The Pennsylvania Republican Partycontinues to ride pretty high. Good leadership and solid candidates are taking advantage of unrest in the state. Corbett (Governor) and Toomey (U.S. Senate) are ahead in the polls and the GOP has managed to recruit serious challengers for many Congressional races. Still the messaging remains unclear on which breed of Republicans will get strong party support. Will pro-choice moderates like Mass. Senator-elect Scott Brown (who said he won’t automatically oppose all of Obama’s initiatives) be favored, or does the GOP follow in the footsteps of Pat Toomey, the Club for Growth’s “RINO-hunter in chief,” and attack Republicans deemed unworthy of the title? Republicans should carefully study what happened in NY-23, and what’s going on now in Florida and Texas.
Down: let’s assume for argument’s sake that PETA has done some pretty good work for animal rights over the years, but why mess with Groundhog Day? Telling the folks up in Punxsutawneyto use an animatronics model instead of the real little guy is just ridiculous. He lives better and is loved more than many of the PETA protesters (maybe that’s why they’re upset). Where’s Bill Murray when you need him?
Poor Steve Welch. It’s not easy to feel bad for such a young millionaire, but Welch has had a rough time in his first foray into politics. After investing time and money into his campaign in the 7th District, Welch had to step aside for GOP frontrunner Pat Meehan, but was encouraged to run for the 6th. Then after he bought a lovely home in the 6th, GOP incumbent Jim Gerlachreturns to the campaign, with full support from the local and national parties. Still, you’ve got to love the pensive, patriotic, high school yearbook style picture in the Philadelphia Daily News.
It’s not often that you see an endorsement rejection (unless, of course, you’re Rod Blagojevich), but that’s exactly what happened to Senate candidate Joe Sestak this week. Sestak blasted party leadership in an interview with Talking Points Memo (TPM) this week, saying that Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) would make a better Majority Leader than Harry Reid (D-NV). Reed’s office then sent an unsolicited email to TPM that said, “Senator Reed respects and appreciates Congressman Sestak’sservice to the nation…he strongly supports both Leader Reid as well as his colleague Senator Specter’s reelection.” Maybe it’s an Army-Navy thing (Reed went to West Point, Sestak attended the Naval Academy).
Rep. Patrick Murphy’s (D-8) initiative to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy hasn’t always been popular, but it’s quietly gaining support in Congress, and President Obama went out of his way to support the effort in Wednesday’s State of the Union address. Murphy, a decorated veteran, has demonstrated a commitment to the issue since taking over the movement to repeal it in July ‘09. The policy is intolerant and unwieldy. Here’s hoping it doesn’t last much longer.
The DCCC’s just couldn’t help themselves when rolling out the new nickname for Chris Carney challenger, former US Attorney Tom Marino. Marino, who had an illustrious career as a prosecutor, is considered a serious candidate. Still, his current representation of embattled businessman and casino developer Louis DeNaples makes it just too easy for the Democrats to attack “Casino Marino”. We’ll have to wait until fall to see how the voters in NEPA bet on that one.
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