By early March in 2002, the battle for governor of Pennsylvania already was escalating into the political equivalent of nuclear war.
Democrats Ed Rendell and Bob Casey, each with millions of dollars in ammo, had been airing TV ads for weeks. On the campaign trail, Casey was labeling Rendell a “serial liar,” and Rendell was belittling Casey, son of a governor, as having nothing to offer on his own.
At the same point eight years later, the election to succeed Rendell has yet to make much noise. And even when it does get going, it might be overshadowed by the state’s nationally watched U.S. Senate fight.
A pack of lesser-known, less-well-financed candidates of both parties have run no TV or radio commercials. They have been respectful of one another. And polls show that most voters know too little about them – especially the four Democrats – to have any opinion of them.
“It’s a good bet the Democrats running for governor could walk into any shopping mall in Pennsylvania and not be recognized,” said Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which regularly conducts Pennsylvania polls.
With less than 11 weeks to go before the May 18 primary, a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday had “don’t know” leading by nearly a 4-1 ratio over Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, tops among Democrats in the field.
Analysts in both major parties said that, compared with 2002, Democrats are in a downcast mood. They cite that frame of mind, which is restraining fund-raising, as one reason the Democratic primary hasn’t really taken off.
Top Republicans have rallied around Attorney General Tom Corbett, who is widely seen as the GOP nominee-in-waiting. But even with his widely publicized Bonusgate probe of the legislature, half the poll’s respondents said they knew little, if anything, about him.
Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College, said the quiet was almost eerie. “I guess it’s kind of the silent phase of the campaign,” he said.
Even this late, the field of candidates has continued to shake itself out.
Read the full  Inquirer article here
Tags: Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Joe Hoeffel, Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett
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It’s simple, people are simply shaking their heads that these are the best gov. candidates we can come up with? We have zero leadership in this state, no one wants to serve the people, only themselves.