ICYMI: Inquirer Column Reminds Voters of Meehan’s Character and Record as Prosecutor |
DREXEL HILL, PA – In case you missed it, a columnist with The Philadelphia Inquirer, opined about Pat Meehan’s strong character and record as a prosecutor. Pat Meehan is the Republican candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District. The column is below or click pemHow can you vote for a guy who acknowledges his campaign tried to game the forthcoming election? That’s the $64,000 question in the closely watched Seventh Congressional District race between Republican Patrick Meehan and Democratic State Rep. Bryan Lentz./em/p
pem /em/p
pemJim Schneller, a conservative third-party candidate, is also on the ballot, but he has the same chance of winning as the Phillies have to sweep this year’s World Series. Think of Schneller as Lentz’s running mate. That’s because Lentz’s campaign workers gathered thousands of signatures needed to get Schneller on the ballot. The goal was to use Schneller to siphon conservative votes away from Meehan./em/p
pem /em/p
pemLentz said volunteers came to him in the summer with the idea and he gave the green light. Lentz fessed up to the scheme this month, but he didn’t apologize for it. Instead, he blithely shrugged it off./em/p
pem /em/p
pem“Look, politics is politics,” Lentz said in a recent meeting with the Inquirer Editorial Board./em/p
pem /em/p
pemWell, this is the issue in this race. It’s about character. Voters should think twice about a candidate who thinks it is OK to help rig a race./em/p
pem /em/p
pemI suggested to Lentz that gathering signatures for another candidate seemed very Nixonian. Lentz quipped that Meehan was Nixon, and he was Kennedy. Maybe Joe Kennedy in West Virginia. But Lentz is no JFK. Neither is the guy Lentz helped put on the ballot./em/p
pem /em/p
pemSchneller is what the media politely refer to as a fringe candidate. He makes Christine O’Donnell look credible. If miraculously elected, Schneller would want to eliminate the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, and several other federal agencies he says are unconstitutional./em/p
pem /em/p
pemSchneller also supports making abortion illegal, including when a woman becomes pregnant through rape or incest. He wants a commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terror attacks to determine if bombs were used to destroy the World Trade Center. Schneller isn’t an attorney but says he is “fully trained in the law.” He has clogged the courts with a variety of unsuccessful lawsuits, including one accusing hospitals of murder and another challenging President Obama’s citizenship./em/p
pem /em/p
pemIf this is what it takes for Mr. Lentz to go to Washington, then voters should not be surprised if things remain politics as usual down there. Lentz’s time in Harrisburg may have warped his view of public service./em/p
pem /em/p
pemThat’s not to say Meehan is going to be the next Tip O’Neill. He is anything but a smooth politician. That’s one of the things that makes him different from the blow-dried and blowhard types. Meehan was an excellent prosecutor, both as a district attorney in Delaware County and as the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia./em/p
pem /em/p
pemBut the transition from prosecutor to pol hasn’t been easy. Meehan has had some stumbles in his debates with Lentz. He hasn’t done a good job of articulating a compelling vision for his campaign. Instead, Meehan has adopted many of the GOP talking points. But he doesn’t seem convinced that’s the best course./em/p
pem /em/p
pemMeehan supports repealing the new health-care law because of the costs. But he acknowledges Obama would veto any repeal. Meehan says the repeal effort would create a “genuine dialogue.”/em/p
pem /em/p
pemThat’s the more centrist Meehan talking. After all, Meehan got his start in politics working for Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) when he was a moderate Republican. The Drexel Hill resident and former hockey referee is not a right-winger by any stretch./em/p
pem /em/p
pemIf anything, Meehan’s record as a prosecutor says more about him than the rhetoric on the campaign trail. He distinguished himself as the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, rooting out political corruption./em/p
pem /em/p
pemCritics say Meehan targeted Democrats. Perhaps, but where are the Republicans in Philadelphia? I would take Meehan over a Democratic U.S. attorney who looks the other way while pay-to-play becomes the standard way to do business at City Hall./em/p
pem /em/p
pemProsecutors can’t indict someone for his political affiliation. They have to mount a case. Meehan did that./em/p
pem /em/p
pemJust ask former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, perhaps the most powerful and influential politician in Philadelphia the last two decades. He is now in federal prison thanks to the corruption case brought by Meehan’s office./em/p
pem /em/p
pemThe even more audacious case involved the federal bug that was planted in former Mayor John F. Street’s office. Who knows where the indictments would have ended if the bug hadn’t been discovered days later. Even still, a number of Street cronies and administration officials went to jail./em/p
pem /em/p
pemThat corruption investigation changed the entrenched culture at City Hall. At the end of the day, that has been good for taxpayers regardless of their political affiliation./em/p
pem /em/p
pemThat speaks volumes about Meehan./em/p
p(Paul Davies, “Ringside: Meehan has fine record as prosecutor and character that tops foe’s,” emThe Philadelphia Inquirer, /emOctober 31, 2010)/p
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divspan style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"About Pat Meehan/spanspan /span/p
pspanspan style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"A former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the former District Attorney of Delaware County, Pat Meehan has a proven record of rooting out government waste and corruption, prosecuting tough criminal cases, and implementing innovative new programs to make our communities safer. As U.S. Attorney, Meehan helped coordinate the region’s terrorism preparedness and response, held manufacturers responsible for illegally discharging hazardous materials into the region’s waters, and established a group to crackdown on predatory lending. Pat, his wife Carolyn and their three sons Patrick, Jack and Colin, reside in Drexel Hill, Delaware County. For more information, please visit /spana href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=9w4szzcab&et=1103853492702&s=11638&e=001_WVONU-T00BgwXM9TW707lrizIL4uneDClQjBKPXw02-dtYMp8yNLF-hIiFOgGGNkAF_yxIKBkYyEBfGnKQEauS7SEWkYhlLBaaSlHcdoCl87P5AZXE4j3x5KyTr-45-" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://r20.rs6.net']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fr20.rs6.net%2Ftn.jsp%3Fllr%3D9w4szzcab%26amp%3Bet%3D1103853492702%26amp%3Bs%3D11638%26amp%3Be%3D001_WVONU-T00BgwXM9TW707lrizIL4uneDClQjBKPXw02-dtYMp8yNLF-hIiFOgGGNkAF_yxIKBkYyEBfGnKQEauS7SEWkYhlLBaaSlHcdoCl87P5AZXE4j3x5KyTr-45-','www.meehanforcongress.com')" target="_blank"span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"www.meehanforcongress.com/span/aspan style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"./span/p
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diva href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=9w4szzcab&et=1103853492702&s=11638&e=001_WVONU-T00DbnjvjgEvQtvlKLVbwYDIDNzy3cJukSO23bNhiJFX7tcwyPp99i7YstOzrZIDgbuUQ5c0e_oAy24ehOjPbHB25T_yLJq4xnCoQ0PO9oSfWuy_hP14mLDVof7uT9kgAAnA=" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://r20.rs6.net']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fr20.rs6.net%2Ftn.jsp%3Fllr%3D9w4szzcab%26amp%3Bet%3D1103853492702%26amp%3Bs%3D11638%26amp%3Be%3D001_WVONU-T00DbnjvjgEvQtvlKLVbwYDIDNzy3cJukSO23bNhiJFX7tcwyPp99i7YstOzrZIDgbuUQ5c0e_oAy24ehOjPbHB25T_yLJq4xnCoQ0PO9oSfWuy_hP14mLDVof7uT9kgAAnA%3D','Find+us+on+Facebook')" target="_blank">![*** Media Advisory *** ICYMI: Inquirer Column Reminds Voters of Meehans Character and Record as Prosecutor]( "Find us on Facebook") Full StoryOctober 31, 2010
Contact: Virginia Davis, (215) 528-9368 |
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… Full StoryLet’s get something straight this campaign season. There are no “un-decideds.” Or at least there shouldn’t be. If there are, they should be banned from voting. As Dean Wormer said in Animal House, “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.” And if you’re truly undecided, that’s exactly what you’re doing. So for those wannabes who think it’s desirable and politically correct to seem overly “deliberative” during a poll, do us all… Full StoryThree days to Election Day. Make sure you know where your polling place is: - Pennsylvanians can go to liPhiladelphia area residents can call 866-268-8603/li
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pspan style="color: #ff0000;"strongTuesday, November 2, Election Day!/strong/spanbr /
Philadelphians, please push the strong#1/strong button to vote a straight Democratic ticket, or push ‘em separately:br /
strong#101/strong – Joe Sestakbr /
strong#102/strong – Dan Onorato & H. Scott Conklinbr /
strong#103/strong – Your Democratic Congressional Candidatebr /
strong#105/strong – Your State Rep Candidate/p
pYou’ve heard a lot from me about why Sestak; here’s why Onorato:/p
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divstrongHEALTHCARE/strong: Onorato supports Obama’s reforms (including out-lawing existing-conditions exclusions). Corbett is suing to invalidate the new law./div
divstrongMARCELLUS SHALE/strong: Onorato supports a competitive tax in line with that of 27 other states. Corbett opposes any tax./div
divstrongJOBS/strong: On July, 2010, Corbett said, “If we keep on extending unepmployment, people are just going to sit there…. The jobs are there.” Under Onorato’s leadership, Allegheny County has increased manufacturing jobs and had better jobs numbers than the American average./div
divstrongGUNS/strong: CeaseFirePA has endorsed Onorato for his support of reasonable gun laws. Corbett has the NRA endorsement./div
divstrongEDUCATION/strong: PA Education Voters has endorsed Onorato for his solid, knowledgeable, compassionate policies and vision on education issues. Corbett thinks we can’t afford to improve education./div
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Turnout in Philly will determine the results of the Gubernatorial and Senate races this year. GET OUT AND VOTE. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Thanks as always for your attention. –Stephanie
The Eighth Ward IS Center City. Meehan for Congress For Immediate Release October 30, 2010 Contact: Virginia Davis 215-528-9368 ***Media Advisory*** Pat Meehan to Host Roundtable with Small Business Owners on Monday, November 1 DREXEL HILL, PA – On the day before Election Day, Pat Meehan, candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, will host a roundtable with small business owners to talk about the issues that have been dominating this election – jobs and the economy. The roundtable will… Full StoryHAZLETON – Today, Hazleton Mayor and 11th District Congressional Candidate Lou Barletta endorsed attorney Tarah Toohil for state representative in Pennsylvania’s 116th District. “I have known Tarah for most of her life, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing her become a successful, smart attorney. Tarah Toohil has the character and integrity the residents of the 116th District demand and deserve in… Full StoryElection Day is Tuesday (Millions of Americans have been voting early across the country but Pennsylvania is way, way behind the times), and the frustrations of voters are about to come to a boil. Before everyone goes out to vote with their gut, it might be good to step back and think with your head. Voters who have rallied around the cause of “throw the bums out” should think about who they are trying to… Full StoryUpdated: 10/30/2010 Stu Bykofsky wrote in the Daily News on Thursday that Governor Rendell said at a meeting of ward leaders that Democratic Party Chairman (and Congressman) Brady would resign as chairman if Philly voter turnout didn’t top 50%. Rendell and Brady have been the Batman and Robin of Philly politics for so long that I was surprised that Rendell would say such a thing in public. At the recent Obama-Biden rally in Germantown, Rendell… Full StoryOctober 29, 2010
Contact: Virginia Davis, (215) 528-9368 |
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