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10/24 Ups & Downs

Bill Clinton is coming to Pennsylvania, Mike Stack wants to wear two hats and the State Supreme Court scandal sinks even deeper into the mud.

Down ArrowPA Supreme Court. We could’ve given this to Justice Seamus McCaffery for being suspended. We also could’ve given it to him for being on the receiving end of Chief Justice Ron Castille’s blistering opinion. In fact, Castille might have earned himself a down arrow for that intensely personal shot across the bow. Instead, we have to give it to the whole Court for this entire embarrassing episode.

 

Up Arrow1Tom Wolf. This week the gubernatorial contest was focused primarily on policy instead of politics. Unfortunately, that means it was a relatively quiet week in the race. The one big piece of news, though, was that former President Bill Clinton, considered by our own readers the top surrogate in the country, is coming to Pittsburgh to campaign for Wolf on Monday. Plus, we learned this week that Wolf earned $1.3 million last year and it’s hard to give someone a down arrow after reading that.

 

Down ArrowMike Stack. The other half of the Democratic ticket, however, didn’t have as good of a week. Somewhat surprisingly, the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor didn’t commit any real errors in his debate with incumbent Jim Cawley. Instead, Stack shot himself in the foot when he floated the idea that he could serve as State Senator for the 5th district and Lt. Governor at the same time. It’s doubtful the Wolf campaign liked reading about this in the pages of the Inquirer. If they end up going to Harrisburg together this moment could have repercussions that’ll affect how a Wolf-Stack team operates in the future.

Up Arrow1Bob Casey. With the midterms less than two weeks away, it would be forgiven if Senator Casey fell out of the headlines for awhile. Yet the commonwealth’s Senior Senator was a frequent TV guest during the Ebola scare, snagging a MTP appearance out of it (Rep. Murphy was also actively on the case). Then, Casey was able to jump on the story that a few old Nazis were somehow collecting Social Security benefits. He introduced, along with New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a bill that would end this practice. Not bad for a guy who’s not on the ballot on November 4th.

Down ArrowJohn Kane. It’s never pretty when personal allegations are thrown around in a political contest. This week, a woman claiming to be the daughter of Democratic nominee for the 26th State Senate district John Kane came forward. The campaign wouldn’t (or couldn’t) confirm or deny her charges but now an unpredictable and unfortunate dimension has been added to what may be the most competitive State Senate race in PA.

 

Our tweet of the week goes to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Salena Zito who pointed out a particularly peculiar side effect of the state Supreme Court scandal.

https://twitter.com/SalenaZitoTrib/status/524536362285154304

Update: Late breaking Facebook post of the week comes from State Rep. Brian Sims, inspired by this incident:

2 Responses

  1. GOVERNOR TOM WOLF: WE STRONGLY OPPOSE MIKE MIKUS AS WOLF HEALTH CZAR. ENTRUST PA’S HEALTH TO SOMEONE IN PUBLIC HEALTH. KEEP MIKUS IN WAR ROOM. KILL THIS BAD IDEA NOW!

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