If you take a gander at the flood of people endorsing Sam Bennett for Congress, there's a few prominent Democratic names you won't see. You won't see Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan or future Easton Mayor Sal Panto. You won't see Northampton County Exec John Stoffa or District Attorney John Morganelli. And you sure as hell won't see Lehigh County Exec Don Cunningham.Yesterday, The Morning Call reported Cunningham has suspended a $10,000 grant intended for Bennett's nonprofit, Properties of Merit. He wants proof she broke no rules when she participated in deciding on her excessive $110,000 salary at a nonprofit whose budget is only $351,000.
He insists his decision has nothing to do with Bennett's congressional candidacy and he just wants to be certain the nonprofit "is operating in accordance with proper oversight regulations."
Bullshit!
Bennett has already agreed to cut her salary in half just to prevent this sort of reaction. It apparently has pacified the Guv', but not Cunningham. He loves her program, but wants all references to Lehigh County removed from Bennett's nonprofit website.
Must be tough love.
Despite his protests to the contrary, Cunningham most certainly is sending a message. He wants her to get out. He has no confidence in Bennett. If she can't manage a simple nonprofit that hands out garden rakes, she sure as hell can't handle congressional demands.
Others are getting that message. Bennett's endorsement flood hasn't grown a bit since she filed her expense report. And now there are rumors, unconfirmed, that key people have left the campaign. An anonymous poster at LVPoliblog claims Bennett "has already lost some key campaign people, including her fund raising director, and that she is having a hard time raising money." On this blog, I've had this anonymous remark. "I also heard that she is having problems with her campaign staff. That dude Jeff that you mentioned in past posts is supposedly gone."
I suspect these rumors are true. Before this latest little mishap, Bennett's paid consultants were in damage control mode, here and elsewhere. Unfortunately for them, BethDem actually posted a copy of their talking points, giving us a rare glimpse of a "spin machine in action."
Now the damage control brigade has disappeared. In 27 comments at The Morning Call forum, only one person tried to defend Bennett. She plays the gender card, insisting we're only after Bennett because "she's a woman and the bigots want women to stay in their place." She also blames Lisa Boscola. "That self hating woman Lisa Boscola is probably behind this. This smear campaign started with Boscola and now is moved into attacks on Sam and POM."
Actually, Bennett is just a lousy candidate, preselected by party bosses who have consistently come up with losers for Congress. It's bad enough that Bennett will lose, but she'll drag down state house candidates with her. The party would be better off with no one.
I can think of only one local politician who really wants Bennett to stay in the race.
Charlie Dent.
32 comments:
Bernie,
She'll always have Joe!
I hope they live happily ever after.
Bernie,
Amen.
And if Don really is "suddenly" (and I stress that b/c I never think he was with her on this run) deciding she is a bad candidate, good job on his part. Way to lead his party.
I dislike Charlie, but why trade bullcrap for cowcrap? Both smell.
Anyone useful want to run for congress?
Where is Jen Mann on this Sam the Scam campaign?
Has she come out in support of Bennett or is she also looking for a better candidate?
Hey Bernie, Check out the Morning Call forum on Sammy B.
One of Sam's Syncophants keeps posting that we either support her or we are woman hating male bigots or self loathing women.
What a load of crap!
Is that the very best defense that Sam and her supporters can mount now, this far ahead of the election next year?
If so, then she will be an even more pitiful excuse for a candidate than I originally thought.
those rakes have cost the taxpayer about a thousand dollars each.
Where is Jen Mann on this Sam the Scam campaign?
Mann's name is not listed among those who endorse Bennett. I'm pretty sure she's w/ Cunningham on this one, although I can't say that as fact.
Anon 8:21,
Actually I think that syncophant is evidense that her paid supporters are gone.
as far as I'm concerned this is all besides the point. She wasn't a strong candidate 2 months ago, and all scandals aside, the dems STILL do not have a good likely candidate for Dent's seat. We don't seem to even have anyone who is INTERESTED in this seat, save maybe for Lisa B, who probably won't be viable so soon post-berniegate.
At the rate she is going I'm skeptical that Sam will even still be running by the time the primary rolls around. So what are we doing? writing in Dertinger again? Rick Orloski to save the day?
putting aside the fact that you like Dent, and I think he's okay, and that I don't think it would be the end of the world if he won the general election, I think it would be a huge shame if I have no other choice on the ballot.
LOLV,
Elections are obviously better when we have a choice. Sadly, party leaders have in the past few years taken it upon themselves to decide who we are choosing. Last time, they waited until the midnight hour, and then waged a write-in campaign for a candidate who, by his own admission, was dragged into the contest. This time around, things have been egregious. They preselected a Dem nominee nearly 2 years in advance of the election. That just removes the democracy.
Party leaders need to start letting the people decide these things. If no one was the "fire in the belly" to oppose Dent, we should not waste our time trying to recruit him or her.
If someone comes forth, on his own, and really wants to make this a race, that's great. But we should not be compelled to field a candidate just to make things look good. Offering a lousy candidate against Dent will have a trickle down effect on candidates seeking other offices.
I'd agree it would be better if we had a choice, but Dent v. Bennett does not really offer us a choice.
Bernie,
I think Look Out Lehigh Valley is right. Bennett won't last until the primary.
In fact, I believe the proposition that I have read a number of times on other posts that she is only in it to raise enough money to pay off her past debts from her other losing campaigns for mayor of Allentown.
The fact that she ran twice for mayor and lost in the Democratic Primary in Allentown, which is only a small part of the Congressional district, and this makes her one of the poorest candidates we could field, seems to have been forgotten or deliberately ignored by many of her supporters.
It is obvious that she is calling her own shots on this campaign and she is running it as if she was running for class president or, better yet, head cheerleader at her high school.
She is an inept amateur who thinks she knows more than she does and doesn't know how to deal with her own flaws because she doesn't recognize any of them.
It is a crying shame that we have to be discussing her campaign at all because it is nothing more than a self serving ego trip.
Cunningham and Bennett were never friendly.
This will not be the first time that Cunningham has orchestrated against her.
In Spring 2006, the Lehigh County Democratic Party was electing new leadership. Bennett was convinced she would be the new chairperson. However, Cunningham saw it another way and supported Rick Daugherty. After some backroom dealing, Bennett decided not to run for the chairperson seat and settle for a vice-chairperson slot.
Cunningham knew then that she was not even good enough to run the county party.
BethDem,
I've heard the same thing. I'm reliably told Cunningham had to offer her an at-large state committee position to pacify her. When she agreed, Cunningham had to deliver, and had to beg someone I won't name to use her influence to make sure it happened.
I'm also told that Cunningham and Rendell are not on good terms, and that's another reason why he would be skeptical about a Rendell protege.
Anon 11:04, LOLV is wise beyond her years.
I really don't understand the title of this blog entry, Bernie. According to The Morning Call's article:
"Cunningham, a Democrat, said his decision has nothing to do with Bennett's congressional candidacy. He said he would support her if she became the Democratic nominee against Charlie Dent, R-15th District."
Where are you getting "Get out!" from that statement? I think it's politically prudent of him to not commit to anything until the Primary, but it's certainly not a message that he wants her out. It's a message that he's doing his job and waiting for more information from Properties of Merit. . . .
Bernie,
I heard something similar about the state committee seat.
I also heard that Rendell and Cunningham were on the outs. The reasons for that I cannot mention on a blog, simply because I like Cunningham too much and would not want to embarass him.
Anon 11:56,
I think he wants her out and am connecting the dots. 1) He didn't want her to sit as LC party chair. 2) He and her mentor, the Guv, are on the outs. 3) She is a proven loser. 4) He held up funding even though she agreed to a 50% salary reduction. 5) He insisted that even references to LC be removed from her nonprofit.
Now I'm sure that Cunningahm would publicly deny that he'd ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want Bennett to ever, ever, ever, ever bow out. But I'm equally convinced that's exactly what he wants. And if she reads between the lines, she should recognize that she can't count on the most powerful Dem in the LV for support.
Bennett is the Lehigh valley's version of Britney Spears -- a blond bimbo in a constant search for attention.
That is our Congressional candidate?
Yikes!
realize this is off topic, but it's been brought up. i can tell you without qualification that Rendell and Donnie are NOT on "the outs".
not that it would really matter. they key thing for Donnie is to be on good terms with Rendell's financial backers. They'll say nice things to him and onorato, and then see which way the wind is blowing as we close in on 2010.
C'mon! Exec. Cunningham, other elected offcials, except as Bernie suggests Dent, and most of you folks are soon going to have Sam getting out of the race! Then you will heve spoiled all the fun of another loss for Boss Tweed Longy poo and his three other D friends if he even has that many. I agree with Bernie if someone, anyone has the "fire in the belly' to run, they should just do it and ignore
advice of anybody who tries to disuade them, has always been my opinion! larry@kisslinger.com
If Don has any political aspirations beyond County Exec, and I have heard that he does, then he needs to do the kind of things he is doing to get Sam Bennett under control or, better yet, out of the Congressional race.
Can't have an uncontrollable lunatic running around in your own back yard and make the case that you can be a credible statewide leader at the same time.
If, as is quite obvious, Cunningham is not backing Bennett for Congress and Jennifer Mann is also not out front supporting her then why is she still in this race?
Those two are elected Democrats who can actually produce votes, not the stupid list of County Chairs that Bennett touts on her web site.
Can't she see the handwriting on the wall? Or, is she so self absorbed that she only sees what she wants to see and only hears the voices she wants to hear?
Pawlowski backed Fleck keep in mind.
lol
Where is our State Democratic Party Chairman TJ Rooney?
Is he still behind Sam, or in some smoke filled backroom looking for a real contender to take on Chuckie?
Or did Sam lock him in the backroom?
B.....
I saw her chatting away with Easton's Republican Candidate for Mayor at heritage day while Panto was just a few hundred feet away. If she is looking for an good endorsement in Easton....she definetly just shot herself in the foot. Easton is a small town, words get around quick. I think the entire democratic committee is staying away from her. Is she a D or an R?
Yeah, I remember you mentioned that a few weeks ago. I'm going to point it out in my next post.
Sam is great. Why do you attack her. Is there one good reason not to support her. She is bright, articulate and willing to run. She will be the next congressperson from the Lehigh Valley.
Run, Sam, Run
Anon,
Actually, I'm not attacking her. I'm attacking her candidacy. There's a difference.
And as I understand things, her team is now threatening people with retribution from the Governor if they don't get behind her.
I'll have more about that in my next post.
Don Cunningham is in no trouble with the Governor. If Sam thinks she can turn the Gov against DC she is even crazier then her legend. The Gov. supports Don and would drop her like a bad habit before he would abandon Don. The Gov, like others was sold on her by party leaders who saw her as this great new female Dem leader. Needless to say other then some local Dem dolts, this rose has lost her luster.
To BethDem and Bernie,
Bernie wrote:
I've heard the same thing. I'm reliably told Cunningham had to offer her an at-large state committee position to pacify her. When she agreed, Cunningham had to deliver, and had to beg someone I won't name to use her influence to make sure it happened.
NO, NO, NO...Absolutley incorrect about the scenario. It goes like this...
Cunningham backed Croslis. Croslis (another born loser) was clearly not going to get the nod as LCDC Chair. Deal struck meant Daugherty got Chair and the born losers got Vice and 2nd Vice Chair. To get Sam in as Vice Chair, Daugherty's choice, Sue Rutt, had to be dumped over the side. Don used the bait of a State Committee seat to get Sue to back out. To his credit, Don delivered. But, if he hadn't messed with it in the first place, Sam would have been out. So, now Don has to get rid of her the hard way. He's more than got the stones. Trust me on that and that he's still tight and fast with the Guv.
Thanks for straightening me out. I appreciate it.
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