The Greene County Democratic Committee showcased a flier this week with Governor Tom Corbett’s face inside a target.
It appeared at the party’s booth at the Greene County Fair in the southwestern corner of Pa.
“Think safety first,” says the flier, a parody of hunting safety materials. “Let’s make him one-term Tom,” it continues, with clipart of a turkey (an adult male turkey is called a ‘tom’).
The bottom center of the flier, where a ‘paid for by’ disclaimer typically would appear, has been cut off.
The Pa. Republican Party forwarded a photograph of the flier to reporters.
“We call on the Chairman of the Greene County Democratic Committee to apologize to Governor Corbett for condoning such disgusting imagery on their table,” said PAGOP Chairman Rob Gleason. “Reasonable people can disagree, but creating something like this is just unacceptable.”
PoliticsPA was unable to contact Greene County Dems chair Greg Leathers. The PAGOP also called on the Pa. Democratic party, state Sen. Tim Solobay (D-Greene) and state Rep. Pam Snyder (D-Greene) to denounce the flier.
Update: Marc Eisenstein, a spokesman for the Pa. Democratic Party, sharply criticized the flier.
“This is completely unacceptable and things like this have no place whatsoever in our political discourse,” he said. “Those responsible for this should be ashamed of themselves.”
Update 2: Solobay similarly criticized the flier, but suggested the committee was not responsible.
“No one from committee had anything to do with the childish prank of the target,” he wrote in an email to PoliticsPA. “None of us condone or would even entertain such a thing. From the looks of the picture and after conversing with the Chair it appears this photo and the mock up was taken sometime late Saturday after the booth was shut down (there was no other materials on the table and the chairs that had been in the booth all week were gone).”
“We believe this was someone other than committee or candidates or elected officials that took advantage of a situation. Again we don’t condone such activity and respect not only the office of governor but the Governor himself even though we may not agree with all his policies. He is still the Governor and didn’t deserve that type of treatment.”
Later in its press release, the PAGOP pivoted to criticism of President Obama and his policy toward coal. The mining industry is an economic mainstay in Greene County.
“Let’s not forget that it is President Obama and Democrats who have declared war on Greene County’s coal industry and heritage,” Gleason said.
12 Responses
I live in Greene County and two nights during the fair visited the Democratic Committee booth inside one of the fairground buildings … I did not see the flier referenced above. I’m calling BS on this one.
I emailed Keegan this question and never got a response, but I’d really like to know if he had any source other than a PA GOP email for reporting “The Greene County Democratic Committee showcased a flier this week with Governor Tom Corbett’s face inside a target,” as fact in the above piece since the Green Co Dems outright deny it.
I strongly believe Politics PA owes its readers an apology if he ran with this story based on nothing but the PA GOP email – that’s quite the accusation to assert as fact with no other source. That is a pitifully low journalistic standard.
Uh, yes, people did throw a hissy-fit over posters “targeting” DemocRATS.
You must have a short memory.
funny… no one thought it inappropriate that targets were used in political messages by conservatives just prior to Gabby Giffords getting shot in the head, but turn the tables and suddenly it’s wrong and offensive. (To use such is irresponsible PERIOD regardless of political affiliation. Disappointing that you don’t keep this reporting fair and balanced by mentioning that such has happened in the past (by conservatives) with MUCH more dire consequences.
If this is real, it has no place in our political discourse. We should not suggest violence as a solution, even in jest.
Remember when the Tea Party was accused of causing Gabby Giffords’ assassination attempt because of a poster….
Good times.
Exactly,
I don’t seem to recall anyone from the PA GOP or Santorum campaign condemning posters that placed the name of Senator Harris Wofford, who was a confidant of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., in a bulls eye during the 1994 Senate race.
I guess that was then.
You would think that incitement to assassinate a Governor who was democratically elected with 54.49% would be condemned by everyone.
They are still mad Corbett threw their boy DeWeese in jail.
Can anyone explain why the photo of the “booth where the flier was located” doesn’t have anyone manning the booth or handing out the flier?
Why would there be flier against Corbett, but not a flier for any of the candidates who are actually running this year and have posters?
Looks a little suspicious.
Why does this stink like a PAGOP stunt? This is Tea Party-type nonsense, and Dems generally know better. I smell a rat.
Oh, and you know who has a war on coal? The fracking industry, and the free market. The fracking industry has cheap fuel, and the free market likes cheap fuel more than dirty expensive fuel. Obama just happened to be in office when it happened.
Funny…no GOP protests when their own people used the same imagery to “target” Democrats in prior elections…maybe if the PaGOP stopped opposing common sense gun regulation this type of political speech would not be so upsetting to people???