“There was no backing from the local Republican party. The one thing the Luzerne County Republican Party needs to do is to get rid of Lynette Villano or there’s not going to be a Republican Party here in this county.”- John Cordora
I could dismiss Cordora's comment as sour grapes from a candidate that just got clobbered if I hadn't heard it before. Just as I think it's unhealthy for one party to control the national government it's not good that the local Republican Party is so inept. It's not only that they can't recruit candidates for many elections but when a good person decides to run for office they're on their own. It seems that the local Republicans are so used to losing to the Democrats that they don't even try. When one party controls the levers of government for a long time without serious challenge it's just asking for trouble. Yes, I'm a Democrat but before that I'm a citizen that wants good government. An effective opposition is essential at all levels of government. It's not fair to blame years of incompetence on one person but after reading Villano's comment below I think Cordora may have a point.
“I think people would settle back, enjoy the holidays, eat turkey and then start focusing. Two years is a political lifetime.”-Lynette Villano, chairwoman of the Luzerne County Republican Party, said she isn’t thinking that far ahead.
Villano is inept and the County GOP is too. It's all factions. To be a succesful Republican candidate locally you need to be independent of them. However, when you do that they work hard to have you defeated. I know from personal experience. I won't reveal my name, but I am a local Republican elected official. The entire structure needs to be revamped and new blood and life breathed into it.
ReplyDeleteAmen! All you have to do is look at the way Leonardi was treated. I tried to volunteer early on in his campaign and was "discouraged". Now I'm sorry I bailed out on him. He is the real deal. I hope he runs again, he is the guy that could bring unity to the party, if they just let him.
ReplyDeleteThere is no young blood in the GOP That one kid from kings was very active but he graduated and left town. perhaps they should have encouraged him to stay
ReplyDeleteThere was Chacke and Stebbins in my district, both under 30 I believe, Dave Madiera is younger when it comes to political life and even Katsock is young, but she too ran into the faction problem. The party tends to look toward the old guard that consists of Haggerty, Villano and others, hell our party hasn't had a decent website in years and well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the internet is a very valuable tool for people both running and interested in elections and parties. Cordora was a nut but the fact remains that he was a man that outlasted two other opponents and party backing against a vulnerable candidate would have made Mundy seem vulnerable, instead it reads that 80% of our district supports her when 80% of our district had no idea who her opponent was. Cordora can't pin all his problems on Villano however due to his own lack of visibility (signs etc...) You can win the Primary but don't expect people to pull a Sherwood and just give you everything.
ReplyDeleteThe local GOP is a joke. As I mentioned on my blog, the local people have no appreciation for their candidates. It wasn’t always like that. In the eighties the GOP won the Commissioner’s race with Frank Trinicewski and Jim Phillips. A lot of people attribute that to the wide appeal Trinsewski had but one can also argue the case that the Democrats under the head of Ed Brominski handed that election to the GOP on a silver platter.
ReplyDeleteAs far back as 1967 in that year of change where the Dems won the County for the first time since the Fine administration, three row office candidates won for Sherriff, Coroner and D.A. Four years later, all those winners had primary challenges from the county GOP and went down to defeat except for Dr. George Hudak. Dr. Hudak was appointed by Governor Shafer to serve out the term of Dr. Gibbons who died in office. Shortly after the election, Hudak became a Democrat. The row office republicans who have won recently, medico, stankus, dysleski, did so because the Democratic opposition was so horrible. They were either having their daughter’s crash cars at 3am or having bruising primary fights of their own.
I’d recommend that Leonardi, Katsock and even that loveable “nut” Cordara get themselves over to Voter Services and change their registration to Democratic. At least they’d have a fighting chance and not be sabotaged. In the meantime, I’m dressing up like a Pilgrim and heading over to Villano’s for the holidays with some Archbald Lasagna and eat and drink myself into her obvious joyful oblivion. Must be nice in that space.
Yonkstur
LuLac Political Letter
im coming soon
ReplyDeleteMonroe GOP is worse. They didn't throw a dime at Tatu. Neither did the state GOP. Same as Luzerne - factions. If your not one of the committee they'll do everything they can to bring you down. But the good 'ole boy network lost big time this time!
ReplyDeleteAs a volunteer for the Baker campaign I saw the local GOP really get it going! I agree, however the GOP is fractured - Lynette was nowhere to be found and it appears that was a good thing! Hopefully some from that campaign will consider taking a more active part in the Luzerne county GOP.
ReplyDeletethat was the baker campaign not the local GOP, haggerty can get it going and the Bush campagn was huge, but they could not keep that momentum, there are some new rising starts in the GOP such as Kingston Council women sandy kase, and W-B resident Trent Miller
ReplyDeleteI had Dr. Kase as a professor and she was great. She really does a lot for Republicans and I am not sure who Trent Miller is but I'd be happy to hear more about him.
ReplyDeleteDon't know Trent Miller but Sandy was a Haggerty supporter (daughter works for Haggerty) and part of that Kingston Republicans - didn't do much for Cordora. What we need is fresh faces with new energy. As for the Baker campaign many of their 200 volunteers could and would beome members of the local GOP - That was one group of very active and committed volunteers.
ReplyDeleteI too was going to volunteer for Leonardi, but was as the other poster said discouraged. After the election I visited Dr. Joe and without me giving any hints, he knew exactly who discouraged me. He was very nice about it and wasn't angry with anyone, even those who seemed to be working against him. I offered to help on his next campaign but he had to get back to work and didn't say if he was going to run again. Anyone know his plans?
ReplyDeleteJoe Leonardi probably won't run for Congress again but he should think about the 10th District and maybe State Senator next time out in Musto's Seat. It's a shame people were dissuaded because in the end , we all sit here and say how incompetent Villano was and these people allowed her opinion to stop them from doing his campaign. Here is my advice to all that are ever put in that spot, "often the easy road and the right road are never the same," Don't ever be afraid to anger the GOP gods because in the end they'll never support your run and guys like Leonardi will never forget the help you gave them.
ReplyDeleteFrom a life-long GOPer
Joe is that you???
ReplyDeleteAn interesting discussion unfolded at a media political recap meeting in Philly I attended. One analyst quoted Bill Clinton, "if you don't get elected, it doesn't matter how good your ideas are". That came from a Dem.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I don't believe the "ends justify the means". I came across that mentality while a candidate and eventually an elected official. I stuck by my core values and suffered the consequences rather than sell out to the wheeler-n-dealers.
So the question remains, do you lie about who you really are just to get elected and then show your true colors or do you be open about where you stand and let the voters decide? But...to do the latter, you must put your faith in informed voters not party sheep.
Joe did get a better deal on votes, He spent much less per vote than Kanjo
ReplyDeleteListen, I know on occasion I come up with some pretty radical ideas, but if everybody is talking about how weak and pitiful Villano is why don't they just ignore her and start there own group and call it the Republican party. If there are enough Reps with a bad taste in their mouth, they should do something about it. I've read all of the responses to this article and think it is pretty obvious none of us respect Villano, so do something about it.
ReplyDeleteState committee did ignore her! Sherwood did too - rather he asked Liz Sichler to be his luzerne county "go to" (tough job for liz)
ReplyDeleteI don't think there was a candidate who counted on her - except for Haggerty in the primary and we all saw what happened there-
So then,it is unanimous, we will no longer talk of Villano and the Luzerne County Republican party in the same breath.
ReplyDelete"Brilliant!" -thanks to the Guiness guys for that one
ReplyDelete