Dueling phone town halls

Call waiting is a nice feature that I rarely have to use.  Tonight Jason Altmire and the Mark Critz campaign held dueling town halls, and it was nice being able to switch between the two calls.

Jason Altmire fielded questions for about 45 minutes.  He said he had about 6000 people on the call.  It was pretty clear that they were not filtering the questions, and he capably answered whatever was thrown at him.  This included questions about a pro-Critz mailing that most of us received in the mail today and his vote for a balanced budget amendment.  One thing that has impressed me is his ability to clearly answer questions, and the patience he shows making sure the constituent understands.

Mark Crtitz was not on his own town hall.  It was primarily a union affair which included AFL-CIO PA President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary/Treasurer Frank Snyder.  This call lasted about half an hour which was mostly spent talking about how Critz supports working families and Social Security, and asking people to vote for Critz.  They said there were 3000 people on this call, and took a couple questions.  I really wish Mark Critz had been taking part in the town hall.  After all, he is the candidate.

Can Mark Critz win in the General Election?

This question has been bothering me for quite some time.  Mark Critz wants voters in the primary to think of him as the better Democrat, but does that make him the better candidate in November and the better person to represent us in Congress?

Most of his support comes from unions.  I can't help but wondering if that is really because he is not Jason Altmire than anything else (Altmire becomes target for unions over healthcare law vote).  Many union leaders claim that Altmire promised that he would vote for health care reform, while Altmire says he told them he would likely support it but it depends on the final version of the bill.  I guess Altmire wanted to read it to see what was in it before voting on it.  Altmire's version of the union meetings is supported by some union leaders and those unions are supporting him.

One question I have is if Critz wins and the unions have succeeded in getting their revenge on Altmire, will they still be there as enthusiastically for Critz as they are now?  The only real difference between them is this promise that Altmire allegedly broke.  Critz is firm that he would not have supported health care reform either.

First of two of the issues that became large in this campaign are Altmire criticizing Critz voting "present" on a vote for a tea party budget that Altmire went against party leadership to vote "no".  The second is Altmire's vote for a balanced budget amendment.  In a general election, I think both issues could benefit Altmire and hurt Critz.  Voting "yes" or "no" and not playing games like voting "present" is an example of the kind of games many people here hate.  I liked that Altmire didn't play this game and voted "no", and I think a lot of voters in our district would agree.

I think that a balanced budget amendment would be a disaster for this country.  I don't think any rational Republican would really want it either if they were really honest about it, but Altmire or Critz won't be running against a rational Republican.  The concept, however, has widespread support.  Altmire's vote for the balanced budget amendment makes this a non-issue in the general election.  However, the Republican Tea Party challenger and the super pacs will beat Mark Critz like a rented mule over this issue.

Two other challenges for Mark Critz are that he is not as polished a speaker as Jason Altmire and he knows little about our area and we know little about him.  Critz's performance at a televised debate a couple week's ago was poor. The low point was when he stopped answering a question to say "My commercial is on TV.  Hey look at that." and pointed to a TV monitor off camera.  Parts of it were painful to watch.

Jason Altmire has been our representative for three terms.  He is very visible and is on TV quite a bit both locally and nationally.  His accomplishments are well known.  Mark Critz seems to be more comfortable working behind the scenes as he has for so many years under John Murtha.  This makes it a bit more difficult to see his accomplishments.  He also admittedly is just learning about our area having spent most of his life around Johnstown.  Will he represent this entire region or stay in the Johnstown area?  Altmire already has relationships built in our area as does the Tea Party challenger.

On Critz's side is his campaign manager, Mike Mikus.  Mikus may be the best campaign manager in our area having successfully lead both of Critz's previous campaigns, Altmire's second campaign against Mellisa Hart and most recently, Rich Fitzgerald's campaign for County Executive.  He probably knows Allegheny County and its politics was well if not better than anyone.  His knowledge and experience are the real reason this is a close race more than anything else.  If anyone can bring Critz to victory in November, it is Mikus.  I think he is outgrowing running local elections and is ready for a bigger challenge.  If Critz loses, I think any smart statewide candidate should snap him up immediately.

Jason Altmire has governed not as a loyal Democrat, but as a representative of our conservative Republican leaning district.  This positions him well for general elections, but makes him unpopular among liberal Democrats.  The things Altmire is being criticized for in the primary would make him a stronger candidate in the general election.  He can say he stood up to Nancy Pelosi (He didn't vote for her for majority leader.), unions and the liberal Democrats on one side, and stood up to the Tea Party and the Republicans on the other.  This plants him right in the middle even if it pisses off everyone on both sides.

Will Mark Critz portraying himself as a loyal Democrat and getting endorsements from people like President Clinton hurt in the general election?  I could easily see the Clinton endorsement commercials rewritten as a negative ad by the Republicans.  I could see the union endorsements, the voting "present" issue  and his vote against a balanced budget amendment all being used against him.  When I checked to see if he voted for Nancy Pelosi for majority leader I found that she sponsored a fundraiser for him.  That will be used against him as well.

The voters will decide who they want on Tuesday.  The Democrats in our district need to elect the best candidate that can win in November, because I don't even want to consider what it would be like to be represented by a Tea Party candidate who doesn't even live in our district.

Pro-lifers going after Altmire

I received a phone call last night about a rally to support women and girls at Jason Altmire's office this afternoon.  They didn't tell me, of course, that it was a pro-life group that was going to protest his vote against defunding Planned Parenthood

I wonder how many people who understand that Planned Parenthood actually supports women and girls, and thought that the rally was to support his vote were fooled into going.  It could make for a fun event.

Planned Parenthood does a lot of good for their low income clients.  It provides health care services that they could not otherwise afford such as helping women have safe and healthy pregnancies.  You don't believe me?  Take the words of none other than Dick Scaife, the owner of the right wing newspaper the Tribune Review:  Don't defund Planned Parenthood. His passionate appeal is a lot better than anything I can say.

If you want to get rid of Planned Parenthood, remove the reason for their existence by supporting health care reform and making sure it is fully implemented.  Most people don't put two and two together, but the reason we need places like Planned Parenthood is because most of their clients can't afford health care on their own.

I got another phone call last week, and supported Planned Parenthood with a donation.

Time for Orie to resign

Jane Orie has no credibility left.  No one right now knows who was involved in the fraudulent documents, but it is ultimately her responsibility since she should have known about them.  Heck, they weren't even good forgeries.  Who in their right mind though they would get away with it?

You can't blame this on Zapalla.  Senator Orie, it is over.

Jane Orie Trial

After the first week of testimony, how many of you are regretting that you voted to re-elect her?  The prosecution spent the entire week parading staffer after staffer in front of the jury to the point that one juror had to be replaced for sleeping.  Can you blame this person?  It must have been like watching the same rerun over and over again as each staffer repeats pretty much the same thing.

Below are some links to articles from the PG and Trib about the trial things caught my eye:

1. A few years ago, I received a voice mail from her regarding an email I sent her about the city's financial condition (I wrote to Mike Turzai as well, but no one should be surprised that I got no response form him.).  I was impressed that she thought to call me back.  Now I wonder if that we really her.  I wonder if staffers practiced do her voice or didn't bother.
2. Trying to claim that the GOP's annual political dinner was a "public policy forum" may be showing how bad it is for the defense.  I have gone to the Democratic version.  It is a $100 a plate affair (I have never paid for it.), and there is nothing non-political about it.

Also, keep in mind that the whistle blower went to then Attorney General Tom Corbett's office first and they refused to take this case.

Witness: Staffers pretended to be Jane Orie in campaign calls - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Orie staffer says campaign office was for appearance purposes - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Focus in Jane Orie trial moves to sister Janine - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Orie's lawyer evokes Zappala - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
GOP's dinner not political? Orie judge raises eyebrow - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Happy Thanksgiving

(Repost)

Thanksgiving is the closest we come to having a national religious holiday.  No matter what religion you follow in your lives, we all celebrate.Thanksgiving.  My own family is made up of Lutherans, Jews, Presbyterians, atheists and probably a few other denominations I forgot.  The celebration of Thanksgiving, and its meaning is something we all have in common.

During the eating, parades, more eating, football, drinking, and even more eating, please take time out to give thanks.

Jason Altmire is Correct

Congressman Altmire has taken a lot of heat lately from the left for not backing Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader.  This posting from Crooks and Liars is an example.  The interview with Chris Matthews is worth seeing.

Much of  the criticism is coming from people who know nothing about our district.  Altmire is a lone Democrat and voice of reason in an area represented mostly by right wingers:

• My Republican State Representative is Mike Turzai who is Tommey-like in his beliefs.
• My Republican State Senator, Jane Orie, is under indictment and still easily won re-election.  Unlike Christine O'Donnell, she looks like and may actually be a witch.  She at least believes in the occult, and may have cast a spell on her voters for all we know.
• My Republican McCandless town councilman told me that it is too bad that we can't open North Park up for commercial development when I mentioned to him that I was surprised at how big McCandless Crossings is.  This was after Jason Altmire fought for the much needed renovations to North Park Lake after years of neglect.
• Just north of us is Cranberry, the home of State Representative Daryl Metcalfe, who makes Sharon Angle sound rational.
• Altmire's district went overwhelmingly for John McCain and probably supported Toomey over Sestak as well.
• Altmire's far right-wing opponent, Keith Rothfus, ran commercials that criticized Altmire simply for voting for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.  

The House and Senate Democrats need new leadership and a fresh start.  This is not to take away from their accomplishments which I posted about before.  I look at it similar to how a coaching change can turn around a team by bringing in a new perspective.  The Penguins won the Stanley Cup after bringing in Dan Bylsma.  New Democratic leadership in the House and Senate could bring about a similar change.

We need fresh new leaders in these positions that can inspire not only the Democratic Party, but the American people.  I think the House and Senate Democrats need to look beyond the normal seniority-based leadership structure to people that can inspire us that we may not have even heard of yet.