Bucks
Primary Election Results
Dear Friends,
Good morning. The primary election is past. After 30 years on the national stage, U. S. Senator Arlen Specter will leave the national spotlight in eight months. He’ll probably wonder why voters turned away from him. ‘Wouldn’t you think that after all the good I’ve done…the federal money I brought to Pennsylvania…the people I helped…but the citizens abandoned me?’ Specter is most likely thinking.
My answer is the story about what happened to State Senator Marvin Keller in 1970. The Newtown Republican was a powerhouse in the Pennsylvania Senate. He was first elected as a State Representative in 1948 before his elevation to the Senate in 1958. Because of Senator Keller, Newtown and Doylestown have highway by passes around their towns. Those are just a few examples of the positive influence Keller used to bring home the bacon to Bucks County.
Why did Ed Howard beat Keller in the 1970 Republican primary? For similar reasons that Arlen Specter lost.
When Keller lost in that Republican primary, he complained to a Newtown resident about the injustice of it all. “After all these years of helping people and Bucks County causes, I can’t understand why the voters turned against me,” he told that Newtown constituent.
“Well Marvin,” the voter replied, “I didn’t vote for you either.”
Keller was incredulous. “I helped your family,” Keller huffed. “I helped your neighbor. I helped Newtown.”
“That’s true Marv,” the friend-turned-foe answered, “But what have you done for me recently?”
Forty years ago, I was a 31-year-old Bucks County Commissioner. As a young Republican, I remember the wrath, which the county Republican machine aimed my way when I supported Ed Howard in that primary. The party was furious that I helped Howard beat Keller. The GOP never got over it.
But, one of the main reasons why voters drifted away from Marvin Keller was he wore out his welcome. Keller stayed in office too long. And that’s exactly what happened to Specter.
Arlen Specter spent his entire career being a Democrat turned Republican, turned Democrat. When he couldn’t convince the Philadelphia Democratic organization to back him for city offices, Specter became a Republican. When he concluded that the far right would not support him in the Republican Primary this year, he changed back to a Democrat.
It turned out that neither party could trust him. Joe Sestak’s primary TV commercial proved to be devastating. “Arlen Specter became a Democrat to get reelected and save his job,” the advertisement inferred.
I regret that I couldn’t vote against Specter because I’m a registered Republican and couldn’t vote in the Democratic Primary. But Mighty Betsy is a Democrat and voted for Sestak, who won 54 percent to 46 percent. Specter was thumped.
Personally, I blame Specter for Clarence Thomas becoming a U. S. Supreme Court justice. Nineteen years ago, his attack on Anita Hill and his enthusiastic defense of Thomas during the nomination hearings won the day for Thomas.
Specter knew that the first George Bush was getting even with the Democrats who torpedoed the nomination of Robert Bork during the Reagan Presidency. I lost a great deal of respect for George H. W. Bush when he told the world that Thomas was the best-qualified candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. What nonsense!
But I stray.
The good news about the Sestak nomination is that voters will have a clear choice in the November election. Sestak is a liberal; Pat Toomey is a conservative. The critical block of voters will be women. How will they judge the two candidates? Mighty Betsy will tell me, no doubt.
Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley’s star is rising. If Tom Corbett’s campaign for Governor doesn’t implode, Cawley will be the next Lieutenant Governor. And as you remember, former Bucks County Commissioner, Mark Schweiker, became a Lieutenant Governor who succeeded Governor Tom Ridge. Who knows? One day, we may find Cawley in the Governor’s chair.
Finally,
the race for the 8th Congressional District promises to be a barnburner.
Will Republican
It will be interesting to see whether Bucks County Tea Party members abandon Fitzpatrick because the GOP won a court order prohibiting them from handing out Primary election material at the polls. Fitzpatrick has his hands full in order to convince Tea Party activists not to sit out the November election.
Most Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. Eight in ten are dissatisfied with the economy. “Voters typically take out their frustrations on the party in power,” the New York Times wrote (May 23). Those sentiments should help Fitzpatrick.
But what happened in the special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District is a reminder that anger alone won’t be enough for Republicans to regain control of Congress. “Good [local] campaigns and good candidates can overcome a tough political environment,” the Times continued.
“And that’s why, in the special election to fill the seat of the late Representative John Murtha, the Democratic candidate, Mark Critz, defeated the Republican, Tim Burns, by eight percentage pints, 53 percent to 45 percent,” the Times added. “In short, while Republicans were trying to nationalize the race, Democrats localized it.”
I think that women rallied to Patrick Murphy four years ago because of his pro-choice stance…and anger over President George W. Bush’s administration. Bucks and Montgomery County women are highly opinionated. They are not afraid of standing up and being counted. If I’m right, will the women rally to Murphy again?
As the French say, ‘Cherchez la femme!’…Follow the women.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
PS. Next week, I’ll give you my take on Elena Kagan, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court is upsetting the right wing.