This evening Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, currently running for re-election, held an online "conversation" (this is how it was billed). The first half hour was set aside for those contributing at a higher level. The grassroots event followed and lasted a little over half an hour, attended by nearly 150 people.
Shapiro talked about his first experience as a candidate, running for state representative. These are stories I have heard before but they are good stories. A Labor Day poll had him down 65 to 21 but he went out and knocked on 18,000 doors and listened to what people had to say. He won the election that November.
He mentioned issues he has taken on in the first three years of his term, including education, health insurance, child abuse, fracking companies, gun violence, pharmaceutical companies and the opioid epidemic. He and other AGs had taken cases to the Supreme Court, including those pertaining to dreamers, contraception, and LGBTQ rights.
There were some good sound bites in his remarks. In answering a question on anti-semitism he said "Leaders must speak and act with moral clarity." Someone asked about his top three issues. He mentioned serving as the people's lawyer. As an example he talked about people who had signed with companies to drill on their land (fracking) in return for royalties which were not paid, or not paid in full. He said "You know who their lawyer is? I am." That's a good line. Near the end of the event he said "If it won't solve a problem, but will just make noise, I'm not interested in doing it."
If you are wondering what happened to Mayor Pete -- he was there! He did talk! He gave a good introduction to Shapiro and talked about the importance of the race. This was the first time I had seen Buttigieg outside of the Democratic presidential candidate debates earlier this year. He is very personable. To be honest, I didn't pay a lot of attention to what he said, just studied him (adorkable is the word that came to mind), tried to figure out if he hadn't had a haircut in awhile or if he had trimmed it himself, and looked at the large bookshelves behind him. I caught Ulysses, the Iliad, Medieval Lives (not sure of this), and something with the word Loyalty in the title.
Buttigieg has been doing a lot of online events in Pennsylvania lately. His Midwestern appeal will play well in much of Pennsylvania. I think we will be seeing a lot of him in the future, not just Pennsylvania but the country as a whole.
[This post was written while listening to a Johnny Flynn mix on YouTube.]
Tuesday, July 07, 2020
Shapiro and Buttigieg Video Event
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Spotted Lanternfly
The Pennsylvania Agriculture Dept. is asking people within the commonwealth to watch for spotted lanternflies and report sightings. This invasive insect is damaging trees. Here are two websites for more information and pictures to help with identification.
PA Dept of Agriculture
Penn State Extension
Monday, August 13, 2018
New Names on the Ballot
The PA Democratic Party sent this out today:
- HD-82 (Franklin, Juniata, and Mifflin counties): Robert Cunningham
- HD-153 (Montgomery County): Ben Sanchez
- HD-175 (Philadelphia County): Mary Isaccson
- HD-187 (Berks and Lehigh counties): Michael Blichar Jr.
Executive Director of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee, Nathan Davidson, released the following statement:
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Katie Muth on "Two Broads Talking Politics" podcast
I just discovered a new podcast, Two Broads Talking Politics. They have been interviewing some PA candidates in the last few months. One of them was Katie Muth, who appeared on the June 25th, 2018 episode (episode 87). Danielle Friel Otten was the other guest. Each interview took about 20 minutes. To post these notes in a more timely fashion I am doing one at a time. Katie Muth was the first guest so this post is the notes from that segment.
As always, this is not intended to be a verbatim transcript. These are just notes, and any errors are my own and should not, in any way, be attributed to the candidate. I encourage everyone to listen to the podcast for themselves.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Jared Solomon's Office Gets NYT Mention
The New York Times included a photo of a volunteer in Jared Solomon's office and his chief of staff. See "Leaving New York to Find the American Dream in Philadelphia," by Matt Katz (7/20/2018). The article focuses on immigrants.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Katie Muth for State Senate
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Me and Paul Begala
I've noted in a few recent book reviews that they are aimed at a different audience, that there has been a generational shift in how political memoirs are written. Well, turns out, it isn't just me. Paul Begala reviewed Beck Dory-Stein's new book in the New York Times last week ("A White House Memoir That's Equal Parts C-Span and 'Sex and the City'," July 10, 2018). Here's a quote:
Nowhere in George F. Kennan’s “Memoirs” does he recount how many times he drunkenly shagged someone named Jennifer. But that was then, this is now. Apparently T.M.I. now stands for Totes More Intimacy.
and another later on:
As a middle-aged man who’s still married to the woman he met when he was 19, I am likely not the target audience for this book.
While I find this reassuring, since it leaves me comforted to be in such well-known company, it does add to a sense of thinking the world has passed me by.