Hi all PA 5th-ers and other interested parties. I've been on vacation and have missed a lot of activity here.
I missed Obama speaking to a record crowd of 22,000 people on the Old Main lawn at PSU. (aarrgghh!! couldn't give up a planned vacation for that!)
I missed the announcement that Democrats now outnumber Republicans in the 3 most populous counties of the district (Centre, Clinton, and Clearfield). Thank you Senator Obama for that gift that will keep on giving for years to come. This is exactly why I support Obama. The Obama campaign now has 5th district offices open in State College, Dubois, and St. Mary's - plus Williamsport, which is just outside the 5th district. This is a massive presence.
I also missed a few candidate forums and big endorsements. More on the flip . .
On the Democratic side, Rick Vilello got arguably the biggest endorsement so far, from Governor Ed Rendell. Bill Cahir and Mark McCracken also picked up some labor endorsements. You can see the details at their websites.
On the GOP side, our good buddy Matt Shaner (who won by landslide the wingnuttiest wingnut poll) has now picked up the endorsement of the Club for Growth.
That announcement is interesting, because it only mentions 2 of Shaner's rivals specifically, as if it is a 3-man race rather than a 9-man free-for-all. It calls them the "three major candidates." Is it a coincidence that the other 2 candidates mentioned also happen to be the rich ones?
In stark contrast, his opponents show definite signs of weakness on economic issues. Derek Walker, a financial consultant, is opposed to NAFTA and is an unabashed supporter of wasteful pork barrel spending. The other candidate, Jeff Stroehmann, is a proud protectionist, advocating policies that would cripple central Pennsylvanian exports. Though he claims to be a fiscal conservative, Stroehmann’s protectionist views would impose heavy new taxes on consumers and businesses.
Take those characterizations with a grain of salt, BTW. I'm not sure that a few of the other 6 candidates should be written off so easily, particularly if John Peterson decides to endorse one of them. But hey, Pat Toomey knows best, I suppose.
I wonder if the Club for Growth will now be running its own ads here, in addition to Shaner's hefty ad-buy.
Returning from vacation yesterday, I had to drive across Mifflin and Centre Counties and could observe the sign wars. Shaner and Walker clearly are winning the sign wars, with Richardson making a good 3rd place showing. I also saw pockets of Exarchos, Radkowski, Stroehmann and Thompson signs. On the Democratic side, Cahir is the clear sign war winner, with Vilello second.
So, I think it's increasingly likely that Shaner will be able to buy this nomination. Let's do our best to keep him from buying the seat! This year, it is winnable against such a flawed candidate.
UPDATE: I'm behind on my reading so couldn't do a proper Dem comparison diary, but I wanted to add these helpful links:
WPSU has posted informative interviews and such with all the candidates.
Also, the CDT published 2 more Q&A sessions: No Child Left Behind and What special problems/ opportunities stem from the 5th district's large and diverse geography.