How quickly people forget that his administration has largely driven the kleptocracy which Ed Rendell so carefully constructed over his eight years of misrule underground. The anti-business climate has gone and the Commonwealth is slowly limping back.
The biggest rap on Corbett seems to be that he really hasn't accomplished anything, especially if you don't count little things like submitting state budgets on time and reducing the deficit. These don't get headlines.
He's also chosen his battles poorly. Rather than taking on the unions head-on where we won (in Wisconsin and Michigan) or lost (in Ohio), Corbett has actually used those examples to threaten them into a more reasonable posture. Again, commendable but again, no headlines.
Privatizing the state liquior stores is a prime example of a poorly chosen. Yeah, our system is antiquted and it makes little sense. But the union which runs it is powerful and even got some social conservatives on their side. As hard as it may seem for some outsiders to believe in the beer guzzling culture which dominates our two largest cities, there is almost a prohibitionist sentiment in some areas of our rural "T". And our rural population is not small-- one of the reasons the GOP remains competitive in the northeast region of the country where it has mostly died elsewhere there, with the possible exception of New Hampshire.
It seemed like such a good idea at the time-- a small goal, which was already the way of doing business in the other 49 states. But in 20-20 hindsight, it was a poor choice given the small results to be accomplished had it succeeded.
Personally, I like Tom. I think he is an honest man, albeit with certain RINO tendencies. He has done some very good things here, including (and maybe especially) fairly modest cuts in the education budget which has that lobby screaming louder than ever for his scalp, but which have played a big role in slowing the march to financial Armegeddon.
All-in-all, I think he deserves to be rewarded with a second term. But, realistically, I just don't see how he gets there. He'd be better off bowing out gracefully now and running to get his old job back in 2016.
We elected Corbett to hold the line on taxes. And up till his recent cave on transportation funding, he did. All the rest is Democrat spin.
The guy is not very colorful or articulate. This leaves him vulnerable when he comes under attack from the usual suspects.
What has happened IMO is that he went in to hold the line on taxes but the Obama Economy has remained depressed for much longer than any of them expected. Hence a number of fiscal crises are now coming to a head. There are no good solutions, and he is taking all the heat for the bad ones currently under discussion.
That and the fact that most Pennsylvanians are disabused with the stupid idea that it’s the government’s job to provide jobs for them.
I think that would go a long way toward improving his ratings.
Corbett is corrupt but his agenda is mostly Conservative. He’s trying to privatize liquor sales and eliminate nuisance taxes and has also slashed budgets, and that’s one of the real reasons that the RINOs don’t like him.
If Corbett wants reelected all he has to do is eliminate property taxes; landslide victory. But I’m quite convinced that I’ll never see the day when a person can outright own a piece of property in PA. The republicans certainly talked a good game when Rendel was Governor but I truly believe every PA politician is a rat-bastard.
Boy, holding on to the PA governership heading into 2016 would sure make things a lot more pleasant.
We're also a Penn State family, with two sons enrolled there. He looks too much like someone who protected fellow members of the board of trustees and was reluctant to pursue early indications of a problem with Sandusky. Another strike against him.
Finally, I've been a committee person since 2009, and I'm disgusted with the state of GOP leadership within the state and our county. It's lukewarm and torn by factions. I don't see him helping with this situation at all. He doesn't come across as a figurehead within the party and does nothing to unite it. I think he is a reasonably good administrator, but not as strong a leader as we need.
48 states. We’re still better than Utah. ;-)
Corbett isn’t perfect by any stretch, but he’s no squish RINO, either.
Personally, I would prefer not to see a bloody primary. Those should be saved for the real scum. What I want to see is Corbett actively and relentlessly defend Pennsylvania’s ban on turd poker “marriage”.
He’s done okay as Far as I’m concerned. He is really ruing to get the pension reform done as his biggest priority, even though there are loud voices calling for ‘right to work’. And I give him kudos for getting the Voter I.D. law through, even though the Left is using the courts to hold it up. That one WAS/is my single biggest priority and he got the job done. Aside from that, my frustration still lies with the ancient Liquor Control Board b.s., which apparently has entrenched interest on both sides to keep it in place. The Pa. legislature needs a BIG housekeeping...it’s huge and many have held those offices for years. We need some more fresh faces there.
Nope. Exactly because of the Rendell kleptocracy is why, along with the GOP control of both houses, he should have been more aggressive. Pension reform, privitization of the liquor monopoly, right-to-work, and voter ID are the big ones. Now he’s letting the AG walk all over the laws of the Commonwealth with nary a peep. I voted for the guy and had much hope but I am willing to see who else may be interested.