As many of you know, candidates I like tend to lose. So I'm tempted to pick out who I want to lose, but suspect that would be the one time I'd be right. So below are my election choices. There are amazingly only two contested state house races and only one contested congressional race.
President. - The only candidate I like is John Kasich. Feel free to tell me I'm full of shit.
Senator. - In the contested Dem primary, I like maverick Joe Sestak, a formerAdmiral who is willing to take on the Tom Wolf-Ed Rendell-Josh Shapiro machine. I doubt he can beat Toomey, but I know the others can't.
Attorney General. - Of course, as I've noted many times, I consider NorCo DA John Morganelli the best choice. And he could win. Shapiro is pouring money in attack ads aimed at Zappala. If he can drive down the vote for Zappala in Pittstburg, and does not win Philly by a huge margin, John can be the Dem nominee. I do like Zappala, but will ot support Shapiro, a politician who is using this office as a springboard. I like both Republicans running.
Treasurer - There is a Dem Primary between Joe Torsella (Montgomery County) and Albert Baker Knoll (Pittsburgh). One is an Obama flunkie and the other was an oil industry lobbyist. I'll be voting Republican in the Fall.
State House 131st. - From stumbling in radio interviews to failing to file a timely pre-primary finance report, Bill Coyle has basically destroyed his own campaign. Justin Simmons should win easily, but may face a Dem opponent in the fall if Joanne Jackson is successful in her write-in campaign.
State House 183rd. - Zach Mako has the support of Julie Harhart and GOP state representatives her in the LV who could not be honest and had to launder their contributions to him instead of giving to him directly. He himself ins completely clueless, and I really question whether he should be permitted to fly a helicopter. On the other hand, Cindy Miller is a conniving Lady MacBeth who schemed to remove Marc Grammes from the ballot, tried to have herself placed on the Gaming Board and reportedly pissed off Julie Harhart by the way she announced her candidacy. Grammes' supporters are waging a write-in campaign, which will probably help Miller. Fortunately, Democrat Phillips Armstrong is a breath of fresh air.
17th Congressional. - Glenn Geissinger? Matt Connolly? Doesn't matter. Another Matt named Cartwright will crush the hapless GOP nominee in November.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Monday, April 25, 2016
54 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
D131:Coyle may face a democratic opponent in the general in Simmons as Simmons sending out mailers actively pursuing the democratic write in.
ReplyDeleteConversely, Simmons may face an opponent in the fall with Coyle pursuing a Democrat write-in. I’d hate to think that the Dems would be foolish enough to vote for Coyle, but who knows.
ReplyDeleteCould never vote for coyle but am sorely disappointed in simmons voting against the medical marijane bill
ReplyDeleteAnyone but the ghost voter & the king of dial for dollars, Schlossberg...
ReplyDeleteKnoll dropped out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know, bur I will not support a crony.
ReplyDeleteI am not going to permit more than five comments about the Simmons race. I will delete every comment after number five bc both campaigns have been childish.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the rap against McGinty? I'm totally undecided for Senator other than NOT Toomey. No one should vote for anyone blocking the SCOTUS confirmation - unfathomable.
ReplyDeleteThe rap against her is that she is NOT independent. She is there to do what Rendell and Marcel Groen tell her to do. I prefer someone far more independent.
ReplyDeleteHillary Rodham Clinton, of course
ReplyDeleteJoe Sestak
John Morganelli
Joe Torsella
Write-in myself over Marcia Hahn
Matt Cartwright
Sestak!
ReplyDeleteTrump for President as he will shake up Washington & our world enemies. Agree Sestak is best dem but he needs to get off the $15 minimum wage kick. Maybe California needs it where no one can afford anything & NYC but the rest of America will be hurt & very inflationary legislation.
ReplyDeleteDon't be a fool people, write in Vermin Supreme for President! Free Ponies for a federal pony identification plan and pony-centric economy! Mandatory tooth brushing laws to fight our nation's great moral and oral decay! A plan for unlimited free energy by putting zombies in giant hamster wheels and dangling brains in front of them! And of course the only candidate who WILL go back and time and kill baby Hitler!
ReplyDeleteVermin Supreme 2016: You've done worse and you know it!
Bernie's fascination with Campaign finance reports and those donors who give big $$$$ to candidates is befuddling when Bernie gives a free pass to the elephant in living room donation from Abe Atiyeh to Morganelli of $25,000.00 buckaroos.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I am wrong, but Abe got his no-bid prison from the County, and relies on numerous DA prosecutions to keep the beds full.
$25,000 donation stood out like a half side of beef, next to McDonalds happy meals, in a way that actually chokes the senses of those who see it.
Why no mention, or is it the usually protected status of mancrushes?
I am write in Ron Shegda for everything.
ReplyDelete9:17, I have not written about the campaign finance of any of the AG candidates. In statewide races, where someone like Shapiro has $1.5 million, these contributions are less significant. Atiyeh has always supported Morganelli, going back for many years. I have asked him why, and he told me that it is good business to have a tough prosecutor.
ReplyDeleteI cant wait to pull Trumps lever and say FU Washington" !
ReplyDeleteSaddens me to think John Morganelli took 25 thousand off Abe Atiyeh. I could just PUKE reading that if its true. That is not a simple donation and don't try and sell me "oh" there is nothing in the future for that WINK WINK......
SHAME ON YOU JOHN MORGANELLI
Simmons beats Coyle
ReplyDeleteSimmons Beats Coyle bad
ReplyDeleteCoyle beats Jackson.
ReplyDeleteThat's five now we don't have to hear anymore about this campaign
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ReplyDeleteCertainly Bernie, Abe's contributions to Morganelli do, raise some eyebrows...if for no other reason than the obvious prison system that only survives when people are prosecuted.
ReplyDeletePossibly, there is nothing to see here, but the outsider looking in does think, in the very least that the size of the donations speaks volumes. Do John and Abe have a gentleman's agreement (with or without wiretaps) that John keeps the prison full, and Abe makes John happy? Speculative, of course...but size does matter (according to Little Marco).
Taking a lookback on Morganelli reports, the $25 K from Abe was IN ADDITION to the $5K he gave in 2015. That means its $30K in total, making Abe the single largest campaign donor to John.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that the Clinton campaign returned a Pawlowski donation, for obvious reasons, is it really appropriate for John to accept these shocking dollar amounts from a guy who needs the inmates?
9:38
ReplyDeleteBernie, you have dedicated an entire story to Shapiro campaign donations as part of Johns' press conference outside the Montgomery County Courthouse. John slams Josh, indirectly accusing him of pay to play, but yet you are silent on the YUGE perceived conflict with Abe donating $30K to John. Abe's no bid prison will shutter and close unless John keeps it full. There is no way around this fact, so just wondering why you do not blog about it?
For the presidency, I'll vote Kasich in the primary and whoever the Republican nominee is in the general, all for a really terrible reason - as bad as Trump or Cruz are, either Clinton or Sanders would be worse. Given the choices, I would have voted for Biden if he were in the field.
ReplyDeleteOn the Senate race, Toomey. While I respect Joe Sestak, I think he's a poor choice. McGinty is the walking definition of party hack, she needs to just go away. I also find it entertaining when Liberals raise the issue of the SCOTUS confirmation against Toomey - this from a party whose leader tried to filibuster one of Bush's appointees. Of course, now he regrets it....
The simple fact is neither party has the moral high ground, so both parties should stop acting like they do. Don't pull a party lever, rather vote for the candidate that best represents your views, no matter the party. And please, vote for adults, there is a big shortage of maturity in Washington these days.
The Banker
Trump
ReplyDeleteToomey
Rafferty AG
10:03 be careful not to criticize Bernie for his home cooking for certain candidates. He'll just delete your post or say he had to shut the thread down rather than address the elephant in the room.
ReplyDeleteMore Schlossberg!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo the claim is that Morganelli would NOT prosecute people if he didn't get Abe's contributions? Or that he would prosecute people just to fill the jail?
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
Sheesh, no wonder Bernie would delete such nonsense. If he didn't do some sensible housekeeping, the blog would be full of chemtrails and crap like "fire doesn't melt steel".
The Banker talks about a "shortage of maturity in Washington" and scolds us AFTER he admits he will be voting for Donald Trump in the General election. It is this type of NON-serious voting that is at issue.
ReplyDeleteHillary Clinton is clearly the most experienced and the most ready to hit the road running.
And talk about maturity? Pat Toomey is actually blocking a SCOTUS confirmation 10 months before an election. Horribly immature and anyone that votes for this stooge advocates FOR these partisan games.
I notice that Adm Sestak's Wikipedia page has been cleansed of his removal for unhealthy command climate. Shame that he rides on the wave of support for good military people much like the French looking John Kerry attempted to. We don't need a Senator with a background in bad command climate who is looking to get his lunch money back for getting canned. Set partisan blindness aside and say no to Joe.
ReplyDelete12:00, those comments usually come from sick people more interested in finding fault with me than discussing the issues. I will repeat what I said earlier. I never sat down to do a story reviewing the campaign finances of any of the AG candidates. I did post two stories noting Morganelli's complaints of pay-to-play. As I have indicating many times with respect to many candidates for statewide office, large contributions are not so significant bc lots of $ is needed. As for Abe's contributions, Morganelli has nothing to do with s Defendant after conviction. So no, there is no relationship between the work release center and the DA. Abe gets nothing out of it, and contributed heavily to Morganelli long before there was a work release center. This is just a red herring by someone who really just wants to get a rise out of me instead of discussing some important races.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I like john kasich, he has no chance. Perhaps Donald Trump will choose him for Vice-President, which would indeed shore up the GOP ticket.
ReplyDeleteI can't count the lies Hillary Clinton has made, from the Whitewater Scandal to her and Bill taking payoffs for their "charitable" Clinton Foundation. I notice she has not made her ties to Wall Street evident either. She's got more skeletons in her closet than a haunted house. But a few gullible people support her. At least Senator Sanders has integrity, who if I were a Democrat would support. I don't expect Hillary Clinton to be indicted for any crime, not as long as Obama is President. But next year she better have an army of crack criminal lawyers, unless Obama pardons her. Michelle, however, may have something to say about that as it's clear there is no love lost between them.
We already have an Obama Clone in the senate with Bob Casey. We don't need another with Admiral Sestak, who has already been defeated twice for the position. Perhaps he should consider another political job or one in the private sector?
After Kathy Kane, I couldn't stomach another Democrat as Attorney General. Time for a switch so I support John Rafferty.
Write in Ben Gleck
ReplyDeleteLoved the "independent" Republicans who all vote the person not the party. They are all voting their straight party. At least they provide humor to this discussion. Feel the Bern and vote Sanders. He sees the only realistic future for America and it is not 1950 nor the confederacy.
ReplyDeleteSorry baggers.
"...vote Sanders. He sees the only realistic future for America..."
ReplyDeleteAnd when he loses, you'll blindly vote for Hillary in the general election, because she's a D.
That is, unless you're too busy practicing your bagging fetish on election day.
I support Bernie Sanders also. He's the only Democrat that is running for President that isn't under FBI investigation.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if the DNC had allowed anyone other than him to run against Hillary, then Democratic voters might have had another option between a liar and a communist to choose from
I just read today that over 60,000 disgruntled Democrats have switched party allegiance to Republican already.
"That is, unless you're too busy practicing your bagging fetish on election day."
ReplyDeleteWhy is the tea party so scrotum and anally obsessed bagging and bathrooms. You folks need some good old therapy.
The Doctor is in.
1:41 - Sestak has been defeated once for the Senate. And yes, we'd much rather have a Wall St Harvard grad in Toomey than a person with the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit awards, two Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals and the Navy Achievement Medal.
ReplyDeleteOh Repubs. You slay me.
"I just read today that over 60,000 disgruntled Democrats have switched party allegiance to Republican already."
ReplyDeleteAnd they are all voting for Trump. They want a Sanders Trump race in the Fall. The winner? Feel the Bern for a better America!
Anon 3:35, You can't reason with a person like that. A man with a distinguished military career that is not a Republican must be disparaged in their book. Just as he mentioned the despicable "Swift Boating" that was done on John Kerry.
ReplyDeleteOf course we all know of the courageous service of Pat Toomey in defense of his country.
3:34
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to bet that if you never ever mentioned baggers or bagging again, that term would disappear from this blog.
But unless you seek professional help, I doubt that you can refrain.
@1:41. All those medals are routinely awarded for doing a decent job in assignments. I have three Air Force Commendation medals for sitting behind a desk managing inventory over the years. I also have two Air Force Achievement Medals, issued for participating in the Air Force Suggestion Program for submitting suggestions on how to improve Air Force Logistics systems.
ReplyDeleteA Legion of Merit is routinely awarded to officers, in fact its expected for Flag officers to have at least one. No Air Medals? Not even a Bronze Star? This sounds like John Kerry and his Three Purple Hearts. You do know he served in Vietnam?
Sorry, I'm not impressed by an Admiral who is gullible enough to be an Obama Regressive Democrat.
President: writing in Bozo the Clown (he possesses more gravitas than the remaining three)
ReplyDeleteSenator: no vote (as protest of an uncontested R slate; Toomey in the general)
AG: Rafferty (Peters has too much Kane stink on him; I like Morganelli, but he has no shot)
Treasurer: no vote (as a protest of an uncontested slate; Voit in the general)
State House 138th: no vote (as protest of an uncontested slate; protest in the general also)
17th Congressional: Connolly (Geissinger is not trustworthy and doesn't show up to work; Cartwright wins easily in the general, despite proudly dodging and then saying fuck you to families of Benghazi dead. He's probably the most hateful piece of shit in all of DC. His district is almost as ridiculously Gerrymandered as Dent's. It's time for term limits to kick these lifers out and make them look for honest work.)
"Well, since I now have your stated permission, YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT! (I've always wanted to say that!) "
ReplyDeleteI know where you live.
Anon 1217 makes my point very well, thank you.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I did not say I like Trump. On the contrary, I think he's a terrible selection and that I would have preferred Joe Biden, a Democrat. But in the end I think Trump is a less terrible selection than Clinton.
This is hardly a rousing endorsement of Trump, but rather a commentary on how bad Clinton is.
Jamie Kelton did a great job at 141pm outlines just a few of Clinton's faults, and there are many others. I think she's unfit to hold the office. I also agree that I respect Bernie Sanders, one of the few honest politicians out there. Problem is I disagree with him 95% of the time (we do agree on breaking up the big banks); his economic and budgetary proposals would destroy our country. But he's honest and I do respect that.
Finally, before you tout the 10 month time frame as your argument against Toomey, you might want to check out Obama's filibuster vote against Samuel Alito - a full 17 months (that's seventeen) before the 2007 presidential election. Hardly in line with how you are saying the Advise/Consent rule should be applied.
If you were honest with yourself, you'd admit that Obama's actions were at least on a par with Toomey - so if you criticize one, you'd have to criticize both. YOu'd also admit that neither party has the moral high ground.
Unless you were a partisan hack.
Thanks again for making my points so eloquently, I do appreciate it.
The Banker
Vote for Trump Delegates
ReplyDelete17th District
Villano
Snover
Bonkoski
15th District
Uehlinger
Reber
Kerwin
Bernie Sanders, Katie McGinty, John Morganelli (still thinking about that last one)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like John Kerry and his Three Purple Hearts.
ReplyDeleteIt seems you omitted Kerry's Silver Star. How many of those do YOU have, inventory jockey?
It's time for term limits to kick these lifers out and make them look for honest work.)
ReplyDeleteCartwright is serving his fourth year, Einstein. Lifer? I'm glad you're not voting for anyone. You are very uninformed. You are what they call a "low information voter".
The Banker 4:49 - I do have to really question your judgement if you believe Donald TRUMP is fit for office. He talks of China ruining our job market and yet he makes his products in China. He talks of building a ridiculous wall to keep immigrants out yet imports non-union immigrant labor to work at his properties. He talks of banning an entire religion from entering the country. He facilitates racism and bellicose treatment of dissenters, It is unfathomable how a reasoned person can say he IS fit (with absolutely no experience in foreign affairs or macroeconomics for that matter) and Hillary Clinton, probably the most qualified person to run for President in decades, is not.
ReplyDeleteAs for Toomey/Obama. Filibustering a nominee is wholly different than denying a person a hearing by fiat. And in the end, Samuel Alito WAS confirmed with 4 Democrats joining the Republicans. Does Judge Garland have any chance of a hearing let alone confirmation?
I'm pretty disappointed in your thought processes. You seemed like a rational guy but it seems you too have been sucked into the Fox News vortex.
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ReplyDeleteOur Write in for Marc Grammes actually helped Mako. And we received an abundance of Democratic votes which apparently do not count. So much for our right to vote. Also Lady Macbeth had her literature inside some of the polling places and her representatives blocked the handicapped ramps at some venues.
ReplyDeleteI heard about her literature. As someone observed, the right candidate lost, but the wrong one won.
ReplyDelete