Larry Ceisler has an interesting essay today on politicspa. He discusses the significance of the row office pickups for the Democrats in Montgomery County. He says that since few people understand what those jobs are they tend to vote by party, which should give the county GOP pause. In the essay he also discusses what the GOP needs to do to bring the county back into the red column for the 2008 presidential race.
John Nagle, whose race for Radnor township commissioner was mentioned on this blog a time or two, missed being elected by 3 votes, which is pretty darn close.
We should also note the passing of Lucille Trench who served as a Bucks County commissioner for years ("Rivals, allies mourn Lucille Trench," by Jenna Portnoy, Phillyburbs, 11/06)
On a personal note, I always split my ticket, just to feel like a maverick independent. Both Republicans that I voted for lost.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
A Few More Election Notes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Jane, How do you evaluate this paragraph from Larry Ceisler's essay? Larry is a Dem operative, right?
So how does a party win the majority of row offices, but lose the courthouse? No doubt it has something to do with the candidates – in Montco’s case we’re talking about Bruce Castor. Having a popular, well-known DA running for commissioner – a guy who could drag his running mate past November 6 – opened up opportunities the Democrats just didn’t have (Example: Castor raised $200K in the final week for what is by all accounts the campaign’s most crucial TV spot). Castor was the guy opening those doors in Montgomery County
Anon,
I have read Mr. Ceisler's work only occasionally and haven't really looked into him but would agree with you on his political leanings.
Mr. Castor is very popular, as the election results show. By tapping into that popularity he has now won an office he said he didn't really want, with a running mate that he said he didn't trust and thought was unethical. Interesting that Ceisler used the phraise "drag his running mate" in reference to Jim Matthews.
It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the board of commissioners shakes out, since there aren't close ties between Castor and Matthews. If I remember my Montco history correctly (and this is not a sure thing) Mr. Hoeffel has been in this situation before and was able to find pathways to influence board business. So we shall see.
Political analysis isn't my forte so you are probably better off asking someone else.
I agree that Matthews' track record indicates that he can't be trusted and also that Castor only took the job to keep the disaster that is Tom Ellis from running. I just surprised that the Dems are "blaming" their loss on Castor. Funny how the GOP's Ken Davis refuses to give Castor the credit for the victory at the same time that the Dem's are accusing Castor of keeping them from winning. Politics, Montco style!
I don't think Montco has a monopoly on things like this. It will be interesting to see how things develop.
Post a Comment