16 GOP Incumbents Defeated in PA Primary!

POLLY


I'm all for change...... Do you think these are informed intelligent changes or just knee jerk reactions?


One Truth.... many realities

Good. These assholes all own companies and employ illegals. While giving themselves monthly raises. Why should we tolerate this abuse?

this was the reason why

[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Hiya, scimitar!

I think the results reflect informed choices.

We had a group, detailed in the previous post which really did a bang-up job getting the word out about a clean sweep.

Some of the R's I've spoken to this week are more than a bit shakey about what's going to happen in November.

With bush and all the insanity with his administration at the top of the dung heap, I believe the voters will realize that the fish does rot from the head down, and they'll extract revenge all through the primaries and into the General election.

Locally, we have some great candidates, so I'm feeling fine about the state's position.

And, I'm really, really, really looking forward to 2008.

Especially the part where baby bush will wave from the door of the helicopter on his last US miltary ride.



I'm kinda liking John Edwards for the top slot. We shall see.

A.C. 96177

I'm all for throwing the Republicans out but I haven't seen much hope that the Democrats are going to doing anything but business as usual. Pelosi was on a talk show last week and said there would be no impeachment talk as long as she was the Democrat caucus. We need a third party that has some balls to stand up to corruption and tyranny.

96083

Yeah. The Dems are in bed with the Bushes.

Throw the INCUMBENTS out!

Democrat or Republican.

Voter justice should be swift (twice a year, primary and general elections), and severe (hand 'em a pink slip).

IF, IF the political critter has historically done little or nothing for their consitutuents, is beholden to PAC's, is in bed with tptb, has been involved in ANY scandal, and basically thinks his/her chit doesn't stink.

I think that pretty much covers most of them.

Polly, I am unsure if simply replacing incumbents will accomplish much. I have debated with myself at simply voting out any incumbent in he upcoming election. The problem I have is that we probably get no effective difference. The party machines remain the same, the only thing that would change is the front men.

Don't mean to be too cynical, but I have little confidence in partisan politics solving much of anything.

Elijah, I know exactly what you mean.

After being involved in politics for a long time, I've about lost all confidence in the candidates as well as our voting system.

I'm teetering on the brink of exhaustion from exasperation.

The good thing about newbies to the political world is that they are infinitely more accessible. But, that initself is problematic because not only do you and I have access to them, the big boys and girls do, too.

We have to find more candidates who have a conscience and befriend them.

Then we have to be a constant voice in their ear to offset the damage done by the big guns.

The dynasties some of our congresscritters have developed for themselves has got to be stopped.

This is as good a year as any, I guess.

Hang in there, Polly. You have passion.

>>I'm teetering on the brink of exhaustion from exasperation.

Are most candidates Babylonians? Are the people just moving Babylonians around? Yes.

We need change at the ground level of our religion. New Jerusalem is where it is at.

Awww, thanks, Zode.

That's about all that's propping me up anymore. Passion....sigh.

way to go Penn.

Polly...

Isn't Rick Santorum from PA? How is that doing? Isn't he in a tight race?

A.C. 10315, yeah, Santorum is from PA.

He's in trouble, too.

His own party ignored his candidacy.



[link to www.mcall.com]

May 19, 2006
From The Morning Call
GOP voters slapped Santorum, tallies show
22,000 who voted for Republican gubernatorial pick Swann snubbed incumbent senator.

By Peter Jackson
Of The Associated Press

| Nearly 22,000 Pennsylvania Republicans who voted for Lynn Swann as the GOP nominee for governor withheld their support from U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in Tuesday's primary.

Both candidates were unopposed. Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, received 574,276 votes, while Santorum, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, drew 552,559, according to unofficial totals compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of State that were 99 percent complete Thursday.

Santorum held his own in the important, GOP-dominated counties surrounding Philadelphia, winning about 3,000 more votes than Swann.

But he lagged Swann in counties in the southwestern corner of the state that is their mutual home turf. In Allegheny County alone, which includes Pittsburgh, the gap was nearly 7,000 votes.

In the Nov. 7 general election, Swann will face Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell while Santorum is running against state Treasurer Bob Casey.

Less than six months before the election, independent polls show both Republicans lagging their Democratic opponents by double-digit margins.

But political observers say the disparity in the primary vote could be a bad omen for Santorum. Democratic strategists view Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, as vulnerable partly because of his ties to President Bush, whose approval rating is sagging.

Despite the overall low voter turnout, people who vote in primary elections are people who are committed to their parties, said Thomas J. Baldino, a political science professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre.

The disparity between Santorum's and Swann's totals ''should give Senator Santorum reason to pause because he is desperate to hold onto his base,'' Baldino said. ''If there are Republicans who fail to appear on Election Day … it's going to make his re-election task more difficult.''

G. Terry Madonna, a professor and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, speculated that Santorum's support reflects disenchantment within the state party over Bush's presidency and related issues.

Virginia Davis, a Santorum campaign spokeswoman, said using Swann's totals to gauge Santorum's support is ''not comparing apples to apples.''

''The dynamics are different,'' she said. ''You cannot compare the governor's race to the Senate race.''

Davis also noted that, while Rendell received 637,044 votes in his uncontested primary — compared with 621,215 for Casey — the votes cast for Casey opponents Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals pushed the total in the Democratic Senate primary race to more than 735,000.



ARE SENATOR'S DAYS NUMBERED? Rick Santorum was unopposed in the primary. But 22,000 GOP voters who went to the polls snubbed him.

VOTES FOR SANTORUM

552,559

VOTES FOR SWANN

574,276

i'm so happy. lets hope they don't turn into neocons like fl. bill nelson. (d) supposedly.
love ya polly.

that's very good to see. we can't let the people in government feel comfortable in their positions, incumbents get reelected at a ridiculous rate. we have to let them know to stop fucking around and right this ship.

Paranoid eyes



A.C. 73680, they bank on US not remembering their antics.

Fooled them this time.

Come November I hope they have an even bigger surprise.

<< In Nebraska, Congressman tom Osborne, and legend in the state, was defeated for the nomination for Governor due to his weak stand on illegal aliens. >>

This report about Rep. Tom Osborne being soft on illegal aliens is simply not true. I have many letters from Rep. Osborne and have watched him speak many times on the floor of the House. His stance on illegal aliens was not the reason he lost the primary election for Governor of our fine State of Nebraska. Had he ran again for the House of Representative, I have no doubt at all that he would have continued on. His shift from being a House Rep to running for Governor in my estimation was the reason he lost. That said, most likely Heineman will most like win the Governorship again this fall. Rep. Osborne by the way was not an incumbent in this primary. Gov. Heineman is the incumbent.

If Sen. Hegal on the other hand had been up for re-election this year, I think he would have lost in the primaries.

And I have to agree with Elijan on this. It is far more important to vote the man and his voting record and what by experience you see he stands for that to decide merely on the basis of his incumbency.

I predict a GOP/NeoCON bloodbath come November.



and I aint just whistlin' Dixie...

<< The dynasties some of our congresscritters have devenopehemselves has got to be stopped. >>

This is why you must check your incumbent to see just how long he has been in there. A long incumbancy in the Senate is the worst of things if a are seen to constantly vote in favor of corporate lobbies and ignore the voice of their states. Remember that Senators are to represent the State governments at the Federal Level, and are not there so much to represent the people of that State or the people of the USA in general.

The Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton type alternative dynasty is the exact thing we need to be very on guard with. When it comes to the Presidency we can no longer afford to allow any member of the CFR into office, the same is true of the Senate, and it seems that all of the long term Senate incumbents have also been members of the CFR.

Every one will get to vote for a House Rep this fall, but not everyone will also get to vote for a Senator. It just depends on which Class I, II, III your Senator is in. Only 1/3rd of them are up for election every two years, that's only 33 or 34 Senators are even up for re-election this year. Meaning that if we are really going to make a clean sweap of the Senate it will take SIX years.

Now imagine what the results wihtout Diebold would be

There will be no GOP blood-bath in Pennsylvania this coming election at the state level. The GOP will retain both houses, and it looks very likely the Democrats will retain the governorship. There will be a lot of new faces in Harrisburg.

The registered GOP voters were absolutely outraged over the fly by night pay raise, especially in and around the Harrisburg area. They organized all out efforts to vote out incumbents-- many incumbents were too afraid of loosing an voluntarinope.

Central Pennsylvania GOP voters stepped up. Sorry to say (both GOP and DNC) voters from other parts of the state did not.

should say "and volunarinope of the race"

anot sure what happened on the post

opted out of the race by their own accord

Heh. Including a couple of big wigs!

Interestingly, this article confirms what we've been hearing via the grape vine. Some of the Republican party regulars are about ready to fire their leadership over this stunning victory by the Democrats. Hasn't happened like this since the Civil War.

However, they still don't get the message. They think it's all about the pay raise. Goes a little deeper than that.

[link to abclocal.go.com]

Lawmakers Return to Harrisburg By John Rawlins

June 5, 2006 - Lawmakers returned to Harrisburg Monday for the first time since May's stunning primary sent 16 incumbents down to defeat, results that turned capitol politics upside down. So now the question is, what will change?

No actual cracks appeared in the capitol dome but last months primary election is being viewed as a kind of political earthquake by some. Voters sent 16 incumbents packing, including the most powerful leaders in the senate; President Pro Tem Robert Jubliier and GOP Majority Leader Chip Brightbill.

The common wisdom voters are still angry about the now repealed legislative pay hike that passed late in the night. For Philadelphia's John Taylor the message: Think again about how work is perceived.

As lawmakers returned for their first day back there was talk of uprisings against leadership, but so far its only talk. There was a large rally by labor groups supporting an increase in the minimum wage. Proponents claim their bill has been bottled up by the now lame duck senate leadership. Could that political earthquake help their cause?