Eddie Day Pashinski for State Represenative

Eddie Day had his annual brunch that attracted about 300 people at Genetti's. He brought in some of the heavy hitters in state and local politics like Bob Casey, Matt Cartwright, John Yudichak, Mike Carrol and Guido Sarducci.

In the warm up Yuddy sang Eddie's praises since he rarely does it himself. He recounted the  many infrastructure and economic development projects he has done the hard work to make it happen. He had a nice quip about how he shows up with a piano and his own  Paparazzi. Matt Cartwright also praised him and noted that he is sharing campaign space in W-B. He said "I've had worst roommates but at least he cleans up after himself."  All those losing lottery tickets and empty cans end up in the trash.

Senator Bob Casey continues to impress me. He gave another fiery address about the ACA and his opposition to the Trumplican agenda.


When it came time for Eddie to speak  he told us about he is working with his Republican colleagues to get help for grandparents raising grand kids. He lamented that that the Republican Party has been hijacked by extremist who want to divide us on race, sex, etc. He said they want to divide us because there are "more of us than them."   He decried the money in politics and  defended public schools, labor unions, Social Security and Medicare. He doesn't want to go back to the days of the coal barons and celebrated the gains made on job safety, the 8 hr.workday/ 40 hr. week because of collective bargaining. And then he went on and on and on so I had to leave because I already missed kickoff.

He never mentioned his opponent.

Yuddy's annual pick-a-nick

State Senator John Yudichak's end of summer picnic at the Plains PAV was another roaring success. It was a salute to labor and was attended by the working men and women in his district and beyond. The unions were out in force but so were people who don't have union representation in their workplace but wish they did. It was of course a political rally and many elected officials and candidates attended. The official program was mercifully short with Luzerne County Democratic Chair John Pekerovsky doing the introductions and Yuddy as the MC. Congressman Matt Cartwright , candidate Denny Wolff  and US Senator Bob Casey offered some brief remarks. Like the event with Gov. Wolf on Tuesday you could feel the energy of the local Dems.

Republicans are touting a questionable poll

Many of my Trumplican friends are all excited abut an "independent poll" from Commonwealth Leaders Fund that shows Wagner  and Barletta within the margin of error. 
 
The poll reports Gov. Tom Wolf leading Scott Wagner 46% to 43%. Sen. Bob Casey leads Rep. Lou Barletta 47% to 45%.  
The polling, conducted via IVR interviews from Aug. 13-15, included 2,012 likely voters. 

I have never heard of the Commonwealth Leaders Fund and a google search came up empty. A link to the poll Topline View.

I have been reading polls for years and this one is ridiculous. The cross tabs show that Trump has positive favorable rating.  53% of those polled identified as either very conservative or somewhat conservative. Only20% polled considered themselves very liberal or somewhat liberal. 

They used the  dubious method  of IVR. 
To give you an example I told the last IVR poll that I got that I'm a 30 something Female Asian American who is a life long Republican but will vote for all the Democrats this fall. 

The real polls:

RCP Average	4/4 - 6/25	--	--	48.0	32.0	Wolf +16.0
Suffolk	6/21 - 6/25	500 LV	4.4	49	36	Wolf +13
Franklin & Marshall	6/4 - 6/10	472 RV	6.5	48	29	Wolf +19
Morning Call	4/4 - 4/12	414 RV	5.5	47	31	Wolf +16

RCP Average	4/4 - 6/25	--	--	46.3	30.3	Casey +16.0
Suffolk	6/21 - 6/25	500 LV	4.4	47	32	Casey +15
Franklin & Marshall	6/4 - 6/10	472 RV	6.5	44	27	Casey +17
Morning Call	4/4 - 4/12	414 RV	5.5	48	32	Ca

The Blue Wave is being led by women

Yes, the party that holds the White House historically loses seats in the mid term elections. We all know that a record number of women are running for office and winning primaries for Governor, Congress and State offices in record numbers. But the thing I'm seeing is the intensity of their supporters beginning with the Women's March in January of 2017 that has not abated.

All the evidence points to a big year for the Dems with bigger than normal  turnouts in primary and special elections but very few Democrats have actually won special elections for Congress unless the GOP candidate is just ridiculous like Roy Moore or Rick Saccone. On the state level they have done much better. 

I'm always cautious about expectations because the Republicans have some advantages. First is almost unlimited money. Millionaires and Billionaires can write checks to dark money groups because of Citizens United that go to so called social welfare groups. They then can spend that money painting Democrats as the equivilant of  devil worshipers who want to take you guns, murder babies and give people health insurance.

The second is gerrymandering.  Things have improved in PA but many states have carved up the districts to give the GOP a big advantage. Just look at Ohio 12. In a fairly drawn district the Democrat would have won easily.

So that leads us to our little corner of the world. The Democrats are playing defense with Governor Wolf, Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Matt Cartwright and State Rep Eddie Day Pashinski on the ballot. Their opponents have gone all in with Trump. Although we don't have  women  running for office the Democratic women are leading the charge to keep these men in office.


After many years of being dormant the Luzerne County Democratic Party is coming roaring back. We are being led by Polly Delaney and Wendy Cominsky. This dynamic duo have organized many events past and future and are looking for ideas from the rest of us to just get people to vote.

Senator Bob Casey in town

Senator Bob Casey gave one on the most passionate speeches on health care  that I have ever heard. He threw out out a lot of statistics about how the ACA has covered thousands of people in Luzerne County. Then he gave examples of people who have benefited from the law.

The longer he talked about health care the more angry he got about the sabotage of the ACA

Some much about the Sleeping thing that the Republicans are pushing

Meuser at the Grotto

Tens of people came out to hear former PA Revenue Secretary and unsuccessful 2008 PA 10th CD Republican candidate give his pitch for electing him to the 11th CD seat being vacated by Lou Barletta.

Luzerne County GOP Chair Ron Ferrance did the intro saying we need someone in Congress that will support the President. Other notables in attendance were State Rep. Karen Boback, Bear Creek Village Mayor Walter Mitchell, the next DJ in the back mountain Brian Tupper, Old Forge School Director Frank Scavo and Luzerne County candidate Marc Dixon.

Meuser tied himself firmly to Trump and Barletta.

Meuser said he was a conservative problem solver who wants to get behind the President's Make America Great Again (MAGA)  agenda. Tax reform, repeal Obamacare, strong military, border security, term limits and drain the swamp (DTS) , etc. He said he was urged by Barletta to run for Congress if Lou ran for Senate. The way he explained it was almost like a Quid pro quo. 

I was surprised by how much he discussed the nuts and bolts of the campaign. Everything from yard signs to money. Meuser said he was outworking the other candidates and claimed the support of 8 GOP county chairs. He said he will need $750,000 to win the primary.

He took some shots at Democrats saying the Republicans are the party of the red, white and blue who's favorite holiday is the 4th of July while the Dems celebrate April 15th. Senator Casey has gone extreme left and brought up Nancy Pelosi. 

At the end someone asked him about combating the lies that politicians tell. Meuser said he would give them a pass the first time but would lose his support if they did it again. Then he went on about draining the swamp and MAGA.

Maybe he should read this fake news article:

Trump's Lies



 Updated July 21: The president is still lying, so we've added to this list, and provided links to the facts in each case.

                                                  

Upcoming Events

One of my favorite features of The Lu Lac Political Letter is the Yonk's plugging the upcoming political events. Mrs. Lu Lac tells us he is doing fine after surgery and we all hope he will back soon. I'll try to pick up the slack while he is away. If anyone has an event coming up please email me at gort42@yahoo.com.

Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Show Map Le Manhattan bistro 264-268 South Main St, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18701 (corner of Ross St)

5-7PM Wednesday August 19th


Tony Brooks for City Council Campaign will host a fundraising campaign kickoff for the General Election. 

$20 per person.

Come have some hor d'oeuvres and see one of Wilkes-Barre's new restaurants. If you would like to stay for dinner please call 570-706-9588.

Checks can be made payable to Brooks for Wilkes-Barre Committee and mailed to 72 West River Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702, or brought on the day of the event. No corporate checks. For information, call 570-793-3631.

 The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is pleased to announce the latest episode in its Marcellus Shale Reality Tour series, and will have a screening and pipeline discussion on August 19 at the American Legion, Rt. 415 (across from Leggio’s) in Dallas, PA at 7 pm.

Who's running for Governor?

Reading the tea leaves of  PoliticsPA reporting of the Pennsylvania Society meetup in New York this past weekend it looks like about 37 people are floating the the idea of running for Governor of Pennsylvania. Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor said he was thinking of primary challenge to Tom Corbett. He is the only Republican name thrown out there so far other than the usual cranks.

Democrat John Hanger has already declared that he is the race .Bob Casey and Allyson Schwartz are not. Former Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper and  PA State Senator Mike Stack said they are looking at the race. PA Treasurer Rob McCord will will be a candidate and possibly Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy. More to come.

A couple events caught my eye.

On Saturday :

Congressman Lou Barletta’s Holiday Reception
2:00pm – 5:00pm
O’Neill’s Irish Bar
729 3rd Avenue
RSVP Required

I wasn't invited and that makes me sad. I'm the biggest non supporter of Lou in these parts who actually likes the guy. I'll buy him dinner at Dominick's Cafe.


The rumor is that the Mean Old Man  and Professor Milburn Cleaver, OPA made it to this gathering.

  5th Annual Bolshevik Dinner
7:00pm
The Russian Vodka Room
By invitation only

The best roundup of the PA Society weekend came from my 2nd favorite state legislator (Phyllis is still in the lead) Daylin Leach.

PA Society Chronicles – 2012

 

= I’m running for Governor, but not of Pennsylvania.
= I’m running for Congress.
= I’m running for the Bundestag.
= Pat Toomey has asked me to be his Vice-Senator.
= Governor Corbett calls me his ‘little minx’”.
= I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
= My CIA nick-name is “Danger Hunk”.

 

Pennsylania polls

There are 4 statewide races on the ballot tomorrow.

In the US Senate race Bob Casey (D) sort of fell asleep while Tom Smith (R) spent millions on TV ads singing the praises of coal. If I see that ad with that kid with the southern accent blaming the President and Casey for losing his job one more time because of regulations  I'm going to throw up. The fact that natural gas prices have decreased because of shale drilling is why utilities are switching to gas powered generators and need less coal. I thought Republicans believed in market forces. I think Casey holds on.


Kathleen Kane will be the next Attorney General of Pennsylvania. She has had a double digit lead in every public poll since the primary. I was a big supporter of Patrick Murphy in the primary but poor turnout in Philadelphia and the suburbs sunk him. I had a nice chat with David Freed at the Luzerne County GOP picnic in August. On my way out I told David Freed that I thought the AG's office would be in good hands whoever won. He said he felt the same way after the primary. He respects his opponent. Now that we are in closing days the ads have got tough. I really like that the Freed camp cited my Parking Ticket post in an ad but attributed it to WILK

Incumbent Treasurer Rob McCord, a Democrat from Bryn Mawr,will win big.  Republican challenger Diana Irey Vaughan, is  a Washington County commissioner,
Libertarian Patricia Fryman, the retired auditor of Venango County, is also on the ballot.

Auditor General is going down to the wire. Both candidates are on the air.  Rep. Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat from York County, and Rep. John Maher, a Republican from Allegheny County. I think they are also running for reelection as state reps. I don't think it should be allowed to run for 2 offices like Joe Lieberman or Paul Ryan. This is tossup but it's a Democratic year in PA. DePasquale wins.

 Kevin Blaum backs Maher .

Reloading Pennsylvania polls

Something screwy is going on with the polls on the sidebar. Every time I refresh the page the number of votes casts decreases. So I deleted them and put them up again. I hope that fixes the problem, we will see.

So vote again folks.

The question is who do you think will win the election not who you are voting for.

We start off with the national and statewide elections.

Will President Obama be reelected or will mittmentum sweep Governor Romney into the White House?

Can Tom Smith leave Bob Casey in the coal dust?

Do PA voters voters make history by electing Kathleen Kane as the first woman Attorney General  or continue the Republican streak by going for David Freed?

Please vote on the left sidebar and tell us your predictions in the comments.

Pennsylvania Polls

It's a tradition on Gort42 to put up some polls on the sidebar the week before the election. The question is who do you think will win the election not who you are voting for. I'll have my predictions next weekend. I put up 3 races to start it off and will list more over the next few days.

We start off with the national and statewide elections.

Will President Obama be reelected or will mittmentum sweep Governor Romney into the White House?

Can Tom Smith leave Bob Casey in the coal dust?

Do PA voters voters make history by electing Kathleen Kane as the first woman Attorney General  or continue the Republican streak by going for David Freed?

Please vote on the left sidebar and tell us your predictions in the comments.

Luzerne County Democratic Picnic

This little girl pictured above doesn't want Mitt Romney to take her Big Bird away.

Congrats to recently installed Luzerne County County Democratic Chair Bob Boyer for putting together a great event that was attended by about 400 people according to my head counter Bob Caruso. Let's do it in the summer next time Bob.

The Luzerne  County GOP picnic had about 50 attend but they have gone back to the old ways of fighting each other. Urbanski won the Chair so the Casey supporters will boycott everything. More on that later in the week.

State Rep Eddie Day Pashinski was the Master of Ceremonies and I highly recommend him to MC your wedding the next time you get married.

 Senator Bob Casey spoke about the 100% of the American people and I blamed him for creating a monster that is Rick Santorum. He beat Ricky by 18 points in the last Senate race only to see Santorum come in 2nd in the Republican Presidential primaries. I predict that Santorum will be the GOP nominee in 2016 because he came in 2nd and the GOP is an orderly party. He will start his run  after he eats Big Bird.

Blast from the recent past Chris Carney who teased us about another run said Romney is not fit to be Commander in Chief. He noted that he is a Catholic war veteran speaking at the Catholic War Vets grove.

One of my favorite state reps Phyllis Mundy said the state GOP is as evil as the Tea Party yahoos on the national stage. She pointed out that 2/3 rd of Medicaid spending goes to people in nursing homes. We can't tax Shale but we can give corporations tax breaks.

State Rep Mike Carroll said the cartographers got it wrong Moosic is part of Luzerne County. Matt Cartwright corrected him  saying Luzerne County is part of Moosic.

Matt Cartwright reminded the crowd that "We are the Democrats" and did a shout out with the crowd  challenging them to stand up for Democratic values.

The thing that really struck me was the diversity of the crowd. This is not the Luzerne County Democratic Party of your father or even 4 years ago when the crooks that have gone to jail ran the show. I wasn't welcome then by Skrep, Lupas, Makowski and Vondy and the rest.

People from Hazleton turned out to support Ransom Young and Gene Stilp. Many of them Hispanic.

When a picture was being taken the shout wasn't cheese

It was HOLA!

Another great Blogfest

We had so many people at Blogfest come and go on Friday night  that I lost count.

Like the last one 11th CD candidate Gene Stilp stole the show,  this time  he parked his pink pig bus in front of Rooney's in the afternoon then assembled his 10 foot tall Medicare wheelchair. He got 17th CD candidate Matt Cartwright to join in.

Full report in the morning..

The political bloggers that make Blogfest happen.

Yonk, Joe V and your humble narrator

More photos at this LINK

Even more photos on Joe V's Photobucket

Snarky Blogger time. Some Bigwigs weigh in on Blogfest.

  Joe Biden. "I hear this Blogfest is a big fucking deal."

 Mitt Romney. " I'm sorry I couldn't make it tonight, Blogfest sounds like great sport. I had a crises when my dancing horse got stuck in the car elevator again. 47% of YOU people can't even imagine the problems I have to deal with for Pete's sake.


GOP US Senate candidate Tom Smith responded to my invitation to Blogfest. "Where the hell is Pittston? Do they have coal there?"

 Bob Casey. " I introduced a resolution in the Senate recognizing Blogfest as a great Pennsylvania tradition but the Republicans filibustered it."

 Clint Eastwood. "What do you want me to tell Gort? I can’t tell him to do that. I can’t tell him to do that to himself."

Funding for the Tobyhanna Army Depot

Republican freshman Congressman Lou Barletta and Tom Marino are taking heat for voting for a Defense appropriation bill that will cut funding for the Tobyhanna Army Depot which is the largest employer in the area. Barletta spokesperson Renita Fenick says he voted for the bill but later discovered an accounting error.

Their Democratic opponents are having a field day with this.

From Phil Scollo: How could he have possibly voted for a bill that does so much damage to his own district? How could he have voted to cut hundreds of jobs in his own district when we are already struggling to reduce unemployment?

Rep. Marino either doesn't care about local jobs or is just plain clueless. 

Gene Stilp: “This is a huge bill and a major bill, and for Mr. Barletta to not understand, at least, how it would affect people in the newly redrawn 11th District shows he still has a lot to learn about how Congress works. He certainly could have proposed an amendment to the bill that would have held it up and protected a leading employer like Tobyhanna. With an economy like this, you have to be aware of things like this.”

Meanwhile, Marino could not be reached for comment.

 I don't think that Barletta and Marino would knowingly vote to cut funding for Tobyhanna but that's the problem, they voted for a bill not knowing what was in it. I remember some Tea Party types demanding that members of Congress should read every bill that is voted on. These guys didn't read the bill but they should have staffers that should spot a problem for their constituencies.

 But don't panic, Senator Bob Casey will get this fixed in the conference committee.

It is understandable that Barletta missed the details of the possible disaster because he is busy with other issues.

From Barletta's website:

He is working for a coal miner stamp that I support but doesn't say anything about the Postal Service near term funding problem.

I agree that gassing animals  is bad. 

A Post Office was renamed.

And illegal immigration!

He should have another Telephone Town Hall soon. Lou blasted Kanjo for hiding from the voters but he has not had an in person town hall  for a while.

 Vote was an error

Defense vote haunts GOP incumbents

 

 

Joe Biden in Scranton today

TL:

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Scranton today to meet with campaign supporters, visit friends and family, and give remarks at Scranton’s Courthouse Square fireworks celebration.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, is expected to attend the event and appear with Biden. They are scheduled to make a public appearance together at 7:30 p.m. today.

The dean of NEPA political reporters BORYS KRAWCZENIUK had an interview with the Veep

Biden Visit Tuesday to include trip to childhood home, fireworks in Scranton

 I was a volunteer  in Biden's 1988 Presidential bid that got torpedoed by the Dukakis campaign over the Neil Kinnock plagiarism thing.  I still find it hard to believe that somebody as loquacious as Biden would lift someones words without attribution

Meet Rapid Edward

Former PA Governor Ed Rendell will be at the Barnes & Noble at the Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Friday 7-9PM to sign his book. The name comes from his famous rant about the NFL postponing an Eagles game in 2010 because the weather forecast predicted a blizzard that didn't happen.

HP:  "I think it is a joke," Rendell said, explaining that there was only five inches of snow on the ground when the game would have started. "I was looking forward to this. It would have been a real experience. This is what football is all about. We're becoming a nation of wussies."

The game was supposed to be played on Sunday night, but it was moved to Tuesday for safety concerns.

I first met the Guv at a campaign event in 2002  at the Riverfront in Plains organized by then Luzerne County Controller Steve Flood. I told him to get past the election stuff and get back on  CSN for the Eagles pre and post-game shows like when he was Mayor of Philadelphia that may have helped him win the primary against Bob Casey. He won the general election defeating Atty. General Mike Fisher 53% to 44%. He won reelection in a blowout in 2006 over Steelers great Lynn Swann 60%-40%. 

Many people dubbed him Fast Eddie, especially his political opponents. I think that is disrespectful so I prefer Rapid Edward that a commenter on GrassrootsPA  that is now The Keystone Report (gotta fix that link) came up with. Thanks Conservative Goddess. 

PN: In 2004, Rendell’s car was clocked at traveling more than 100 mph several times in a four-month period.

Pennsylvania polling

In the Presidential race Republican leaning polling outfit Rasmussen Reports has President Obama leading Mitt Romney 47%-41% and the Democratic leaning pollster Public Policy Polling has a similar result with Obama topping Romney 50%-42%. The PPP crosstabs are interesting with the President's favorables about even but Romney is way underwater with 51% unfavorable to just 37% favorable. Governor Tom Corbett is also not well thought of with 50% disapproving of his job performance vs. 37% in favor.

In the Senate race Bob Casey has a 49% to 33%  lead over Bob Smith.  Smith and Steve Welch attacked each other for voting for Democrats in the past during the primary that probably left a bad taste in the mouth of Welch supporters and the state GOP. Smith's name recognition went up but so did his unfavorables.The more people get to know him the less they like him.

Democratic Attorney General candidate Kathleen Kane has the early lead over David Freed 42%-33% with 25% undecided. The hard fought primary with Patrick Murphy helped her get her name out there and Murphy's endorsement helps to close the the ranks of Democrats.Patrick is always a class act.

“Primaries are never easy. But it’s important to remember that this was a family fight. Now that it’s over, we must come together and rally behind our nominee. That’s why I am endorsing Kathleen Kane for Attorney General. Because in the end, Kathleen is Pennsylvania’s best choice for Attorney General,” Murphy said.

The contests for Auditor General and Treasurer are a wash at this point.

In other political news Nancy Pelosi  will be in town for a wedding and will make a side trip to help out 17th CD Democratic nominee Matt Cartwright raise money at a 10:30 a.m. lunch June 9 at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel in Scranton. That's early for this nocturnal blogger and a bit expensive.

The Republicans are always looking for some sort of  boogeyman and the soft spoken Grandmother from Sodom on the San Andreas fits the bill. Lately Chicago style  Democrats (corrupt)has replaced San Francisco Democrats (gay) in their lexicon.

Looking to the fall: President and US Senate

The last time a Republican Presidential candidate won Pennsylvania was 1988 but it looks like we will be a battleground again. President Obama beat John McCain 53%-46% in 2008 but many people expect it to be closer this time.I haven't heard what Mitt Romney thinks of the height of the trees in Penn's Woods.We already know what he thinks of our cookies.

Bob Casey won handily in 2006 blowing out Rick Santorum by 17% in a very Democratic year. Tom Smith has deep pockets so expect this one to be more competitive than many people think.

Endorsements for Holden and Cartwright

Just about every local Democratic elected local official and county committee has endorsed Congressman Tim Holden in the PA-17th CD primary. The latest include Senator Bob Casey who had a statement read by former Congressman Chris Carney at an event in Scranton. Other than the AFL-CIO that brings money and boots on the ground most endorsements are worth a press release and not much more. Some nods could actually hurt such as the Lackawanna and Luzerne County Democratic Committees after people have seen so many elected local Democratic officials pleading guilty to corruption charges and landing in jail. One of the Captains Obvious college professors agrees with me "Casey carries a lot of credibility, but in terms of delivering any votes, I have doubts it'll deliver significant numbers of votes," Baldino said.

And let's not forget that Holden has taken money from the Kock Brothers . From NEPartisan Yes, Tim Holden actually took money from the Koch Brothers. Five minutes on Google, and any American who doesn’t want our environment destroyed, all labor laws eliminated, no limits on Wall Street traders, our judicial system in chains, and the federal government out of business so the age of robber barons can return would reject anyone backed by them.

On the other hand Matt Cartwright has landed some endorsements that bring money, boots and media.

LuLac: The Scranton area’s local postal union, Local #101 of the American Postal Workers Union, threw its support behind Matt Cartwright today. The Senate is slated to take up a bill to destroy the Post Office because the Republicans think it should be run like a business instead of the public service that it is.

MoveOn.org: MoveOn has more than 12,000 members in the 17th district, and of those who participated in the endorsement vote, a decisive 84% voted to endorse Cartwright...
As part of their support for the Cartwright campaign, MoveOn’s thousands of members in the district will help provide the grassroots support—including volunteer boots on the ground – that Cartwright needs to win.

League of Conservation Voters Action Fund ‘Proudly’ Endorses Matt Cartwright

“Matt Cartwright has fought to hold corporate polluters accountable to protect Pennsylvanians from the hazardous chemicals released in natural gas extraction,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “LCV Action Fund is proud to endorse Matt Cartwright because he understands that the policies needed to grow America’s economy and keep our competitive edge are the same policies that will protect the air we breathe and the water we drink for generations to come.”

The LCV is backing up the endorsement with a $200,000 ad buy that will run until election day. From PoliticsPA It’s not the first time Holden has earned the ire – or the media dollars – of environmental groups. In October, the political arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council spent $100K to air TV ads knocking Holden, as well as Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne) over the Clean Air Act.

You can see my coverage of that here

If you watch the local TV news you will see this ad until Tuesday





This spot hits Holden on the issues unlike the personal attacks that the Holden camp has resorted to.





I would put up a video of the latest Holden ad but it is not on the campaign website and they don't have a YouTube account that I can find. Is Joe Trippi really running his campaign?

Pennsylvania US Senate race

The latest polling has former State Rep Sam Rohrer leading the field of Republican contenders to replace Democrat Bob Casey who beat the last "conservative" in the presidential race Rick Santorum by 18% in 2006.

He's at 16% to 12% for Tom Smith, 10% for David Christian, 8% for Marc Scaringi, and 5% for Steve Welch. The big winner though is undecided- 48% of voters say they don't yet know who they'll choose.

Right now Casey beats them all handily. That will change.

Casey 49 – Rohrer 34
Casey 50 – Christian 32
Casey 49 – Smith 31
Casey 49 – Scaringi 29
Casey 49 – Welch 29