STATE LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS

Since the passage of the Pennsylvania legislative pay raise--passed in July of 2005, repealed in November of 2005--Pennsylvania newspapers and radio talk show hosts and political opponents have placed members of the legislature under intense scrutiny. The vast majority of legislators have stood up well under intense examination.Of the 17 legislators who were defeated for re-election in the May, 2006 primary, 13 of them were Republicans. When asked, as many were asked, what it is about their records of service that recommended their re-election, they lacked good answers.Some of their "achievements" were rather dubious: Pennsylvania criminal penalties for National Guardsman who fail to show up for practice drills; a frivolous investigation into whether college professors were seeking to influence students into subversive anti-American activities such as voting against George Bush;working for tax breaks for various well-connected businesses and individuals; finding various arguments to obstruct passage of a minimum wage increase.For the Democrats to lose 4 incumbents in one primary election is nothing unusual; it happened, for instance, in 1974, the year I was first elected, when the Democrats went from 91 House seats in June to 114 in November.On the other hand, for Republicans, losing 13 seats in Pennsylvania primary elections is unprecedented. In 1974, for instance, only a single Republican incumbent was defeated in a primary. The Republicans simply have not had the institutionalized factionalism the Democrats have had. For a Republican loss of such magnitude to occur as occurred this year, there has to be a widespread dissatisfaction with both the Republican Party in general and individual Republican officials in particular.In past years, Democrats have been unable to field opposition candidates in most Republican districts because of widespread defeatism. This year, the Democrats have candidates in 76 out of the 109 districts with Republican incumbents, the most challengers in many years. While the Republican lead among incumbent members now stands at 109 to 94, the Republican lead among incumbents seeking re-election is now only 84 to 79, with that including a Republican who lost the Republican primary but won the Democratic nomination on a write-in vote.Elections this year have given the Democrats a lot to brag about. In a March special election, John Sabatina, Jr. set an all-time high for Northeast Philadelphia for the highest percentage of the vote (89%) achieved against a Republican opponent. In an April special election, Shawn Flaherty became the first Democrat to win his suburban House Allegheny County seat since 1936. In a May special election, Andrew Dinniman became the first Democrat to win his state senate seat from Chester County since the Civil War--less than two years after President Bush proclaimed Chester County a Republican "firewall" against other Democratic strength in Southeastern Pennsylvania.Members of phillyblog undoubtedly have different opinions about a Democratic takeover of the Pennsylvania House, which will likely lead to Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese succeeding Republican leader John Perzel. DeWeese previously served as Speaker of the House in the 1993-1994 session.A Democratic Majority in the House means that the Democrats will make all decisions about what bills and amendments will be considered. The minority has its say--and sometimes is persuasive, as Democrats have repeatedly been this session. But the majority party has its way, and the likely outcome of a Democratic sweep this November will be a vigorous and full implementation of Governor Rendell's program for an active Pennsylvania government making wise investments in Pennsylvania's future.Anyone interested in contributing to a Democratic victory in the Pennsylvania legislature can contribute online at http://www.pahdcc.com/site/donate.php. Or you can contribute to my campaign committee, a major House Democratic Campaign Committee contributor, by sending a check to Pennsylvanians for Representative Cohen, 105 Cliffwood Road, Philadelphia, Pa. 19115.

June 25, 2006

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Contributions are an important form of public participation in politics. The stranglehold that special interests have on the legislative process in many subject areas--in Washington and all 50 state capitols--is due in large measure to the extraordinary difficulty of getting widespread participation in financing political campaigns. Part of the reason why individuals do not contribute is that they simply do not know how to.I have no illusions that listing the online contributions site of the House Democratic campaign committee or my campaign committee's mailing address is going to lead to a vast torrent of contributions. If a single person contributes $25, that would meet or exceed my expectations.But I think we all have to get over the squeamishness about asking for money or receiving solicitations for money. Ordinary people with political convictions who seek only the best interest of the community should be making their voices heard in the contribution process as well as online or in other forums. Otherwise, almost all the political contributions comes from special interests whose interests may be diametrically opposed to the interest of the vast majority of Americans.All too often, what we have now is a bizarre situation where the interests of a relative few are often treated by legislative bodies as extremely important, because of the money that is attached to them, while the interests of the overwhelming majority of the citizens are treated with indifference because they do not participate in the financing of campaigns. The financing of campaigns determines to a significant degree who is able to run for office in a credible way, who is able to rise to higher office, and what public policies are able to be pursued.Campaign contributions of over $50 must be publicly disclosed by the recipient committee under Pennsylvania law. Campaign contributions must come from individuals, unicorporated associations, partnerships, or political action committees--and not from any corporate entity: profit or non-profit, limited liabilty, or professional.Campaign contributions must be spent to advance the election of candidates. If a campaign solicitation was paid for, it must say who paid for it.Jerry Brown caused a mild commotion when he ran for President in 1992 and insisted on giving out his 800 number to make campaign contributions in public appearances including candidate debates. But now, even League of Women Voters sites often include information about contributions to candidates.I have absolutely no objection to anyone posting information about how to contribute to the House Republican Campaign Committee, or to any Republican candidate. I would caution modest expectations to anyone who makes such a post, but I believe that full participation by ordinary citizens in the political process is absolutely essential if it is to be improved.

June 25, 2006

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The Democrats are going to win a clear majority of the House seats in November, 2006.The battle for leadership of the House Republicans is going to be over the minority leadership post.

May 30, 2006

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Wi3y1AM3hB0J:ferrickspoliblog2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/so-many-questions_30.html+%22mark+b+cohen%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=388

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It was reported in one of the newspapers that Congressman Bob Brady had literature printed up to counter a write-in campaign, but never used it because he saw no sign of one. Despite the closeness of the vote to succeed Bill Rieger--in which the write-in candidate backed by a large chuck of the party organization apparently just lost narrowly--write-ins under normal circumstances are pretty difficult to pull off.

May 30, 2006

http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/showthread.php?p=257745#post257745