Who’s “Qualified” to be a Politician?

Qualified

I heard somebody talking about the upcoming election and they said that neither Tom Corbett or Dan Onorato were qualified to be governor.  In my best Seth Meyers impersonation, all I could think to ask was really?

Much has been made about whether candidates are qualified for elected office over the past few years.  People criticized Barack Obama’s qualifications because he had been a US Senator for less years than Lost had been on…

October 27, 2010 at 10:29 am | Comments (11)

Top Democratic Midterm surrogate, Bill Clinton, in PA again

pClinton will headline a get out the vote rally Thursday afternoon at Northampton Community College’s Spartan Center. Less than a week before the election, Clinton will try to motivate voters to come out and support Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan (D) who is challenging three term incumbent Charlie Dent to represent the 15supth/sup Congressional District and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato who is running for governor against Attorney General Tom Corbett./p
pTraditionally campaign volunteers spend the weekend before the election phonebanking and canvassing for candidates in a last minute effort rally support for their candidates./p
pThe Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee (DCCC) is committed to Callahan’s race. The DCCC has listed Callahan as one of its 2010 a href="http://www.dccc.org/page/content/redtoblue" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.dccc.org']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dccc.org%2Fpage%2Fcontent%2Fredtoblue','Red+to+Blue')" target="_blank"Red to Blue/a candidates, a list of 29 challengers receiving support for surpassing fundraising goals./p
pDespite recent Democratic gains in Pennsylvania and nationwide, both Callahan and Onorato have significant ground to make up by Election Day. A a href="http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_PA_1020.pdf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.publicpolicypolling.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.publicpolicypolling.com%2Fpdf%2FPPP_Release_PA_1020.pdf','PPP+poll')" target="_blank">PPP poll released Oct. 20 shows Onorato down two points to Corbett and that the so-called “enthusiasm gap” has narrowed to five points, meaning Democrats are more likely to come out to vote.

The polling for Callahan, on the other hand, is all over the place. Muhlenberg College

October 25, 2010 at 2:10 pm | Comments (3)

LEFTOVERS: A guv debate, more Senate ads, a Callahan spot, cops for Fitz

Looks like we’ll actually be getting two more gubernatorial debates before Election Day.

One more has been added to the schedule, and this one is set to go down Oct. 18. It’ll be aired on the local ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, giving Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato what could potentially be their biggest debate audience of the campaign.

That debate will come just two days after the candidates have their second debate, a…

October 6, 2010 at 5:07 pm | Comments (3)

Corbett sent Perzel a fundraising pitch

In his day job, Attorney General Tom Corbett has charged state Representative John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) as part of his long-running Bonsugate corruption probe. But as the GOP nominee for governor, Corbett also found time to hit up Perzel for some campaign cash.

The Inquirer

October 6, 2010 at 11:04 am | Comments (6)

Muhlenberg: Corbett up 11, Toomey up 7

Republicans continue to hold healthy leads in Pennsylvania’s statewide races just a month before Election Day, according to a new poll.

The Muhlenberg College/Morning Call survey released Wednesday showed Republican Tom Corbett holding a 11-point lead over Democrat Dan Onorato in the race for governor, 47 percent to 36 percent. Twelve percent of likely voters are still undecided, and Corbett’s edge is one point smaller when those undecided voters are pressed to say which candidate…

October 6, 2010 at 10:46 am | Comments (1)

Onorato’s hit site

The latest of many so-called “hit sites” from campaigns is here. This one comes from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato, targeting Republican rival Tom Corbett.

full story

October 5, 2010 at 3:14 pm | Comments (0)

More Corbett doublespeak

As I pointed out in

October 5, 2010 at 7:30 am | Comments (8)

Rendell to Corbett: Run against your opponent, not me

Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday lashed out at Republican Tom Corbett for trying the make the gubernatorial race a referendum on the lame-duck incumbent instead of just focusing on his opponent.

During a Harrisburg news conference, Rendell said that Corbett should “should start running against [Democratic nominee] Dan Onorato—not me.” In remarks reported by pRendell’s comments came after a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/10/corbett-brings-the-rendell-argument-to-tv/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fcorbett-brings-the-rendell-argument-to-tv%2F','Corbett%22s+campaign+hit+the+airwaves+with+its+first+ad+directly+trying+Onorato+to+Rendell')" target="_blank">Corbett’s campaign hit the airwaves with its first ad directly trying Onorato to Rendell.

He said Onorato “has held the line…

October 5, 2010 at 7:00 am | Comments (5)

Corbett’s Shale dissonnance

A radio ad for Republican Tom Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign that’s running in heavy rotation these days seems to demonstrate the Attorney General’s prosecutorial management style when it comes to the Marcellus Shale.

In the ad, Corbett—who is against a severance tax on extracting the gas—cautions that drilling for natural gas must be done with care for the environment. As he did during his visit to the Patriot-News editorial board last week, Corbett attempts to show…

October 5, 2010 at 6:00 am | Comments (12)

Corbett brings the Rendell argument to TV

For months, Republicans have been arguing that electing Democrat Dan Onorato to the Governor’s Mansion will amount to a third term for Ed Rendell. Four weeks before Election Day, Republican Tom Corbett’s campaign is taking that message to TV.

Corbett’s campaign is up with a new commercial, a 30-second spot that amounts to the strongest effort to date to tie Onorato and Rendell at the hip.

“You want four more years of Rendell’s higher taxes…

October 4, 2010 at 2:17 pm | Comments (11)