About yesterday's primary...

While Sen. Clinton deserves to be congratulated for her victory in the Pennsylvania primary, I also want to commend Sen. Obama for running a strong campaign in the Keystone State that brought so many new voters into the process.

Pennsylvania, with its 21 electoral votes, will be a key state for the eventual winner of the Democratic nomination.

We look forward to a stronger and more unified Party once we collectively take a deep breath and begin to organize against a third Bush term in John McCain.

In addition, the Party wishes to congratulate Rob McCord who became our Democratic nominee for state Treasurer. He joins the fine ticket with Auditor General Jack Wagner and John Morganelli, our next Attorney General.

With a voter registration edge of more than one million Democratic voters in Pennsylvania, we will bring resounding victories home in the fall."

• Add new comment

It's Primary Day in Pennsylvania

Today is Election Day in Pennsylvania! Make sure you vote!

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. all throughout the state. And while this is an exciting day that will undoubtedly bring more Democrats to the polls than any other primary election in recent history, we should be very respectful at the polls to both sides and thank them for being so vocal and passionate about Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Without a doubt, either of these stellar candidates will make a much better President of the United States than George W. Bush has, and either will be ready from day one to make the changes our nation needs. Senator Clinton or Senator Obama will assume their office ready to tackle ending the War in Iraq, improving our economy and lowering our exorbitant fuel prices.

Either candidate will make a much better candidate for President than Sen. John McCain, or as we refer to him, “the third Bush term.” He is a flawed candidate who is wrong on Iraq, wrong on the economy and wrong on health care for all Pennsylvanians. He has already shown to be wishy-washy and weak on immigration reform, campaign finance reform and the failed Bush tax cuts.

McCain’s record is the bad news. The good news is that once a nominee is secured, we will have more than 50,000 Neighborhood Leaders in place thanks to the DNC’s 50-State Partnership.

So after Pennsylvania and after the Democratic nominee emerges, our work as organizers and supporters must continue for the sake of our families, Pennsylvania and the nation. We need to unite behind him or her enthusiastically and ensure that we bring home a major victory for the Democratic Party.

--- Abe Amorós, Executive Director

• Add new comment

2008 College Democrats Convention Wrap-Up

I’m happy to announce that this year’s convention was a success! Chapters from schools all across the state traveled to the City of Brotherly Love for a weekend of trainings, speakers, Democratic fun and the occasional run to the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps.

Thanks to each and every College Democrat who was involved in this event, especially the convention committee. Without your planning, help, attendance and participation, this year’s event would have never been possible. I hope the excitement that we felt this weekend will continue well into November and beyond! That said, I hope everyone will register for the College Democrats of America's National Convention in Denver from August 22-24, and some of it continuing into the DNC (see www.collegedems.com for more information)!

At convention, we also elected the 2008-2009 Executive Board. The leadership will change hands on April 23rd, after the Pennsylvania Primary. In the capable hands of the board, I am sure that the Pennsylvania College Democrats will continue to flourish and made a difference in the lives of Pennsylvania voters. I am pleased to announce the new board:

• Deb Hinchey (Temple University), President
• Jim Sheppard (University of Pittsburgh), Western Region Vice President
• Sean Meloy (Penn State University), Central Region Vice President
• Mary Alice Scott (Franklin & Marshall College), Eastern Region Vice President
• Joe Day (Carnegie Mellon University), Director of Finance
• Weston Fillman (Franklin & Marshall College), Director Communications
• Keith Davis (Temple University), Director of Membership
• Jana Stec (University of Pittsburgh), Director of Political Affairs
Gregory Kauffman (Lebanon Valley College), State Council Chair

On a personal note, this year has been an amazing ride. I hope to follow Governor Rendell’s advice and “Stay and Invent PA” for quite some time, so please feel free to call on me if I can be of service. Pennsylvania is an amazing place to be a student, a voter and a Democrat and I can’t wait to see what a future here holds. My own special “thank you” goes out to everyone who has made our success possible. This especially includes the PA Democratic Party and those members past and present whose partnerships have helped us so much: Chairman TJ Rooney, Mary Isenhour, Abe Amoros, Fadia Halma, and Dr. Don Morabito. You are all true assets to the commonwealth.

-- Rachel Moore, Pennsylvania College Democrats President

• Add new comment

Senator Arlen Specter

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and all of its members, I
express our heartfelt and sincere well wishes for Senator Arlen Specter as he
once again battles courageously against Hodgkin’s Disease.

He has been a fighter for Pennsylvania during his years of service in the
U.S. Senate and has fought back once before against this terrible disease
that afflicts millions of Americans.

In the spirit of bipartisanship and as proud Pennsylvanians, we wish him
nothing but the very best as he continues to embody the fighting spirit that
has made the Keystone State so proud of him and his many accomplishments
throughout all of his years of public service.

We will keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers for as long as
it takes for him to once again come away victorious from this disease.

• 1 comment

Charging hard into the final lap...

Friends, the time has come. We're one week away from the Pennsylvania primary. And I think it's safe to say that this will be a busy week.

It starts tomorrow night with the presidential debate at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. If you're planning to take advantage of your last chance to see Senators Clinton and Obama go head-to-head before you cast your vote, make sure you join us on the PADems.com message board. We'll be watching the debate and discussing it online. This was a tremendous success back in October, and we're expecting a big crowd on the message board again.

Then, get ready for six days of outreach from every presidential, congressional and state legislative candidate out there. This is it folks, the final lap of the primary season.

Knowing that you'll be hearing and talking a lot about politics, we here at the Party wanted to provide you a little oasis from the noise. So this week's online poll doesn't ask you anything political. Take our poll and let us know if we have more Pirates fans or Phillies fans. And is the Keystone State home to pick-up truck drivers or sports car drivers?

And next Tuesday, the big day, be sure to visit PADems.com for all your election day needs. We'll tell you where your polling place is, how to find your candidate's website and all kinds of other information. And Tuesday night, after the polls close, we'll be reporting results on our homepage.

According to the media and pundits, the Pennsylvania primary is going to be a milestone in this year's primary season. Make sure you take part!

• Add new comment

A special message from Senator Connie Williams

The enthusiasm among Pennsylvania Democrats this year is historic. Pennsylvania will play a key role this November to elect a Democrat to the White House. We will reverse the ill-advised polices of the Bush administration.

These policies of the Republican Party, however, extend beyond the Bush White House to the floor of the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate.

The Pennsylvania Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee (DSSCC) is leading the fight to get more Democrats elected to the Pennsylvania Senate. More Democrats will mean that more Pennsylvanians will have access to affordable health care. More Democrats will mean that Pennsylvania will move faster down the road to energy independence. More Democrats will mean less Republican obstruction of progressive measures.

Click here to join our effort to get Democrats elected to the Pennsylvania Senate.

Nearly 800,000 Pennsylvanians lack basic health insurance. Energy prices are rising out of control. The Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House has passed aggressive measures to provide access to affordable health insurance, and to invest in alternative, home-grown energy sources. The best the Republican-controlled Senate can do is sit on their hands. We are paying a heavy price for Republican inaction in Pennsylvania.

Click here to help DSSCC elect Senate Democrats who will work for Pennsylvania.

Our candidates are slated to run in 21 state Senate seats around Pennsylvania. Given the unprecedented enthusiasm and turnout among Democrats this year, we know our candidates will be competitive in traditionally Republican districts. For our Democratic candidates to win, we will need a strong grassroots-effort from people who want to see the enactment of progressive measures that will move Pennsylvania forward.

Click here to learn about our candidates, sign up for updates, and get involved!

Pennsylvania can be a leader in health care and energy independence. But this will not happen with the current makeup of 29 Republicans and only 21 Democrats in the Pennsylvania Senate.

We need your help to win!!

Sincerely,
Senator Connie Williams
Delaware and Montgomery Counties
Chair, PA DSSCC

• 2 comments

WHY IS THIS GUY DANCING?

It’s kind of funny to me how during the Republican primary elections John McCain had to fight to woo conservative voters (you remember them – the ones who gave us 8 years of the Bush presidency). Since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, he’s looking more and more like George Bush every day. I’m sure that as soon as the hard right figures this out, they’ll follow him like they do our soon-to-be former President.

Just last week The Politico, a Washington DC newspaper, listed the number of Bush minions who are now teaming up with John McCain. Reading it brings into question McCain’s oft-repeated claims to be for clean, issue based campaigning. If that’s his plan, why is he bringing Bush’s pack of attack dogs aboard?

Here’s the roster of the McCain Team:

• Ken Mehlman – Ran Bush’s 2004 campaign; Former chair of the RNC; Resigned for reasons never fully explained.
• Steve Schmidt -- Chief strategist of the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito; Counselor and spokesman for Dick Cheney; part of Bush’s 2004 re-election inner circle.
• Mark McKinnon – Former media advisor for George Bush; Half of the top 50 Bush 2004 reelection campaign expenditures went to McKinnon's firm Maverick Media, totaling $170 million.
• And, of course, Karl Rove. You remember him – mousey little guy who put George Bush in the White House, ignored Congress when they disagreed with him and resigned just as the word “subpoena” was used with greater frequency. (For a look at Rove’s other talents, click here to watch a video)

And just in case these guys get lonely, Dan Bartlett and Sara Taylor – two more former members of the Bush Dream Team – have said they are “eager to provide any assistance and advice possible to McCain.” [The Politico, March 8, 2008]

So if McCain is going to be a “candidate of change,” why is he bringing back all these familiar faces?

The answer is simple. John McCain is not the candidate of change. He’s the candidate of a third Bush term.

• 19 comments

First week's online poll analysis

Good morning! My name is Dr. Lamar Pierce and I am the Chief Research Officer for Civic Science, the company that powers the new Pennsylvania Democratic Party online poll. Let me first say how excited we are to work with Chairman Rooney and the entire committee. This year promises to be a historic one for the Democratic Party and we look forward to helping party leaders better gauge the moods and opinions of Democrats in Pennsylvania.

You may find it hard to believe, based on the simplicity of our three-question polls, but a great deal of research and testing has gone into our research model. By limiting the number and complexity of questions, we can provide an experience that is quick, simple, and convenient for voters. Our goal is to achieve the highest possible response rates, so that we can build a much larger and diverse sample of respondents.

By reaching more people in more corners of the Commonwealth, we can generate more insightful and useful public opinion data. And by updating the poll with new questions every week, we can build an ongoing dialogue with you, the Democratic voters of Pennsylvania, to better enable Democratic leaders and candidates to represent you. We hope you find our polling feature to be interesting and rewarding, so that you will continue to participate week after week.

This week, over 1,000 Pennsylvania Democrats voted in the online poll. We designed this initial poll to identify correlations among gender, national priorities, and preferences between the Democratic candidates for President. We immediately observed that while Barack Obama holds the majority of support from our sample, this support distinctly changes across gender and issue priorities. Here are a few of the interesting things we learned:

• 60.3% of respondents support Barack Obama, while only 37.4% support Hillary Clinton
• Obama’s support is highest among women, of whom 65.6% support Barack
• Clinton’s support is highest among those believing the economy is of highest priority, with Hillary gaining 43.8% vs. Barack’s 53.7%.
• Clinton’s support is lowest among those prioritizing the war, with only 23.9% support vs. Obama’s 73.8%
• Overall, 43.7% prioritize the economy, while 35.5% prioritize the war and 20.9% prioritize health care.

(* It is important to note that these results, by themselves, are not necessarily representative of Pennsylvanians as a whole, nor do they claim to be predictive of an election outcome. These results are merely valuable as a means of identifying correlations and trends among a specific population of active Democratic voters.)

Again, all of us at Civic Science are excited to work with the State Committee and its members in the weeks and months to come. If you ever have any questions or technical problems, please e-mail us at simon@civicscience.com.

With Kindest Regards,
J. Lamar Pierce, Ph.D

• 26 comments

THE TIME HAS COME

So, the time has come.

Yours truly, as well as a number of reporters, elected officials and pundits have been saying since Super Tuesday that Pennsylvania would be a decision-maker in this year’s Democratic presidential primary season. And now those predictions have come to pass.

For the next seven weeks, the Commonwealth is going to be the main stage in one of the most important political pageants in our nation’s history – and I can’t think of anywhere more fitting. Pennsylvania was the birthplace of our democracy, and now it will be home to the rebirth of democratic principles. We have two very qualified Democratic candidates to choose from, and it’s our responsibility to choose wisely.

The Republicans have continued their streak of being completely out-of-touch with Americans by choosing Senator McCain as their nominee -- a man who thinks that we should stay in Iraq for another 100 years. Senator McCain has embraced the Bush tax cuts -- proving he’ll continue his party’s strategy of looking out for rich oil companies instead of people. And, of course, Senator McCain likes to use the phrase “my friends,” and I can only assume he’s referring to people like his Arizona campaign co-chair, indicted Congressman Rick Renzi.

Senator McCain has actually made this a very easy choice, no matter if Senator Clinton or Senator Obama turns out to be the Democratic nominee. Do we want four more years of Bush’s failed policies and destructive actions? Or do we want actual change in Washington and the embrace of progressive ideals? I think that will be an easy choice for the people of Pennsylvania, and the nation as a whole.

So check back here often over the next seven weeks. We’re going to be going all out on PADems.com and PABuildingBlue. Let’s make this Democratic primary an energetic contest, and choose a candidate who can prevent the next generation of Cheneys, Roves and Rumsfelds from invading the White House…and who knows where else.

• 7 comments

Rep. Patrick Murphy

In 2006, Democrats across Pennsylvania stood together and demanded change – not just for our state, but for our country. Across the Commonwealth, we won elections – including mine – where no one gave us a chance. Together, through our commitment to change the status quo and rubberstamp Congress, we were able to send four new Pennsylvania Democrats to Washington. I am honored to represent you and I am working hard to make Pennsylvania proud.

The 2006 victory was the result of long days, a lot of late nights, and a commitment to win. In my new book, Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress, I write about my campaign – and what it meant to have such grassroots support from so many in Pennsylvania. From what I witnessed in Iraq to our hard-fought campaign, it is a story about service and I hope it inspires others to get involved, not just in politics or the military, but to become public servants for our community and country.

As the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress, it is an honor to fight on behalf of our troops and veterans as well as to bring our troops home from Iraq. In my book, I describe seeing – up close – the foreign policy failures of the Bush administration. We cannot continue these policies and we cannot – as some have suggested – stay in Iraq for 100 years.

In 2006, we worked together to bring change to Washington. Join me and your fellow Democrats as we continue the fight for a new direction both at home and abroad. If we work together this year, if we stand up for the values and country we believe in, then there is no doubt we’ll be successful again throughout our state.

-- Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-08)

• 5 comments