State of Pennsylvania Archives: on Principles & Values

Joe Gale: Restore "worship" to township welcome signs

Bob Casey: Optimistic there will be debates; but won't say so on record

Sure, everyone understands busy campaign schedules. Pennsylvania is a big state to travel around, and candidates do have to hold a certain number of fundraisers and meet and greets. But no debates?

You have to wonder whether either candidate wants to be accountable and accessible to the public if they will not even take time for a debate. When The Patriot-News Editorial Board reached out to the two campaigns Thursday, their answers were unimpressive.

"The race has been tightening for the past several weeks, and we are optimistic there will be a debate. Should anything be finalized I will let you know," wrote a spokeswoman for Tom Smith's campaign in an email.

Casey's team would not speak on the record, although it, too, expressed optimism there would be a debate. The responses are not reassuring, considering there are only 26 days left before Election Day.

Tom Smith: Optimistic there will be a debate; but nothing finalized

Sure, everyone understands busy campaign schedules. Pennsylvania is a big state to travel around, and candidates do have to hold a certain number of fundraisers and meet and greets. But no debates?

You have to wonder whether either candidate wants to be accountable and accessible to the public if they will not even take time for a debate. When The Patriot-News Editorial Board reached out to the two campaigns Thursday, their answers were unimpressive.

"The race has been tightening for the past several weeks, and we are optimistic there will be a debate. Should anything be finalized I will let you know," wrote a spokeswoman for Tom Smith's campaign in an email.

Casey's team would not speak on the record, although it, too, expressed optimism there would be a debate. The responses are not reassuring, considering there are only 26 days left before Election Day.

Bob Casey: Declined to respond to League of Women Voters questionnaire

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania said it is trying to arrange two debates between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Tom Smith, but nothing was final Wednesday. The league has even had trouble getting responses from Smith and Casey for its voters' guide, said the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania: "This has been one of the toughest years yet to get information out of people."

Tom Smith: Declined to respond to League of Women Voters questionnaire

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania said it is trying to arrange two debates between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Tom Smith, but nothing was final Wednesday. The league has even had trouble getting responses from Smith and Casey for its voters' guide, said the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania: "This has been one of the toughest years yet to get information out of people."

Steve Welch: Voted Democratic in 2008; but renounced support of Obama

Tom Smith: Elected as Democrat as township supervisor for decades

Steve Welch: Switched party from Democrat to GOP in 2005

Welch offered a mea culpa on the party switch, and reiterated his support for John McCain in the 2008 general election, saying he thought Obama was the lesser of two evils compared to Hillary Clinton. For the first time, he answered the Sestak charge by bringing up the record of then Rep. Curt Weldon, the man Sestak defeated in 2006. Weldon was an establishment Republican who ran into ethics troubles near the end of his term, culminating in an FBI raid of his office.

In perhaps his strongest response yet to the party-switching charge, Welch said, "Tim Burns' Republican party means Ronald Reagan could never have been President."

Joe Sestak: TV ad: Toomey's record is same as Sen. Rick Santorum's

Sestak's ads have targeted Toomey as far to the right. One uses Toomey's own words, saying his record is "indistinguishable" from staunchly conservative former Sen. Rick Santorum's. Ads from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee rip Toomey for his support of free trade and votes for policies the group says have shipped American jobs to China.

The free-market advocacy group Club for Growth, which Toomey once led, bought $1 million worth of advertising time in the Philadelphia media market Thursday for a new ad attacking Sestak as "just another liberal" dancing to the tune of President Obama and the Democratic leadership. "Yes, Joe Sestak served honorably in the Navy," the new 30-second spot says. "His service in Congress is the problem."

Pat Toomey: TV ad: Sestak served well in Navy; but not on Congress

Sestak's ads have targeted Toomey as far to the right. One uses Toomey's own words, saying his record is "indistinguishable" from staunchly conservative former Sen. Rick Santorum's. Ads from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee rip Toomey for his support of free trade and votes for policies the group says have shipped American jobs to China.

The free-market advocacy group Club for Growth, which Toomey once led, bought $1 million worth of advertising time in the Philadelphia media market Thursday for a new ad attacking Sestak as "just another liberal" dancing to the tune of President Obama and the Democratic leadership. "Yes, Joe Sestak served honorably in the Navy," the new 30-second spot says. "His service in Congress is the problem."

Arlen Specter: In 28 years in GOP, stood with Dems on their top priorities

Specter repeatedly asked Sestak to release his service records to explain a 2005 reassignment by the Navy. Sestak ignored the requests, called his service honorable and aggressively worked to tie Specter to the policies of former President George W. Bush and even Wall Street practices that led to the evaporation of nest eggs and jobs. "There is no record except the Republican record for Arlen Specter," Sestak said.

Specter countered that he had stood with Democrats on their top priorities, even during his 28 years as a Republican. He noted his support for abortion rights and endorsements by the state AFL-CIO, as well as his opposition to the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping. "I have stood with Democrats and Democratic values on the big issues," Specter said. Specter switched parties last year.

Barack Obama: In hard times, people take refuge in traditions, God & guns

OBAMA: I think there’s no doubt that I can see how people were offended. It’s not the first time that I’ve made a statement that was mangled up. It’s not going to be the last. But let me be very clear about what I meant: People are going through very difficult times right now. When people feel like Washington’s not listening to them, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion. They end up feeling “This is a place where I can find some refuge. This is something that I can count on.” They end up being much more concerned about votes around things like guns, where traditions have been passed on.

Barack Obama: I am a person of faith; and I reach out to people of faith

OBAMA: Hillary has been saying I’m elitist, out of touch, condescending. Let me be absolutely clear. It would be pretty hard for me to be condescending towards people of faith, since I’m a person of faith and have done more than most other campaigns in reaching out specifically to people of faith, and have written about how Democrats make an error when they don’t show up and speak directly to people’s faith. The same is true with respect to gun owners. I have large numbers of sportsmen and gun owners in my home state, and they have supported me precisely because I have listened to them.

Barack Obama: Blacks are angry; but I dissociate myself from Rev. Wright

OBAMA: Rev Wright is somebody who made controversial statements, & I specifically said that those comments were objectionable; they’re not comments that I believe in. And I disassociated myself with them. But the body of Reverend Wright’s work, over the course of 30 years, were not represented in those snippets that were shown on television: the church has done outstanding work in ministries on HIV/AIDS, and prison ministries. So I’ve tried to speak to a broader context, which is that there is anger in the Africa American community that sometimes gets expressed, whether in the barbershop or in the church. That’s true not just in the African American community, but in other communities as well. My candidacy represents the opportunity to move beyond it.

Barack Obama: I revere the American flag; I don’t refuse to wear flag pins

A: I revere the American flag, and I would not be running for president if I did not revere this country. There’s no other country in which my story is even possible; somebody who was born to a teenage mom, raised by a single mother and grandparents from small towns in Kansas; who was able to get an education and rise to the point where I can run for the highest office in the land. I could not help but love this country for all that it’s given me. I did wear a flag pin yesertday when a veteran handed it to me, on behalf of disabled veterans. I have never said that I don’t wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins. This is the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed with and distracts us from figuring out how we get our troops out of Iraq and how we make our economy better for the American people.

Hillary Clinton: Faith is not just something to cling to in hard times

OBAMA: I meant: People are going through very difficult times right now. When people feel like Washington’s not listening to them, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion. They end up being much more concerned about votes around things like guns, where traditions have been passed on.

CLINTON: I am the granddaughter of a factory worker from the Scranton lace mills, who was also very active in the Court Street Methodist Church. I don’t believe that my grandfather clung to religion when Washington is not listening to them. I think that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of faith in times that are good and times that are bad. And I similarly don’t think that people cling to their traditions, like hunting and guns, when they are frustrated with the government. I just don’t believe that’s how people live their lives.

Hillary Clinton: Visited Bosnian war zone, but mistake to call it sniper fire

Source: 2008 Philadelphia primary debate, on eve of PA primary Apr 16, 2008

Bob Casey: We need an independent voice; not a rubber stamp for Bush

SANTORUM: Absolutely. I agree with the president a vast majority of the time. When I agree with him, I say it. And when I don’t agree with him, I say it, too.

CASEY: I think what the people of Pennsylvania expect and deserve is someone who’s going to be truly independent. Being a rubber stamp for the president is not in the best interest of the people of America.

Q: But have the Democrats sometimes been obstructionist, & opposed everything that Bush proposed?

CASEY: I’m sure they have. But when you have two politicians that agree 98% of the time, one of them’s really not necessary. We need someone who’s going to be truly independent, who has the character and the integrity to stand up to his party and his president, especially at a time of war

Rick Santorum: I agree with Bush 98% of the time, but I say when I don’t

SANTORUM: Absolutely. I agree with the president a vast majority of the time. When I agree with him, I say it. And when I don’t agree with him, I say it, too.

CASEY: I think what the people of Pennsylvania expect and deserve is someone who’s going to be truly independent. Being a rubber stamp for the president is not in the best interest of the people of America.

Q: But have the Democrats sometimes been obstructionist, & opposed everything that Bush proposed?

CASEY: I’m sure they have. But when you have two politicians that agree 98% of the time, one of them’s really not necessary. We need someone who’s going to be truly independent, who has the character and the integrity to stand up to his party and his president, especially at a time of war

Betsy Summers: Specter and Hoeffel are both big-government candidates

Jim Clymer: Both major parties are liberal on the major issues

Arlen Specter: I’m in the center in this campaign