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Dem Guv Hopefuls Work the Room at State Committee

PADSC VFValley Forge, Pa. — Gubernatorial hopefuls packed the room Friday night as the Pennsylvania Democratic Party sold out the first annual Jackson Jefferson dinner at the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

Statewide candidates in attendance were introduced earlier in the evening by Montgomery County Democratic Committee Chairman Marcel Groen, who then urged gubernatorial hopefuls not to tear each other down in the primary.

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz was the first gov hopeful to take the stage, where she discussed her work on CHIP.

Former DEP Secretary Katie McGinty followed the keynote address where she talked about raising the minimum wage and winning local elections.

Former DEP Secretary John Hanger bashed Corbett’s education policy and promoted his energy experience.

Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said he wants to turn Pennsylvania around with the same success he had in Allentown.

Former Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf has business experience.

State Treasurer Rob McCord wrapped up the marathon of gubernatorial spiels by outlining his work in standing up to Corbett as the State Treasurer.

Keynote Speaker Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar took the stage with a standing ovation after an introduction from Senator Bob Casey, Jr. and wasted no time laying out her vision for the future of America and Pennsylvania. “We must be a country that makes stuff again, invents things and exports to the world” Klobuchar said, praising a pro-innovation agenda.

The first female senator ever elected from Minnesota, Klobuchar riled up the party faithful when she called for tax reform.

“When you have Warren Buffett playing a lower tax rate than his secretary, we need comprehensive tax reform,” she said. She discussed a money-saving farm bill and comprehensive immigration reform that passed the Senate and ended up buried in a desk drawer in the House.

Klobuchar told the audience how she became involved in politics; as a new mother who was forced to leave the hospital 24 hours after giving birth, despite having an ill infant. Fighting for women’s rights and health care reform, she chastised Republicans for their efforts in defunding the Affordable Care Act. “They want to stop the Affordable Care Act right as Americans are getting the care that they need.”

Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz and pastor Max Myers are also running for governor.

10 Responses

  1. PAIndy-
    My issue with you is that your posts are off topic. The topic of this thread was the Dems and how they dealt with the state committee event.

    Your comments about Corbett’s appointees have no relevance to the topic at hand. It’s not like any of them have endorsed Corbett’s behavior or pledged to engage in similar behavior.

    If there is a discussion threat about Corbett’s failings… have it. But, don’t toss that into an unrelated thread.

  2. Dear Mr. Diano: I suspect you’ll love my Corbett expose. My researchers are hard at work. If the Working Press Corps did a better job of protecting the public interest, I would surely sit down and shut up. I do not mean to upset you; you might just be collateral damage, as our military is fond of saying.

  3. While all those things are true, most of us do the same things now and then . Paindy1…never met the guy or gal. I do admire his/ her concern and passion for the poor, middle class and children! I do enjoy his /her posts. Just MHO.

  4. PAINDY-
    My remark about posting under real name was not directed at you. In your case, my preference is for you not to continue posting at all, because you are constantly off-topic and incoherent. The famous anonymous posters using pseudonyms became famous because they wrote well and were on-topic. You do neither.

    ” Burden” does seem like a good pseudonym for you because that’s what it’s like reading your posts.

  5. Dear Mr. Diano: Using pseudonyms to make political commentary is as American as Apple Pie. Just ask the attendees to the original Constitutional election or Mr. Joe Klein that wrote Primary Colors. I will be penning my expose on the Corbett Administration under the name Jack Burden. Please read Publius.

  6. Dear Dem Gov Hopefuls: How much in donations do I have to bundle for my interest group to get its own Charles B Zogby, a budget Secretary and a Shadow Ed Secretary? Please be transparent. I want to know the current bid price.

  7. Had a great time listening to the gov hopefuls last night. Was impressed with Tom Wolf who gave a smart, reasoned and forward looking speech. He has my vote. Business AND public service background, who else has that combination of experience? We need that in PA

  8. Glad I skipped the dinner. Would have cost me too much considering what I had to pay in gas and tolls for my seven-hour drive just to get here. Guess the party won’t miss me too much since it was sold out. Lotsa money in the Philly area!

  9. Brittany-No wonder I didn’t see you at the dessert reception, you were filing this story. 🙂

    At the dessert event, candidates for the 13th and for Lt Gov were trying to give speeches, but the acoustics were terrible and everyone was milling around and talking. It was a waste of time for the candidates, as no one but their own staffers paid the slightest attention. They did better just working the room one on one.

    I finally got to meet Tom Wolf. Seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t even bother with the Schwartz staffers who were wearing candidate t-shirts over regular shirts, while mostly everyone else was dressed for success, and just had a few buttons or stickers. Except for the head fundraiser, the staff just seems like amateur hour and like they showed up at the wrong event by accident.

    McGinty seems very nice. If she is able to raise enough money, I think she will do well in first-person commercials explaining why she is running. When Kane ran, she explained herself and did well. Murphy had surrogates (the usual suspects) in his commercials. We know how that turned out. McGinty has a similar quality to Kane in the direct way she speaks.

    I didn’t even waste my time with Pawlowski and his tiny entourage. No one I talked to could figure out why he was wasting his time running. The two leading theories were
    1) that the illusion of a Gov run would give him leverage in backroom deals in Allentown
    2) that this was a way to filter money to his cronies by having them pretend they were running a Gov campaign.
    If anyone has a better theory, I’d like to hear it, because we are all pretty stumped about what he is really up to. Of course, it’s possible he’s actually dumb enough to think he has a chance, but I doubt it because he does have opposable thumbs and can walk upright. So, it must be something else.

    I saw Rob McCord. He was laughing and enjoying himself. I’m guessing the Teamsters endorsement was part of it. People were commenting how Rob timed it just right for his announcement. I think those “McCord for Gov” stickers had been gathering dust for months. 🙂
    Rob is pretty popular with Delco and Montco crowd, so he was in his element.

    Oh, yeah, and it seems like a lot of people are following Politics PA, because they recognized my name from here. 🙂
    I hope more posters use their real names and stop hiding behind aliases.

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