Campaign Moves To Billtown

Williamsport got a heavy dose of the Presidential campaigns yesterday as both of the Vice Presidential candidates were in town.

Senator Joe Biden appeared in the afternoon at Lamade Gymnasium at Lycoming College. During his stump speech, Biden used the Halloween holiday for his newest punch line. He said, "Look, I know Halloween is tomorrow night, but John McCain dressed as an agent of change, that's just one costume that does not fit. It does not fit."

Governor Sarah Palin campaigned up the road at Bowman Field in the evening. The crowd was energized and even chants of "drill baby drill" occassionally reigned down throughout Palin's speech. Palin used the stump as a chance to emphasize the differences between the two campaigns on taxes and energy.

Vote Reaction

I'm sure you have heard enough, but some reaction to yesterday's bailout vote:

• Carney: "I could not vote for a measure that bails out years of unmitigated Wall Street failings at the expense of our hardworking taxpayers. This bailout bill does not provide any source of revenue to pay for its enormous costs, which is not fair to our middle class families that have played by the rules, but are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of their daily expenses. Where is their bailout? It allows the payment of regular inflated salaries to executives of bailed-out firms. Any executive that feels his bonus is too low can ask his firm for a multi-million dollar increase in base salary that is simply unacceptable to the taxpayers who are shouldering the burden of paying for Wall Street’s greed. This type of tough legislation requires genuine oversight in the process. As it stands now, the oversight board can make suggestions for improvements, but has no means to enforce them. We need tough regulations with real teeth. We need to assess the current situation and thoughtfully consider long-term solutions to stabilize our economy, not pass hurried legislation. It might calm the markets today, but the underlying problems remain. We cannot allow Wall Street to borrow its way out of the current fiscal mess. I could not support this legislation, nor could I support measures to allow Congress to adjourn when it is clear that more work needs to be done to ensure the stability of our nation’s economy."

• Peterson: "Having served in the United State Congress for six terms - 12 years - this was one of the toughest votes in my legislative career. My decision to cast a vote in favor of this economic rescue package was a decision that I wrestled with for days, and today reluctantly supported... The option to support or oppose this legislation in my eyes is the difference between possible success and driving further into a recession. While this legislation did not guarantee stabilization of the financial markets, it was the only solution on the table to address a looming crisis....Let me be clear, the legislation that was voted on today (Monday) was not the Bush Administration proposal, rather, it was a bipartisan compromise that protected the taxpayer by eliminating excessive executive pay and so called golden parachutes and was designed so that Wall Street, not Main Street, would be responsible for any potential losses."

• Kanjorski: "Today the House of Representatives voted down the economic recovery plan that the President, Treasury Secretary Paulson, and bipartisan leaders in both the House and Senate told us was necessary to avoid the collapse of the American economy. People must understand that we are not bailing out Wall Street; we are rescuing the middle class on Main Street. Congress must get this job done no matter how long it takes. It is my hope that over the next several days we can all work together to agree upon a plan which puts the interests of average Americans first, as their retirement savings, pensions, and investments continue to dwindle by the minute. Already I have spoken with local businesspeople who are having difficulty obtaining credit to cover their payrolls or borrow money to expand their operations. Unless we unfreeze our credit markets very quickly, these problems will only increase. I will work for as long as it takes until we are able to reach a majority to enact legislation which both protects American taxpayers and stabilizes the American economy."

The challengers:

• Barletta: "I like that the bailout bill included some punishment for failed CEOs. But the bailout bill doesn’t include a clear call for an independent investigation into why this happened, which is what I called for from the beginning."

• Hackett: "[While glad Carney voted against it] But let’s not be fooled; Chris Carney has voted for numerous corporate welfare handouts, including $25 billion for the auto industry just last week. I wish Carney would side with taxpayers when the public spotlight isn’t on him and an election is right around the corner."

[As a side note, The Hill had an interesting article yesterday--which specifically referred to the 10th District--on how challengers in competitive races (as well as open-seat candidates) were quick and early to offer up hard "no's" on the financial rescue measures while vulnerable incumbents were forced to ponder their vote, but eventually succumbed to the political pressure. ]

Bailout Vote

The financial rescue measure failed in the House this afternoon by a vote of 205-228.

Along the Pennsylvania delegation line, the vote was pretty split with the majority--ten members--voting against it. The only Republican who voted for it was John Peterson:

Brady (D-1st): Yes
Fattah (D-2nd): Yes
English (R-3rd): No
Altmire (D-4th): No
Peterson (R-5th): Yes
Gerlach (R-6th): No
Sestak (D-7th): Yes
Murphy (D-8th): Yes
Shuster (R-9th): No
Carney (D-10th): No
Kanjorski (D-11th): Yes
Murtha (D-12th): Yes
Schwartz (D-13th): Yes
Doyle (D-14th): Yes
Dent (R-15th): No
Pitts (R-16th): No
Holden (D-17th): No
Murphy (R-18th): No
Platts (R-19th): No

"Fight With Me"

John McCain's acceptance speech from last night



Also, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge's speech:



It seemed McCain made a strong attempt to invoke his 2000 "Maverick" image as the candidate willing to tackle the big issues with little regard for political party. Perhaps most impressive, he told the party some things it needed to hear.

The last two minutes of the speech where he begins reciting "Fight With Me" provides a great soundbite with him speaking over the crowd's applause.

Eroding Base

Good article from the Associated Press this morning regarding the Republicans and their fight to hold rural voters in November.

It seems rather obvious to many observers that Republicans will carry these voters in the upcoming election, but tough economic times over the last four years combined with a declining standard of living in some of these rural parts have caused pundits to question how strong that support will be this election season.

The article makes note of the fact that Bush won 60% of rural voters in the last election cycle. While early polling this election still highlights a McCain lead in rural voters, the margin has tightened. Obviously in such a close election, Republicans can't bleed votes in this bedrock category.

Certainly, the economy will be a powerful issue this fall, but it won't exist in a vacuum for most voters. Other social issues could help to stabilize this demographic. Yet, even if Obama is able to make inroads with this group (as he's already started a "Barns for Obama" campaign in Ohio), it may not necessarily motivate people to vote for him. Rather, it could just cause rural voters to stay home which would equally erode McCain's projected base.

Nationally, the importance of connecting with rural voters is significant because in battleground states across the country they represent anywhere from 10% to 20% of the electorate. Reaching out to these voters needs to become an important component of McCain's strategy if he's going to have success.

That's a point Terry Madonna also concedes: "McCain will have problems getting a high turnout among those voters unless he finds some way to identify with them, some way to make them think that, A, he’s not connected to Bush, and B, his economic plan is superior to Obama’s."

Carney, Kanjo Co-Sponsor DC Gun Legislation

Washington, D.C.'s reaction to the Supreme Court's decision in Heller has caused some lawmakers to ponder if the city really understood the Court's opinion.

The District of Columbia responded to Court with new regulations that were--for all intensive purposes--just as restrictive as the previous laws. For instance, the city required all guns be registered with the police department, most magazine-fed guns were not permitted, and firearms were to be unloaded or protected with a trigger lock unless a "reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm" exists in the home. This is in addition to the fact that as a D.C. resident, it is effectively impossible to purchase a firearm because there are no federally licensed dealers.

D.C.'s response to the Supreme Court has been so bad that House Democrats are now looking to implement less rigid legislation and override the city. Democrats put together a bill to repeal most of the restrictions listed above and the House leadership has even agreed to have a vote on the bill sometime next month.

The Second Amendment Enforcement Act (H.R. 6691) already has almost sixty co-sponsors. Included among those are several Pennsylvania Democrats including: Chris Carney, Paul Kanjorski, Jason Altmire, Tim Holden, Patrick Murphy, and John Murtha.

The legislative maneuvering for this bill has some pretty obvious political undertones for Democrats. Primarily, this bill could be a way for Democrats to avoid the stereotyping [i.e. Americans are "bitter" so they "cling" to their guns] that Barack Obama has used. The measure could still likely get stalled and killed in the Senate before it's all said and done, but in the meantime, the legislation allows Democrats to bat around a political volleyball. Gun rights promise to be a big issue in the fall especially with the $40 million campaign the NRA is planning to pursue. Therefore, this legislation establishes some tangible "proof" that Congressional Democrats are not the gun grabbing elitists that the up-ballot candidate [Obama] suggested they were.

Kanjo On The Radio

Paul Kanjorski called in to the Steve Corbett show on WILK this afternoon. A couple issues were covered, but one of the more interesting topics Kanjorski discussed was his relationship with Barack Obama. After being directly questioned by Corbett, Kanjorski confirmed that he has publicly endorsed Barack Obama for President and suggested that he will cast a vote in support of Obama at the convention in Denver assuming there are no drastic changes between now and then. Corbett also asked whether Kanjorski would campaign with Obama. Kanjorski responded that not only would he campaign with Obama, but Obama would likely be in the district within the next month.

Corbett couldn't get too many questions in with Kanjorski so there was no further word on whether he will accept Barletta's challenge for eleven debates. It's been one week since Barletta proposed the framework and Kanjorski initially appeared reluctant to participate in all eleven.

UPDATE: Click here to listen to the interview.

Lobbying Around DC

After yesterday's ROMP endorsement for Chris Hackett, Chris Carney received the support of Arlen Specter's former chief-of-staff David Urban. It seems that Urban grew to admire Carney as he has got to know him.

These two endorsements will also force Carney and Hackett to compete directly across the street from one another on July 16. The two will both be in D.C. Hackett will be at the ROMP fundraiser while Urban and his lobbying firm American Continental host a $1,000 a plate breakfast fundraiser for Carney.

It has been suggested that Chris Carney is a "Capitol Hill opportunist" so his relationship with this lobbyist raised some immediate question. While Urban denied any professional interest, one issue beneath the surface is just how interested Urban is in Carney because he's a "bipartisan" or rather if his sudden support of Carney stemmed from Chris Hackett's interest in eliminating earmarks?

ROMP

Chris Hackett received a nod of support and financial assistance from Republican Whip Roy Blunt. Blunt announced eight beneficiaries who will be receiving aid from the GOP's ROMP (Regain Our Majority Program). Hackett was one of the Republicans named as well as Phil English of Pennsylvania.

Not only does ROMP give Hackett some needed aid, but reaffirms the party's overall commitment to helping Hackett compete in the fall.

The National Republican Congressional Committee plans to hold a fund raiser on July 16 to assist those newly added Republicans. The upcoming event will be the second event (out of a total of four). From The Hill: "Four ROMP events usually occur each cycle. The first two raise funds for the most endangered incumbents, while the third is meant to allow members and fundraisers to go on the offensive. The fourth tends to be a final push to raise money for members in desperate need of campaign cash."

Freedom's Watch

The Times-Tribune has a follow-up story on yesterday's post regarding the ads aimed at Carney and Kanjorski.

It has not been disclosed how many times or on what stations the ads will run, but Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney both fired back by targeting the origin of the ads.

Kanjorski spokesman called Freedom's Watch an "extremist group" associated with Lou Barletta while Carney spokewoman Rebecca Gale said the "ads are typical of the attacks the Democrat has come to expect from political allies of his Republican opponent, Chris Hackett."

Ad Wars

While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is preparing to run ads featuring a Bush impersonator over Independence Day weekend, Freedom Watch is preparing its own ad to run against 16 vulnerable House Democrats.

Two of the Democrats on that list are Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski.

The ads will be on the radio this weekend and sound something like this:

“We are struggling. Businesses are struggling. More and more Americans are losing jobs. What is Congressman Chris Carney doing about it?” a narrator asks in the ad targeting Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.)

“Chris Carney voted five times against environmentally safe domestic energy production, voted against American energy independence… But Chris Carney stands in the way … while we cut back on gas and groceries, family outings and summer vacations.”

Here's the video ad that Freedom Watch is also running

An Energy Agenda

On the issue of energy, it seems Rep. Chris Carney may be finally stepping out of the political sandbox of personal insults and into the public arena to debate the issue.

Carney put out a press release on the topic last week and commented further in today's Times Leader story.

Carney points to three legislative measures he supported in the past week. The first would suspend any further deliveries of oil to the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The second bill would work to curtail speculation on the price of oil. The third bill would provide $1.7 billion for mass-transit grants.

While Carney had previously criticized Chris Hackett for supporting "Big Oil," it appears Carney may have flipped on the issue as he now is open to and would support attempts to increase domestic oil production.

There's no word out of Carney's camp whether Carney will take Hackett up on his challenge to sign "American Energy Pledge".

It will be interesting to see on the topic of energy if Carney can stick to his platform or whether he'll revert back to simply criticizing Hackett's personal finances. With a story today again highlighting that Hackett has assets valued at 10 to 20 times what Carney has, it would only seem only natural for Carney to continue to make it a campaign issue.

Cabinet

Ed Rendell suggested last night that he would be interested in serving in Barack Obama's cabinet if Obama was elected President. Rendell once again reiterated that he has no interest in being Obama's VP, but mentioned he wouldn't mind serving as Obama's Secretary of Energy or Transportation once he finishes his second term as governor.

Click here to listen to the audio.

Local Reaction

The reaction to yesterday's Supreme Court decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller sounded pretty similar across the region:

U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke - “For the first time in history, the Supreme Court has finally acknowledged a freedom which many of us have always known – that our Constitution protects the right for Americans to bear arms. I joined many of my colleagues in expressing this opinion to the Court. Protecting one’s individual liberty is a fundamental American right, as the Supreme Court today recognized.”

Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta – “It is a great day for the Second Amendment. It is a great day for Americans. I believe this decision was proper.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township - “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for responsible gun owners everywhere. The Second Amendment applies equally to us all. The right to bear arms is paramount, and no local, state or federal government should be able to compromise that right.”

Republican congressional candidate Chris Hackett – “This ruling protects the individual freedoms guaranteed in the Second Amendment, which for 32 years has been denied to Washington, D.C., residents. The Court has kept laws intact that are meant to protect citizens from unnecessary gun violence, but also guaranteed the individual rights that are explicitly written in our Constitution."

A Budget Deal, Really?

It seems an agreement on the budget could be reached sooner rather than later. One sign that this could happen is that both sides are continuing talks and no one has yet to walk away from the table.

House Republican leader Sam Smith noted that it could be possible for the House and Senate to vote on budget bills Monday and have them signed by the Governor on Wednesday. This would seemingly avoid the furloughing of state employees as Rendell previously stated he would not do so if he perceived a budget deal to be close.

The Democrats' plan to dip into the rainy day fund has been taken off the table after Wednesday's negotiations, but a hiccup in the agreement is how to make up for the projected surplus shortfall due to the economic downturn.

Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) said, "Calling it a framework is a generous description, but it is not entirely inaccurate."

Even a budget that was two-days late would still be an improvement for the Rendell administration.

Long Road Ahead

There's a confidence beginning to brew in the Barletta camp, and this became quite apparent when Barletta challenged Congressman Paul Kanjorski to debate 11 times before the fall election.

The Barletta proposal would consist of six summer debates to be aired on WILK radio. Each debate would last roughly 30 minutes and focus on a single issue.

Following the summer debates would be five hour-long, public debates in the fall. Each debate would be held in a different county (Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Monroe) to ensure the candidates covered the region.

Kanjorski campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell responded by signalling there would be debates between the two candidates, but didn't specify if Kanjorski would agree to Barletta's proposed framework.

This is an interesting move by the Barletta camp for two reasons. First, Barletta's legitimacy as a candidate seemed to be improving drastically everyday by simply doing nothing. That series of Kanjorski follies exponentially improved Barletta's odds and everyone seemed to take note that Kanjorski may indeed be doomed. Barletta's internal polling even had him with a lead in the race and several outlets noted the seat was indeed vulnerable. This series of debates may be a way for Barletta to further get his name out to the constituency and, in the process of doing so, increase his campaign cash for the all important fall months. Secondly, in the Hazelton mayorial race, Barletta was criticized by his opponent for failing to debate her. Therefore, this appears to be an furthered effort to break that perception of Barletta.

Some Say It Best...

From Steve Corbett at WILK Radio discussing Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski:

"Although Carney looks more and more like a Capitol Hill opportunist, Kanjorski is particularly losing credibility through his silence and political hustling. If I can recognize their slick manipulation, and I’m a Democrat, who knows how Republicans and independents view their cavalier abuse of power."

(Lack of) Energy Solutions

This shouldn't be too surprising, but the Carney campaign decided to personally attack Chris Hackett as their way of addressing the energy issue.

Last week, Hackett released a statement citing Chris Carney's failure to address any of the current issues the district is facing (i.e the rising price of gas).

Instead of responding with Carney's own ideas or even rebutting Hackett's plan, his campaign took the opportunity to point out Chris Hackett's personal investment holdings in oil-companies. Carney's campaign manager Vincent Rongione said:

“It’s disappointing that once again, Chris Hackett says one thing and does another. He wants policies that support his own bank account, not the American people. Hackett stands to gain a great deal with his oil company stocks with offshore drilling, his personal dividends continue to grow at the expense of record-high gas prices. This is a guy who only looks out for himself and his own money.”

Rather than a personal investment, could it be that Chris Hackett just wants a sensible energy policy? No, addressing Hackett's policies would be too substanative for the Carney campaign. Even Carney's most recent press release on his House of Representative's web site is focused on John McCain and the upcoming election.

Below you have an outline of the Republican plan to get gas prices back under control. If something this substanative was to come from the Democrats (or Chris Carney), then maybe there could be an actual debate of merit on the issue.


If Chris Carney only likes to play politics with these issues and never act, then maybe his job as a political scientist at PSU was better fitted.

No Worries

Pennsylvania collected substantially less tax revenue than expected for the month of May.

Of course, Governor Rendell's office assured everyone that the declining revenues do not represent a noteworthy trend and stated that revenues fluctuate on a month-to-month basis.

However, as the Patriot-News reports:

"March's collections were down by 2.7 percent. May's collections were off by 7.2 percent. With the exception of the inheritance tax, all the major tax sources came in below estimates in May. More than one tax category has been known to come in below estimates before. But six of the seven major taxes collected are not all down during a typical month.

If the tax revenues continue to fall short, lawmakers would have to make up the difference. They would have three options: Draw down reserves, cut spending and services, or raise taxes."

Specifically:

• The sales tax came in $5.6 million below estimate.

• The personal income tax came in $97.9 million below estimate.

• The corporate tax came in $31.5 million below estimate.

• The realty transfer tax came in $1.8 million less than expected.

• The cigarette and malt beverage taxes came in $18.2 million below estimates.

• The motor license fund generated $15.2 million less than estimated.

The month of May represents only the fourth time in two years that revenues failed to meet expectations, but it was also the most severe imbalance. This certainly signals the downturn in the economy, but also that the Governor's expected surplus of $250 million will be unattainable.

This should strengthen the Republicans' hand in budget negotiations this week because it exemplifies everything the Republicans have been saying for the past few weeks: not to go hog wild on spending because the generated revenue may not be there to cover it.

May the today's Editorial in the Sun-Gazette sums it up best:

"Every governor should be responsible enough to send to the Legislature a budget proposal that, at the most, is equal to the rate of inflation. This governor does it the opposite. His everything-but-the-kitchen sink proposal amounts to a state government spending spree that taxpayers can't afford."

Extension

The Pennsylvania Turnpike lease was extended 30 more days after the Rendell administration was able to broker an agreement.

The offer was set to expire last Friday, but the current terms ($12.8 billion for 75-years) will simply be extended for another month.

"They understood that we are involved in a legislative process," administration spokesman Chuck Ardo said today. "They agreed that the [JUNE 20]target date was unattainable. They are willing to work with the Legislature as long as it appears that there is movement on the issue."