Toomey Up 50-43 in PA Senate Race

Doesn't look like the deeply unpopular Barack Obama's visit to Pennsylvania has done any good for Joe Sestak, and GOP candidate Pat Toomey had moved out to a 50-43 lead according to a Quinnipiac poll released this morning.

Republican Pat Toomey has hit the magic 50 percent mark as he leads Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak 50 - 43 percent in the race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters released today.

Pennsylvania likely voters disapprove 56 - 40 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing, the independent Quinnipiac University survey, conducted by live interviewers, finds. This first general election survey of Pennsylvania likely voters in this election cycle cannot be compared to earlier surveys of registered voters.

By a 52 - 43 percent margin, voters want a U.S. Senator who opposes rather than supports the president's policies and say 46 - 35 percent they want Republicans, rather than Democrats, to control the U.S. Senate after the November ballots are counted.

Toomey is winning 86 - 9 percent among Republicans and losing 87 - 7 percent among Democrats. He holds a commanding 54 - 36 percent lead among independent voters, which provides his current lead overall.

There is a very large gender gap in the Senate race, with Toomey ahead among male likely voters 58 - 37 percent and trailing among women likely voters 51 - 40 percent. The gender gap on the president's job performance is even wider with women approving 50 - 43 percent, while men disapprove by more than two-to-one, 66 - 31 percent.

No wonder Obama is reduced to sending his wife out to campaign.

Clueless Rendell 'Embarrassed' and 'Appalled' Pennsylvania Is Tracking Protesters

Actually, what Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell should be embarrassed and appalled by is the fact he's so out of touch he doesn't even have the slightest idea what his state's Homeland Security office is spending money on.

Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday evening that he was “embarrassed” and “appalled” that a contractor hired by the state has been tracking all sorts of “legitimate protest groups,” and that the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security then disseminated that information to law enforcement around the state in its tri-weekly intelligence bulletins.

Rendell said the contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, based in Philadelphia, would be not be renewed when it expires at the end of October, and until then the state would not disseminate information they supplied.

The state is charged by the federal government with determining and alerting local officials to “credible real threats to critical infrastructure.”

Instead, the Office of Homeland Security was notifying law enforcement of gay pride parades, taxpayer rallies and protests in support of the Governor’s own education policies, said Rendell.

Just imagine if a Republican governor was monitoring gay pride parades.

He said he first learned of the issue and ordered a review “this morning when I read the story in the Patriot-News.”

“Let me make this as clear as I can possibly make it,” he said. “Protesting against an idea, a principle, a process, protesting is not a real threat... Protesting is a God-given American right, a right that’s in our constitution.”

Rendell called the items included in the intelligence bulletins “absolutely ludicrous,” and he said distributing it to gas drilling companies “was against the guidelines set up for this program to begin with.”

But James Powers, the director of Homeland Security, will remain employed.

“He thought he was carrying out the federal mandate,” said Rendell. “He was wrong. He made a significant mistake.”

The governor said, “It’s easy to kick one person, but I think there’s shared responsibility here. I’m most interested in why I didn’t know... I would have stopped this on day one... Ultimately the responsibility is mine, and I’m deeply embarrassed.”

Update: For some reason the PennLive link is down. Here's an AP story.

New Pat Toomey Ad: 'Had Enough'?

Toomey Generations from Pat Toomey on Vimeo.

As in had enough of Barack Obama and runaway government spending? Pat Toomey doesn't name Obama--why bother?--but the message is crystal clear. Considering backstabbing hack Arlen Specter is in a death match with Joe Sestak, Toomey gets a nice head start on the general election.

Pat Toomey, who looks to be well on his way to capturing the Republican nomination for the Senate in Pennsylvania, is plugging himself as a job creator in his first television advertisement of the campaign.

The spot also decries some of the recent policies to come out of Washington and talks up Mr. Toomey – who formerly headed the antitax Club for Growth – as someone who has “taken on both parties when they waste tax dollars.”

“Trillion dollar bailouts and deficits, government-run health care, record unemployment. Had enough?” asks the advertisement.

Some Democrat spokesthing flaps his gums using the same tired playbook. They'll still be reciting the same drivel after this fall's avalanche buries them.

“If elected, Pat Toomey would do even more to protect the big banks, Wall Street, the oil companies and the insurance companies – all at the expense of Pennsylvania’s middle class,” Eric Schultz, a D.S.C.C. spokesman, said in a statement.

Schultz apparently must sufer from amnesia and not realize his president was the top recipient of both Goldman Sachs and BP money in the 2008 cycle.

The Incredible Shrinking Democrats

Is it any wonder Barack Obama is reduced to conference calls with extremist bloggers? The public is tired of him already. Just wait until we get to the 2010 midterms and we have a national referendum on him, Reid and Pelosi. It could get ugly.

Trust in President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies to identify the right solutions to problems facing the country has dropped off significantly since March, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll.

Just as Obama intensifies his efforts to fulfill a campaign promise and reach an agreement with Congress on health care reform, the number of Americans who say they trust the president has fallen from 66 percent to 54 percent. At the same time, the percentage of those who say they do not trust the president has jumped from 31 to 42.

The president’s party has taken a similar hit since the last Public Trust Monitor poll, with only 42 percent of respondents saying that they trust the Democratic Party, compared with 52 percent who do not. The party’s numbers are nearly the inverse of March’s survey, in which 52 percent said they trusted Democrats and 42 percent did not.

Meanwhile, in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell has dropped to his lowest approval ever, according to a Quinnipiac poll.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's job approval rating has shrunk to its lowest level ever, 39 - 53 percent negative, and voters see him as most responsible for the state's budget mess. Voters also reject 63 - 33 percent the Governor's call to raise the state income tax temporarily to balance the budget, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

A total of 90 percent of Pennsylvania voters think the inability of the Governor and State Legislature to come up with a budget by the June 30 deadline is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds.

Two things can be learned from these numbers: Democrats cannot resist calling for more taxes and the public is sick of being taxed to death.

May the Democrats proceed with more taxes at their own peril. They can't say they haven't been warned.

Some call this behavior suicidal.

More Evidence Of Murtha Acting Like A Thug

One of the most interesting races last year was the challenge posed to John Murtha in PA by now retired Col Bill Russel. It is still unbelievable that Murtha got reelected especially over Mr Russell. The folks in Pennsylvania must love abuse because that is certainly all they get from Murtha.

To his credit Russell says he is going to run again and maybe this time the voters of PA will get it right. How many more examples of Murtha's cronyism and nepotism and corruption do you need? How long do you want the rest of America, especially those in the veteran community holding you in disgust because of the actions of Murtha?

While Hugya did not explicitly threaten to bring Russell up on charges during the March conversation, he apparently did in a conversation in January with Ret. Col. Gregory Ritch, who served as Russell's commanding officer.

Ritch said he was talking on the phone with Hugya about an unrelated topic when Murtha's chief of staff suddenly switched topics to Russell, whom he referred to as the "carpetbagger."

According to Ritch, Hugya said: "He's gonna get a big surprise here shortly when the new secretary of Army calls his ass back for active duty."

Ritch said he asked why, and Hugya told him Russell would be court-martialed.

Apparently acting like thugs is just second nature to Democrats. They can't win arguments so they try to ruin lives and careers like they tried to do with recent episode with Miss California and like their ongoing frivolous ethics complaints lawsuits filed against Gov Sarah Palin, which are only designed to drain the Palin's bank accounts.

Just What Pennsylvania Needs: An Oddball Whose Leg Tingles at the Sight of Obama

Hey, if they're dumb enough to vote for this guy, it's their problem.

After all, Minnesota may vote for a failed comedian/radio host this year, so apparently the Democrat electorate has been sufficiently dumbed down.

The possibility of the host of MSNBC's "Hardball" Christopher Matthews, running against Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican, for Mr. Specter's senate seat in Pennsylvania is intensifying.

Although Mr. Matthews said to Bill Maher of HBO that he's "not getting involved in it" when asked about whether he would seek the position in 2010, it is odd to employ his television program in a way that would make him a favorable candidate to run for senator of Pennsylvania as a Democrat.

Mr. Matthews, who is from the Philadelphia area, broadcasted his show from Philadelphia during the week of the Pennsylvania primary. Political figures that appeared on his national show were the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, and an African-American congressman of Philadelphia, Chaka Fattah. In addition, Mr. Matthews interviewed on "Hardball" the chairmen of the Democratic committees of Allegheny, Montgomery, and Lackawanna counties, James Burn Jr., Marcel Groen, and Harry McGrath, local figures vital to any statewide candidacy.

The "Hardball" host would not be a complete neophyte to politics. He was a former staffer to President Carter and the speaker of the House, Thomas O'Neill. In 1974, he ran for congress in Pennsylvania. His brother, James, a Mongtomery County Commissioner, ran for lieutenant governor as a Republican in 2006.

Doesn't he just give you that tingly feeling?

Having worked for Jimmy Carter should be a permanent disqualification to ever running for office.

Trust me, I have no love lost for Arlen Specter and believe he needs to retire. But does hyperventilating daily on an extremely low-rated cable show qualify someone for office?

William Russell Back in the Race

Received via email.
William Russell, a retired LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) U S Army who is running for Congress in Murtha's district is back on the ballot in Pennsylvania. He was taken off the ballot earlier because a court ruled that he did not have enough required signatures on his petition when he originally decided to jump in the race. To get back on the ballot the voters in this recent primary had to write in his name. The Pennsylvanians came through for him.

According to the partial returns he has 1607 4700 votes so far according to National Review. He needed a thousand. Unless Jack Murtha can find some other way to get him disqualified Jack, no friend of the Marines, Murtha will have a Republican opponent this time.

Can Mr Russell beat Murtha? That remains to be seen, but if some sort of throw out the incumbents movement sweeps the nation he has a chance. I would hope the people of Pennsylvania are tired of being embarrassed by this Nancy Pelosi butt kissing clown.

Maybe the people of Pennsylvania thought Obama was elitist, maybe not, but what is certain is that Jack Murtha needs to be handed his walking papers. His words and actions in congress inspired the enemy and account for them continuing the fight longer then they might have otherwise, meaning he caused the deaths and causalities of more service members.

So from a guy in Georgia to the folks in Pennsylvania in this congressional district, please send Murtha packing to the old folks home he has earned. Hell it probably even has his name on it bought and paid for by the US taxpayers.

Others veterans running for congress on the Republican ticket can be found here.

Operation Chaos Produces Surge in Democrat Registration in Pennsylvania

This item at the Politico completely misses the obvious reason why there's been a huge increase in Democrat registrations.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, since January about 217,000 new voters have registered for the April 22 primary, the vast majority of whom signed up as Democrats.

In Philadelphia, by far the state’s largest city, more than 12,000 new Democrats were added to the rolls in the final week before the March registration deadline, compared to just 509 Republicans.

That statewide Democratic surge has been accompanied by a flood of party-switching. More than 178,000 voters have changed their party status since January — and the Democrats have captured 92 percent of those voters.

In Delaware County, a Philadelphia suburb once home to a storied Republican machine, nearly 14,000 voters have switched their party affiliation to Democratic since January compared to just 768 who became Republicans.

It's acknowledged there's a large number of Republicans crossing over to vote in the Democrat primary, but they refuse to say why.

It sure as hell isn't a bunch of Republicans who magically woke up one morning and decided they're Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton fans.

On the Upside, He No Longer Lives in New Jersey

More Food in Pennsylvania

Does this slob look familiar? Well, he used to be appearing in commercials for Mrs. Clinton saying how tough life was in Pennsylvania. Problem is, he's always lived in New Jersey.

Maybe the Clinton people were tired when they filmed the commercial.

A man who slams Barack Obama for offending hardworking Pennsylvanians in Hillary Rodham Clinton's attack ad is actually a life-long Jersey resident, it was revealed yesterday.

Clyde Thomas is passed off in the ad as one of five Pennsylvanians who are supposedly fuming about Obama's controversial comments that "bitter" small-town folks turn to religion and guns because of economic hardships.

What the ad doesn't say is that just two months ago, Thomas lived in Somerset, NJ - about 30 miles outside Newark. Thomas, 46, has lived there for decades, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday.

While Thomas was born in Scranton, he lived and worked in Jersey for most of his life, and even voted in the Feb. 5 New Jersey primary.

Shocking how Democrats would knowingly lie to the public, isn't it?

I have to say that goatee really helps cover up those seven chins Thomas is sporting.

Rendell: Pennsylvania Democrats Too Racist to Vote for Obama

Of course he doesn't come out and say it like that. He claims they're conservative.

What a jerk.

Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black.

"You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in remarks that appeared in Tuesday's paper.

To buttress his point, Rendell cited his 2006 re-election campaign, in which he defeated Republican challenger Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, by a margin of more than 60 percent to less than 40 percent.

I don't recall seeing many Democrats voting for Swann. His support came from the GOP--you know--those who usually are the conservatives.

Schmuck.

Meanwhile, I see plenty of whites in Virginia must have voted for Obama.

Guess they're not as racist there as the Democrats in Pennsylvania.