Wasn't it just yesterday we were wringing our hands about this? PA-11: Incumbent Kanjorski (D) trailing
Hope this makes you feel better brownsox! Hey people, here comes Paul! He's back and coming up strong.
On Sunday here in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District, the Bidens and the Clintons said the same word over and over again during a rally packed by 6,000 people - KANJORSKI, who, in a month, has shaved Barletta's lead from 9 points down to five, with a 4 point margin of error, according to today's Scranton Times-Tribune. That gap promises to get even smaller after this weekend when the Bidens and Clintons campaigned for Kanjorski in Scranton.
To quote Senator Hillary Clinton
It’s great being here with Senator Bob Casey and his family, with Congressman Kanjorski and his family. I just want to reiterate what Bill said. We need as many Democrats in the Congress as we can get and we need to send Paul Kanjorski back to the House of Representatives. And I want to thank Mayor Doherty and everybody associated with not only the city and the county and this region - there are a lot of good things happening here in Scranton. And I know you are going to keep working hard to make sure that this great city, county and region have as positive a future as you have a storied past. You can count on me Chris to be your partner.
As Bill said – I’ve been crisscrossing the country campaigning for Barack and Joe. Why? Because this election is too important to sit on the sidelines of history. I haven’t spent 35 years in the trenches fighting for universal health care, for children, for families, for women, for middle class people to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our nation and the hopes of our people.
Well, it seems as though people are getting it. Next door in PA11, Challenger Lou Barletta, like most Republican candidates these days, seems to be running on issues of fear and hate and geez, it's just not working. Why? It's the economy Lou.
The economy is driving this congressional race," said G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., director of the Franklin & Marshall/Times-Shamrock Newspapers poll, released today. "Immigration has declined in terms of its importance and that helps Kanjorski."
And after yesterday here in the 10th, I'm sure we might see Incumbent D-Carney pull ahead even farther after challenger Chris Hackett set off boos and hisses and even a KILL HIM for Obama as he warmed up the crowd for Palin. The latest online Franklin & Marshall poll
shows first-term incumbent Democrat Christopher Carney leading his Republican challenger Chris Hackett by 14 points, 39 percent to 25 percent. Carney’s lead is a bit larger when undecided but leaning voters are included, 48 percent to 33 percent, with 18 percent completely undecided. The 10th Congressional District is normally a reliably Republican district; George Bush defeated John Kerry by 20 points in 2004 and he defeated Al Gore by 16 points in 2000.
Anyway, The Scranton Times-Tribune reports today that Kanjorski closes gap:
Mr. Barletta leads Mr. Kanjorski, 40 percent to 35 percent, with 24 percent still undecided, according to the Franklin & Marshall/Times-Shamrock Newspapers poll released today. The poll surveyed 586 registered voters in the 11th Congressional District between Oct. 8 and 12. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"The internal construct of the issues now favors Kanjorski a bit more, which is why I think the election got closer," said G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., director of the poll. "It is now a more competitive race than it was a couple of weeks ago."
Mr. Barletta, a Republican, held a 9-point advantage less than four weeks ago in another Franklin & Marshall/Times-Shamrock poll. Mr. Barletta’s support has since dropped as Mr. Kanjorski’s has stayed steady, according to the most recent poll. Mr. Kanjorski still faces a high unfavorable rating and a strong push against his re-election.
But despite the good news, Kanjorski still has a fight on his hands. Barletta's campaign manager Vince Galko said Mr. Kanjorski should share much of the blame for the country’s current economic problems.
"I think the economy is an extreme liability for Mr. Kanjorski," he said. "He has been the one in Congress for 24 years, not Lou Barletta. He has been chairman of the (House) Financial Services Subcommittee. He is the one who voted to give $700 billion to his Wall Street friends. ... I think it’s time to get some fresh ideas and new leadership."
So can we give Paul a boost? Yesterday, in brownsox's diary, Stranded Wind suggested a contribution to Kanjorski through Act Blue - maybe you could write a LTE in support of Kanjorski, noting that Obama/Biden and the Clintons are asking for a vote for Kanjorski - at Letters@timesshamrock.com