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Thursday, October 27, 2022

The Scheller-Wild Debate on Public Television

Incumbent Democrat Susan Wild and Republican challenger Lisa Scheller have faced each other twice in their battle for control of the Pa.-7 Congressional District. But there was really only one debate. Their first meeting at WFMZ's Business Matters was a shit show in which the audience, most of them Wild supporters, disrupted Scheller every time she opened her mouth. At their second encounter, conducted by LehighValleyNews.com, the candidates were able to actually speak without being interrupted by a mob. I was very impressed by Scheller. Don't get me wrong. I disagree with much of what she says, but she was well-prepared and well-spoken. and she appeared to be nearly as good on her feet as Wild, an accomplished trial lawyer. My biggest problem with Scheller is that I'm unable to get past her factories in China and her business deals with the Chinese Communist Party. My biggest problem with Wild is that I've never seen her run a positive campaign. You can find the video steam of this debate at C-SPAN.  

I've already voted for Wild, but I like Lisa Scheller. There's a lot to like. I rarely agreed with her positions as a Lehigh County Comm'r, but believe she was motivated by what she thought was best for her community. She is one of very few people I've met who actually overcame a heroin addiction. In addition to her own recovery, she established Hope & Coffee in Tamaqua for others who are in recovery. If you visit Lehigh County Community College, you'll soon see that she and her family have been major benefactors.  She herself recently established a scholarship program enabling high school juniors and seniors to take college courses. And of course, she is the only female CEO in her industry.  

Wild can be very likable as well. She is far more down-to-earth than most politicos and is very approachable, as most Facebook users can attest. She's a "military brat" who grew  up in numerous places, both here and abroad. This probably gave her a far keener insight of foreign countries than most of us possess. She practiced law for over 30 years before entering the political fray.  She served briefly as Allentown's Solicitor during the demise of "Fed Ed", and was praised by federal authorities for making sure that there was complete cooperation from the City.  As Scheller has a deep understanding of addiction, Wild recognizes the importance of mental health after going through the tragedy of losing a loved one to suicide. 

My knock on Wild is that she is a dirty campaigner. Even in the erudite atmosphere of public television, she was unable to refrain from referring to Scheller as "Lying Lisa." Then during the same debate, she claimed to "hate" negative campaigning. If Scheller is "Lying Lisa," Wild is "Shifty Susan."  

The sad part is that much of the negative campaigning from both of these candidates has been misleading. 

During two terms in Congress, Wild by her own admission has had only one bill adopted. She did claim to be responsible for numerous amendments that receive little attention.  She refers to herself as a "proud moderate," which is hard to reconcile with voting 100% for whatever Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants. Wild has always been a partisan Democrat. It's what landed her the job as Allentown's Solicitor. 

Scheller claims to be an "outsider," but journalist Tom Shortell challenged that assertion during the debate.  She was a Lehigh County Commissioner, was endorsed by Trump two years ago and has contributed $250,000 to Republicans seeking office. That's no outsider. That's a walking ATM machine. 

So both Wild and Scheller, like all of us, have their good and bad points. 

Scheller's embrace of extremists like Steve Lynch and her willingness to latch onto Team Trump two years ago would likely be enough to cause ne to vote for Wild. But what really did her in with me is not her embrace of Lynch or Trump, but the Chinese Communist Party. Her company has two factories in China with a third in its way. It's even reportedly building a road.  So in addition to being a walking ATM machine for Republicans, she's a walking conflict of interest. There would always be a question whether she is representing her district or her business interests in a country we consider our greatest adversary. 

When Shortell questioned Scheller on this point, she responded, "I know China and I will be able to stand up to China because my grandparents came here from Europe seeking that American dream. I will put American people and jobs first."

As an engineer who presumably deals in logic, Scheller should know her answer is a non sequitur. The fact that her grandparents fled Europe is no indication that she either knows China or is able to stand up to that country. If she considers American people and jobs so important, why on earth would she build two factories in our greatest adversary?

At one point, Scheller told Shortell that his facts were wrong. If that's so, I'd like to know what's wrong to set the record straight. 

Scheller then went on to accuse Wild of giving foreign aid to China. I've seen nothing that backs that up. I have seen that Wild supports legislation to strengthen our technology and improve our supply chain so we can compete with China. 

They are both good people, nothing like the ugly ads you've seen. But they are both flawed, which explains the ugly ads. 

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

1st Oz and now Sheller. You have joined the dark side. Somewhere Ron Angle, Sr. is rolling over in his grave.

Anonymous said...

I most recall the so-called "reform team" debating on whether or not to accept federal funding for meals on wheels. Then there was the happy meal tax credit at the same time floating bonds were on the table. Then there was Cedarbrook where theb inevitable renovations were delayed, deferred and dithered. All were political stunts. The happy meal tax credit was with borrowed dollars costing the taxpayer interest. The later (Cedarbrook) has proven costly to the County taxpayers today as a result of higher renovation costs...even before inflation. We are getting less for much more being spent than of the "reform team" would have not caved to
political poison and simply done the right thing. Politics and ideology didn't build anything.

peterjcochran said...

Desperate candidate syndrome, gives away the store at tax payers expense. Lays down on every issue from WH. and Speaker of the House. President and Vice President in same place together tomorrow in Philadelphia, not a good idea in my view, especially with crime issues in that venue. Political ads are so frequent, they’re blocking the pillow guy !

Anonymous said...

Earl voting is a sham Look at all the people who voted for Uncle Fester I bet they are proud of their vote.

Anonymous said...

Media protected Fetterman and Biden and many others--They and you are a major problem for this Democracy.

Anonymous said...

Well, I’ll be voting for Lisa Scheller on Election Day. My primary reason is Wild’s inability to break out from under the control of Nancy Pelosi and Wild’s voting in lockstep with every damaging radical Democrat decision that has nearly brought America to its knees. We are in a far worse place than just a few years ago and the Congressional Membership needs to be broken up in both parties.

I really don’t see the small Siberline operations in China as such a big problem. China is our greatest threat (not Russia) but we’ve always had a ‘biggest’ threat nation throughout history. That will never change. We have more reason to fix our problems HERE right now.

Anonymous said...

Brother Steve has been giving Scheller a special regimen In the run up to this debate it’s been intense Lisa’s animalistic grunting late into the sessions is a thing of beauty, the contortions of her face as Steve screams at her trying to squeeze out one more rep is like
Being back at BUDS , LOVE it

Anonymous said...

100% with Nancy Pelosi. That’s all I need to know she’s no Charlie Dent.

Anonymous said...

Every election in PA this year is nothing but choosing the least of the two evils. From the senate to governor to local races the candidate just flat stink.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"1st Oz and now Sheller. You have joined the dark side. Somewhere Ron Angle, Sr. is rolling over in his grave."

Ron Sr is very much alive and he and I discussed these races. He is supporting Oz and Scheller, while I voted for Oz and Wild. I considered Fetterman something of a lightweight before his stroke. His views are far too extreme, like doing away with the filibuster.

Let me give an example. His views on crime are actually correct, but he is unable to express them with any degree of intelligence or persuasion. There really is no reason why EVERYONE who is convicted of a felony murder should spend life in prison. Let's say someone snatches a purse and the woman falls, hits her head and dies. That's felony murder even though the culprit had no intention or desire to kill anyone. Does it make sense that the purse snatcher spend the rest of his life in jail? I think the penalty should depend on the circumstances. Then as far as cash bail is concerned, I would oppose cash bail for many offenses. NorCo got away from cash bail a long time ago. It is imposes when needed, but should not be automatic. A person who wants to make changes in this area is going to have to be persuasive and build a consensus. Incidentally, this is a state, not a federal issue. Fetterman immediately gets divisive with people instead of persuading good people to be more reasonable. Fetterman was a failure at this before his stroke. Now he's worse.

Insofar as the Wild race is concerned, I voted for Wild. I am unable to get past Scheller's China problem, which is very real. I do tend to agree with Wild more on the issues as well.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I most recall the so-called "reform team" debating on whether or not to accept federal funding for meals on wheels. "

So do I. It was pretty bad.

Anonymous said...

9:25- I agree with everything you said, but I voted for Fetterman instead of Oz. Oz will vote lock step with Republicans especially where the Supreme Court is concerned. We cannot allow another "Merrick Garland" situation, which will happen if R's get control of the Senate. I can't take that chance... again. Nor, should you, Bernie.

Anonymous said...

Agree. The candidates are terrible!

Anonymous said...

Lisa Scheller has misrepresented herself through out her campaign. Republicans have been desperately trying to link every democrat to Pelosi. True enough, Pelosi is no asset in this election, but the ads make it appear like all democrats are under her control. (And Pelosi seemed to be the only one in the House that had the courage to talk back to Trump- until Liz Cheney came along.)
Lisa is lying when she says she never "shipped" a job to China. That word "shipped" is the key. Of course what she did do was close an American factory causing American layoffs, and then opened a factory in China creating Chinese jobs at much lower wages.
Scheller is not an eloquent public speaker, neither is Wild. Scheller was rehearsed and prepared, good for her. Crediting her for being the only female ceo in her industry is lame, like giving Charles credit for being king. She was born into it, there was no achievement there. I'm glad she's given money to LCCC. LCCC is the only college in Carbon County and private industry should support education, but I'm sure the donations help reduce her taxes. She's a 1%-er, don't let her fool you.

Anonymous said...

I think if you voted for Joe Biden despite the obvious conflicts with he and his sons business dealings, but site Schellers China business dealings as a reason not to vote for her, that’s some serious hypocrisy right there.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I think if you voted for Joe Biden despite the obvious conflicts with he and his sons business dealings, but site Schellers China business dealings as a reason not to vote for her, that’s some serious hypocrisy right there."

Despite your lame efforts, there is absolutely zero evidence that Joe Biden had any business connections with Communist China. There is some evidence that Hunter Biden had an indirect connection, but this evidence came out long AFTER the presidential election. There is little doubt in my mind that Hunter Biden engaged in influence peddling and used his relationship with his father to enrich himself, just as Trump's children did in the middle east. Whether this rises to a criminal level is yet to be seen. I've seen no credible evidence that Biden himself engaged in or was even aware of such influence peddling. As President, Biden has taken a very harsh tone with China, which belies your fact-free suggestion of a conflict on his part. I would never support Hunter Biden and if there was credible evidence indicating that Biden himself was aware of what was going on or involved in any way, I'd want nothing to do with him.

In Lisa Scheller's case, you don't need smoke and mirrors to find a connection. It is very clear. She has two factories operating there with a third on the way. Her company has direct relations with the CCP. She is very clearly conflicted.

Anonymous said...

Bernie: Excellent coverage of this race, I love your blog. My guess is the Democrat state committee is providing lots of money and making Wild run a dirty, negative campaign. I see this also with Nick Miller ads, he's a real nice young guy, but the Democrat state committee paid for ads are really nasty and dirty. Miller's opponent threatened to sue him over bogus racism accusations in his ads.

As sick and tired as I am of political ads, I'm always pleased to see the occasional positive ad where the candidate tells us a little bit about themselves. Zack Cohen did a great job of this kind of campaigning. I was so glad for him when he won the race for County Judge.

Bernie O'Hare said...

10:34, Negative campaigning is very effective, which is why it is used in close races. My guess is that Nick Miller's campaign is scared. If I had to depend on Atown turnout for a win, I'd be scared, too.

Anonymous said...

Bernie Question I know you will not answer but here anyway--Why did we not have all these problems Inflation, energy, border and many other problems before Biden took over and since Biden took over the country is going to hell. I know you do not have the guts to answer because you can't.

Anonymous said...

The crowd was unruly in the debate I saw, but Scheller came off as paternalistic and arrogant. Wild seemed like a scrappy little lady. This Republican will be voting for the scrappy little lady.

Bernie O'Hare said...

10:51, Actually, I can answer these questions.

Inflation is the result of the following: the pandemic (nobody's fault); the CARES Act (Trump & Congress); The American Rescue Plan Act (Biden & Congress); Russia's invasion of Ukraine (Putin); the Fed (too slow to raise interest rates); and price-gouging (greedy corporations). It is wrong to point the finger at any one person. It is a combination. I agree Biden is partially responsible and should have been far more proactive. But he is by no means the sole culprit.

In the energy sector, we are seeing spiking prices. I refer you to my answers concerning inflation. I know the GOP claims America had energy independence under Trump. It did produce and export more energy than it imported in 2020. But it did so in 2021, too, when Biden was president. We were still importing 7.9million barrels of oil per day in 2020 when Trump was President. Moreover, a lot of it came from Russia. Biden did NOT shut down crude oil production in the US. In fact, it was higher in Biden's first year than it was in each of Trump's first two years and about the same as in Trump's final year. In Trump's third year, crude oil production in the US was higher than Biden, but that is mostly due to economic factors making it unprofitable to ramp up oil production bc prices were going down. The truth is that we are unable to stop importing oil bc our refineries lack the capacity to process the oil derived from fracking. At no time has Biden shut down our American energy. Even if he wanted to, Congress would not allow it. If we really want energy independence, we need refineries capable of processing the oil derived from fracking and we need to increase alternative sources of energy, including nuclear. We need to research fusion.

With respect to our border, neither you nor I have a true understanding of the problem bc we are nowhere near the border. But we have made 2 million arrests along the border over the last year, which is a record. That is hardly an indication of open borders. We do need immigration reform. We need to attract good people from other countries who can help us with science and technology. We need people who are willing to work as migrant farmers. We need to help the dreamers. We need to exclude thugs and criminals. There is nothing radical or extreme here.

I do not subscribe to the far left views on any of these problems, but I also reject the misleading and false assertions from the right.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/19/u-s-mexico-border-arrests-record-2022/

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/03/examining-u-s-energy-independence-claims/

Anonymous said...

Scheller is an "outsider" because she isn't on the path to be a career politician ala Wild. The constant China connection is irrelevant to me. As a mfg myself, I know that in a world market you must deal with China, be it via materials, labor or both. Besides, China relationships are OK, right? Considering no one is talking about the BIG GUY and his crackhead son. Even the FBI are in on that. Anyway, I digress.

I will vote any NON politician in (provided that are not an absolute lunatic) to give them a chance. Drain the SWAMP.

Scheller puts her money where her mouth is, and is a contributor to this community.

She gets my vote.

And OZ will get my vote over the basement dwelling, non-tax paying Fetterman.

Anonymous said...

I appreciated the quality of your writing on this post. Nicely worded and well expressed thoughts. You were not disrespectful with your commentary.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Scheller is an "outsider" because she isn't on the path to be a career politician ala Wild. "

Wild is no career politician. She practiced law for 30 years before turning an eye to politics. She has served two terms.

Scheller served for four years as a LC Comm'r and has run for Congress twice. If Wild fits your definition of career politician, then so does Lisa.

I consider neither career politicians. Both spent considerable time in the private sector. Both were accomplished in their respective fields. I believe both are running bc both feel they can make a difference.

Despite the ads, neither is particularly extreme. Even on abortion. Scheller supports exceptions for rape, incest and "health of the mother." You can drive a Mack truck through that last exception.

Lisa is Center-Right, Susan is Center-Left.

I have stated my concern about Lisa, but as someone noted to me last night, my own objections about doing business in China or Russia only came recently. These are not long held beliefs on my part. I only came to the conclusion that it's a bad idea to do business with an adversary after Russia invaded Ukraine. So I might be a bit harsh in my objections to her China connection. But there it is.

Anonymous said...

The Morning Call poll on 10/19 (404 lv, 6% moe) showed Wild +1. It's a small poll by a bad pollster with a comical moe, and I suspect Rs are woefully underrepresented. That should concern Wild's campaign and the DNC.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I appreciated the quality of your writing on this post. Nicely worded and well expressed thoughts. You were not disrespectful with your commentary."

The candidates likely think differently, lol.

Anonymous said...

Is someone who voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time "center left?" Lol. That's a ridiculous statement, of course. I don't think Lehigh Valley voters want 100% of everything San Francisco California voters want. The district is moderate. The district is not San Francisco. Wild's voting record is demonstrably radically left. We're electing a Leigh Valley representative. We're not installing California Democrats' chosen candidate.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Is someone who voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time "center left?" Lol. That's a ridiculous statement"

It's actually an accurate statement. Wild will vote with the Speaker 100% of the time, not because of her center-left ideology, but because she has to support her tribe - the Democratic party. And Pelosi, incidentally, is by no means a far-left liberal. True, she is a California Democrat, and they are farther to the left than Pennsylvania Democrats. But she's not a member of the progressive Democratic caucus and has resisted some of their extreme positions on matters like the Inflation Reduction Act.

Wild is NOT a member of the Progressive Caucus, which includes Matt Cartwright and Madeline Dean.

You can all her a partisan Democrat with some justification but not a far left ideologue.

Anonymous said...

I'm voting for Wild.
At this point I can't trust that any Republican won't become another foot soldier in the MAGA cult.

Anonymous said...

9.25
"Incidentally, this is a state, not a federal issue. Fetterman immediately gets divisive with people instead of persuading good people to be more reasonable"
A valid point except where are these good people across the aisle?
On the state level the repub led legislature would not even consider listening to him.
The repub leaders in Harrisburg flirted with changing voting results to support a coup.
On a Federal level it is even worse. The repubs voted party lines with no attempt on a compromise of any kind.
The current status is tribal with trench warfare--attempts to reach out to repubs went nowhere.
The only way it will be settled is that the Dems have to amass the voters and oust the obstructionists in particular the maga loons.
Fetterman preformed badly yet Dr Oz stated to the crowd --- claiming fracking would raise working folks wages?
To accept Oz's reasoning one must leave the plastic on the cigars before smoking them.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you to a certain extent regarding inflation. Biden had a bipartisan 600 billion dollar deal on the table but went for broke with the trillion plus package. Then he blew smoke up everyones ass with the "Inflation Reduction Act" LOL. The biggest mistake the administration made was continuing to call inflation "transitory", people weren't buying it and they were right. The Fed did get caught flat footed, but what people forget also is they flooded markets with liquidity through quantitive easing and didn't recognize it was time to take their foot off the gas. Energy spiked for a number of reasons, and we haven't built a refinery in 30 years, plus during the pandemic Conoco Phillips shut their big refinery in Philly which hurt us here in the northeast.

A lot going on there, and yes it's not all Biden's fault, but he's definitely part of the problem. My biggest problem is the administrations refusal to even say things are bad out there. Hamburg is 6 bucks a pound, you can piss through 100 bucks at the grocery store in about two seconds. People are feeling it. I remember Clinton saying "I feel your pain" I don't think Joe does.

Anonymous said...

Bernie, you’re ridiculous for even considering that Lisa is a good person. There is no greater contradiction that a woman who votes Republican. You’re smart enough to understand how detrimental the overturning of Roe V Wade was and the real life consequences of that decision, specifically for marginalized groups, and you dare play personality politics? Fuck every single Republican candidate out here and the people who vote for them. You are all anti-democracy and fascist.

Anonymous said...

Bernie, is 50 days of early voting too long? I didn't realize it was that long. It seems unbelievable. I get access. I don't think 50 days is good for citizens. It doesn't account for so-called October surprises. I'd support two weeks or so. You OK with 50?

peterjcochran said...

I’ve been voting for only 48 years . I almost always mixed with both parties. I believe the government should stay out of some gals personal problems,but I don’t think the taxpayer should pay for abortive costs,that’s on you and your boyfriend. I also would ,if I had my way ,comment hard ball criminals to labor camps that produce services for the public. Id have these characters in the worst places doing labor ,for the interest of the public like a paving project. No visit by family,no phone calls ,no nothing. I didn’t ever identify as a MAGA . I only “worship” great veterans that have passed ,the guys and some ladies that stood out in the rain, got shot at , went away for extended periods of time like my Father - in Law , now their time is up. I think we should de- fund politics and politicians . Use your head, understand over 50% of us don’t pay any federal income taxes. This group looks for hand outs . Easton,pa. Is full of them . That’s how they vote ,so pay attention for an offset.

Anonymous said...

I will also be voting for Wild!

Scheller is a corporate tycoon, and does not belong anywhere in politics where she can help her minions avoid paying taxes. She is nothing but a Trump disciple and would do nothing for the hard working people of ou community.

Scheller is no different than OZ and they need to be defeated to make our community better for the people.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's Scheller for me. I can't, in good conscience, vote for any babykiller.

Anonymous said...

And you have to be the biggest idiot in Bernie's readership. 😜

Anonymous said...

c before h when following S, especially in header.

Anonymous said...

If you want your country to improve, stop sending liberal attorneys to DC.

Anonymous said...

I would think this comment would not have met criteria to be posted. Disgusting post

Anonymous said...

BOH -
Best Said:
"Sheller & Wild have good & bad points...like all of us."

Bernie O'Hare said...

"c before h when following S, especially in header."

Oh No! I've been spelling "schit" wrong forever.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I guess it's "schip", not "ship."

Anonymous said...

You have to remember these people aren’t well. They don’t want a free and fair exchange of ideas. If you don’t agree with their point of view you are to be canceled and destroyed.

Anonymous said...

Can you believe Biden in NY yesterday said gas was 5 bucks a gallon when he took office? I hated Trump for his prolific lying but this clown Biden is just as bad. Gas was 2.39 when he took office SMH.

Anonymous said...

So leftist “aren’t well” but maggot republicans can invade the pelosi household and cause terrorism. You’re a hypocrite and anti-American. You’re no patriot, you’re a fascist nazi.

Anonymous said...

Just FYI: https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-gop-candidate-lisa-schellers-tropical-island-tax-shelter?ref=scroll