Busy Pennsylvanian, give Tues. to me in a nutshell please?

[PhillyGurl]

I am going to vote in the Primaries on Tuesday, but I don't have time to figure out who is best for Senate race (internals, etc.) and Gov. I am afraid that PA is going to go red, regardless of who we run, Corbett has very strong name-recog. and people here might be stupid enough to go Jersey on PA and think it's time for a Repube again.

Anyhow, what's the smart guess to CMA on Tuesday? Many thanks! PM me if you want. I'm voting in Exton, Chester Co.

[MH1]

1. Sestak has best chance to beat Toomey, according to recent polls

Also, he is more progressive than Specter, while not being exactly ultra-liberal.

You can confirm the polls at real clear politics:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/2010_pennsylvania_senate_race.html

You can read about their records and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart:
Specter: http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=53340
Sestak: http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=58333

Remember that Specter put Thomas, Scalia, Alito and Roberts on the Supreme Court.

Specter voted for DOMA.

Specter (in 2004 running against Toomey in the primary) supported privatizing social security, instituting a flat tax, and eliminating the estate tax.

Sestak has a high score (95% or so) from League of Conservation Voters, even in 2009 Specter only got 64%, and Specter's lifetime lcv score is much lower.

Yes, I am supporting Sestak.


As for governor, as far as I'm concerned, the only non-republican running is Hoeffel. Onorato has such a commanding lead I'm sure he'll win, so may as well make a statement and vote for the one progressive on the ticket. (And Williams isn't really running for governor, don't fool yourself. Look for JPZenger's posts on that topic for the explanation. and anyway his big issue is taxpayer funding of private school vouchers. F*** that.)


Edit to add: remember those 'missed vote' ads Specter is running? How disingenuous of him. Go to lcv.org and count missed votes on KEY environmental votes. Specter missed 2/11 (more than 10%); Sestak missed only 1 in 15. Who is the no-show when it counts?

[Yellow Horse]

2. Jack Wagner for Gov. He has won "the T" (conservative Central PA) before and can do it again.

He had the second-highest vote total statewide in the history of Pennsylvania. He holds statewide office, and does have statewide name recognition.

He's moderate enough to appeal to the T, but open to a lot of progressive issues.

He's from Western PA, so he'll bring regional balance to the ticket regardless of who wins for Lt. Governor.

Vote Jack Wagner.

[JPZenger]

3. Onorato has the experience and moderate credentials needed to win in Nov.

The swing areas of PA are very moderate to conservative, even among people who call themselves Democrats. Onorato has the best chance of marketing himself to the masses in November as a moderate, to appeal to them.

Wagner is a great guy, but he has not proven to be a very effective fundraiser or campaigner, unlike Onorato.

As I've said before, I also want a governor with administrative experience. Onorato has run the second largest government within Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. He also has experience on Pittsburgh City Council.

Specter is damaged goods. No one on either side really trusts him. He has high negatives. In comparison, the more people learn about Sestak, the more they like him. He also is an amazingly energetic campaigner. Moreover, his years of experience as a naval officer (peaking at a 3 star admiral) will play well in swing areas of PA.

[JPZenger]

4. What is the real motivation behind the rich guys funding Williams?

Everyone has been trying to figure out the real motivation behind the 3 rich guys who provided millions to Williams' last minute campaign.

I wonder if those guys just wanted to damage Onorato, the leading Democratic candidate, and make him spend money in the primary that Onorato wanted to save for the general election.

(the official explanation is that these rich guys like charter schools, and Williams likes charter schools).

[PhillyGurl]

5. I've been leaning Sestak anyhow

just wondered how he held up against Toomey. I hear the trend is upwards.

As far as Gov., Onorato was really the only one that I thought had a chance, forget about Joe Hoeffel, William's ads are lame-o, I am just afraid that PA is going to pull a McDonnell (Repuke-VA) :mad:

[Yellow Horse]

7. Onorato is a horrible administrator, and he likes paperless voting machines.

Onorato got his so-called fundraising ability by being the hand-picked successor to Ed Rendell.

Wagner has TONS of support in the T right now, and he'll get the funds and full-party support he needs if Fast Eddie's Danny-boy is pushed out of the way. But many Dems, myself included, will NEVER, ever vote for Onorato.

If you want to have a prayer of winning, VOTE JACK WAGNER. If Dan Onorato is our nominee, Corbett will be our next Governor.

Mark. My. Words.

[wisteria]

6. Specter is the guy to get things done and has been running on his record of service to the people

of PA. He has talked about what he has accomplished and what he plans to do if given the chance to be reelected to continue to help the people of PA with jobs,workers' protections, business growth and updated transportation systems. He is working on getting us the Mag lev in PA a European prototype elevated train system that travel very quickly. I Western Pa where I live, this would be a welcome addition to the very lacking system already in place.
Sestak has not run on his record or the issues. He has not told us how he wants to help the people of PA. All he has done is attack Arlen Specter for changing parties. The ad that goes after Specter on this account is spliced and diced and taken out of context. The full quote is this,

"My change in party will enable me to be re-elected and I've heard that again and again and again on the street: 'Senator we're glad you'll be able to stay in the Senate and help the state and the nation.'"


A couple of other quotes from Senator Specter,



"I put my job at risk" by switching parties in an attempt to stay in the Senate and "keep your jobs and add more jobs," he told the crowd. "I wasn't trying to save my job."

“Every move I make, he’s trying to politicize,” Specter said of his opponent. “He might want to rush to judgment and make a decision before a hearing, before knowing what the facts were, but I take these things very seriously.”

VP Biden has just done an ad for Senator Specter,here is some of that ad,

In the minute-long ad, Biden says Specter "is one of the most principled guys I've ever known."
"This guy is a guy with more steel in his backbone than most people have in their whole body."

I mean, Pennsylvania, to lose that seniority, to lose that fight, to lose that tenacity -- this guy never gives up. He's just an amazing guy.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=175&topic_id=17031&mesg_id=17031



One last personal comment. Senators and Congressmen, mayors and other politicians have changed party affiliations for years and most times it has worked to the benefit of the party the politician has switched to. Are we now going to start attacking and penalizing ALL politicians because they decide to come over to our side and work with us? Is this really what we want to do? And, Senator Specter has been a model Democrat since switching parties.

[happyslug]

8. Vote for Luke Ravenstahl for Lieutenant Governor

It is the best way to get him out from running the City of Pittsburgh. Yes, the bad side is he may end up Governor the same way he became Mayor (i.e. whoever wins the nomination for Governor gets elected and then dies in office, the same way Luke Revenstahl became Mayor). The Lieutenant Governorship is the perfect place to lose a politician almost forever, except for two, none of the state's Lieutenant Governors have ever won the governorship OR a Senate seat. John C. Bell, Jr. Became Governor in 1947 when Governor Martin became Federal Us Senator Martin on January 3, 1947, his days in office ended on January 20, 1947 (17 days in office). Raymond P. Shafer is the only former Lieutenant Governor to win the Governorship, so the Lieutenant Governorship is a good place to bury a politician.

[old mark]

9. Our choices are listed here: (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x17068

We selected Sheila Dow-Ford for Congress in District 17...don't know what district you are in.

Here is the site we used to research the candidates - takes maybe 15 minutes:

http://www.uselections.com/pa/pa.htm

Please vote for Democrats.

mark