PITTSBURGH OBSERVER-REPORTER Editorial: …[Tom] Wolf, a wealthy businessman from York who served as revenue secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell, spent freely from his personal fortune to blanket the state with television advertisements introducing himself to Pennsylvania voters and laying out some of his priorities, including enacting an extraction tax on the gas-drilling industry to boost spending for public schools. And, boy, has it worked…
Results of a Harper Polling survey released earlier this week showed Wolf with the backing of 40 percent of Democratic voters who were questioned, easily outdistancing Schwartz, who had the support of 14 percent. Everyone else was in single digits. Wolf even led Schwartz among those surveyed in her Philadelphia backyard…
Clearly, the campaign can take many twists and turns between now and the May 20 primary, and as Wolf’s opponents would be quick to point out, a lot of voters haven’t even begun to consider their options. But Wolf has positioned himself at the head of the – pardon the expression – pack.
The other candidates, in their advertising over the next few months, might be forced to eschew the high road – images of them with their spouses, kids and dogs – and instead start slinging mud early and often at Wolf. Sometimes that approach works (voters are way too easily led and misinformed), but sometimes it backfires. It’s fairly certain, however, that we’ll see opponents’ ads featuring sinister, Photoshopped images of Wolf that will make him look like Willie Horton on a meth bender… (more)
