Pennsylvania 2014 Discussion Thread

[angus]

Here is the trend:



This comes from http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_25222762/tom-wolf-is-leading-other-democratic-candidates-governor



Here is the most recent reliable poll I have noticed:



It comes from here: 

http://www.fandm.edu/uploads/media_items/march-2014-franklin-marshall-college-poll-release.original.pdf

[angus]

Corbett hoping for a Gray Davis-esque comeback: he should start running TV Ads, attacking the strongest Democrat he fears most and hope that they nominate the weakest Dem nominee for the governorship.

That's exactly what his campaign is doing.  In a radio ad released about two weeks ago, theytook aim at Wolf's record when he was serving as PA revenue secretary.  Now, they're mass mailing pamphlets.  I'm not a longtime resident of PA, but I don't think this sort of meddling by one party in another's primary is regular here.

[angus]

Unemployment down to 5.7% in PA.

Less than the US rate and actually attained because people went to work, rather than via a redefinition of the labor force.  Nice.  Here's some detail from the local paper:  "Total nonfarm jobs grew by 10,900 in April to reach 5,768,800, the highest level since October 2008. The gain was concentrated in the private sector, which added 11,600 jobs while public sector jobs fell by 700.  The largest gain was in professional and business services (up 8,100), which reached a record high at 759,000 jobs.  Construction also added a large amount of jobs in April, up 6,500, the third gain in the last four months..."

This might be good news for incumbent politicians, if those new jobs are actually going to permanent residents of Pennsylvania, rather than people from Louisiana and Oklahoma on the gas rigs.  I haven't seen any detailed statistics about that. 

[angus]

I voted in the primary today as well.  Changed my affiliation to Democrat a few weeks ago for the purpose.  Will change it back to unaffiliated tomorrow.

I voted for Wolf for Governor, but I voted for Smith for LG.  

[angus]

y'all seem to like stack.  Hopefully Wolf won't die in office, so it might not matter much.  Haven't we had enough lawyers already?  The whole point of becoming a Democrat long enough to vote in the primary is to help get rid of the one who is our governor already.

If you haven't voted yet, consider Mark Smith for LG.  Check out his badass guitar riffs:

http://www.marksmithforpa.com/  

[angus]

Tom Wolf is approaching 60% when his opponents were a twice elected, sitting statewide officeholder and a prolific fundraising, nationally recognized Congressman. No one would have imagined...

It helps to have your own multimillion-dollar warchest, doesn't it?

I saw Wolf commercials early on, like back in mid-winter.  They were extremely effective.  They said, look at this guy, got a PhD in astrophysics from MIT and then came back home to drive a backhoe for his daddy's construction business, started his own business which hires former crack-addicts, widows, and war veterans who have lost limbs, helps keep families together, landed a crippled airplane saving all 298 passengers, saved a drowning child, cured testicular cancer, does volunteer work at a soup kitchen every night, and is definitely not a lawyer.  I said to myself, "That's my candidate.  I'm becoming a democrat today."

[angus]

I can't find it.  I have, like, 900 channels and it doesn't seem to be playing on any of them.  Phil, is any outlet going to replay it later tonight?

[angus]

Thank you Phil.  I have found their website.  I'll watch for it at 11. 

[angus]

Watched most of it.  (The plug-in script crashed about 40 minutes in >[ )

Both candidates appeared to have good judgment and Corbett was more specific, especially when challenging Wolf's taxing and spending plans.  Taxes came up 14 minutes in and stayed for the remainder.  The moderator seemed to be keen on holding both of them over the flame.  

I have to agree with IceSpear's observation of crickets for Wolf, applause for Corbett's farts.  Wolf understood the venue and made light of it:  "I suppose that wasn't applause for me; that was applause for the question."  I also agree with Phil that Corbett seemed stronger, or at least more in command of facts (and slightly less evasive) than Wolf.

If the debates count, then Wolf might want to study up a little before the next one.

[angus]

If Wolf is elected, what seems to be almost certain now, how is he going to deal with the republican State Legislature?

Hopefully better than Corbett, who consistently failed to get legislative support for his agenda.

You're right about the campaign, though.  It's largely negative.  That's true for most of the races nationwide, and especially the senate races.

[angus]

Mr. Worf will break the glass ceiling when he becomes the first klingon governor of Pennsylvania. 

[angus]

FLOTUS

I don't like it.  POTUS is good, for obvious reasons, but FLOTUS sounds Latin for the bits of fecal matter swirling about the bowl after a low-flow toilet has been flushed by an overweight vegan after a huge meal.

[angus]

Congrats Phil.

[angus]

Corbett did about as well in 2014 as he did in 2010 in my suburban district:



(maps stolen from lancasteronline.com)