Trouble in Paradise

Current Montgomery County District Attorney and Republican candidate for Montgomery County commissioner is in the news again. When he declared his candidacy Castor had a hand-picked running mate, Melissa Murphy Weber. However, he has found himself yoked with incumbent Republican commissioner Jim Matthews. It was not a political marriage made in heaven.

Things got a little rough this week. John Morgan at The Pennsylvania Progressive posted a blog entry on the Castor Matthews campaign accepted money raised by a felon; the issue of such things having been in the news lately.

As reported in today's Inquirer ("Emails expose Montco dispute," by Thomas Fitzgerald, 9/24)

Castor sent several e-mails Friday to the Pennsylvania Progressive - thepennsylvaniaprogressive.com - in response to a blog item that said Asher was raising money for the GOP team. Blogger John Morgan questioned why Castor went along with it, since he had made Asher's backing of an opponent an issue in Castor's unsuccessful 2004 bid for the Republican nomination for state attorney general.

"Believe me, the outrage is there, just not expressed in public," Castor responded. "One correction: Matthews/Castor is NOT accepting Asher money. Jim has his own campaign account (I do not). That is where the money is going . . . I have never taken a dime from Asher or Asher's PAC for this or any other campaign. I simply think it is wrong that a person convicted of political corruption hold a position of such power and influence in the Republican Party."

Morgan had gotten Castor's approval to post his emails before making them public, but Castor later seemed to retract his permission. See more details at The Pennsylvania Progressive.

Very very strange.