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Elections
Pat Toomey, the Pa. GOP's nominee for Senate, would like you to think he's a mainstream, conservative-but-not-insane kind of guy. That's how his campaign will present him over the next few months. They'll downplay his four-year stint at the helm of the Club for Growth, a far-right organization that sought to evict Republicans it deemed not conservative enough. Instead, they'll talk in generic terms about his "common sense approach" to lower taxes and limited spending, etc., while trying to castigate Joe Sestak, retired Navy admiral, as some lilly-livered Marxist. Sadly, there's a pretty good shot this strategy will work, too, since the election will be far more about the national mood than the merits of the individual candidates.
The truth is, Toomey at least during his tenure in Congress had a pretty radical record. Quantifiably so: According to a statistical analysis by Pollster.com's Harry Enten using lawmakers' DW-Nominate scores (a pretty standard political science measurement of ideology, alongside rankings from groups like Americans for Democratic Action and the American Conservative Union), Toomey is way, way, way to the right of even Rick Santorum, whom this state so rightly removed from the Senate back in 2006.
Is Pat Toomey too conservative for Pennsylvania?
This weekend in response to a post I wrote about possible Pennsylvania Senate match-ups Alan Reifman asserted that Toomey "is too far to the right for Pennsylvania." When I saw Reifman's post, I was going to respond "but Pennsylvanians elected Rick Santorum... twice." But before I did, I decided to contrast Santorum's and Toomey's DW-Nominate scores. DW-Nominate scores classify House and Senate members as liberal or conservative based on all their roll call votes than can be identified as liberal or conservative. These scores allow one to compare how rightward or leftward legislators are on a single dimension -1 to 1 scale with higher positive scores indicating a more conservative record*. What I found surprised me.
Using joint House and Senate scaling (which treat the House and Senate a single body to compare scores across chambers), we find that Pat Toomey (.718) had a considerably more conservative voting record than Rick Santorum (.349). To put that number into context, Lincoln Chafee (the ultimate liberal Republican and now independent) had a DW-Nominate score of .002 and Republican Arlen Specter had a score of .067. Republican Specter was slightly to the right of Chafee; Santorum was considerably right of Chafee; and, Toomey was much further right.
Still, I wanted to get a better idea of how conservative Toomey voting record was. So, I pulled the DW-Nominate score of every United States legislator (House and Senate) since 1995**. Indeed, of the 1,004 legislators to receive a DW-Nominate score for their career since 1995, Toomey ranked as the 22nd most conservative.
Toomey, by a very literal definition, is a fringe candidate, and he should be treated as such. He was more right-wing than JD Hayworth, Jim DeMint, and even the racist Jesse Helms. Cue the visual:
The question for the fall, I think, is whether the Pa media (and the Sestak campaign) allow Toomey to track to the middle unfettered, or whether they call him out for being the fringe, radical candidate that his record in Congress says he is.
The racism of your very own Robert Byrd, Democrat, West Virginia: "In the early 1940s, a politically ambitious butcher from West Virginia named Bob Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant, the "Grand Dragon" for the mid-Atlantic states came down to tiny Crab Orchard, W.Va., to officially organize the chapter. As Byrd recalls now, the Klan official, Joel L. Baskin of Arlington, Va., was so impressed with the young Byrd's organizational skills that he urged him to go into politics. "The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation," Baskin said." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105.html
Wow, Sally! You managed to dig up something from over 60 years ago that Sen. Byrd freely admits. The man repented in the 1980s, for crying out loud. If you're hoping for that investigative journalism award, you're going to be sorely disappointed.
[...] of wingnutty things to say, and we plan to chronicle all of them for you. Well start with the handy item Jeffrey Billman posted May 21st on the Philadelphia City Paper [...]
[...] Read the full post at citypaper.net var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="How wingnutty is Pat Toomey? Somewhere between Jesse Helms and Tom Tancredo, analysis says"; a2a_config.linkurl="http://toomeywatch.com/?p=157"; [...] Jeffrey Billman, you are the wingnut. Toomey is a wonderful man.
Something is terribly wrong with this country when the responsible, conservative politicians are characterized as "wingnuts" and the leftist, socialist liberals consider themselves to be mainstream!
Toomey is indeed a wonderful man if you're anti-American worker, anti-middle class, or an anti-senior voter. He is to the right of Rick Santorum who himself belongs in the Wing Nut Hall of Fame. Toomey represents 2% of the country and that would be the richest 2%.His vote to keep us in the World Trade Organization says it all. He has never seen a free trade agreement he doesn't like.
And Toomey is terribly wrong when the conservative wing of America presumes they have All The Answers. Why can't you folks get it through your heads that everyone doesn't want to live in the '50s?
Tommey is a right wing neo-con, is aginst ssi and is in favor of 70 yrs old to retire just like his bed buddy JOHN BONER pa has a a lot of older peeps only 2nd to flordia and tommey views are not going to seat correct with the senior citzens in pa, Nice try pat tommey as this way of thinking will put you in the same boat as gen custer at lil big horn.
I was once a Republican but that changed when I saw what a wing nut organization it had become. Now Pat Toomey comes along and he wants me to believe that he is different and not like the other Republicans. Not like the other Republicans? He uses the term "liberal" to attack his opponents, you can't get any more Republican than that. Then he says he will reduce spending but never mentions his position on ending tax cuts to the rich. Finally he makes no reference to the fact that it was his own party that caused the Great Recession. No, Pat Toomey is just what he says he is, a conservative Republican and that makes him not for us.
Yes, and what's wrong is that many people fail to understand the meanings of the terms responsible, conservative, leftist, socialist, and liberal. Thanks for serving as an example.
Did Custer have a boat at the Little Big Horn? Here I thought he was a cavalry officer and rode a horse. But "in the same boat as gen custer..." is a really awesome as well as original metaphor, and I can see why you'd want to roll with it, kind of like Admiral Dewey of the field artillery and his caissons rolling along at the battle of Manila Bay. Oh, and btw rad, my genius friend, Custer was a colonel in the U.S. Army at the time he was killed, not a general. Don't worry about trivial things like facts, dude. They'll just slow you down.
Voters should remember that Toomey was a US Congressman for three terms. He helped Bush destroy a budget surplus and create the largest budget deficit in history - but he would have voters think he will help balance the budget. He worked for Wall St as a young man and has been in their pocket ever since. His real goal, shared with the Republican party, is to prove that government is unworkable by getting elected to the Senate and then voting to make sure it becomes unworkable. How quickly the public seems to forget Bush's legacy. The Democrats may not have done all the right things, and certainly not as much as the country needs, largely due to Republican obstructionism, but at least they take government seriously. See Paul Krugman's recent banana republic column for what Toomey will give us. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/opinion/24krugman.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=paulkrugman&adxnnlx=1285520566-wuAGUt4xPU59PjUIthUvzw
It's not about parties, it's about who's going to follow the constitution, The candidates in the PA Senate Race are both unconstitutional.
Pat Toomey is a very scary dude. He makes Rick(man on dog)Santorum seem reasonable. Please go to your local Sestak for Senate office and find some way to help. There is a Pittsburgh office located at: 4326 Butler St. Pittsburgh, PA 15201 Phone:(412) 533-1200 E-mail: info@JoeSestak.com I was there today the place was buzzing.
[...] statistical analysis by Pollster.coms Harry Enten places Toomey to the right of Tea Party champion Jim DeMint, J.D. [...]
tell you what you can all pay for the cap and trade, the obamacare and BTW the tax breaks no one will be getting before anyone gets into office! THE whole lot took off to campaign, Thanks for nothing!!!! On OCT 25th the powers that be are for letting the Bush tax breaks expiring for ALL OF US POOR MIDDLE CLASS SLOBS! That means I won't have the child care tax credits, I will be back to the 32% bracket, my mortgage will not be a tax break and BTW my DARN HEALTH INSURANCE WENT UP 47% already but I had to take a pay cut to keep my job. NO WAY WILL I VOTE FOR A DEM! I AM an independant and I will vote the opposite based on the jackwagons that have cost me so much and NO I don't make anywhere near 200,000 how about 50,000 for a family of 5. The last time I voted for DEMS it has cost me dearly!
So, you know how everyone hates the BRT so much that we just voted them out of existence? We did, and they totally had it coming. But the voter-enforced oblivion doesn't take effect until Oct. 1, which gives the BRT folks the ones still threatening litigation to keep their jobs a few more months to, well, fuck everything up.
Enter local do-gooder Zack Stalberg of Committee of Seventy. In a press release, he kindly asks the BRT to play nice and bow to the will of the people. Here's part of it:
Zachary Stalberg, President and CEO of the non?partisan organization that champions effectivegovernment, said it is time for the BRT to respect the voters and property taxpayers by also: Foregoing an appeal of the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts decision to keep the BRT?eliminationquestion on the May 18 ballot. Working in cooperation with the new Chief Assessment Officer, who will head the new Office ofProperty Assessment and whose initial four?year term will start on July 1, 2010. Ensuring a smooth transition of its assessment appeals responsibilities to a new and separateBoard of Property Assessment Appeals, whose seven members will begin their initial terms onOctober 1, 2010.Given the publics complete lack of trust in the BRT, prolonging the inevitable will only inflict furtherdamage, Stalberg said. Noting that the fallout from the BRT scandals is still continuing, he cited grossinaccuracies in the property assessment system as a key factor in the opposition by 7 of City Councils 17members to a temporary 9.9 percent property?tax hike, which some have said could face a legalchallenge.Regaining the taxpayers confidence will take a massive overhaul of the assessment system and thepeople who administer it, Stalberg said. The soon?to?be?extinct BRT shouldnt force Philadelphians towait until the lights go out to start that process.
Cosign.
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| Courtesy of Temple University |
| Meehan (right): still the boss. |
The Philly GOP, as you may have read in the Inquirer, Philadelphia magazine or City Paper, has been seriously flailing lately. The latest news and this is only the latest news is that the Philadelphia Parking Authority is basically an arm of Michael Meehan's Republican City Committee, readily helping to keep his peeps in power.
The Loyal Opposition, a sort of anti-Meehan Republican organization in Philly led by Kevin Kelly, has been trying to wrestle control away from Meehan and "actually get Republicans elected in the city," as Kelly puts it. Yesterday, this showdown played out in the race for the Republican State Committee; Kelly sent out an e-mail a day prior pushing people to vote for those "future leaders who will save the sinking economic ship of Philadelphia."
For Kelly and the Loyal Opposition, things didn't work out so well yesterday. Though Kelly and colleague Joe DeFelice won spots on the Committee, the other 10 people Kelly supported Suzanne Haney, Michelle Montalvo, J. Matthew Wolfe, Deborah Havey, Lindsay Doering, Audra Butts, Don Garecht, Linda Kerns, Al Schmidt and Pam Warren lost.
Meehan, of course, won a spot on the Committee.
See other election results here.
Joe Sestak won. Dan Onorato won. Manan Trivedi won (or so it presently appears). The BRT went down in flames. Conclusion: You guys listened to Election Kitty, and we don't have to kill her. She thanks you.
Related: We <3 this guy:
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But that doesn't mean you're off the hook. We know it sucks, but, c'mon. You'll be voting for a new governor! Joe Sestak or Arlen Specter! A city referendum that would abolish the Board of Revision of Taxes! For a primary, it's an interesting year. Right? Right?!
If you need any guidance, look here for the race for governor, here for Senate, here for the state House and here for the U.S. House. And if voting makes you confused, call the Committee of Seventy's hotline at 1-800-OUR-VOTE. The polls close at 8 p.m., people.
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| Sestak is on Twitter | Specter is on Twitter |
Over the weekend, Congressman Joe Sestak amped up his Twitter war with Sen. Arlen Specter in their heated contest for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator.
In the space of just an hour or so, Sestak let loose a veritible barrage:
@SenArlenSpecter: "Let me tell you about a conversation I had with Barack Obama ... right before I voted for Sarah Palin." #pasen
Saturday, 7:44 PM
@SenArlenSpecter: Do you really want to talk about who is the real Democrat? #pasen
Saturday, 7:48 PM
<- Thats "the real Alren Specter."
Saturday, 7:57, referring to an 2004 ad for Specter by (Republican) Sen. Rick Santorum
Team Sestak here. If you heard @SenArlenSpecter say anything about the future, let us know. #pasen
Saturday, 8:00 PM
The major difference is this: I am a Democrat out of core beliefs and conviction.
Saturday, 8:14 PM
But a minute later, Specter responded:
Cong. Sestak, why won't you release your records to the public on your being relieved of duty in the Navy?
Saturday, 8:15 - a reference to his attack on Sestak's 31-year Navy career
Sestak was not one to take such a tweet lying down:
Specter's "show me your records" stunt is older than his jokes.
Satuday, 8:29
[...] that they are icky, disgusting men), watching them trade barbs — via either campaign ads or now on Twitter — has become fascinating and groanworthy at once. What kind of grown-ass man/cancer survivor, [...]
Russ Diamond, in case you somehow weren't aware, is a Republican running for Lt. Governor in this month's primary. He is the only candidate, so far as I know, to have his own music video, which is an achievement that I believe merits attention.
Oh wait, strike that. Turns out, Mr. Diamond may be the only LG candidate to actually be playing in his own music video, but competitor/other guy you've never heard of Steve Johnson is rocking and rolling, too.
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| Michael T. Regan |
Come May 18, denizens in the First District will be disappointed to find probably won't care or notice that there isn't a Republican on the primary ballot for the Congressional seat currently held by Bob Brady. Pia Varma, the Tea Party-friendly candidate who was attempting to square off against Brady in the general election, got kicked off the primary ballot by the Commonwealth Court for not obtaining enough signatures but then appealed.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's reply? "Affirmed," and that's about all. According to Ballot Access News, this decision went against precedent:
Pia Varma is the only person who tried to get on the Republican primary ballot, set for May 18, for U.S. House, First District, a district in Philadelphia. Her petition, which required 1,000 signatures of registered Republicans, was challenged because some of her signatures had been collected by registered Republicans who live outside the First District. The lower court had sustained the objection, without noting that in 2002, a U.S. District Court in the eastern district (which covers Philadelphia) had ruled it unconstitutional to require circulators to live in the same district that the candidate is running in.
...
The federal decision that had struck down the residency requirement for circulators is Morrill v Weaver, 224 F Supp 2d 882. Technically that decision struck down the residency requirement for petitions for independent candidates, not petitions for getting a candidate on a primary ballot. But the logic of one applies equally to the other.
But critics say that, though similar, the Morrill v. Weaver decision addressed different candidates than the case involving Varma, and thus the precedent didn't apply.
PREVIOUSLY>> Tea Party candidate challenging Bob Brady is kicked off the ballot
RELATED>> You Say You Want a Revolution? Tea Party doyenne Diana Reimer has big plans for you, Philadelphia.
[...] the funky fresh season-one-of-the-Real-World flava? Well, sadly (because watching this is fun), the State Supreme Court went ahead (and against precedent) and said, “Yeah, no, sorry Pia.R... As you can see from her Facebook post over the weekend, Pia is all like, “Pfft, [...]
Take a look at these two new ads from Dems Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak, who are running against each other for U.S. Senate:
First, Specter's, a total attack ad that dubs Sestak "No Show Joe." Yay rhyming!
And then there's Sestak's ad, wherein the Congressman only has time to tell voters who the hell he is.
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| Courtesy of Boston.com |
You want to vote in this year's May 18 primary, don't you? This is the last day to register if you do.
Hit up votesPA for everything you need to know.
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