Shameless plug alert!!!
If you like my blog and the fact that I speak my mind, then head on over to GrassrootsPA and vote for me in the GrassrootsPA Survivor Series. I didn’t put myself on the list, but since I’m up there, I’d like to atleast get past the first round.
Finally, finally, finally. Fred Thompson has decided to run for President - or atleast create an exploratory committee. Thank God. I finally have a Republican to cheer for in the race for President.
I want to thank Lowman Henry and Ryan Shafik for inviting me to come onto the show Saturday - I had a great time.
In case you missed it - you can listen to my portion of the show here.
I’ll put up the audio in the near future.
If you are in the Central PA area, listen to WHYL 960 Saturday morning - The Lowman Henry show. I’ve been invited to be on the show from 9-10 to talk about Cumberland County politics. Lot’s going on lately, and only one hour to cover it all - it will be alot of fun in light of the primary and the further push for reform in the party.
The Keep the Team Committee, which played a major part in ensuring Commissioners Barclay and Eichelberger won renomination to proceed to the fall election, held a meeting today. This will probably be the first of many upcoming meetings. There was great attendance and much enthusiasm. I was also impressed with the caliber of people attending. This group is serious about making changes to the party. A very good open discussion was held with great ideas being presented.
If ever there was a time to change the party establishment and reach out to the grassroots, it is now. The grassroots are thristing for leadership, and the Keep the Team committee is providing that leadership. Stay tuned…
The Patriot News ran an article about Gary Eichelberger’s call for changes with the county party - the most important change being the end of endorsements.
Eichelberger is right - the endorsement process should be ended. The Republican voters who voted on Tuesday agree - that’s what this past primary ended up being about along with the train.
The grassroots has been left behind by the leadership in the party and the people finally said enough is enough.
What is truly amazing is that no matter what level of government you talk about, the establishment refuses to get the message that the people want change. You saw it in the outcome of the payraise. Now you see it here at the county level post-primary. How may times do we need to smack these people upside the head at the polls for them to get the message?
Here’s the best quote from the article:
Cumberland GOP Chairman Victor Stabile said the election’s result doesn’t constitute a “catastrophic event” for the party, its influence among voters or the validity of the endorsements.
If losing by 5,000 votes doesn’t represent a “catastrophic event,” I’m not really sure what does. Maybe you’d care to define that?
Here’s the real deal with what is going on. Pennsylvania is a nice state and so people move into certain parts of the state - like Cumberland County. I’m a good example of that. My wife is from the area and we thought it was a nice place to raise a family. Well, as more people move into the area, it upsets the establishment. Why? People who move into an area are not part of the establishment, and do not benefit from it. As with anything, a power sturggle ensues. I’ll always put my money on the people moving in - why? If someone is willing to move to a new area, they are willing to take risks. They also have nothing to lose by challenging the establishment. The establishment has everything to lose if the new people get a foothold, as we can see from Tuesday’s results. Ultimately though, you run out of people who are from this area and who benefit from the establishment. There is always a new crop of people moving in. Then a new group of people become established and the cycle continues. Maybe that’s what Thomas Jefferson was referring to when he mentioned that every generation should have a revolution.
I saw three articles today analysing the Cumberland County GOP Commissioners’ race.
The best of the three is by Lowman Henry:
Gerald Morrison, Chairman of the Modern Transit Partnership (and attorney in a firm that could possibly benefit financially should the transit system be built) says the election was not a referendum on the issue. It was. Voters in Cumberland County, as would voters in other mid-state counties if they had the opportunity, voiced their opposition to the plan which would inevitably result in significantly higher county and/or regional taxes to fund if the system were actually built.
Cumberland County GOP Chairman Vic Stabile, whose endorsement of Gunnison blew up in his face, claimed the election was more complex than one issue. That is true, but it doesn’t mean Corridor One was not the main and dominant issue. In fact, the main political issue in the race is the fact the Cumberland County GOP has been taken over by special interests - and suffered a resounding repudiation at the polls on Tuesday as a result.
The Sentinel and the Patriot News each ran articles as well. The Sentinel article is pretty balanced - John Hilton has always done a good job of giving both sides to any debate good coverage.
The Patriot article on the other hand is lopsided. It’s as if they didn’t realize that the election is over. What’s the deal? I actually find the article to be amuzing.
Cumberland County Commissioners Bruce Barclay and Gary Eichelberger won resoundingly in Tuesday’s Republican primary, but does their triumph have a deeper, transit-related meaning?
Probably not, observers said yesterday.
Huh? Gee, I don’t think all observers of the election were asked because other observers would have said the opposite. In fact, as stated above Lowman Henry observed that the Light Rail was the dominant issue. This whole thing with the observers reminds me about articles in which the reporter sites some “expert” in whatever field the issue covers. It always turns out that the “experts” are surprised by something. If they are experts, then why are they so often sited in the paper as being surprised about whatever topic they are supposedly experts about?
Because of the type of candidates I like to work with - challengers to incumbents, open seat candidates, and unendorsed incumbents - being part of the winning team is more thrilling than most races. These are folks that are not supposed to win, and yet we find ways to do it. Yesterday’s victory for Gary Eichelberger was one of those moments. Especially winning the most votes. I like Bruce Barclay too, so I’m glad he did well also, coming up just a bit shy of Gary at the polls.
There’s plenty of coverage in the news about the race - here, here, here, and here.
The most amazing news to me though are Stabile’s comments saying that he doesn’t think the committee needs to be reorganized or change the way it does business. Excuse Mr. Chairman, but didn’t you see the election results? I don’t think you are any position to dictate anything, except how you resign as Chairman. You obviously don’t get it, so I’ll spell it out - the voters rejected the arrogance of the county party leadership. They know a railroad job when they see one.
Remember your own words Mr. Chairman? Let me remind you of what was quoted in the paper:
During his public remarks to committee members, Stabile said the turncoats will be remembered post-election.
“I am proud to support our endorsed candidates. To those who don’t — raspberries to them,” he said to chuckles. “And there will be an accounting once this is over.”
The accounting is about ready to begin - get in line Mr. Chairman. You can be first. All things come to pass in their own, this will too. There will be changes made in the county committee and with other selected officials.
I was on target for the Cumberland County GOP Commissioners’ race - Eichelberger and Barclay win big - Not quite 20 points as I predicted in terms of raw numbers, 14 points for Eichelberger over Gunnison. What is really impressive is that Eichelberger beat both endorsed candidates. Barclay was right behind him beating Gunnison by 12 points.
I haven’t really followed the other results, so I’ll have to comment on them after I’ve gotten some sleep.
The result for the Cumberland county race has a few meanings - first Stabile is done. Second, those state reps who endorsed Gunnison have some kissing up to do - in a big way. One Rep in particular took a swipe at me early on in the campaign saying that since I was a part of the Eichelberger campaign Gary was sure to lose - we see how that worked out.
There are other repercussions, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.
It’s 2:11am and I’ve just returned from my midnight ride through the county putting up Eichelberger signs. Before I go to bed for the short night, I decided that I should offer my predictions on the races that I’ve paid attention to:
Cumberland County Commissioners - Republicans:
Barclay and Eichelberger win big. These three way races where two get elected make percentage predictions difficult. Let’s just say that the guys win by 20 points over Gunnison. There is a high level of anger out there and it will show in the results. Chairman Stabile had better get in line for the accounting as he put it, because he ought to be the first to resign on Tuesday night.
Lancaster County Commissioners - Republicans:
Wheaton and Smithgall win big. People are mad at their party leadership in Lancaster as well. Heidi Wheaton summarized the state of the county committee pretty well when she called it the Soviet Politburo.
Supreme Court - Republican
Panepinto wins the top spot, then Lally-Green wins the second spot. Panepinto has run a very good campaign. His name is all over the place, he outraised the endorsed team and did nice mailers.
Superior Court - Republican
Jackie Shogun. It’s her turn finally.