From a column by Colin McNickle, the editorial page editor of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who represents Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, has entered the race for the Republicans' 2010 gubernatorial nomination. And he fancies himself a conservative.Read the rest of the column at the newspaper's Web site.
But the record of the four-term Ellwood City native who now makes Chester County his home shows Mr. Gerlach's contention is just that — fancy.
National Journal, one of the fairest gauges of such things, found Gerlach sided with the conservative position on economic matters only 47 percent of the time in 2006. That was down from 49 percent in 2005.
The American Conservative Union rated Gerlach at 48 percent overall in 2007 and 52 percent last year.
You can't restore fiscal sanity to Harrisburg, as Gerlach says he will, with a voting record like his.
And given that he'll need the suburban collar counties of Philadelphia that he represents in Congress to win the governor's race — home to those liberal-leaning Rendellicans — expect his "conservatism" to become only more of a joke.
Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS
