Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Senator Chris Matthews (D-PA)?
Monday, April 28, 2008
Rendell's primary campaign work questioned
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Breaking: Hillary Raises $10 Million After PA Victory
Residents in Schuylkill County Disapprove of Massive Cargo Airport
How did Hillary pull it off?
Obama won in the Main Line communities of Lower Merion, Radnor and Tredyffrin, as well as in Rose Valley and Doylestown. But he lost in the Newtown townships (both the one in Delaware County and the one in Bucks County), and also in Upper and Lower Makefield.
Clinton, meantime, racked up solid majorities in many of the classic, post-World War II suburbs, including Bensalem, Bristol Township, Warminster and Warrington, Upper and Lower Southampton, and Springfield (Delaware County).
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
LIVE BLOGGING
(6:22): MSNBC Exit Poll: Clinton 48 Obama 43
(7:12): From Drudge Report:
Women
Clinton 55%
Obama 44
Men
Clinton 47%
Obama 53
Whites
Clinton 60%
Obama 40
Blacks
Clinton 8%
Obama 92
(7:15): From ABC News
"Despite all the down-to-the-wire campaigning, preliminary exit poll results indicate that nearly eight in 10 Pennsylvania voters made up their minds at least a week ago, and six in 10 decided on their candidate more than a month ago -- a higher number of early deciders than the norm in Democratic primaries to date."
(7:51): From the Morning Call:
"Women and older voters came out in force Tuesday in Pennsylvania's presidential primary, encouraging signs for Hillary Rodham Clinton as she sought a win to sustain her campaign.
Both groups have tended to support Clinton in previous states, and she needed their support once again. Pennsylvania was a must-win state for Clinton as she tries to overcome rival Barack Obama's lead in the race.
Should she lose, it would be a fatal blow to her candidacy -- a defeat so unexpected that it would sap her arguments to remain in the race. It would be the dawn of a Democratic era minus the Clintons as the dominant force."
(9:20): HILLARY WINS PENNSYLVANIA
12% Reporting: Clinton 53 Obama 47
(9:32): The Politico provides a state map that reports primary results from each county.
(9:34): Surprise: Obama takes early lead in Allegheny County with 57% against Clinton's 43%.
(10:03): Clinton is now leading in Allegheny 56% to Obama's 44%.
(10:05): Chester and Montgomery Counties still not reporting. Delaware County: Clinton - 52% Obama - 48%; Philadelphia County: Clinton - 39% Obama - 61%; Bucks County: Clinton - 66% Obama - 33%
Monday, April 21, 2008
PA Voter Registration: Key Counties
KEYSTONE PRIMARY: DECISION DAY
"After more than 40 Democratic primaries and caucuses, Obama, the Illinois senator, leads Clinton by more than 800,000 votes. Even if the New York senator wins by more than 20 percentage points tomorrow -- a landslide few experts expect -- she would still have a hard time catching him.
Clinton needs 'blowout numbers,' says Peter Fenn, a Democratic consultant who isn't affiliated with either campaign. 'The wheels would have to come off the Obama bus, and the engine would have to blow.'"
STAY TUNED FOR LIVE BLOGGING AND UPDATES
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Philly Inquirer restates support for Obama
Opponents argue that Obama isn't ready to be president. Compared with Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama has the least amount of Washington experience. But that is likely one reason he's winning over so many voters. People crave change.
But Obama's address did more than serve his own political needs. It called on blacks and whites to consider each other's legitimate motives, and to move beyond conflicting perspectives. Turning a tempest into an opportunity for national reflection and action is a sign of leadership.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Pennsylvania primary won't sway superdelegates
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Keyes announces presidential bid in Hazleton
Wecht Trial Update
"In an open letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan today, more than two dozen Pennsylvania public figures urged that the Justice Department "reconsider the publicly announced decision to re-try De. Cryil Wecht." You can see the letter here.
Among the signers are Melissa Hart, a former Republican congresswoman who lost reelection in 2006, Jerry Johnson, the U.S. Attorney for Pittsburgh during the Reagan administration, and both the former and current chair of the Republican Party in Allegheny County. The signers also include a number of members of the Allegheny county council and the Democratic former mayor of Pittsburgh, Tom Murphy. The Wecht case is based on allegations that Wecht misused county resources while serving as coroner there.
Given that the jury hung in the first trial and jurors have told the media that most of them had agreed on acquittal, the signers agree that a second trial "would certainly not be in the interest of justice."
It's just the latest bit of pressure put on prosecutors. Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) have already expressed their concern that prosecutors used FBI agents to contact jurors who served on the case. Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, a Republican, also criticized that decision. And that's on top of the scrutiny the case has had for months."
Reviews of last night's awful debate
For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.
To this observer, ABC's coverage seemed slanted against Obama. The director cut several times to reaction shots of such Clinton supporters as her daughter, Chelsea, who sat in the audience at the Kimmel Theater in Philly's National Constitution Center. Obama supporters did not get equal screen time, giving the impression that there weren't any in the hall. The director also clumsily chose to pan the audience at the very start of the debate, when the candidates made their opening statements, so Obama and Clinton were barely seen before the first commercial break.
Ed Rendell's off the record comments after the debate are a tribute to the moderators' bias:
From Chris Bowers of Open Left:
I went to the spin room after the debate, looking for someone from ABC in order to ask them about the questions in the first half of the debate. Unfortunately, in the spin room, a vortex of discourse was eating its own tail as the signifier drowned the signified in a rusty bathtub in the corner, so I fled out of a deep sense of existential horror. As I was walking back to the filing center, I passed Governor Ed Rendell just as he was finishing an interview. Afterwards, appearing very happy, he said the following to someone standing next to him, revealing not only what he thought of the debate, but also of the early questions at the debate:
"Even an Obama Kool-Aid drinking guy like yourself has to admit she scored a decisive victory tonight. A decisive victory. A knockout blow. A decisive victory. A decisive victory. Even more decisive when they started asking real questions."
Tonight, Gibson seemed shocked when the two candidates spoke of raising taxes on the very richest in this country. He seemed far more concerned about the Democratic candidates' proposal to raise the capital gains tax--and what he claimed would be the lost revenue-- than the fact, as the New York Times's Steven Greenhouse reports in his new must-read book, The Big Squeeze, that "since 1979, hourly earnings for 80 percent of American workers have risen by just 1, after inflation...[at a time when]the nation's economic pie is growing, but corporations by and large have not given their workers a bigger piece."
Wecht Trail: Judge refuses to step aside
Monday, April 14, 2008
Pottsville Republican: Great Maroons Debate on Friday
Hillary launches attack ad against Obama
Latest Poll Numbers
"But there are reasons to question ARG polling numbers. In a polling report card of 2008 primary accuracy issued by a rival survey company, ARG ranked in the bottom half of more than three dozen polling firms, among 2008 primaries through late February. It also ranked near the bottom in another ranking of pollster accuracy at fivethirtyeight.com, a Web site that tracks the Electoral College. And, as I wrote last month, the widely tracked polling averages at the political Web site Real Clear Politics don’t include ARG numbers, because of concerns about transparency. Like they’ve been in Pennsylvania, ARG polls also were volatile in previous primaries, notably in Wisconsin, which saw a 16-point swing in just two days."
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Luzerne County Commisioners Petrilla and Skrepenak split
"He said he's bitter because he supported Petrilla's 2005 run for county controller and chose her to be his Democratic commissioner teammate last year. Skrepenak said Petrilla never raised concerns about his tenure until after she was elected commissioner.
'Where was Maryanne Petrilla for two years as a controller? She didn't say anything to me. For two years she sat back and said nothing,' Skrepenak said. 'I'm tired of being the one taking the blame for everything.'
He homed in on questionable debit-card spending, saying Petrilla should have received more heat for not detecting it as controller. The office had access to computerized financial records, and money to pay the bills was deducted from specific accounts, he said.
'If money was taken out, her office should have been asking, 'Where are the receipts?' Skrepenak said. 'The only reason I didn't bring this up back then is because she was my teammate, and I wanted to get us both elected.'"
Monday, April 7, 2008
Latest Poll: Clinton and Obama tied
Pennsylvania Democrats
Obama 45%
"Obama leads 52% to 38% among voters age 18 to 49 (52% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Clinton leads 52% to 38% among voters age 50 and older.
27% of all likely Democratic primary voters and 41% of likely Democratic primary voters age 18 to 49 say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary and 25% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary."
Margaret Carlson trashes Pennsylvania
"In many places, the daughers and sons of...families look back and think their parents were hopelessly hokey, if not chumps. But not in Harrisburg, the town that Starbucks forgot until recently. Like upstate New York, where the blue-haired ladies also had to cope with disappearing jobs and hound dog husbands."
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Dowd: On PA campaign trail, Obama needs to become more macho than Hillary
Maureen Dowd, NY Times:
"Obama has been less adept at absorbing the lesson of Hillary’s metamorphosis from entitled queen of the party to scrappy blue-collar mama. His strenuous and inadvertently hilarious efforts to woo working-class folk in Pennsylvania have only made him seem more effete. Keeping his tie firmly in place, he genteelly sipped his pint of Yuengling beer at Sharky’s sports cafe in Latrobe and bowled badly in Altoona. Challenging Obama to a bowl-off, Hillary kindly offered to 'spot him two frames.'
At the Wilbur chocolate shop in Lititz Monday, he spent most of his time skittering away from chocolate goodies, as though he were a starlet obsessing on a svelte waistline.'Oh, now,' the woman managing the shop told him with a frown, 'you don’t worry about calories in a chocolate factory.'
The Times’s Michael Powell reports that, after watching five plump, white-haired women in plastic hairnets spin the chocolate into such confections as 'Phantom of the Opera' masks and pink high heels, he ventured: “Do you actually eat the chocolate or do you get sick of it?” They giggled at his silliness.
He looked even more concerned when he was offered a chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting. 'Oh, man.' he said. 'That’s too decadent for me.'
One of the most valuable lessons the gritty Hillary can teach the languid Obama — and the timid Democrats — is that the whole point of a presidential race is to win.""The Hillary Waltz" - Maureen Dowd, NY Times
Ravenstahl backs Pittsburgh-Allegheny County merger
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hillary Compares Herself to Rocky
Friday, March 28, 2008
Casey backs Obama
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president today in Pittsburgh, sending a message both to the state's primary voters and to undecided superdelegates who might decide the close race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The endorsement comes as something of a surprise. Casey, a deliberative and cautious politician, had been adamant about remaining neutral until after the April 22 primary. He had said he wanted to help unify the party after the intensifying fight between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"There are few stronger advocates for working families in Pennsylvania than Sen. Casey," Pfeiffer said.
By coming out for Obama, Casey puts himself at odds with many top state Democrats - including Gov. Rendell, Rep. John P. Murtha and Mayor Nutter - who are campaigning for Clinton.
The endorsement also comes at a crucial time for Obama, who has been trailing Clinton in Pennsylvania polls by double-digit margins but who also has bought at least $1.6 million worth of television advertising statewide in the last week, more than double Clinton's expenditure.
Obama strategists hope that Casey can help their candidate make inroads with the white working-class men who are often referred to as "Casey Democrats." This group identifies with the brand of politics Casey and his late father, a former governor, practiced - liberal on economic issues but supportive of gun rights and opposed to abortion. (Obama favors some gun-control measures and backs abortion rights.)
Obama badly lost the white working-class vote to Clinton in Ohio and Texas on March 4, keeping the outcome of the fight in doubt amid questions about whether he could appeal to a group of voters that has often strayed from the party in presidential elections.
Since then, Obama has been stressing economic issues important to the middle class more often than his calls to reform politics. His campaign's recent TV ads in Pennsylvania also feature blue-collar imagery.
Other state Democrats who support Obama include Reps. Patrick Murphy and Chaka Fattah, and former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel.
Casey sees Obama as an "underdog" in the campaign who sacrificed at the beginning of his career to be a community organizer "in the shadows of the closed steel mills in Chicago," said a source close to Casey who is familiar with the endorsement decision but was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
The source, reached by The Inquirer yesterday, said that Casey was also impressed with how Obama had stood up to the pressures of the campaign, including recent attacks over the racially incendiary remarks of his former pastor.
Casey's decision was also personal, motivated in part by the enthusiasm his four daughters - Elyse, Caroline, Julia and Marena - have expressed for Obama, the source said. "He thinks we shouldn't be deaf to the voices of the next generation."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
WaPo's Ignatius in need of PA economic lessons
Employment in Pennsylvania reached an all-time high in January and then fell slightly in February. People here fear that a steep recession may be coming. But as of February, unemployment in the state was just 4.9 percent. Since January 2003, Pennsylvania has added 178,000 new jobs, according to the state government.
Where are all these new jobs coming from? The answer is that as the old rust-belt manufacturing industries sank, Pennsylvania became a platform for innovators in technology, finance and the health industry. What saved the state, above all, was its concentration of great universities, which provided the human capital for growth.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Madonna: Lehigh Valley and Southeast could help Obama take PA
He is positioned to emulate Rendell to a greater extent than is generally recognized. Essentially he must win the same 10 counties Rendell won in 2002, while reducing Clinton's margins in her strongholds. Currently he leads in Philly and will likely win there decisively, making the suburbs a major battleground. The Democratic voters there largely mirror the upscale, affluent voters Obama has been attracting nationally: They are the most liberal in the state, strongly oppose the Iraq War, with a low regard for President Bush. For insurance Obama needs to join the Philadelphia suburbs to the two pivotal swing areas, the Lehigh Valley and Southcentral, where the Democrats are moderate to liberal and where he currently polls well against Sen. Clinton. Beyond this, managing turnout will be crucial for him.
Obama's campaign has given every indication that he does not expect to win the most delegates when Pennsylvania votes on April 22, due to an overwhelmingly white, working-class electorate that has already given Hillary Clinton a sizable lead in some polls. But Obama's team has put to work an intense registration program designed to achieve a broader strategic goal: limiting the scale of Clinton's win to maintain Obama's national edge in the number of total votes cast in the Democratic primaries.That contest for total votes, while meaningless in any formal sense, is a key to Clinton's strategy for wooing superdelegates by convincing them that she has the broadest strength among voters."In this state right now, his game is about bringing the popular-vote differential down," said Ken Smukler, a Pennsylvania Democratic strategist unaligned with either candidate. "Since Super Tuesday, this game has never been just about pledged delegates."
The Obama campaign's registration program seems to be working, even in deep Hillary country.
From the Hazleton Standard-Speaker:
On the last day of voter registration, Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters had a clear edge over those for his Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections. Obama supporters brought boxes filled with more than 3,000 voter registration forms to the bureau’s office on North Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre on Monday, while volunteers for Clinton returned several hundred forms, Director of Elections Leonard Piazza said.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
McCain gives Barletta the cold-shoulder
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hillary gaining momentum in latest Quinnipiac Poll
"In this latest survey, the split between black and white voters grows. Clinton has widened her lead among women likely Democratic primary voters and narrowed Obama's lead among men. Subgroup numbers are:
-White voters go with Clinton 61 - 33 percent, compared to 56 - 37 percent February 27.
-Women back Clinton 59 - 35 percent.
-Men go 48 percent for Obama to 45 percent for Clinton, compared to February 27 when men backed him 50 - 43 percent.
-Obama gets 50 percent of Democrats with a college degree, to Clinton's 45 percent.
-Among voters with no college degree, Clinton leads 57 - 37 percent.
-Voters under 45 back Obama 57 - 39 percent while voters over 45 back Clinton 60 - 34 percent."
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Today's Papers - Pennsylvania Matters
The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that "not since Jimmy Carter in 1976 have residents in the state had a real voice in a presidential primary." Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns have opened offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Clinton campaign plans to open offices in Scranton, Allentown, State College, Harrisburg, Erie and Johnstown by the end of the week.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, "The delegate math made it unlikely, though not impossible, that Mrs. Clinton could overcome the Obama lead, even with a string of strong showings in Pennsylvania and other subsequent primaries. But by the same token -- as the Clinton campaign has pointed out repeatedly in recent weeks -- neither Democrat was in a position to capture the nomination on the strength of pledged delegates alone."