Archive for May, 2010
LEFTOVERS: Critz sworn in, Steele says GOP will win, the Saidel robo-call
Democrat Mark Critz is now a congressman. The longtime John Murtha aide officially stepped into his late boss’ shoes on Thursday, being pMeanwhile, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says Critz shouldn’t get too comfortable. Despite the fact that his party took a beating in the special election, Steele says wealthy businessman Tim Burns will prevail in his November rematch against Critz. Steele blamed the fact that Democrats had higher turnout because of their competitive statewide primaries. “In November, we’ll get that seat back because, guess what, independent conservatives get to play then and that will be a very different race,” Steele Sunday during “This Week” on emABC /em(see video below)./p
pAnd lastly, there’s one thing that sat in the empa2010.com Central /eminbox for far too long: the mysterious robo-call that targeted Jonathan Saidel in the hours before he suffered what looks like a devastating loss in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor. Saidel may still get a recount against state Representative Scott Conklin (D-Centre), and most of the blame for how things turned out has to fall on his campaign. But one factor, however small, may have been the robo-call. Phones in Philadelphia received the robo-call, in which a woman who says she’s backing Doris Smith-Ribner in the race asks if “Saidel is running for controller or for grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.”/p
pThat’s a reference to a brief controversy from the early 1990s, when Saidel said he opposed school busing plans to send children to “parts of the city that look like East Beirut.” Shortly after, then-City Councilman Michael Nutter said he thought Saidel was “running for city controller, not grand wizard.” It remains unclear who put out the robo-call, and Smith-Ribner has said she had nothing to do with it. But the Saidel campaign wasn’t happy./p
p“To suggest that Jonathan Saidel, of Jewish heritage and a champion of civil rights for his whole career, has anything to do with the KKK is disgusting,” campaign spokesman Marty Marks a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/Saidel_Slammed_In_Campaign_Robocall_Linking_Him_To_KKK.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.philly.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fcityhall%2FSaidel_Slammed_In_Campaign_Robocall_Linking_Him_To_KKK.html','told+The+Daily+News')" target="_blank"told emThe Daily News/em/a. “It’s politics at its worst.”/p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/LtGov_robocall.mp3" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F05%2FLtGov_robocall.mp3','Listen+to+partial+audio+of+the+call+here.')" target="_blank">Listen to partial audio of the call here.
NBC’s David Gregory Shines Light on Sestak’s Sham Independence
By TOOMEY FOR SENATE
Allentown – This morning on Meet the Press, host David Gregory shined a bright light on Joe Sestak’s sham independence, demonstrating that Joe is and has been a reliable rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi’s extreme agenda.
For months, Sestak has been trying to play the role of the outsider, claiming independence from the Washington Democratic establishment, but when pressed by Gregory to name examples of his independence, Sestak offered nothing but…
Full StoryQuestions keep coming on Sestak’s job offer claim
Even after his big primary win last week, Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) just can’t seem to on on national TV without being asked about his explosive claim that the White House offered him a job to nudge him out of the Democratic contest against Arlen Specter. It came up anew Sunday, with NBC‘s David Gregory grilling Sestak about it on “Meet the Press.”
As he has for weeks, Sestak stuck by his story that he…
Full StoryRendell loves The Campaign Group—but still hates the ad
PHILADELPHIA—Gov. Ed Rendell sure had a lot to say about The Campaign Group in the days before and after last week’s Senate primary. To any cable pundits that would listen, Rendell would say the Philadelphia-based consulting shop, which counts him as a client, was basically the only reason Joe Sestak stood on the precipice of victory. He would call it “my ad agency,” and say hiring media gurus Neil Oxman, Doc Sweitzer and J.J. Balaban…
Full StoryCorbett withdraws Twitter subpoena
Facing a raft of criticism from Democrats and civil liberties advocates, Attorney General Tom Corbett has withdrawn his subpoena seeking information about two Twitter users who post fiercely critical missives about him on the micro-blogging service.
The Post-Gazette
Full StoryWhy Specter lost (and Sestak won)
There have been countless postmortems examining the fall of Arlen Specter at the hands of Joe Sestak.
But there’s no such thing as over-analyzing in this business, so here’s our take.
It’s the party, stupid
On the national level (and even on these pages), Specter’s loss has often been interpreted as part of the anti-incumbent wave sweeping the country. While that was likely a factor, the core of what happened was much more simple: Specter…
Full StoryLentz wants to debate Meehan ‘any place, any time’ (Updated)
With primary day in the rear-view mirror, Democrat Bryan Lentz says it’s time for Republican Pat Meehan to get serious about having some policy debates.
Lents this week issued a challenge to his 7th District opponent, saying he was ready to debate Meehan “any place, any time.” His comments came after Meehan wrote in an e-mail to supporters that he looks forward to “setting up a vigorous series of debates” with Lentz, and after instances…
Full StoryWhat to look forward to (and my radio gig)
What a week it’s been. Arlen Specter, the seemingly unbeatable political marathoner, was finally vanquished at the polls on Tuesday, as insurgent Democrat Joe Sestak won the primary in a political thriller that has left Washington abuzz. Much ink has already been spilled analyzing this race, as well as the other major primary races around the country. Here’s my take on what happened on Tuesday, and what it means not just for Pennsylvania, but for…
Full StoryCorbett starts with early lead, poll says
Republican Tom Corbett is starting his general election contest with Democrat Dan Onorato sporting a comfortable double-digit advantage, according to a new poll.
