By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Democratic congressional candidate Doug Pike on Monday proposed he and his inter-party opponent, Manan Trivedi, run “positive” campaigns free of personal attacks on each other, an agreement he said will help the party win the 6^th District seat in the fall regardless of who the nominee is.

Pike, a former editorial writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, proposed the seven-part agreement to Trivedi in a press release. It included rules that would forbid attacks on Trivedi’s family, motivation and qualifications while focusing exclusively on policy differences between the two candidates. Staffers and volunteers would be held to the same restrictions, according to the agreement.

“Today my campaign is proposing a positive campaign pledge for me and my Democratic primary opponent, Manan Trivedi,” Pike said in a statement. “I believe that either of us would be a welcome alternative to Congressman Jim Gerlach, and the best way to ensure that we finally turn this seat blue is to run a positive Democratic primary campaign.”

If the agreement is broken, Pike proposed the candidates call each other to apologize.

The primary between Pike and Trivedi was widely expected to among the state’s most competitive, and it already has sparked several heated exchanges between the two sides. Pike referenced an article on this Web site that stated the contest is expected to be among the state’s “nastiest,” which the former journalist said benefits only the Republicans.

Pike and Trivedi, a veteran and physician, are each seeking the party’s nomination to face incumbent Jim Gerlach.

*Trivedi’s campaign indicated it would not sign the agreement because it would favor Pike.

“It certainly sounds like someone who’s afraid of his own record,” said Ed Niles, Trivedi’s campaign manager.

*UPDATE: Niles emphasized in an interview after this article’s publication that although he stood by his quote, the campaign hasn’t made any decision about whether it will sign the pledge. He said he and Trivedi will discuss the idea Tuesday and make a decision then.