There are 12 candidates running to replace the retiring John Peterson in Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional district, 9 Republicans and 3 Democrats. This is a large, mostly rural district in northwest/central Pennsylvania that includes all or part of 17 counties. Peterson generally got 60% of the vote when running for re-election.
Today I visited for the first time the website of John Krupa, one of the lesser known (and that's saying a lot) of the esteemed 9. I was bowled over by his wingnuttery. This is disturbing because in most years, it is a foregone conclusion that the Republican nominee will be the winner of the general election. The chances of flipping this district in November, though still small, are improved by shifting demographics, Democratic excitment over the presidential race, strong Dem candidates, and the weak 9-man GOP field. Peterson has been meeting with each of the 9 candidates and is expected to endorse one or a few - thus hoping to narrow the field and avoid any unpleasant surprises.
The scale: Obviously, there are different forms of wingnuttery. There's the religious kind, the anti-tax/anti-government kind, among others. I'll use a scale of 1-5 wingnuts for each of these categories.
Candidates starting alphabetically:
Chris Exarchos: I actually find Chris Exarchos to be the least scary/offensive of the candidates. I seriously doubt that he has any chance of winning the nomination though - he has little money and feelings are still raw about his ill-conceived 2007 write-in bid for Centre County Commissioner.
Religious wingnuttery: 0 wingnuts!
Exarchos only mentions "family values" once on his entire website. He does not mention God or religion at all.
Anti-tax/government wingnuttery:
Exarchos speaks of an end to "hand-outs and bail-outs" but otherwise he avoids much anti-government language. He talks about investing tax dollars "wisely" and isn't very specific on that. But he laments that many people who work hard are still living paycheck to paycheck.
Other issues: on immigration, energy, etc., Exarchos seems pretty reasonable, for a Republican.
Bottom line: I'd say Exarchos would be the best of the Republican field. The lowest wingnuttery level of all 9.
John Krupa: From one extreme to the other. Krupa's website is what inspired me to write this diary.
Religious wingnuttery:
Krupa's first 3 "Values and Views" listed on his website deal with God, abortion, and religion. The first one reads:
First and foremost, I believe that our creator, God has richly blessed each one of us with the gift of his son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Anti-tax/government wingnuttery:
Krupa's 4th & 5th listed "Values and Views" talk about smaller governemnt being better government and the need to eliminate "burdonsome" taxes and regulations on business.
Other issues: It doesn't get any better from there. You can guess what he says about immigration, Iraq, etc.
Bottom line: NOOOOO!!!! Luckily, I do not think he has a chance in hell.
Lou Radkowski: Who? Yeah, another extreme long shot.
Religious wingnuttery: 0 wingnuts!
Radkowski does not mention religion, God, or family values anywhere on his website.
Anti-tax/government wingnuttery:
Radkowski's number one economic concern is reducing taxes, which he sees as the magical solution to both our employment and healthcare problems.
Other issues: Not much to go on here. He seems generally reasonable on what he does mention (again, for a Republican).
Bottom line: Meh. Could be a lot worse.
Keith Richardson: He's one of my personal favorites, from the presumptuous URL, to his grand, flowery language on his issues page, to the little blog run-in I had with him.
Religious wingnuttery:
Well, he's a Baptist preacher, if that tells you anything. Abortion and gay marriage are 2 out of 8 of his featured "Issues and Principles." But his language is not as overtly religious as Krupa's.
Anti-tax/government wingnuttery:
On his blog and issues pages, Richardson is all about lower taxes, smaller government, Reagan, Reagan!
Other issues: Again, it doesn't get any better from there.
Bottom line: Bad. I think he has a shot at being the "family values" candidate in this race. The one bright spot is that he has pledged a 3-term limit as a self-proclaimed "citizen legislator."
Well, this turned out to be too long for me to do all 9 of them. I'll fit in the other 5 in another diary. In the meantime, check out our 3 solid Democratic candidates in this district. They may be all that's standing between Congress and the wingnuttiest wingnut!