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POST-HIATUS RECAP: Corbett’s gaffe, a Dem petition pile on, action in the 11th

A surprising amount of news happened while we were taking a little breather last week. So before we move forward, it seemed prudent to offer up a little recap.

The story of last week had to be Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett’s comments that Pennsylvanians are purposefully staying jobless to collect unemployment benefits. The attorney general made the claim during a radio interview Friday, during which he said: “People don’t want to come back to work while they still have unemployment. They’re literally telling—I’ll come back to work when the unemployment runs out. That’s becoming a problem. The jobs are there, but if we keep extending unemployment the people are going to sit there and… I’ve literally had construction companies tell me, I can’t get people to come back to work, until… they say, ‘I’ll come back to work when unemployment runs out.’”

The merits—or lack thereof—of Corbett’s comments aside, they created a huge opening for Democrats and labor leaders to paint him as out of touch on pocketbook issues. Democratic opponent Dan Onorato has been hammering Corbett over the statement, and party leaders in Harrisburg and even Washington have chimed in. Corbett hasn’t exactly backed away from the comments, which led to a few news cycles of scathing coverage in both mainstream media and on the blogosphere. Onorato sought to keep the issue alive Monday, comparing Corbett’s statement to John McCain’s infamous—and politically damaging—comment after the 2008 financial collapse that the “fundamentals of our economy our strong.”

“This is a fundamental difference between me and my opponent, and I don’t know what world Tom Corbett is living in,” Onorato said in a statement.  “Our economy is struggling, families in Pennsylvania are hurting, and Harrisburg insiders like Tom Corbett aren’t doing anything to help them. Tom Corbett doesn’t even recognize there’s a problem, so it’s no surprise that he has no real plan to improve our economy or actually create the jobs that in his mind already exist.”

Speaking of the attorney general, a couple of Democrats would like to know what’s going on with his investigation into allegedly fraudulent nominating petitions submitted by Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan. You’ll recall that Meehan withstood a ballot challenge from Bryan Lentz, his Democratic opponent in the 7th District. But a criminal investigation into that troubled petition drive was taken up by Corbett’s office earlier this year. At least a few instances of fraud were independently confirmed by news organizations. And since last Thursday marked 100 days since that investigation was referred to Corbett, both Onorato and Lentz said it was time for answers. Both share the same political strategist—former Rendell adviser Dan Fee—and both campaigns issued statements about the issue last week.

“Which Tom Corbett is investigating these allegations of fraud, the Attorney General or the Republican gubernatorial nominee?” Onorato spokesman Brian Herman asked in a statement. “And where does the investigation stand 100 days after Corbett first agreed to look into these potentially serious crimes?” Lentz, for his part, penned a full letter to Corbett, in which he wrote: “…the outcome of this investigation has great relevance to the voters of the 7th district who will be casting their ballots for this race on November 2, just over 110 days from today. The extent of the alleged fraud, the involvement of the Meehan campaign and the participation of the local Republican Party with those fraudulent activities all have a direct bearing on the integrity of our electoral process and the legitimacy of Meehan’s appearance on the ballot.”

The attorney general’s office doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations. But we’ve heard from reliable sources that field agents in the area are indeed looking into the matter, and have conducted at least a few interviews.

And up in northeast Pennsylvania, there was a flurry of action in the contentious 11th Congressional District race between incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski and Republican challenger Lou Barletta. On Thursday, Kanjorski’s planned appearance at a free investor-advice forum held by the financial-industry-funded regulatory group finally took place, and The Times Leader reports that, despite criticism of the event from Republicans, politics were far from the mind of those in attendance.

Meanwhile, Kanjorski’s “too big to fail” amendment to financial reform legislation got some praise, while Barletta bashed the overall reform bill. And while Barletta planned to attend a fundraiser this week to support Arizona’s controversial immigration law, Kanjorski was getting some scrutiny because his nephew is an executive of a solar panel manufacturing company that got a federal loan guarantee. “The congressman … had no contact with any one in the administration to get the [loan commitment] and that’s what it comes down to,” a Kanjorski spokesman said.

Oh, and Barletta issued the inevitable debate challenge in the race.

Keep your browser on pa2010.com throughout the week for much more news as the general election approaches.

July 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm

--pa2010.com Staff

Tags: Bryan Lentz, Dan Onorato, Lou Barletta, PA-11, PA-7, Pat Meehan, Paul Kanjorski, Tom Corbett

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