Bob Brady, 1st District congressman and longtime boss of the Philly Dems, had a helluva week:   Brady has been a key player in failed negotiations between Philadelphia and the Transit Workers’ Union striking SEPTA.  Then, only 12% of registered Philly Democrats showed up at the polls on Tuesday, dealing a fatal blow to statewide Democratic candidates, most notably Supreme Court candidate Jack Panella.  On the first day of the strike, an R5 regional rail train caught on fire.  Oh, and the Phillies lost. Tough week, Bob.  Does this mean you’re going to shave your head?

Dan Onorato was seen at the Phillies’ game this week, a smart move for the Allegheny County Executive and Democratic frontrunner to replace Ed Rendell.  Now that the off-cycle elections are over, expect to see much more from Onorato and the rest of the candidates for Governor.   Danny, we know you had to be in Philly for the World Series, but if you really want keys to the governor’s mansion, isn’t there something you can do about the Pirates?

Congratulations to Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-8th) and his wife Jenny, who welcomed their new son, Jack, into the world earlier this week.  Something tells us this kid’s already a pretty big Phillies fan, don’t you think?

The GOP State Committeehas to be grinning from ear to ear after sweeping statewide elections Tuesday, including the most important contest for Pa.’s vacant Supreme Court seat. Despite the Democrats’ 1.2 million voter registration advantage, GOP candidate Joan Orie Melvin handily beat Democratic challenger Jack Panella, tipping the commonwealth’s highest court towards the Republicans.  This win could prove to be significant down the road when the court handles legislative re-districting.

What’s that?  You thought the budget issues had all been resolved?  Well, shame on you.  Just ask Pennsylvania’s college studentsif that’s really the case.  Until legislation to tax table games is agreed upon, students at Temple, Pitt and Penn State could see their tuition bills go up significantly.  They’re already living on Ramen noodles and cheap beer, give these kids a break!

Doc Sweitzer of the Philadelphia-based Campaign Group deserves an up arrow for the valiant, but unsuccessful campaign he ran for NYC Comptroller William Thompson Jr.  Thompson, burdened with extremely low name recognition in the Big Apple, nearly toppled incumbent mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $100 million (no, not a typo) on his own campaign!  When you’re outspent 10-1 against the incumbent mayor, a 5-point loss isn’t too shabby.

Bruce Castor, Montgomery County GOP Commissioner, has to be pleased with the election results from Tuesday.  Despite a huge registration advantage for Democrats, the GOP was much stronger coming to the polls all over the state, and Montco was no different. Credit Castor for having a huge hand in getting several GOP judges elected.

Tags: Brady

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.