Tony Phyrillas: The $2M race for Montgomery County commissioner

Money makes the political world go around.

Running for public office these days is not the faint of heart or those light in the wallet.

The latest example of how out-of-control political races have gotten is the contest for Montgomery County Commissioner.

Veteran political reporter Margaret Gibbons reported Tuesday that the two major parties have raised more than $1.5 million in the past four months.

The big money so far has been pouring into the coffers of Democrats Joe Hoeffel and Ruth Damsker, who reported raising $867,145 between June and mid-October.

Republicans Bruce Castor and Jim Matthews reported taking in $521,431 in the same time period, but Matthews is also raising money on his own. He took in $237,225.

Counting money raised earlier in the year, the Democrats have collected more than $1 million. That's four times what the Dems raised for the last county commissioners' race four years ago.

At least $30,000 in campaign money for the Hoeffel-Damsker campaign came from Gov. Ed Rendell, who wants to turn at least one Southeastern Pennsylvania county to the Dark Side (I meant to say Democrats) in preparation for next year's presidential elections.

With Berks and Delaware counties looking safe for the GOP, Rendell is targeting Chester, Bucks and Montgomery counties as a base of operation for the Hillary Clinton onslaught to come in 2008.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Mixed news for Montgomery County GOP

A new poll shows the Republican candidates for Montgomery County commissioner keeping county government in GOP hands for another four years. But voter registration numbers show the Democratic Party making inroads in what had been a Republican stronghold.

First the good news for Montgomery County Republicans.

A Newhouse/Public Opinion Strategies poll has the Republican candidates for Montgomery County commissioner rising, while their Democratic challengers are sinking.

The poll shows Republican Bruce L. Castor Jr., the Montgomery County district attorney, leading the pack with 52 percent, followed by Joe Hoeffel, a former Congressman, at 44 percent. The big news is the rise of Jim Matthews, an incumbent Montgomery County commissioner. Matthews, at 43 percent, has pulled to within one percentage point of Hoeffel. Trailing the field is incumbent Ruth Damsker, with 34 percent.

This is a much-watched race that could set the stage for the 2008 presidential race. Whoever wins Southeastern Pennsylvania will win Pennsylvania. And whoever wins Pennsylvania could be the next president of the United States. Having control of county government is essential for political parties.

If the poll numbers carry through Election Day, the commissioners' board will consist of Castor, Matthews and Hoeffel, with the two Republicans holding the majority.

The recent criminal charges filed against the campaign manager for Hoeffel and Damsker may have something to do with the Democrats' falling popularity.

Joanne C. Olszewski, a county party leader and co-chair of the Hoeffel-Damsker campaign, recently resigned as Montgomery County jury commissioner when she was implicated in an illegal video machine gambling probe. Olszewski quit the Hoeffel-Damsker campaign, but she is holding on to her county party post.

An earlier Newhouse poll had Matthews ahead of Damsker by six percentage points. He's now pulled ahead by nine points and could overtake Hoeffel to finish in second place.

That would leave Hoeffel and Damsker to battle it out for the final seat.

In addition to the bad publicity the Hoeffel-Damsker team has received, voters may also be realizing how expensive things will get if the liberal Democrats take control of county government.

According to veteran Montgomery County Courthouse reporter Margaret Gibbons of the Norristown Times-Herald, Hoeffel-Damkser have proposed more than $100 million in new spending during their campaign. Somebody has to pay for all the growth in government. Taxpayers are in no mood to pay more taxes.

Although the Hoeffel-Damsker team doesn't appear to be catching fire, Democrats are doing a much better job of attracting voters than their GOP counterparts.

Of the 6,992 newly registered voters since the May primary elections, 3,208 registered as Democrats, while 1,958 registered Republican, according to The Times Herald in Norrstown.

That pattern has been repeated in Montgomery County for most of the past decade.

The number of registered Republicans in Montgomery County is 247,766, compared to 217,052 Democrats.

Montgomery County GOP Chairman Ken Davis could offer no explanation for the continuing resurgence of the Democratic Party under his watch other than to blame President Bush.

"We will have to live with this for another year," Davis told The Times Herald.

Davis is in his third year as party chairman. He told the newspaper he needs more time to turn things around. A few more years under Davis' leadership and the Republican Party will be the minority party in the county. There was no mention in The Times Herald article of Bob Asher, who pulls Davis' strings.

Read the full story by reporter Margaret Gibbons at the newspaper's Web site, www.timesherald.com

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: RendellCare will sink Pennsylvania businesses

Gov. Ed Rendell's grandiose scheme to force Pennsylvania businesses to pay higher taxes to provide health insurance to all uninsured residents would ruin the state's economy, according to an independent assessment by an advocacy group for small business.

Rendell's payroll tax to fund his "Cover All Pennsylvanians" plan would cost the state at least 167,000 jobs over the next five years, according to a study released by the National Federation of Independent Business.

Of those losses, 103,000 jobs could come from small employers (those with fewer than 100 workers). Rendell's tax-and-spend policies over the past five years have severely crippled Pennsylvania's small businesses. The health care tax would put many small firms (the backbone of Pennsylvania's economy) out of business.

"The 3 percent payroll tax on employers who presently cannot afford to provide health insurance to their employees would hit roughly 50 percent of all small employers in Pennsylvania," said Bruce Phillips, a researcher who compiled the report for NFIB. "That tax, along with insurance premiums and accounting costs, will cost small-business owners in Pennsylvania an estimated $1.9 billion annually."

Kevin Shivers, the Pennsylvania state director for the NFIB, said he was not surprised surprised to learn the added costs could cripple many Pennsylvania employers, as many small job providers are already struggling.

"Small-business owners are already struggling with an increasingly competitive global economy and rising energy bills and other costs -- a whopping new payroll tax could put many of them out of business permanently," Shivers said.

Shivers is also concerned the Rendell proposal would do little to address the fundamental problem of affordability, but could exacerbate the problem by expanding the size and scope of state government with a payroll tax on those who can least afford it.

(Rendell has been promising property tax cuts in Pennsylvania for the past five years, but has failed to deliver. Rendell has also vetoed a Republican measure to reduce the state income tax, which is also paid by business owners.)

Rather than focusing on building a larger role for state government in health care, Shivers suggests "legislators focus on measures to expand consumer choices and improve quality of services at a lower cost."

"Providing more options and greater flexibility for employers to provide health care to their employees ought to be our goal -- not creating a vast and costly bureaucracy that in many cases will do more harm than good for struggling small-business owners."

For more on the study, visit www.nfib.com

Republican state lawmakers have offered their own plan (The Real Prescription for Pennsylvania) to fix the state's failing health care system. To read more, go to www.HealthCareForPaFamilies.com

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Lawmakers answer to teachers' union

Pennsylvania leads the nation in teacher strikes. Pennsylvania has recorded twice as many teacher strikes as any other state since 2000. Three school districts in Pennsylvania are on strike this week.

Thirty-seven states have already outlawed teacher strikes. The rationale is similar to laws preventing police officers and firefighters from walking off the job. These are essential public services. Since the government mandates a minimum number of days for students to attend school, why should teachers be allowed to disrupt the education system?

After years of lobbying lawmakers, a grassroots organization called Stop Teacher Strikes Inc. has persuaded a few courageous lawmakers to introduce a bill to ban teacher strikes in Pennsylvania.

Opposition to the ban is coming from the powerful teachers' union, which contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to politicians to keep them voting the way the union wants.

We already know where Gov. Ed Rendell stands on the issue. Rendell, who received $500,000 from the Pennsylvania State Education Association's PAC for his re-election bid last year, said through a spokesman that a teacher strike ban is a "radical response." In other words, the governor is owned by the teachers' union.

So far, 25 state lawmakers have added their names to the teacher ban bill introduced by Rep. Todd Rock, a Republican from Franklin County. All 25 co-sponsors are Republicans, which says a lot about how much control unions have over the Democratic Party. That leaves another 228 lawmakers sitting on the fence (many of them counting the money they've received from the teachers' union.)

It's time for Pennsylvania residents to remind their elected lawmakers that they represent the people, not the unions.

Stop Teacher Strikes Inc. has posted the names of all 253 Pennsylvania legislators on its Web site and how much money the lawmakers have received from the state's largest teachers' union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

"What we're trying to do is rally the public," Stop Teacher Strikes Inc. founder Simon Campbell told The Associated Press.

Pennsylvania's 116,000 public school teachers are already among the highest paid in the nation (average salary of $54,027 in the 2005-06 school year, the most recent figure available). Under the current system, they can walk out on their jobs when they don't get their way and get paid for the time they walk the picket line because school districts are forced by the state to keep students in school for 180 days.

Regardless of how long teachers are on strike, the days will be made up. The only people inconvenienced are students and parents, who often have to make costly day care alternatives when their kids are forced to stay home by a teacher strike.

Rep. Rock's bill would force teachers to forfeit two days' pay for each day of a strike, fine individuals $5,000 for inciting a strike, and require nonbinding arbitration to resolve contract disputes within a certain time frame.

In other words, teachers will get hit where it hurts, in the pocketbook.

An actual ban on teacher strikes requires a change to the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Constitutional amendments must be approved by lawmakers in two consecutive legislative sessions and by voters in a referendum. That's a long and complicated process, but it's actually a good thing because changing the Constitution does not require the governor's approval.

Clearly Rendell dances to the teachers' union tune and would never side with Pennsylvania taxpayers on banning teacher strikes.

The Associated Press reviewed strike records over the past seven years and found that of the nearly 140 teacher strikes that occurred nationally between 2000 and 2007, 60 percent took place in Pennsylvania.

Much of the research about teacher strikes has been conducted by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy in Pittsburgh, which opposes strikes by public-sector unions in "vital sectors" such as mass transit and education, institute president Jake Haulk told the AP.

"The only way you get (support for a ban) is a massive uprising on the part of the taxpayers who say, 'Enough is enough,'" Haulk said. "That hasn't happened yet."

The teachers' union has used the threat of strikes and the willingness to walk off the job as bargaining tools to hold the state's 501 school districts hostage to its demands. School districts don't have much leverage in the bargaining process, which is one reason property taxes are so high. The teachers get pay raises and top-of-the-line benefits, including lifetime pensions, all paid by the Pennsylvania taxpayer.

It's time to level the playing field by taking away the teachers' ability to strike.

Let your state lawmaker know that your vote is what keeps him or her on the job, not the payoff money they get from the teachers' union.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Empty promises on tax relief

What do Rep. John Perzel's "Older Pennsylvanian Property Tax Elimination Act" and Rep. Jay Moyer's "Senior Property Tax Freeze Bill" have in common?

Both measures are the latest attempts by elected officials to fool senior citizens (who are the most consistent voters) into giving Pennsylvania lawmakers another free pass on the property tax issue. The shell game has been going on for 30 years.

Lawmakers promise to tackle property tax reform in Harrisburg, but break their promises to the voters as soon as they get into office. When voters start threatening to kick out the career politicians, the legislators come up with various schemes to address property taxes.

It's a vicious cycle that can only come to end with the passage of the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007 or the ouster of the majority of the current Legislature.

Perzel's plan would eliminate property taxes for Pennsylvania residents who are 65 or older and earn up to $40,000 a year (that's about 600,000 people). Moyer's plan would freeze property taxes senior citizens pay on their homes at current levels.

If you were under the impression that Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature tried to appease senior voters the same way last year, you have a good memory. Special Session Act 1 of 2006, signed into law by Rendell on June 27, 2006, was a ruse to buy Rendell and the Legislature more time. That worked. Rendell and most incumbents were re-elected in November 2006, after which they promptly shoved property tax relief on the back burner.

Voters are starting to make noise again and politicians are coming up with plans to attack the problem.

It's all part of the endless cycle of broken promises from Harrisburg.

Read more about the waiting game on tax relief in this editorial from The Mercury in Pottstown.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Judges feel the heat as Nov. 6 draws near

I don't recall ever seeing a political sign in Berks County asking voters to retain a county judge. I saw one today. Actually, I saw bunch of signs along Route 422 asking for a "Yes" vote on Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl, who is seeking another 10-year term on the Berks County Court of Common Pleas.

Retention of judges at the county level has always been automatic. Not this year. The state's judges, from the county level to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, are sweating. And it's not just because they're wearing dark robes in this October heat wave.

The heat is coming from Russ Diamond and PACleanSweep, which has launched a campaign to oust almost all of the state judges as punishment for the judiciary's role in the July 2005 pay raise. (The chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court lobbied for the pay raise and even wrote an op-ed piece for newspapers praising the Legislature for its 2 a.m. vote to raise the pay of elected officials by 16 percent to 54 percent).

"Judicial Clean Sweep" is calling for voters to vote "No" on 66 judges listed on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The judges and the political establishment are worried. The Pennsylvania Bar Association and county bar associations are fighting back with ads and op-eds in newspapers.

And the establishment is bringing in some heavyweights to stop the PACleanSweep juggernaut, which is credited for helping to force 55 state legislators from office in 2006. And who can forget the 2005 ouster of state Supreme Court Justice Russel Nigro by reform groups that asked voters to punish Nigro by denying him retention.

The state's judges are more worried today than they were about Nigro.

Just last week, Pennsylvania Republicans asked former Gov. Tom Ridge to defend the judges and ask voters to let bygones be bygones.

Ridge's comments may have backfired. Many who heard Ridge speak or read accounts of his condemnation of the PACleanSweep campaign believe Ridge came off as condescending.

Ridge, who no longer lives in Pennsylvania, may be as out of touch with the reality of voter anger as the state's political establishment.

"At some point in time, yesterday's issues are yesterday's issues," Ridge said at a Harrisburg news conference. "Politics is about tomorrow. Government is about tomorrow."

I like what Tim Potts of DemocracyRisingPA said about Ridge's comments:

To some the admonition to "get on with it," is eerily reminiscent of the angry 2005 e-mail by Sen. Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, telling a citizen to "get a life" as Mellow and others stonewalled public anger and refused to discuss repealing the pay raise.

To DemocracyRisingPA, Ridge's advice is better aimed at public officials than reformers for whom repealing the pay raise was only the beginning, not the end. As DR's long form of Reality Check documents, there is a great deal of work to do in PA and we, along with many other citizens and groups, have been working hard to get our government to "get on with it." It is our government's refusal to improve our reputation as having the most corrupt state government in the nation that keeps the Pay Raise of 2005 alive.

Don't be surprised if Pennsylvania judges lose retention votes on Nov. 6. And this election is just a taste of what legislators will face in 2008 when all 203 House members and 25 Senate members face the voters again. Times have changed. It's the political establishment that still doesn't get it.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Who would oppose taxpayer rights?

What person in their right mind would oppose TABOR, the Taxpayers Bill of Rights?

How about people who benefit from keeping taxes high? Namely, unionized teachers and government workers.

The more taxes working people pay to government, the higher salaries and benefits can be paid to teachers and government workers.

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, the Coalition for Common Sense Priorities (that sounds so much nicer than "government moochers") is holding a free seminar at a union hall in Harrisburg to educate interested parties (teachers' unions and government workers) how to prevent TABOR from coming to Pennsylvania.

TABOR is a set of constitutional provisions Colorado voters adopted in 1992 to limit revenue growth for state and local governments in Colorado and to require that any tax increase in any state or local government (counties, cities, towns, school districts and special districts) must be approved by the voters of the affected government, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures Web site.

If your boss is willing to spare you for a few hours, you can educate yourself on how to prevent TABOR from seeing the light of day in Pennsylvania, where taxpayers already support the most expensive state legislature in the country and where Pennsylvania teachers' unions lead the nation in strikes.

And who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? The Coalition of Common Sense Priorities will be providing free lunch to all attendees.

You have to read the tiny print at the bottom of the press release to find out who is behind the Coalition. Among the sponsors are the Pennsylvania State Education Association (the state's largest teachers' union), PA AFL-CIO; AARP-Pennsylvania (probably represents a lot of retired union workers); and AFSCME (which represents more than 45,000 state workers).

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Entire PHEAA board should be replaced

Things haven't been this bad for Pennsylvania's upper class since "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" went off the air. Robin Leach, where are you?

Times were good during Dick Willey's tenure at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

The champagne flowed at ritzy resorts, where foot rubs and facials were the norm, in between expensive meals, $150 cigars and rounds of golf. Why did it have to end?

Who would have thought that a trip to Hersheypark would lead to Willey's ignominious exit from his $289,000-a-year job?

Willey treated PHEAA employees and their families to a day of fun in "the sweetest place on Earth" to the tune of $108,000. I speak from experience that a trip to Hersheypark can leave your wallet flat. A slice of pizza and bottle of water will set you back $6, which charges $46 for admission.

I guess Willey didn't think anyone would notice … until that busybody Jack Wagner came along. Wagner, the state auditor general, released a scathing report Thursday documenting excessive spending by the state's student-loan agency.

The audit comes after months of troubling revelations about trips to swanky resorts by PHEAA executives and board members. Nearly $900,000 was spent on the junkets. And the agency spent another $400,000 to hire lawyers to fight release of the expense reports when news agencies filed lawsuits seeking access to spending records.

And those bonuses. Wagner said PHEEA handed out $2.5 million in bonuses to employees during the previous fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2007. Willey himself pocketed $181,000 in bonus money last month.

Willey was planning to retire at the end of the year, but the Hersheypark incident was the final straw. He's leaving town next week.

Willey deserves the public humiliation he got, but let's not forget his co-conspirators. The 20-member PHEAA Board of Directors, consisting of current Pennsylvania lawmakers and other government appointees, is also guilty of incompetence in failing to adequately supervise PHEAA spending.

Smelling blood, the politicians quickly pounced on Willey's carcass Thursday.

From the Associated Press:

Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny, the board's vice chairman, said it was "totally unacceptable" that the board was not told in advance about the April 22 outing at Hersheypark, about a month after PHEAA executives had pledged to rein in unnecessary spending.

"This is another example of Dick Willey thinking he's bigger than the board," Logan said.

Most of the board members have been "supervising" PHEAA for 20 years or more. If they didn't know about the wasteful spending, they're too stupid to serve in an oversight capacity. If they knew and went along, they don't deserve to hold public office.

All 20 board members should be removed and the 16 elected legislators voted out by their constituents. Many of them will be on the ballot in 2008.

The following is a list of PHEAA board members: Rep. William F. Adolph Jr.; Sen. Sean Logan; Rep. Ronald I. Buxton; Sen. Jake Corman; J. Doyle Corman; Rep. Craig A. Dally; Sen. Jane M. Earll; Sen. Vincent J. Fumo; Sen. Vincent J. Hughes; Rep. Sandra J. Major; Rep. Jennifer L. Mann; Rep. Joseph F. Markosek; Sen. Michael A. O'Pake; Roy Reinard; Sen. James J. Rhoades; Rep. James R. Roebuck Jr.; A. William Schenck III; Rep. Jess M. Stairs; Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson; and Rendell's Education Secretary, Gerald L. Zahorchak.

Wagner told the AP that PHEAA should eliminate the bonus program altogether.

"They are state employees, not money managers on Wall Street," he said.

And none other than Gov. Ed Rendell chimed in.

Rendell said the report showed clearly there have been "abuses," including the Hersheypark event, according to the AP.

"We've got to clean that agency up," Rendell said.

This from a many who has presided over $6 billion in new state spending over the past five years.

There's a lot more cleaning up to do in Pennsylvania than just PHEAA, Gov. Spendell.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Murtha, Democrats push for higher taxes on working class

You've heard of a trial balloon, where politicians float an idea to see where the public stands on it. File this directly under lead balloon, as in it will sink before the day is out.

The Associated Press is reporting that three senior House Democrats, including John Murtha of Pennsylvania, are pushing for a tax surcharge on American workers to pay for the Iraq War.

Never mind that American taxpayers are already paying for the war, Democrats want you to pay more.

This would be on top of the higher taxes that Democrats are pushing to fund socialized health care. (Democrats want low-income Americans to pay higher cigarette taxes to support health care programs). And if Hillary Clinton is elected president next year and Democrats increase their majority in Congress, just sign over your entire paycheck to Uncle Sam.

The latest tax hike plan, unveiled by Reps. David Obey, D-Wis., John Murtha, D-Pa., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., would require low- and middle-income taxpayers to add 2 percent to their tax bill. Wealthier people would add a 12 to 15 percent surcharge, according to the AP.

This is the same Democratically controlled Congress that approved massive pork spending since taking over control in January. (I don't know about you, but I need that 2 percent in my paycheck to pay my bills.)

Don't say you weren't warned last year when you decided to punish Republicans and George W. Bush for the Iraq War mess by electing Democrats. This is what you get: More spending, higher taxes. See "Hillary McGovern" editorial in Investor's Business Daily.

"The war will cost future generations billions of dollars in taxes that we're shoving off on them and it is devouring money that could be used to expand their educational opportunities, expand their job training possibilities, attack our long-term energy problems and build stronger communities," Obey told the AP in justifying the tax hike.

The bottom line is that Democrats are acting like spoiled children. They don't have the votes to deny funding for the war. They don't have the votes to withdraw the troops. So they've decided to stick it to Americans by forcing them pay more in taxes.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Jim Matthews is his own worst enemy

Winning elections is hard work. Running against well-known opponents with deep pockets is a challenge even for an incumbent or an elected official seeking a different office.

One of the most watched races on Nov. 6 will be the contest for Montgomery County commissioner. Republicans have controlled county government for more than 130 years. But some in the party are getting nervous as Election Day approaches.

The GOP candidates are incumbent Commissioner Jim Matthews (Lynn Swann's running-mate in 2006) and Bruce L. Castor Jr., the current county district attorney, who passed up what would have been automatic re-election to run for one of three open county commissioner seats.

The Democratic candidates are incumbent Commissioner Ruth Damsker and former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, who also served as a Montgomery County commissioner before winning a seat in Congress.

Although the Democrats have been chipping away at the voter registration lead Republicans had, the GOP is still dominant in Montgomery County. And while Damsker and Hoeffel have name recognition and lots of money to spend, they haven’t exactly electrified voters with their agenda of higher spending and a more government bureaucracy.

What worries Republicans more is fellow Republicans with their own agenda. The combination of a dull campaigner in Matthews, the inept leadership of Montgomery County Republican Chairman Ken Davis and the party’s ties to convicted felon Robert Asher could prove to be a huge obstacle for the party to overcome.

The Castor-Matthews ticket was a shotgun wedding forced on both men by the county Republican Committee, which has been split since Davis was narrowly elected chairman. Castor wanted a clean break from the Davis-Asher team that has presided over a string of embarrassing defeats for Republicans at the polls in recent years.

Castor also made it clear he won't take any money from Asher, who was convicted in 1986 on charges of conspiracy, five counts of mail fraud, four counts of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and one count of perjury. The case also involved former state Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, who was convicted in the bribery scheme. Dwyer was the guy who shot himself during a televised press conference.

Despite his past legal troubles, Asher is the darling of a certain segment of the Republican Party, both at the county and state level. Some Republicans apparently believe that lots of money makes past sins go away.

Davis has also hurt the party because his lobbying firm was awarded a huge county contract by Matthews and Tom Ellis, the other GOP commissioner.

Matthews is one of those people who can't live without Asher's money or Davis' lousy political instincts. See Jim Matthews Exposed Web site for more.

A recent poll showed Castor ahead in the commissioners' race, with Hoeffel second and Matthews barely keeping ahead of Damsker, who brought up the rear. Instead of hitching his wagon to a winner like Castor, Matthews keeps running back to Davis and Asher.

Matthews has set up his own campaign fund and has hired his own consultants, which begs the question: Is Matthews trying to lose the race for the Republicans?

Castor is a proven vote-getter who appeals to Republicans, Democrats and independents. He has an outstanding track record as the county's top law enforcement officer and can keep the county commissioners in GOP hands for another four years.

From the start, Castor was willing to unify the party and run with Matthews as long as Davis and Asher kept their distance. That isn't happening. Matthews appears to be running his own campaign, with Davis and Asher pulling the strings. That is a recipe for disaster.

As the campaign enters the home stretch, Montgomery County Republican leaders better send a clear message to Davis and Asher to stop their meddling. The only people Davis and Asher have helped so far is the Democratic candidates.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.