Good morning politicos, here’s the Buzz. We hope your Easter and Passover weekends were swell, and you enjoyed the last break in the action before primary day on April 24.
If you missed Keegan this morning talking the Pa. presidential primary with Tim Farley on SiriusXM’s POTUS, listen to it here.
Romney Campaign Plans Mega-Buy of PA TV: Mitt Romney is going for broke in Pennsylvania. His campaign has reserved a whopping $2.9 million in television time in the state. PoliticsPA has the breakdown on where that money is going.
4/6 Ups & Downs: The campaign season is upon us; less than two weeks before primary day. And maybe even less time for a familiar face in the presidential race.
Smith Mailer Hits Rohrer on Pay Raise: Tom Smith is going for Sam Rohrer’s Achilles heel: his 2005 vote in favor of the legislative pay raise. In a visually concise mailer to GOP super voters across Pa, Smith slammed Rohrer for that, as well his vote in favor of a 2001 pension increase.
Inquirer Ed Board for Welch: “Welch, 35, of Malvern, is an entrepreneur whose ideas fly like sparks off an anvil. He has the potential to bring some fresh and creative thinking to the campaign trail and, maybe, Washington. He speaks with the wisdom of a man who has actually started businesses from scratch, and has the humility to admit he made mistakes on the way to his considerable fortune.”
Presidential Campaign Events Open Thread: The presidential campaign has arrived in Pa, and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have begun crisscrossing the state. Here’s your running list of campaign events in PA, which we will refresh regularly. Latest: Santorum adds Western PA events.
Altmire Wins Q1 $$ Battle: Jason Altmire had a solid fundraising quarter, pulling in $330K to Mark Critz’s $285K.
New Holden Ad Dings Cartwright’s Wealth (Watch Video): Matt Cartwright, the Lackawanna County attorney challenging Rep. Tim Holden, has done well for himself. Well enough to win a mention in Holden’s new negative ad.
Murphy Seeks Daylight Over Ultrasound Mandate: It’s an issue that’s not likely to be an issue; the ultrasound mandate has stalled in Harrisburg and is unlikely ever to pass into law. But Patrick Murphy has pushed to demonstrate differences on the issue between himself and Kathleen Kane, the other Democrat running for Attorney General.
DNC, Pa. Mayors Talk Buffett Rule: Democratic National Committee Vice Chair RT Rybak in conjunction with Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Mayor Ed Pawlowski of Allentown held a conference call earlier Friday afternoon to discuss President Obama’s “Buffett Rule” and discuss how a Romney presidency may potentially affect the middle class.
Liberal Super PAC Targets Fitzpatrick: Mike Fitzpatrick is getting some new neighbors. A super PAC affiliated with Credo Mobile, based in San Francisco, will spend $3 million to defeat ten members of Congress including him. They plan to open an office and hire four staffers to work against him.
Super PAC Launches Anti-Holden Ad (Watch Video): Update: watch their web video, too.
Tea Party Group Praises Perry Over Obamacare: The PA chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a well-funded national organization affiliated with the Tea Party, singled out state Rep. and congressional hopeful Scott Perry for praise this week. Perry spoke out against PA’s plans to enact a key component of the health care law.
Legislative Election Updates
SD-29: Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) is backing incumbent Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill) in his re-election battle against GOP challenger Brian Rich. “Dave has been a leader on issues important to our county, including property tax elimination,” said Heffley, who holds frequent town hall meetings with Argall. “He is a tireless advocate for Carbon County residents in Harrisburg and continues to listen to our concerns. I urge my fellow Carbon County residents to send Dave back to Harrisburg so he can continue fighting for us.”
Meanwhile, Tribune Review columnist Colin McNickle continues his feud with ColdSpark Media, the GOP consulting firm advising Raja.
SD-37: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette backed Rep. Mark Mustio in the race to replace Sen. John Pippy. “Without sharper contrasts on the issues, Mr. Mustio’s experience in the House trumps Mr. Raja’s business acumen and makes him the better choice for Republicans in this senatorial district,” wrote the Ed Board.
HD-14: JD Prose reports: “Midland Councilman Sam Rosatone Jr. has changed his mind and WILL RUN a write-in campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 14th Legislative District. After he withdrew from the Democratic primary when faced with a petition challenge from GOP state Rep. Jim Marshall, Rosatone said he wouldn’t run at all.”
HD-25: The Post-Gazette endorsed Mike Doyle in the GOP race to face Rep. Joe Markosek (D-Allegheny) over John Yakim. “Absent bigger points of contention, the contest comes down to experience for the office. On that, Mr. Doyle holds the advantage, having been a member of Plum council since January 2006 and in his third year as president.”
HD-188: Chris Brennan of the Daily News dug into the activity of pro-vouchers group Students First and their efforts to boost Fatimah Muhammad over Rep. James Roebuck (D-Phila) in the primary, and finds a Sen. Tony Williams connection. The fliers were first reported by the Philly City Paper. Likewise, the group gave $20,000 to Jordan Harris in HD-186.
Philly for Change, a progressive group based in the city, made the following endorsements: William Dunbar in HD-177, Babette Josephs in HD-182, J.P. Miranda in HD-197 and Mark Cohen in HD-202.
We gave our headlines-collectors the holiday off; we’ll be back with the full version of the Buzz tomorrow.
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4 Responses
Since the Inquirer endorsed Welch there is no better reason to vote Anbody but Welch. ABW in the primaries. The Inquirer is to the left of the New York Times and that is hard to do.
The Liberal Inquirer and the Liberal Post-Gazette endorsing Republicans…too funny. They both probably endorsed Arlen Spector. I am sure the Post will be endorsing Welsh soon enough. When are real Republicans going to start saying…NOT ENDORSED BY THE INQUIRER OR THE POST-GAZETTE.
The Liberal (and Clueless) Inquirer endorses Steve Welch in a Republican Primary where there are four fiscal common sense candidates who think our country is headed to bankruptcy. FYI Endorsements by Liberals are not helpful in a REPUBLICAN primary.
Here is what Inquirer says about Tom Smith, as if it were a bad thing, that the two parties don’t collude to enrich insiders at expense of the rank and file voter and taxpayer.
“Smith, 64, of Plumcreek Township, in Armstrong County, was a coal miner who started his own coal company. He credits his success to hard work and good employees. He is a grain farmer who owns car washes and a trucking company. While his life story is remarkable, Smith doesn’t seem as open to closing the party divide in Congress, which is essential to curing government of its paralysis.”
This sounds like an endorsement for Tom Smith to me. Steve Welch has embraced and is embraced in return by the Republican Party Establishment Insiders getting rich from government. This is a negative to the Tea Party Wing who think Republican Leadership have sold us out on issues of Economic Freedom. Tweedledum and Tweedledee have not served the productive taxpayer who works, saves and invests well.
Gridlock sounds good to me; like physicians, they won’t do any more harm to the economy and to American Freedom.
In HD-25, how does Mike Doyle think he is going to beat Joe Markosek after the Post-Gazette refers to him as naive? That is funny. He might not even beat John Yakim with everyone thinking Mike Doyle is a Democrat. Go Joe!