Convictions, polls and a lei. See who made this week’s list!
Chaka Fattah. This week Congressman Chaka Fattah was finally forced to face the music. On Tuesday, he was convicted on all 29 counts. Wednesday, he floated a trial balloon to try and stay for a few more months. Instead, he was pushed to resign immediately on Thursday. Fattah’s epic fall from grace is now nearly complete as he awaits his sentencing hearing on October 4th.
Donald Trump. According to the new Quinnipiac Poll, Hillary Clinton is leading in Pennsylvania, but only by a single point. Two days later, Sabato moved PA from “Likely Democratic” to “Lean Democratic”, making it the only state that is trending towards the presumptive Republican nominee. All the while, we’re left to wonder why Hillary Clinton isn’t treating PA as a swing state. To top it all off, it appears Bernie Sanders supporters are preparing to be jailed in Philly during the DNC. The Democrats can’t afford to look divided next month.
Katie McGinty. This week’s Quinnipiac Poll contained some terrible news for the Senate Democratic nominee. McGinty trailed incumbent Pat Toomey by nine points, 49% to 40%. That’s a significant setback compared to last month when Toomey’s lead was just one. Additionally, it was revealed that the Koch Brothers’ group Americans for Prosperity is already on the ground doing fieldwork according to the Washington Post. She doesn’t have to panic yet but can’t afford to fall much farther behind.
Barack Obama. The President’s approval rating in Pennsylvania was sagging for much of his second term. As the 2016 election nears, though, his numbers have been steadily improving. The latest Quinnipiac Poll showed that Pres. Obama approval is at last above water at 51%. There is now a good chance that the President will be campaigning in the Keystone State this year for Hillary Clinton and even the down-ballot candidates. Few Chief Executives have been fortunate enough to be able to advocate for their chosen successor.
Eric Papenfuse. We’ve decided to give the Harrisburg Mayor a down arrow every week until he lifts his ridiculous ban of PennLive. On Monday, the Mayor continued to embarrass himself by only answering PennLive’s questions when other reporters asked them. Finally, just as an aside, the next time you want to taken a stand for seriousness in public discourse maybe take off the lei and put down the water ice.
The tweet of the week goes to Congressman Mike Doyle for being in a historic photo.
Fed-up Dems just occupied House Floor – won’t move until we get a vote on No-Fly, No-Buy. pic.twitter.com/cIrWgrMnC0
— Mike Doyle (@USRepMikeDoyle) June 22, 2016
15 Responses
Obama popular …, WAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wahhhhhhhhhh….., that is good news for Hillary …… WAH !!!!!!!!!!!!
THE HILLARY LANDSLIDE. GET READY.
Poor Pat. Donald will make sure Katie prevails. Oh – it’s so perfect. Almost poetic.
F – KILLARY
PA is NOT a swing state. Hillary will trounce con-man Trump.
WTF is it with this seasoned political site constantly citing polls as if they mean something. Every darn week something changes by a point, or a couple of points, and you act like it matters. Anyone that has actually been involved in campaigns knows June polls are for entertainment and to keep polling firms busy.
THE TRUMP LANDSLIDE, GET READY.
9 point lead in the polls proves how a very savy Pat Toomey is teaching Katie McGinty how a campaign goes when you can’t outspend your opponent like she did with Sestak. This lead will widen as the campaign moves forward and the politically astute Toomey will be giving a clinic this summer and fall on how to win an election soundly in tough political times. McGinty will be a loss for the Dems when all is said and done.
Maybe Rafferty should get lessons on how to win an election from Joe Gale?
Rafferty is a lip-less,money-less JOKE of a candidate. Shapiro may beat him worse than Hillary is going to beat Drumpf.
No down arrow for John Rafferty? His campaign has either fallen apart or has never existed. I think an AG nominee in such a bad position deserves a down arrow.
Congressman Doyle should have tweeted a picture of the catered dinner!
Katie is going to need to come up with some better lies about herself.
Words fail me in attempting to describe my utter disappointment with Mayor Papenfuse. I thought he was going to restore dignity to the office after LT did her best to make Harrisburg a laughing stock. This is embarrassing and he needs to declare victory and move on or, better yet, acknowledge his folly. Sure, the PennLive comment section is a cesspool of bigotry and ignorance, but that’s never going to change, at least not in the near term: cowards love to hide behind screen names and spew their garbage. And being asked about potential conflicts of interest is always in-bounds. Time to put on his big boy pants and act like the mayor of a capital city instead of a glass-jawed hack.
“Additionally, it was revealed that the Koch Brothers’ group Americans for Prosperity is already on the ground doing fieldwork according to the Washington Post. She doesn’t have to panic yet but can’t afford to fall much farther behind.”
Gotta love the PPA double standard…
Articles on Conservative PACs include vetting of their donors:
https://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-conservative-group-launches-pro-toomey-tv-ad-video/76176/ (“Classified as a 501 (c)(4) social welfare group, One Nation is not required by federal law to release their donors’ information and has previously been criticized for “shield[ing] its donors” by declining to release their information.”)
https://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-koch-super-pac-attacks-mcginty-in-new-tv-ad-video/75729/
(“Freedom Partners Action Fund, a free-market Super PAC started by the Koch Brothers.”)
https://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-koch-brothers-to-target-toomey-mcginty-race/75444/
(“UPDATE: Kenneth Vogel of Politico is reporting that the Koch brothers have spent $30 million in total for these ad reservations. It is not clear what amount of that sum will go to the PA contest.” This editorializing by Nick Field is a gross mischaracterization of the Vogel article because it implies that $30 million has been paid out of the Koch Brothers’ pockets, rather than donors to Freedom Partners Action Fund.)
Articles on Liberal PACs do not:
https://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-dem-pac-doubles-down-on-toomeywall-street-connection-video/76068/
https://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-dem-pac-accuses-toomey-of-being-wall-street-fat-cat-in-new-tv-ad-video/75579/
(Note: The articles on the McGinty PAC discuss the attacks re: “Wall Street fatcats” funding Toomey’s ads, while failing to address the McGinty PAC’s donors who funded those ads.)