SCRANTON DROPS OUT of PA GOVERNOR RACE

WTAE-TV | 7 Feb 2006 | WTAE-TV

[Petronski]

Scranton has dropped out of the gubernatorial race, making Lynn Swann a virtual lock for the endorsement, without a primary.

No link just yet, it was breaking news on the TV broadcast.

[conservative blonde]

I think you are absolutely right. This is the same statement I made to my husband. It seems too bad we have to seek out sports celebrities to insure a win but Swann is a good man and I hope he does win.

[FredZarguna]

Since you can't spell Pittsburgh, I doubt you're from PA, so you can be forgiven for thinking Rendell will get votes in Allegheny County. Not likely. Swann will go as the favorite son in an east-west PA rivalry that will draw plenty of blue-collar Democrats in the (increasingly Republican) Pittsburgh area.

Rendell will come out of Philly with 350K+ votes. So what? Every Democrat wins by that margin in West Camden. In the rest of the state Rendell is not popular. He's done nothing and has nothing to run on. If the Republicans had put up any candidate other than the supremely hapless Fisher in 2002 they could have beaten Fast Eddy, who, in a state that has 1.5 million men under arms in the woods on the first day of buck season couldn't manage to even mention that Rendell is the most anti-gun Democrat in the country.

As for debates, Swann is intelligent and articulate and has been in front of cameras a lot longer than Rendell. He will handle Fast Eddy just fine.

[smoothsailing]

Tell it like is,Fred!

WOO HOO! GO SWANNIE!

[Ike]

Another interesting facet of this race: Swann has endorsed Jim Matthews (Montgomery County)as his running mate. Jim holds a county office, and is the brother of Chris Matthews, MSNBC (Hardball!.

[MarcusTulliusCicero]

Actually I'm from Philly, so I'm among the ones who doesn't worry (or care) about an "h". Time will tell. However, the excitement over Lynn Swann is just wishful thinking at this point. If he actually gets an agenda and actually does things that make me think he's conservative, then my opinion might change. Until then, I'm not indulging in fantasy and wishful thinking.

[MarcusTulliusCicero]

I can make a website saying I'm pro-bestiality and pro-vivisection, but that doesn't make it so. Yes, in the last two weeks his website has articulated a few soundbite positions. You can find the same sort of stuff (although granted not pro-life professions) on Specter's website as well. Until Swann actually puts forth an actual agenda or some policies beyond the typical political soundbites, I'm not getting excited.

One thing I've been advocating for awhile is that either Swann or Scranton (although it's now a moot suggestion in his case) and even to some extent Santorum (even though it isn't a federal issue) get behind the proposal of the Commonwealth Caucus of congressional Pa. Republicans regarding the property tax issue. It is one of those issues that would resonate and their proposal would address a couple of issues. (Plus it is embodied in 4 bills already in committee, even though the Republican higher-ups in the House and Senate are trying to bottle it up). It would also be a good contrast to Rendell's slot-machine boondoggle scheme for property tax rebates.

In a nutshell, the plan completely eliminates both business and personal property taxes. This would make Pa. a very attractive target for companies looking to relocate and could be used to revitalize areas hard hit by the collapse of steel and manufacturing like Pittsburgh and Allentown. It would also require that any other taxes used to fund the schools would have to be eliminated - this would include that portion of the Philadelphia wage tax used to fund Philly schools - again, something that would be noticed by potential voters. In addition, the state sales tax would be lowered from 6% to 5% (or from 7% to 6% in Philly and Pittsburgh because of the stadium boondoggles). The downside would be that the sales tax would be expanded to include both goods and services instead of just goods. In my opinion, this is a ready made agenda for Swann to endorse that would give him a lot of traction across the political spectrum.

[FredZarguna]

If you're from West Camden, you're likely unaware how much of an albatross it is for Rendell to be a machine politician from there, but no wishful thinking is involved, except on your part. Rendell looks like a gangster, talks like a gangster, (probably is a gangster,) and doesn't come across very well on TV at all. He hasn't done anything but try to move tax money from the rest of the state into the corrupt city that's his base. He's done nothing and it's well known. Even in the worst case, I'd like you to produce ONE person for me who's every been persuaded on who to vote for governor because of the debates. What a joke.

Finally, as Oliver Wendell Holmes replied when asked "How's you wife?" I answer as he did: "compared to what?" The Scranton name has absolutely ZERO cache with the voters of the state, and the other guy who hasn't yet withdrawn is exactly that: the other guy who hasn't yet withdrawn.

The Republican party in this state is in a complete shambles as far as I can see, but Swann's name recognition will allow him to get enough traction to be watched. There's nobody else out there with any hope of that. If the party would trouble itself to develop some talent, I might be inclined to look at somebody else, but it hasn't. Luckily for us, the Democrats are even more inept than we are.

[Ciexyz]

Bye-bye and farewell.