What we’ve learned

May 21, 2010 at 12:15 pm

Well time to put the soggy lawn signs away, console the losing candidates, and watch the TV crews pack off for warmer climates. A few lessons as another Pennsylvania primary passes into history/

1. The anti-incumbent mood—It’s almost a commonplace by now, but the elections confirmed that this an anti-incumbent year rather than a liberal or a conservative one. Arlen Specter lost to a candidate largely perceived as being to his left, while favored candidates…

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Welcome to Pennsylvania: Don’t get carried away

May 16, 2010 at 5:08 pm

It’s a great time to write about Pennsylvania politics. National media focus on

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Specter sinks, Williams rises, Sestak endorses: Notes on a bizarre primary season

May 12, 2010 at 2:53 pm

1. I don’t know if Joe Sestak is going to beat Arlen Specter—it looks increasingly likely—but the

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Dems can’t rescue Specter from his own cynicism

May 5, 2010 at 2:29 pm

It’s interesting to watch Arlen Specter’s supposedly invincible lead over Joe Sestak

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Will the Jewish vote be secure for Dems in 2010?

April 29, 2010 at 3:34 pm

The Jewish vote in Pennsylvania is relatively small, but enough to make a difference in close races. In 2008, more than 70 percent of Jews voted for Barack Obama, motivated by Obama’s overall strength but also by resistance to the McCain-Palin ticket’s perceived coziness with the religious right. Will the result be the same in 2010—or, for that matter, in 2012?

Full Story

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Petition challenges, the GOP & the decline of Philadelphia

April 22, 2010 at 1:51 pm

I’ve pBut the Philadelphia Republican Party has taken things to a degree I never imagined./p
pA little background here: the Philly GOP doesn’t win many elections and…

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The Democratic strategy: More hardball and more over-the-top rhetoric

March 30, 2010 at 11:28 am

I was fascinated by the comments on

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Chicago tactics from the Dems

March 24, 2010 at 6:39 pm

Last week my pa2010.com colleague Beth Hegedus reported on

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Exaggerating the political consequences of the health care bill

March 17, 2010 at 12:55 pm

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…

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NRCC thinks big but takes big risks

March 10, 2010 at 2:00 pm

I recently received my “top secret” mailing from the National Republican Congressional Committee, indicating the 100 (!) seats the committee was targeting for the fall election, with a plan to  pour more than $1 million of national funds into the races. Operating on the assumption that anything I know about can’t be very secret, I feel free to divulge its  contents to my readers. Not that there are many surprises.

The most striking thing was…

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