By Dick Miller
WE.CONNECT.DOTS: The 1914 Pennsylvania Primary Election is dead; long-live the 1914 PA General Election . . . unfortunately.
Before Keystone voters go to the polls in November they will be the hapless subjects of the dirtiest campaign ever in a state known for such battles. Republican incumbent Tom Corbett has shown to be the most incompetent governor in modern times. The only way he can win is to destroy his opponent, Democrat challenger Tom Wolf.
While that may appear to be a near impossible undertaking, remember, Wolf is running on the Democrat ticket. PA Democrat Party leadership is known to fail at one-car funerals and free lunches, notwithstanding experts maintain Corbett is America’s most vulnerable incumbent governor.
Calling Wolf’s primary victory “outstanding” is still an understatement.
For openers, he demolished three opponents when collectively the quartet represented the most talented, well-liked and financed group of candidates to ever grace a Keystone ballot. Anyone calling Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord or Katie McGinty “lightweights” would not be from this planet.
Oh, for certain, each loser in the recent Democrat primary had his/her shortcomings.
Schwartz, the early front-runner, never got out of Philadelphia. She depended on a huge margin in her home region and ignored the balance of the state’s voters. At the primary Schwartz ended up getting creamed in both Philadelphia and Montgomery counties by Wolf, a York County businessman.
McCord, re-elected two years ago to PA State Treasurer and, therefore, the only candidate with successful results in statewide elections, got all the significant endorsements. Even after it was obvious that he was headed to a crushing defeat, those “in-the-know” stuck with him. PoliticsPA, a highly regarded web site, ran a pre-primary poll, asking “Who should Democrats nominate for Governor?” Even after polls showed Wolf would win easily, polltakers favored McCord by 37 to 36 percent.
Even though he had the funds, McCord resisted starting to campaign earlier. When PSEA bigwigs wanted to have a “feel-out” session, McCord met them in a hotel lobby in Philadelphia, explaining “too early to open campaign offices.” Raising the race issue against Wolf shortly before Election Day was just stupid from such a gifted and admired politician. He helped facilitate Corbett using the matter as an attack point in the fall.
McGinty was a breath of fresh air, needed in PA’s political venues. Bright and affable, she lit up the place in her personal appearances. If Katie stays in politics, she may be the first female yet to win a Keystone governorship of U.S. Senate seat.
Understand, Corbett will not toss the stink bombs. Republican State Committee already began with two mailings attacking Wolf before the Primary. Look for most of the barbs coming from committees formed for such purposes and fueled with out-of-state money. Then Corbett can feign ignorance when a strike is below the belt.
Corbett is one of several Republican governors elected in blue or purple states in 2010. Most made respectable progress on delivering the corporate-conservative agenda. Corbett has little to show, despite controlling both sides of the General Assembly.
Some polls show as many as half of Republicans do not believe Corbett should be re-elected. He has to bring those constituents back to the fold before he begins campaigning for Democrat votes, combined a very tall task.
Bottom Line: Tuesday’s results reflect the depth of Corbett’s problems. In a state where the one million-voter Democrat registration plurality is usually overcome by GOP turnout, Corbett’s 369,134 votes barely exceeded the combined total of McCord, McGinty and Schwartz (352,432). Corbett, with no Republican opponent, trailed miserably behind Wolf’s 484,624 votes in the Democrat primary.
County after county results showed Wolf ahead of Corbett, even after the Democrat nominee had to share votes with three other candidates.
