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PA-Gov Round-Up: The Season of Guilt by Association

PA-Governor-Mansion2At this point of the year, the candidates are laying the groundwork for the general election while preparing for next weekend’s state party committee meetings.

This week, though, was characterized by the beginning of another campaign tradition, the charges of guilt by association.

Corbett

When it comes to guilt by association, there is no more tried and tested tradition than invoking the President of the United States. Since nearly every midterm election in American history has been, at least in some respect, a repudiation of the party in charge of the White House, there is no more effective associative charge the Corbett camp can make than tying Wolf to President Obama.

That task was made a bit easier as the Commander-in-Chief is set to visit the Keystone State early next week. The Presidential appearance provided the perfect pretext for the Corbett-Cawley campaign to again hit Wolf on Pres. Obama’s new EPA rules concerning carbon emissions.

“If President Obama is coming to Pennsylvania to address the economy, we hope his discussion will include a reversal of his massive, recently announced new energy taxes that would jeopardize more than 62,000 jobs, and a way of life for many in our Commonwealth,” stated campaign manager Mike Barley. “As the country’s fourth-leading coal producer with unemployment the lowest it has been since 2008, it is alarming that both President Obama and Secretary Tom Wolf would support overreaching tax-and-spend policies that would send Pennsylvanians back to the unemployment line.”

“We will be looking to see if Secretary Tom Wolf will be standing with the President when he visits Pittsburgh next week,” Barley continued. “After all, Tom Wolf supports President Obama’s policies, like cap-and-trade and Obamacare, that are killing jobs and destroying our economy.”

The Governor’s campaign also hit Wolf for supposedly “flip-flopping” on joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an effort by states in the Northeast to institute their own cap-and-trade system. Wolf has stated in the past he supports joining the RGGI. Yet in a speech to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council Wolf said the state would only join RGGI “under the right circumstances.”

“It certainly didn’t take millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf long to begin flip-flopping his positions for his general election campaign,” Barley said. “Just a few short months ago, Secretary Wolf was shouting from the mountain tops his desire to join the coal-killing liberal Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and now suddenly he is emphasizing new conditional support for the plan.  This is just further proof that the people of Pennsylvania don’t know much about liberal millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf outside of his razor-thin campaign platform as told by his slick television commercials.”

Wolf

Meanwhile, the Democrats launched their own attacks against Gov. Corbett. Interestingly, though, the PA Democratic Party took the lead on these missions instead of the Wolf campaign. Usually the incumbent allows their party to throw all the hard punches while the challenger takes more of the risk in directly attacking. The inverse has taken place so far in this race.

The Democrats first sought to highlight the $10,000 contribution Corbett received from the owner of Minuteman, a fracking waste hauling company that was recently indicted on 64 charges by the Attorney General.

“Today, we’re calling on Tom Corbett to return the dirty money. Will he do the right thing or keep money that was given to him by an alleged criminal and crony in the big oil and gas industry?,” asked Beth Melena, Press Secretary and Digital Director of the PA Democratic Party.

Later Melena portrayed this refusal, along with the nearly $1 million the RGA illegally yet mistakenly gave to the Corbett campaign as evidence that the Governor thinks he’s “above the law”.

“Corbett tries to convince Pennsylvania that he’s cleaned up Harrisburg,” she said. “But his repeated pattern of ethics failures and of accepting illegal and tainted money proves that he thinks he’s above the law. Corbett’s willing to accept money from any source in an attempt to hide his disastrous record.”

Finally, the Democrats hit Corbett for running from his constituents, citing a report from NBC10 that a “decoy location” was disseminated to the press to distract protesters from a Corbett-Christie fundraiser in Philly. They also noted that the campaign had apparently canceled a Market Square rally in another attempt to dodge protesters.

“Tom Corbett is so out of touch with Pennsylvanians that he has to schedule decoy fundraisers and cancel events at the last minute to hide from his destructive record,” Melena stated.

7 Responses

  1. POLITICSPA: THIS SPAMMING HAS TO STOP – THIS THREAD IS 20 COMMENTS FROM SOME DOUCHEBAG PRETENDING TO BE REGULAR COMMENTERS AND LINKING TO EXTREMELY NSFW WEBSITES. IF YOU DON’T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, YOU’RE GOING TO LET HIM DESTROY YOUR COMMENTING COMMUNITY. GET SOMEONE TO COPY/PASTE THREE LINES OF CODE TO ADD DISQUS OR SIMILAR COMMENTS TO THE BOTTOM AND STOP THE TROLLS! IT’S FREE AND THIS IS REALLY ANNOYING… ALMOST AS ANNOYING AS HAVING TO READ A MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS.

  2. Dear Mr. Bumsted: I guess after reading your article today on the Moulton-Sandusky report you’ve decided that Tom Corbett should just be beautified not canonized. Brad: Do you ever think taxpayers will be able to read this report like you? Will Professor Moulton have a press conference like Mr. Freeh had? Somehow I think your column today protest too much. I pray to Saint Thomas Corbett that Professor Moulton will do right for the taxpayers of PA and the PSU and the Second Mile Foundation family! What will we learn from the Kane report? | TribLIVE

    http://triblive.com/opinion/bradbumsted/6271533-74/investigation-corbett-kane#axzz34imptnig

  3. Happy Father’s Day: It was great to see St. Thomas Corbett using multi-racial Grandbaby Liam as a prop to wish all Dad’s a great day. I offer this pray in honor of multi-racial Grandbaby Liam to Tom Corbett: Dear Saint Corbett help all those citizens of color to find an expensive sub-par Cyber Charter School. Continue to look after your Keystone Flock. Help especially those victims of Sandusky and the Second Mile Foundation, who helped enable this predator.

  4. I want to wish a happy Father’s Day to the Tom Corbett and Acting Governor John Brabender Gang. I am especially mindful of Big Daddy Roger Nutt, whom I hear may have a consulting contract from the PA Turnpike Commission or the Delaware River Authority. I hope Big Daddy Roger Nutt is not aimlessly wondering around state office facilities like former PA ED secretary Ron Tomalis at taxpayers expense? Acting Governor John Brabender, I thought Tom Corbett, your front man, was supposed to a White Knight Reformer? What happened along the way to the Tom Corbett Political Funeral? Will Mr. Jay Pagni please confirm or deny that Big Daddy Roger Nutt continues to have consulting contracts with PA-related entities? I would be most happy to have received the wrong information, Mr. Pagni. And while you’re at it, please explain what Ron Tomalis is doing for taxpayers?

  5. If this year is a THROW THE BUMS OUT YEAR, then you will hit a double voting against Tom Corbett, even if he is only the front man for Acting Governor John Brabender. Certainly there are reasons far too numerous to list here. And if you are furiously angry with the Washington Republican Consulting Class, then a vote against Corbett is a vote against Acting Governor John Brabender too.

  6. Guest on June 10, 2014 at 1:34 pm said:
    Flashback almost 4 years ago. Beaver Stadium October 30 ish 2010. 3 days before Election Day in Pa. Michigan v Penn State. Fevers were running high Michigan was in the houseee, JoPa was inching towards 400 wins. We were in the Governmental Affairs box right next to the Presidents box. VIPS were everywhere you could smell the money eminating from Graham Spainers row of jazillionaire alumni board members. Oh looky whos that with Graham low and behold it’s Tom Corbett. That guys running for Governor. Let’s go bust in and meet him he could be Governor in 2 days. :-|. :-|!!!
    TOM CORBETT WAS WELL AWARE ON THST DAY THAT SANDUSKY WAS A CHILD MOLESTER AND THAT JOE PATERNO HAD KNOWLEDGE OF IT. IT DIDNT STOP HIM FROM MAKING ONE LAST STOP AT PENN STATE TO PICK UP A FEW CHECKS B4 ELECTION DAY. That day is stuck in my head because when it was announced about Sandusky it dawned on me and I wanted to puke. F&@$!! Corbett and F&@$!! Paterno. Or simply NOOOO IM NOT VOTING FOR CORBETT BUT I NEVER WAS ANYWAY

  7. Signor Ferrari on June 13, 2014 at 5:26 pm said:
    How nice that we’ve all decided to take the word of Governor Corbett’s anonymous lackeys that Corbett is in the clear. How about we wait until the report is released before we decide what it says instead of taking Team Corbett’s word for it?

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