over at Keystone Progress. Really this was a poll of people on Michael Morrill's mailing list. Nonetheless I was surprised by how badly Tom Knox (supposedly the Philly favorite) and Dan Onorato (supposedly the state Democratic Party establishment's favorite) fared.

Assuming Corbett bests Gerlach and assuming Knox and Hoeffel are the two progressives (by PA standards, though as Dan points out, Hoeffel embraces the title) and Knox makes himself the immediate leader in the fund-raising race with another giant "loan" he can hope to get lobbyists to repay after he wins . . . Wow thats a bunch of assumptions. Progressives would be choosing between a distinguished former congressman and current county commissioner from one of PA's wealthiest counties and a guy who served about a year as a deputy mayor and is still making headlines for alleged campaign ethics violations during an unsuccessful bid for mayor - against an AG who will be running non-stop on having prosecuted "Bonus Gate". I kind of think Hoeffel provides less ad fodder.

Joe Hoeffel runs on his record as Joe Hoeffel. Knox risks the distinct possibility of running in the ads from his detractors as the sum total of negative baggage associated with Rendell, Fumo and Dougherty - at least in the rest of the state.
-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.

I introduced myself + told him that I'd worked on his campaign against Larry Caughlin for the 13th District House seat, back in 1986. He's a good guy, + I'd be proud to have him as our governor.

-Z

Look!! A politician with the courage of his convictions!! A rare sight indeed!

Please don't forget that much of our troubles can be laid at the doorstep of the Republican-controlled state senate. I hope everyone will be out there working for good senate candidates while knocking on doors for Joe in the hinterlands of PA.

I mean, really...financing the state on table games revenue? Revenue that won't even be available for at least 9 months? By then it will be time to do another budget and what new hare-brained schemes will they come up with then? Taxing the arts to support the arts? Oh wait, they've already done that.

Well, there's some consolation in knowing that that's two stupid ideas. Maybe they've run out of them.

Not so sure about this. Hoeffel is not particularly charismatic and I think his appeal everywhere outside of MONTCO is going to be very limted, especially in the NE and the West. Our Dem governor nominee has been from Philly for the past 8 years. There's some interesting elements to Dan Onorato's candidacy. In addition to the party needing a jolt out in Western PA, Pittsburgh is perceived as kind of a boom town right now. The mood out there is fairly positive and Dan can talk about Pittsburgh kind of the way that Rendell talked about Philly. I also like Doherty from Scranton which also has boom town characteristics for the moment. I just don't see the "story" to Hoeffel's candidacy. Congressman who lost for Senate who then settled for County Commish. Meh. Onorato can talk about how he's managed Allegheny County through crisis and how Pittsburgh is reborn as the city of champions. It's going to be powerful.

But Hoeffel IS a great guy. So we shall see what happens.

I wanted to add one additional thought about this gubernatorial primary. The folks on this blog are very thoughful people. And because we are thoughtful people we need to be thoughful about what it means to be a progressive governor for Pennsylvania. I realize that Joe stood against the Iraq War when it wasn't popular to do so. I realize that he ran a left-of-center senatorial race against Specter. And while I have to say that I still don't know a lot about Dan Onorato, I truly hope that our movement defines "good government" to mean something more than just being pro-choice, and pro-marriage equality. My sense is the Joe might make his primary campaign about those two issues especially. Let's not to do ourselves what the Christian Right did to the GOP and make everything about Guns, God, and Gays. Pennsylvania is a big, complicated place so our movement needs to be inclusive. And if you want a governor candidate who makes gun control a central issue, you can expect to lose a lot of elections in this state. If Dan is committed to government refom, major urban investments, a better distribution of income, 21st century transportation, and major investments in our schools and higher education institutions- then these are progressive values too. I love that we are going to have a primary but am concerned that tabloid-y/Fox News-friendly cultural issues may dominate. This focus on cultural issues will cost us nearly everything west of the Susquehanna.

He probably was trying to get the thing built. My understanding is that the Pittsburgh Slots Parlor is very popular. Like it or not, people choose to go to those things. Our society taxes all kinds of undesirable activity such as cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling. We haven't legalized prostitution yet but somehow I think it's going to happen somewhere. My point is that, yes, slots are a regressive tax. But people are going to do it anyhow. And they are doing by their own free will. Maybe there should be some public education campaign to keep seniors away from the slots (I bet it would fail). Let's not get so high and mightly that we forgo good development opportunities. I too am skeptical of new sports arenas. But you can't deny that their construction brings jobs and if they are well placed (which Pittsburgh's is by the way) they can spur additional investment in urban areas. So for this reason I think your criticism of Onorato is not entirely fair.

To win elections, Democrats need substantial support in people of all income groups. The fundamental Democratic agenda of helping low and moderate income people is not compelling to many Pennsylvanians who feel themselves secure--rightly or wrongly--in the middle class or upper middle class.

The basic Western Pennsylvania Democratic strategy of yielding to the Republican social issues agenda, the Republican low-tax agenda and focusing on economic benefit programs (with sometimes government-bashing thrown in)has not worked all that well in Western Pennsylvania or statewide. It basically leaves moderate middle class and upper middle moderates not concerned about income redistribution programs and public works programs comfortable with voting Republican.

Barack Obama and Ed Rendell both were unabashedly pro-choice, unabashedly pro-gay rights, unabashedly pro-civil rights, unabashedly pro-environment, and they made deep inroads into the normal Republican vote. A moderately Republican friend of mine summarized what I believe is the feeling of many:

"It used to be that almost all the educated people I know were Republicans. Now they have switched to the Democrats."

Joe Hoeffel will have to defend himself against the charge that he has been a politician for a long time. But he has been a very good politician for a long time.

The Democrats have not been able to win three consecutive gubernatorial elections since the Civil War. If anyone can break this sad tradition, it will be someone who deeply believes in the achievements and potential of the Democratic Party. Joe Hoeffel is such a candidate.