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OFF the FLOOR: Time for Dems to Follow Hanger and Run for Gov, Not Prom Queen

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OFF the FLOOR: Time for Dems to Follow Hanger and Run for Gov, Not Prom Queen OFF THE FLOOR: Time for Dems to follow Hanger and run for Gov, not prom queen. OFF THE FLOOR A Capitolwire Column By Peter L. DeCoursey Bureau Chief Capitolwire HARRISBURG (July 15) – So it is July 15 and we have one Democrat running for governor. Oh sure, there are really about ten Democratic candidates who say they seek that office, but really, what we have is former DEP Secretary John Hanger running for governor of Pennsylvania and a horde running for Prom Queen or King. Hanger has been specific about what he would do and how that differs from what Gov. Tom Corbett has done: Hanger would tax Marcellus Shale, limit drilling in various areas, roll back the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax further than the Legislature did, raise specific revenues, ban governors from getting gifts, and hosts more of specific ideas. They are all on his website. What are the other candidates running on? That Tom Corbett has really nasty cooties and they don’t. Sure they all agree on Medicaid expansion and a few other items in the current Democratic gospel, but for the most part, they simply mush-mouth the issues, bash the incumbent and try to avoid making any specific, measurable promises. And look, it is not like there is some brain or toughness gap in the candidates: Hanger is bright and able, but so former DEP Secretary Katie McGinty, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Treasurer Rob McCord and York businessman Tom Wolf. And so are the other legions of Democratic hopefuls that will lose to one of those four. Even worse, it isn’t like the big four have nothing to say, or no idea what to say. All four are deep into raising funds and wooing key constituencies and donors. From what their donors and potential endorsers tell me, all four are very specific talking behind closed doors. It is just the press whom they won’t tell how they will raise revenues, or which taxes they will raise. A couple of big Democratic donors in particular told me they giggle every time Capitolwire tries to nail them down on issues, because in each case they tell the press less than they tell the folks with the big wallets. I have been down that road before, most notably with Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin. Melvin, when running both for Superior Court and Supreme Court, had a cute trick. When reporters asked her about issues – and court cases had been decided clarifying judges could say where they stood on issues, personally, during campaigns – Melvin would brush off the question, saying it was improper. Then she would go behind closed doors and tell the NRA or the Republican State Committee or right-to-life groups how she would decide cases brought before her that mattered to them. All of those groups cheerfully admitted she did this. And she did it, as one campaign consultant of hers said, “Because that way the folks that don’t like her position on the issues, don’t know it. And those who do like, do know it.” The other person these “I just want to create jobs without saying how” candidates remind me of is the 2006 GOP nominee for governor, Lynn Swann. Swann had never run for office before, and it took the former football star and broadcaster a while to understand this was not one long publicity tour and he had to answer questions. Like the current big four, he tried to get by on generalities and charm at this stage of the process. But unlike most of them, he didn’t have decades of state and national government and political experience. And it ended with an unimpressed public giving him 39 percent of the vote. I am sure that once this hits print, a number of campaigns will contact me to protest that it is early, and there is no reason for their candidate to be specific this early. Well, the candidate ought to be at least as specific to the press and public as she or he is being to unions and donors. And that gap is huge right now. Others will complain that they don’t like being compared to Lynn Swann, given their years of dedication to public service. To which I will say: fine. If you don’t want to be compared to him, don’t run like him. Bob Casey Jr. and Ed Rendell were both far more specific in 2002 than the current group of candidates have been thus far. So were Tom Corbett and Dan Onorato in 2010. This is one part of the campaign where all the candidates should follow the lead of John Hanger. Not by aping his stances, which I think may occur, but saying what theirs are. .
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