Cunningham's speed bump

From P-G politics editor Jim O'Toole:

Don Cunningham, the Lehigh County executive, may have a distraction on his way to an anticipated run for the Democratic nomination for governor. Republican Scott Ott, a relative political newcomer, is up with a web site heralding his plans to challenge Mr. Cunningham in November.

Until now, the Lehigh Democrat appeared to have clear sailing on his way to re-election, allowing him to lay the groundwork for the 2010 statewide primary. Other potential competitors on the Democratic side include Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, and Auditor General Jack Wagner. Mr. Wagner brings to the table his big re-election win last November. Mr. Onorato, who had no significant opposition for his own re-election in 2007, has the big warchest in the group. Maybe he'll consider a donation to Mr. Ott, just to keep his potential rival busy.

Mr. Ott is the director of a Christian children's camp. He also maintains a web site, scrappleface.com, which features political and social satire, and has drawn the attention of conservative luminaries including Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck. Among its current mock new stories is the bulletin that: Obama Dog Pick Stalled By Immigration, Tax Questions

In a phone interview, Mr. Ott said he had originally planned to run for local school board but when he consulted his local GOP chairman on that possibility, he was urged to run for the executive spot instead.

If Mr. Ott were to win the nomination, he promises a clean race. In the interview, in fact, he went out of his way to praise the incumbent.

"My aim is to actually cut spending and cut taxes,'' he said as he described his decision to enter the race. "Now, so far, Don Cunningham has held the line on taxes; but ... there's no way to avoid a tax increase next year if spending continues at this level. There's a lot to admire about him but there are things that are going to be difficult for him to do given the party he represents, and the ideology he's associated with.''

Mr. Ott said he also planned to make an issue of that expectation that Mr. Cunningham will try to balance a run for governor with his day job in Lehigh County, but he promises to do so without rancor.

"If I have my way, on Nov. 4, Don Cunningham and I will both wake up enjoying the respect of our children because of the campaign we've conducted,'' he said.

 

Hat tip: Chris Lilik

Ravenstahl's plea

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

Via Matt Hogue's collection of endorsement letters to the Dem committee, here's the one from Luke Ravenstahl.

Braddock on Colbert

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

Braddock Mayor John Fetterman goes on the Colbert Report to make his pitch for stimulus funds for the embattled Mon Valley city -- which has lost "90 percent of everything," he says. Whatever Louisiana doesn't want -- or the banking industry will waste -- Braddock will take, Fetterman says.

He also pitches a Colbert Museum. Direct link here (and apologies for the weird coding above the clip). .cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}

Steele to meet with Specter

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

Even though RNC chair Michael Steele told Fox News the other day that he was "open" to primary challengers to Specter and the two other GOP stimulus supporters, it still seemed pretty tepid from here. 

Olympia Snowe, however, is taking the internecine stuff seriously.

From TPM and Roll Call:

Michael Steele's back-and-forth flirtation with possible primary challenges to the party's pro-stimulus Republicans is now causing him to catch some real flak. And it's not just from those same Republicans, but also from conservatives concerned about winning elections -- perhaps indicative of internal strains in the GOP between a hard-line conservative agenda, versus the basic electoral goal of winning office. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), a pro-stimulus Republican who will be up for re-election in 2012, told Roll Call that she approached Steele about his comments and asked him bluntly: "You didn't really mean that, did you?" She said that Steele has agreed to set up a meeting with the three pro-stimulus GOPers to discuss this.

Snowe pointed out that the loss of GOP moderates, and the view that they don't belong in the party, has contributed to the party's overall decrease. "When we were in the majority, there were more of us. Now that we're in the minority, there are less of us," Snowe explained, also adding: "If that's what they want to be, well that's their choice."

And NRSC chairman John Cornyn, a right-winger whose job description right now is quite simply to elect more Republicans, said that while Steele has backed off a bit, Republicans should focus on attacking the Democrats and not each other: "We need to be finding candidates that can win in different parts of the country ... not forming circular firing squads, especially when our numbers are so small."

Holy Moses

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

PA's budget-strapped and tone-deaf state government bought new Bibles, Torahs and a Quaran for the swearing-in ceremonies of legislators this year -- even for those, such as Squirrel Hill's Dan Frankel, who have been issued multiple holy books before.

From the Philly Inquirer (via PoliticsPa):

With the state sinking deeper into a fiscal hole, the Pennsylvania General Assembly bought 220 Bibles and other holy books for legislators as they took the oath of office last month.

And the public paid for them - roughly $13,700 in all.

"Holy Moses," said Eric Epstein, a Harrisburg activist and founder of RockTheCapital.org, when told about the bulk purchase. "By the time you arrive at this station in your life, you shouldn't need the taxpayers to pay for your moral boarding pass."

The House chief clerk and Senate secretary said yesterday that it was a tradition dating back decades for lawmakers to receive a personalized holy book, courtesy of the public, at the start of their terms.

Volumes were ordered for 24 of the 25 senators who took the oath last month. Officials in that chamber could not immediately provide more details yesterday.

House members got to pick from more than a dozen choices, ranging in price from $30 to $90. Each was embossed with the lawmaker's name at an additional cost of $15 per book, according to public records.

All but seven of the 203 House members received one, with 72 picking the New American Catholic Bible, making it the most popular choice.

State Rep. Chris Ross (R., Chester) got a copy of the Quran. He said yesterday that he took the Jan. 6 oath on his own Bible, but ordered the Muslim holy book because he had always wanted to read it.

State Rep. Dan Frankel also got a Quran, but it was an ordering mistake. He traded it in for another copy of the Torah - the sixth he has received from taxpayers since first being elected in 1998.

The Pittsburgh Democrat downplayed the overall cost of the books as minuscule, given that state spending this will top $28 billion. But he acknowledged that it might not send the right public message in these bad economic times.

"Everybody is looking to conserve resources," he said. "At a time like this, maybe people should be asked to bring their own scripture with them."

That's the case in New Jersey, where taxpayers do not provide Bibles for their state legislators.

Obama polls well in Pa

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

Obama's poll numbers have risen in Pa since before the election, with 70 percent confident in the new prez's handling of the economic crisis, a Philly Daily News/Franklin & Marshall poll says today. Here's the DN:

A NEW Daily News/Franklin & Marshall poll finds Pennsylvanians apprehensive about the state's economy, but strongly supportive of President Obama. Seventy percent of those polled said that they were somewhat or very confident in Obama's ability to handle the nation's economic problems.

"It's not unusual in a time of crisis for people to support the president if he's perceived as honest and genuinely trying," said poll director Terry Madonna. "But he has a strong well of support here. People want to believe in him."

Obama's favorability ratings have risen slightly in Pennsylvania since the last Daily News/ F&M taken a month before the November election.

The new poll shows Pennsylvanians in a pessimistic mood, with only 40 percent saying that they feel that things in the state are headed in the right direction, and 49 percent saying that things are on the wrong track.

And while Gov. Rendell's approval numbers are below 50 percent, citizens remain hopeful about his handling of the state's budget mess.

The poll found that 58 percent are somewhat or very confident of Rendell's ability to handle the state's budget problems.

The survey also polled residents on proposals for addressing the state's financial ills.

It finds strong support for programs to attract new businesses, for spending on alternative energy and infrastructure, and for an increase in the cigarette tax.

There's less support for taxes on energy companies and a proposal to permit county governments to increase the sales tax.

By a 58 to 40 percent margin, respondents approve of Rendell's proposal to legalize video poker to fund college-tuition assistance.

Those polled approve of creating a statewide health-benefits system for public-school employees, and oppose eliminating funding for the state's eight public-television stations.

You can find all the poll results at http://go.philly.com/fmpoll.

And after some troubling poll numbers for Specter yesterday, this one is more favorable. Says Terry Madonna's overview:

6) More respondents are able to rate Senator Arlen Specter's job performance than Senator Bob Casey's (8% and 20% don't know, respectively). Both receive positive job performance ratings from about two in five respondents (43% and 38% excellent or good, respectively).

Kenneth responds

Timothy McNulty | February 26, 2009

It had to happen: the Kenneth the Page response to the Internet response to the Republican response to Obama's address to Congress.

Jimmy Fallon's new NBC show gets the scoop from the "30 Rock" actor, who thinks he sounds more like "an outdoorsy lumberjack, or a Clark Gable" than universally panned Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal:

Specter's card check pressure

Timothy McNulty | February 25, 2009

Clearly, Arlen Specter is in the hot seat over the Employee Free Choice Act -- his union supporters are fervently behind it, but conservative GOP voters, already angered by his vote for Obama's stimulus package, are just as fervently opposed. (Though as of now, the bill isn't getting much traction on Capitol Hill, Politico reports.)

Among the Pennsylvania Republicans Specter needs to court in the 2010 primary, opposition to the act is huge, this new poll at GrassrootsPa says -- 81 percent of likely GOP voters oppose it.

Dowd gets first endorsement

Timothy McNulty | February 25, 2009

Via Schultz at tech+politics comes the news that Patrick Dowd got the mayoral endorsement this weekend from the Steel-City Stonewall Democrats, a gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender activist group.

Both Dowd and Ravenstahl respond to the group's questionnaire here. (Ravenstahl, incidentally, says he is anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, but indicates support of legal civil unions.) Our buddy Chris Potter delves into it further in typically interesting fashion, and follow his advice and read Sue Kerr's hilarious, unfiltered take on the proceedings:

If it's any consolation to Ravenstahl, who has reached out to the LGBT community repeatedly, Dowd was "recommended" rather than "strongly endorsed." That means he got a simple majority of the group's votes, rather than the two-thirds margn required for a strong endorsement. 

City council candidates Natlia Rudiak (District 4) and Bill Peduto were both "strongly endorsed." Georgia Blotzer in District 2 was recommended, while Tonya Payne receieved an "honorable mention."

For those interested, Sue Kerr has an excellent write-up of the proceedings last weekend. The Stonewall questionnaires are also worth a look. In the mayor's race, I was interested to see Ravenstahl give no answer for a question about needle exchange. He also didn't respond to a question about whether he'd ever supported an openly gay candidate.

As one would expect, Ravenstahl's answers are much terser than those of Dowd. But the distinction for weirdest answer goes to Carmen Robinson, who when asked to "describe your familiarity with Greater Pittsburgh's LGBT Community," answered thusly: 

I am a fan of Poet Gertrude Stein and Allegheny County and I am aware of their democratic party.

With that, I guess, Robinson has locked up the vote of all the fans of Tender Buttons who live in Pittsburgh. If the merits of experimental fiction come up in this primary season, look for Robinson to score some quick debating points. 

In council action, the District 2 questionnaires are also worth a look: Smith, the incumbent in that race by virtue of a special election earlier this year, did not respond at all. But both Blotzer and Rob Frank gave solid answers. Which is nice, unless you support Blotzer and suspect -- as some others do -- that Frank will peel off votes for your candidate. In District 4, meanwhile, a crowded race got thinned out in a hurry: Rudiak was the only person to respond to Stonewall's questionnaire. 

Over in District 8, Christine Stone's game response wasn't enough to overcome the fact that Peduto has years of street cred with the LGBT crowd.  One suspects a similar dynamic in play -- in more muted fashion -- in District 6, where both incumbent Tonya Payne and challenger Daniel LaVelle make the right kind of noise. (With the possible exception of a query on abstinence education, where neither had a comment.) Payne's "honorable mention" means she polled more votes than her rival, but without making the 50 percent mark. 

Other endorsements and candidate questionnaire's can be found at the Stonewall site. I'll just add that Pittsburgh has come a long way in a short period of time when even the candidate for sheriff, Bill Mullen, feels obliged to respond to the questions and concerns of LGBT groups. True, he didn't say a lot: His support of needle exchange was understandably conditional, and his assertion that "I do not believe abortion should be used as birth control" was a little weird. But it speaks volumes about the community's increasing influence that he said it at all.

Pigs fly

Timothy McNulty | February 25, 2009

Didn't see this one coming: Luke Ravenstahl and Bill Peduto have issued a joint press release saying they will work on their competing street light plans together. Maybe that Obama post-partisanship thing is working.

Here's the (short) release:

Ravenstahl and Peduto Issue Joint Plan

PITTSBURGH - Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Councilman William Peduto joined forces today to issue one comprehensive plan for creating more environmentally efficient lighting in Pittsburgh. Working together, the two leaders introduced to City Council a new plan that merges ideas from both proposals.

The new plan calls for the creation of a task force with representatives from the City, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Illuminating Engineering Society. The Task Force will work with the City during a nine month trial of different energy efficient lights to create a new model of lighting for the 21^st Century.