa2010.com that he asked the Pike campaign to remove his name from the endorsement list on its Web site, which it did recently—and quietly. Like others who have either gone neutral or switched to Trivedi’s camp altogether, Shapiro cited the fact that Pike was the only candidate in the race at the time of the endorsement.

Thoughts on SpecterPride

How refreshing to see a political candidate trumpet his support of and from the LGBT community in as public a manner as Arlen Specter did last week at the rally announcing his campaign’s

Sestak goes after the little guy in Senate race (Updated)

Joe Vodvarka was a late entrant to the Democratic Senate primary, has virtually no campaign cash and little chance of making any kind of a splash in the May nominating contest.

But Joe Sestak still wants him out of the picture.

Sestak on Tuesday filed a court challenge to Vodvarka’s nominating petitions, according to court documents. The challenge was unusual in that it came directly from Sestak himself; candidates typically find supporters to file ballot…

Report: Onorato challenges Hoeffel’s nominating petitions

Democrat Dan Onorato is looking to keep gubernatorial rival Joe Hoeffel off the May primary ballot.

The Tribune-Review

LEFTOVERS: Health care targets galore, O’Brien’s the ‘most competitive’ challenger

What’s supposed to be the final act of the Democrats’ health care reform push is yielding a bevy of targets in the advertising world.

The Times-Tribune

Rasmussen: Toomey up by 9

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey is leading Democratic incumbent Arlen Specter by nine points, according to a new poll.

The