We’re on the verge of Labor Day weekend, which means we’ve nearly reached the traditional start of the fall campaign season.
Yesterday, the general dynamics of the gubernatorial race were confirmed by the latest Franklin and Marshall poll that showed Wolf with a 25-point lead.
This last week of summer, however, was very much like the rest of the season. By which I mean it focused disportionately on ads, attacks, and the always controversial and ill-defined term “gaffe.”
Wolf
The Wolf campaign has wisely left most of their negative campaign work to FreshStartPA, the PAC they created after their split with Democratic Party Chair Jim Burn. This week the PAC launched a very successful effort to embarrass Gov. Corbett by spotlighting some comments he made on The Sam Lesante Show last month.
In an attempt to illustrate how the issue of liquor privatization affects PA citizen’s everyday lives, the Governor offered up a hypothetical example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO0CHCIBkG4
“I think a lot of people want to be able to walk into the grocery store,” the Governor stated. “Particularly, a lot of the women want to be able to go and buy a bottle of wine for dinner. Go down and buy a six-pack or two six-packs, and go home. Rather than, what I just described, is at least three stops in Pennsylvania.”
Gov. Corbett’s comments received mainstream attention (particularly from more progressive news outlets) as another example of sexist comments coming from a Republican. It was portrayed as the latest chapter in the “war on women”, an effort that has allowed Democrats to be extremely successful at capitalizing on certain tone-deaf statements.
Yet the question remains, was it an actual gaffe? Republicans obviously don’t seem to think so and the nature of the Governor’s comments allow them to be interpreted either way.
The episode does highlight the self-fulfilling nature of politicians who are gaffe-prone. If you’ve committed verbal faux pas in the past, future statements are more likely to be seen in a critical light. This is why, regardless of partisan ideology, the words of some political figures (ex. George W. Bush and Joe Biden) are more highly scrutinized than others (ex. Barack Obama and Dick Cheney).
Unfortunately for the Governor, this generally isn’t a problem that goes away.
Corbett
Meanwhile, the Corbett camp tried to hit Tom Wolf over what they feel are his own misstatements and gaffes.
The Corbett-Cawley team criticized the Wolf campaign for constantly changing the amount of revenue they believe a 5% severance tax could bring to the state. As the incumbent’s campaign detailed, at various times Wolf or his campaign have said it would be $600 million, $650 million, or $700 million.
“Just as Secretary Tom Wolf’s positions on the issues change with the wind, apparently so do his revenue projections,” said Corbett-Cawley Communications Director Chris Pack. “That’s no surprise given Tom Wolf’s reputation as Revenue Secretary, where projections were so far off they contributed down the road to a $4.2 billion budget deficit and the creation of a non-partisan office to check projections by the governor.”
The incumbent’s campaign also sought to dig up an old perceived gaffe of Wolf’s from a Democratic primary debate, when he answered a question about why the Wolf Organization’s board had no female members by saying his company’s management has “women in spades.”
The Governor’s team sought to contrast the fact that only two of the nineteen managerial members of the Wolf Organization are women to their own candidate’s record of appointing women to governmental posts.
“Governor Corbett’s has the first-ever female chief of staff in the history of Pennsylvania and also has seven women serving at the head of state agencies. Combined, they are responsible for nearly 80 percent of the state budget,” stated Women For Corbett-Cawley Chairwoman Bernie Comfort. “It’s clear that Governor Corbett values the expertise of the many intelligent, hard-working women in his administration.”
If you feel like the accusations that we’ve dealt with this week are too trivial, have no fear. Labor Day is around the corner and the general election is set to begin, so there should be plenty more trivial issues to choose from.
11 Responses
Cgris, I did not say anything about Penn State. Why did you suppose what I said had anything to do with Penn State. You did not answer my question, Just explain to me why “guevonor corbitt” had many more people investigating Bill DeWeese and my friend than he had investigating Jerry Sandusky? Waiting for “all the evidence” is BULL SH** and you know it.
the 2nd smile group aint got nuthin to do with guvv corbitt deciding to wait before getting Gerry sansky. he had to wait til he got all the evidence.
“Yet, then Attorney General “corbitt” had ONLY one individual investigating Jerry Sandusky. Why was that? Did that have anything to do with politics and getting elected “guevonor”?”-BE
That’s an easy on Barricks….Second Mile gave more to his campaign.
bark I aint no what you mean by that cuz wen he was aturney genril corbit knew sansudsky did sumpin wrong and then his offce put the pervert in jail for fourty yrs, so why you no like what guevonor corbitt did with pen state?
Cgris M, you are adept at explaining “guevonor corbitt” , explain this for everyone. During Bonusgate, then Attorney General “corbitt” had 15 people more or less investigating Bill DeWeese and another individual who I know personally told me that 6 people were investigating my friend. Yet, then Attorney General “corbitt” had ONLY one individual investigating Jerry Sandusky. Why was that? Did that have anything to do with politics and getting elected “guevonor”?
Why aint nobody unnerstand what guevonor corbitt meant? all he says is womans in all of penna aint always in mood to make diner and sometime thay just wanna go out to eat.
BERNIE COMFORT IT’S BERLIN 1945: DON’T DRINK THE KOOL AID AND LOSE YOUR CREDIBILITY! http://youtu.be/qAZqkQvopL0
REGARDING MS. LESLIE-GROMIS BAKER, SHE SOLD OUT THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN PATIENT’S FIRST! BAKERS+ROMOFF+BRABENDER+CORBETT=RIGGED PATIENTS FIRST ABORTION!
JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES SO SAYS TOM! CORBETT! http://youtu.be/o_YSoH12dtU
Oh from the link above…..
“It gets worse for Mr. Corbett — and perhaps any other incumbents in the state who are looking at uncomfortably close races in the fall. In the June poll, 59 percent said they believed the state was “off on the wrong track.” In the new poll, that number has climbed to 61 percent.”-PG
http://blogs.post-gazette.com/component/content/article/261-early-returns-feed/42231-new-poll-wolf-edges-ahead
Admittedly I have said worse….although Corbutt has a pattern of saying much worse. The ultra sound and brothers / sisters thingy comes to mind .