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Dahlkemper hypes conservative cred

With Republicans gearing up to paint Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) as a liberal rubber-stamp for the Democratic agenda, the freshman lawmaker is pushing back, highlighting what she says are her conservative credentials in one of the state’s most competitive House races.

And so, despite votes in favor of health care reform and an economic stimulus package that could rattle constituents in her northwest Pennsylvania district, Dahlkemper insists that she’s just as popular today as she was in the months leading up to her 2008 victory over incumbent Republican Phil English.

“I was well known before I even decided to run for Congress, both as a small business person and in the church community,” Dahlkemper said in a recent interview with pa2010.com. “That was one of the things that surprised my opponent in 2008, and I think it is going to surprise [Republican nominee Mike] Kelly.”

Whether she can convince voters of her conservative credentials remains to be seen, and the challenges mirror those faced by Democrats in conservative district across the district. But she does have some important ammunition, perhaps most notably her profile as a small businesswoman. She and her husband run a landscape architecture contracting firm, and she has sought to frame her vote in favor of the newly-enacted health care law as one that would help small businesses like hers by easing payroll burdens.

Both candidates have a small-business argument to make—Kelly himself is a successful car dealer in Butler. Daniel Shea, an Allegheny College political science professor who has been closely watching the the race, said the challenge for both candidates is to show that their business experience actually means they know how to create jobs.

“When voters think of job creation they typically picture a high tech start-up or a manufacturing plant, not a car dealership,” Shea said. “Kelly should not just assume that voters understand his business experience, and how that will translate to jobs.”

But Dahlkemper, she said, would probably benefit more from emphasizing how she’s helped small businesses during her brief time in Congress.

“She would do much better to demonstrate what she’s done in the past two years to help develop small businesses, in terms of votes cast and government appropriations,” Shea said. “That’s going to be key.”

June 28, 2010 at 9:45 am

--John Manganaro

Tags: Kathy Dahlkemper, Mike Kelly, PA-3

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