Machine Dems Insure Angle Victory in Slate Belt

State rep. Rich Grucela opposes party endorsement of candidates in contested primaries. And that's what he told the Northampton County Democratic party in its last meeting. It makes sense. When a party preselects candidates in dark bars, we end up with elected officials who decide the people's business behind closed doors.

But a handful of Dems, who think they know best, disregarded Grucela's advice and chose John Maher as their poster boy to challenge Ron Angle on Northampton County Council. It made no difference that Maher has a Democratic opponent, Bill Hall. A college grad, Hall founded Bayside Builders in Naples, FL, supervising 100 million dollars in construction projects. He relocated to Pennsylvania in 1997, working as a construction supervisor and contractor.

A few Bethlehem Dems made an undemocratic decision for slate belt Dems. Maher refused to stand up against the machine. In fact, he tried vainly to justify machine politics. In doing so, he sold his soul to Bossman Long, and has guaranteed his defeat this Fall. Angle will eat him alive.

Norco Dem Committee: We Know Best, If You Don't Like it, Leave!

Many of us were up before dawn last Saturday. It was the first day of fishing season, and there was no rain! Even more of us were listening to the crack of a bat and that loud snap we hear when a well-thrown ball hits the leather of an infielder's glove. But while most of us were breathing in the Spring air, a much smaller group was hunkered down in a dark and dank smoke-filled Nazareth bar. Twenty members of this group are intent on destroying our right to choose our leaders, one of our most fundamental liberties. They even ejected a dissident who complained just a little too loudly. This group of oligarchs? The Northampton County Democratic Committee. The man who had the gall to demand that the group be more democratic? County council candidate Will Power. Let me tell you how this happened.

Northampton County has 149 voting precincts. We should, therefore, have 298 persons serving the Democratic party in Northampton County, a man and woman in each district. But only about 195 people were elected last Spring. The local chair can appoint members in precincts having no elected members, but he's having trouble. The website practically begs people to get involved.

On Saturday, Boss Long's county committee decided to endorse candidates seeking the Nazareth and Slate Belt district seats for Northampton County Council. Neither seat is county-wide. The county committee gave no endorsement to candidates seeking local offices in Bethlehem or Easton. But for reasons that elude me, it selected Sunshine Act violator Lamont McClure over reformer Will Power in Nazareth. And the Slate Belt seat was awarded to John Maher over Bill Hall.

Veteran reporter Madeleine Mathias tells us seventy-five people attended this coronation ceremony. That statement led me to believe that there were seventy-five committee members involved. Maher's 20-12 endorsement, I surmised, came from the committee people in his slate belt district. But guess what? Just thirty-two people were allowed to decide on behalf of the entire county Democratic party, a mere sixteen percent of the popularly elected committee members. Only ten percent voted to endorse Maher. How many of these committee members were actually from the slate belt district? Your guess is as good as mine, but it had to be significantly less than ten percent.

Do you think a law enacted by ten percent of Congress or the state legislature would have any validity? Welcome to the world of Dem boss Joe Long.

Will Power, aggravated by this obvious insult to the democratic process, was tossed out of the meeting. Joe Long, Rodney Applegate, Charles Dertinger and William Wallace turned the Power off. These Dems are scared to death of the people. Power has his own first hand account. John Maher tells me Power was being "disruptive." It's called democracy, John. Let the people decide. Is that so hard?

Just a few weeks ago, council candidates turned in their nomination petitions. County Councilman Ron Angle told John Maher there were all kinds of problems with Hall's petition. He also told Bill Hall there were all kinds of problems with Maher's petition. And he was right! Both petitions are screwed up. Now Ron was just trying to trick potential adversaries into cancelling each other out. But they refused to take the bait, just like the trout I tried to angle on Saturday. Maher and Hall both told me the people should decide these matters, not judges. Looks like Maher has had an unfortunate change of heart. He's increasingly looking like a Joe Long puppet.

I'm told state rep. Rich Grucela had a statement for the small segment of the committee who actually attended Saturday's meeting. He opposes party endorsement of candidates in contested races. He's right. A party who predecides its candidates in dark bars, leads to public officials who will predecide the people's business behind closed doors. It results in only 195 people getting elected to a body that should have 298 seats.

Everyone else thinks they have a better chance fishing or playing ball.

Update: Larry Kisslinger, the former local Republican party chair, has his own very interesting and eloquent perception. Political parties are a thing of the past, unless a very civic minded person is in charge always trying to have "more" people involved in decision making at the Party level. If few people desire to make decisions and/or dictate to their Party members is tunnel vision. I was County R Chair '86-'88 and when I promoted more to attend meetings was rebuked by nonsensical advice by some, still in charge, to stop doing so. "Why do we need "all" of these people here, we used to do things with only a few of us attending"?... was their mantra...I resigned since nobody wanted input from all!