We’ll begin our week-ahead feature with a small scoop – PoliticsPA has obtained the first TV ad for Republican LG candidate Jim Cawley.
The 30-second spot, the first for any lieutenant governor candidate this year, emphasizes his selection as the state GOP’s officially endorsed candidate while also touting the support he receives from Republican gubernatorial front-runner Tom Corbett.
Cawley, a Bucks County commissioner, faces an array of GOP lieutenant governor candidates this year, including state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and former auditor general candidate Chet Beiler.
Of course, the eyes of all Pennsylvania political observers on Saturday will fixed squarely on the Democratic U.S. Senate primary debate between challenger Joe Sestak and incumbent Arlen Specter. The Philadelphia event will be the second time these two adversaries have gone head-to-head (the first was at the state Democratic Party’s winter endorsement meeting), although this time promises to be much higher-profile.
Expect Sestak, as he showed in February, to aggressively criticize Specter early and often. The question is, how long will Specter parry and focus on his own record before returning fire, as he did effectively at the first debate?
For many Democratic voters, this will be the only time to see both men in action at the same time. A strong performance from Sestak could give him crucial momentum heading into the race’s final weeks, where he’ll likely need to make up a double-digit deficit against the incumbent.
Speaking of the start of May, when can we expect Democratic gubernatorial candidates Joe Hoeffel and Jack Wagner to hit the airwaves as their opponents, Anthony Williams and Dan Onorato, have already done? Each weeks of ads from the two men likely put more distance between them and Hoeffel and Wagner, but the auditor general continues to promise he’ll have enough money to begin running TV spots soon.
And is this the last chance for Sam Rohrer against Tom Corbett? The state lawmaker appears poised to have an aggressive week of events and endorsements, much of which will likely focus on the attorney general’s recent remark that the Constitution is a “living document.”
One thing to note on the governor’s race: For the first time in what seems like months, the candidates won’t gather for one of the array of forums and debates they have participated in this year.
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After GWB and John McCain I vowed: If the Party endorses them I will not vote for them. Voters have grown weary of the Party bosses deciding who will be a candidate. For this reason I enjoin with those who have jumped on board the Sam Rohrer and Daryl Metcalfe bandwagons.