Pennsylvania was one of the states targeted by Russian hackers in 2016. They helped put an illegitimate "president" into the White House by a handful of votes. In Pennsylvania it was 44,292 votes out of 5,897,174 cast. Kushner's team told the Russians to concentrate on four counties: Erie, Luzerne, Northampton, Lackawanna, Obama country in 2012, all of whom provided Trump with "plausible" wins in 2016. He took the state's 20 electoral votes by beating Hillary 2,970,733 (48.18%) to 2,926,441 (47.46%). In 3 weeks, the Keystone State gets its revenge.The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation is about to shift radically, with likely wins by Democratic challengers Scott Wallace (PA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Mary Scanlon (PA-05), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Susan Wild (PA-07), a guaranteed incumbent vs incumbent win by Democrat Conor Lamb (against walking dead Keith Rothfus) and two toss-ups that could put George Scott and-- God willing-- Jess King (the best candidate running in the state) into Congress instead of Trump rubber stamps Scott Perry and Lloyd Smucker.On Monday morning Steven Shepard, writing for Politico, reported that the Democratic surge in Pennsylvania is being powered by concerns over healthcare. Fair enough-- though I'd say it's being powered at least as much by disdain for Trump. His greater point though, is that the state that was the 2016 linchpin of Trumpanzee's victory, will be be "ground zero of Democrats’ 2018 comeback." He's going by an AARP poll showing both Sen. Bob Casey and Gov. Tom Wolf with double-digit leads over their GOP challengers and Democrats ahead on the generic congressional ballot.
The top issue for voters in Pennsylvania is health care: Nearly three-in-four, 74 percent, say it’s “very important” to their vote in November, outrating the economy and jobs (72 percent), Social Security (67 percent) and national security and terrorism (65 percent). For voters 50 and older, Social Security (81 percent) only slightly outpaces health care (79 percent).In the Senate race, Casey leads Rep. Lou Barletta by 15 percentage points, 47 percent to 32 percent. Casey leads Barletta-- a four-term congressman who forged his political identity as an immigration hardliner as the then-mayor of Hazelton, Pa.-- by a similar margin among voters 50 and older, 49 percent to 34 percent.Casey is one of 10 Senate Democrats seeking reelection this year in a state Trump won in 2016. But like his colleagues in other Midwestern states-- Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Debbie Stabenow in Michigan and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin-- he is a strong favorite for reelection... Wolf, meanwhile, has a 12-point lead over former state Sen. Scott Wagner, 48 percent to 36 percent. Wagner has struggled to gain traction in his effort to unseat Wolf. The Republican released a Facebook video last week, in which he tells the incumbent, “Gov. Wolf-- let me tell you-- between now and November 6, you better put a catcher’s mask on your face because I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes.”
Which reminds me-- you've probably already heard about Wagner’s utter meltdown on Friday. He stood in front of a billboard highlighting all the folks he sued and asserted, insanely, to Gov. Wolf: "I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes" [video up top]. The billboard was put up by Pennsylvania Spotlight-- a group dedicated to shining a light on extremism and the deep-pocketed special interests acting against the best interest of Pennsylvanians. Obviously, they were delighted that it received national attention and showed what a lunatic and extremist Wagner is. An old friend of mine from Pennsylvania Spotlight, Joshua Henne, wrote this Op-Ed over the weekend showcasing a few more reasons that Wagner is completely unfit.
Scott Wagner needs cash and he needs it now.That's at least what his most recent email to supporters laid out. Wagner-- who likes to portray himself as a tough guy and always in command-- pleaded, "With more than $10 million of my own money already invested in this race, I am tapped out."What Wagner conveniently fails to mention is how he recently blew over $2 million investing campaign money into the stock market... and lost. This is far from standard practice. And it's pretty pathetic for a candidate who revolved his entire campaign the notion that he'd be running the state like he runs his business.Wagner's desperate financial appeal comes on the heels of bellyaching about the recent gubernatorial debate. He's begging for more chances to make his pitch to the public.As if Wagner hasn't had ample opportunity since announcing his campaign 21 long months ago on the floor of Penn Waste-- the politically connected trash-hauling behemoth he owns.However, Wagner couldn't possibly have enjoyed a more receptive audience and forum than the one he already participated in, as incredulously, Penn Waste was the sponsor of last week's Chamber debate.This is simply the latest example in a long litany of Wagner inappropriately and cunningly using his political campaign to benefit his personal bottom line... Some of Wagner's abusive business tactics are already well-documented. Infamously, he sued an 84-year old Springettsbury woman who didn't use Penn Waste's trash services... For years, the occasions of Wagner suing customers has been pegged by the press at a mere "hundreds of people that Penn Waste has sued for nonpayment of trash bills." However, the real number of lawsuits against customers stands at a whopping 6,979 individuals from January 2012 to May 2018 alone, filing over 10,000 total lawsuits.The public deserves to know the true scope of Wagner's litigious nature at the expense of working families. So, we put up a website at www.PennWasterAlert.com, as well as some billboards laying out the real numbers.Many Penn Waste lawsuits were filed against people who don't have the means to defend themselves. In some cases, they've been hammered for being late on one lousy bill.Wagner is a model intimidator who sues those without the ability to fight back.His actions compound financial problems for working families. Moreover, Wagner's heavy-handed practices are predatory, with pressure going beyond the norm of other garbage removal companies in the operating area.Penn Waste even goes so far as sending sheriffs to customers' homes to harass them....His Republican primary opponent, Paul Mango excoriated him, saying "Wagner has a lengthy history as a greedy bully who preys on those in our society who can't fight back. He does this simply to ensure that his personal wealth continues to grow. It should be clear to all that Scott Wagner is not trustworthy and will never put the needs of Pennsylvanians first."Even though Wagner claims he's "far from an insider," the truth is that, for far too long, Wagner's used his political perch to enrich himself and his business.Wagner has pocketed millions off municipal contracts and used his time in the state Senate to push legislation aimed at plumping his own piggybank - all at the expense of taxpayers.Even though Wagner's personal wealth is directly tied to Penn Waste's ability to garner municipal contracts, he refuses to put his business interests in a blind trust. This is obscene, since local governments constitute Penn Waste's current-- and potentially future-- clients.Moreover, Wagner steadfastly rejects releasing his tax returns. The trash tycoon explained it's because he didn't want Penn Waste workers knowing the full extent of how much he makes off their sweat and toil, lest they'd decide to organize a union to fight for their rights.Much like President Trump, Wagner measures every step against how it will personally benefit both his ambition and bottom line.In fact, Wagner embraces the comparison, once going so far as to proclaim "Donald Trump is actually a mini-Scott Wagner." Both men have a history of mistreating and intimidating customers. And both clearly relish frivolously suing vulnerable people who don't have the resources to fight back.We already have a hot mess down in D.C. with this archetype. Pennsylvanians simply can't afford the same story to play out in Harrisburg, with Wagner taking not just a page, but chapter and verse from Trump's grotesque playbook.
Back to Shepard's Politico piece again. He reminded us that House Democrats "chances to make further gains were turbocharged earlier this year, when the state Supreme Court ordered the implementation of a new congressional-district map. It found the old one, drawn by Republicans after the 2010 election, was a gerrymander so egregious that it violated the state constitution. In the three elections held under the old map-- 2012, 2014 and 2016-- Republicans won 13 of the state’s 18 congressional districts, even in 2012, when Democratic candidates, on aggregate, won more votes than Republicans."