I think it is going to continue to be very hard for Trivedi to build new relationships in the area.

Pike has been involved in policy and politics in the region for so long, and has been running hard for this seat for a long time now.

I think this is borne out by all the endorsements Pike has racked up along the way, including people from Trivedi’s hometown and home county.

In addition, from looking at their websites, it looks like Pike is the more progressive of the two candidates.

This may be a quieter race than most people believe…

I am more interested in the GOP primary anyway.

I think Holy Roller has it right. Pike looks to be:

1. The progressive one(which matters in a Democratic priamry)

2. The one with the better fundraising ability and

3. The one with a longer track record and more relationships in the region.

Strong advantages for Pike.

Pike is from Long Island.

Trivedi is a Berks County native.

Pike is a newspaper man.

Trivedi is a Navy vet & a “Devil Doc” (Combat Doctor)

who has the upper hand in this one???

In 22 years in Pennsylvania, Doug Pike has written about big and small issues that face the nation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and southeastern Pennsylvania for a major regional institution, the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In addition, for 10 years, Pike was the President of a hospital, so he has real experience with health care and he also has the experience of running a significant business.

He also has a professional, well-run campaign that has been running circles around the Republicans in this District for over 5 months.

Don’t believe everything you read.

Trivedi just moved to Pennsylvania from Washington, DC.

And did you guys see that awful video he has on his website? It makes him look so bad. I’m surprised they haven;t taken it down yet.

Trivedi has a good resume, but his campaign thus far is not so great.

Everyone I have talked to so far thinks it was a real mistake to announce Roggio’s endorsement.

Roggio ran such a lackluster race in 2008 and is now a close advisor to Trivedi?

Not the image they really want to project in their first few days on the campaign trail.

Ask Bill Richardson how far a great resume gets you in a democratic primary.

Pike has lived in the district for years. That’s a dumb argument.

Why does it always have to be arugments on bs items. They both live here. Let’s be real and look at the issues. Too these days people focus on trivial things. However, at least they both live in district.

Agreed, Topton Pride. Mr. Pike was living in Philadelphia and I believe moved into the district at the end of 2008. Mr. Trivedi was serving in the Navy in DC and then moved back to Reading. They both now live in the district. If you don’t believe me, everyone should just pick up the phone and call their offices or email them and ask.

I am strongly supporting Mr. Pike because he came out so early and forcefully for the public option. He has been fighting for health care reform since I read his columns in the paper several years ago.

Healthcare reform is personal to me and my family and Doug has been so passionate about it from day one. That’s how Mr. Pike got me on board when I met him in May and that’s why I am helping him turn the 6th blue.

I think this is particularly telling: “Even those who support Trivedi are hesitant to say he can beat Pike.”

Seems like it’s establishment Democrat who can try to buy the seat with his own money, vs a guy who might be less popular with his party but have more crossover appeal on account of being a Veteran and a doctor. How easy would it be for Republicans to attack a ‘liberal media’ figure who also relies on his own wealth to run his campaign?

Dear so-called “independentvoter” –

Oh yes, it must be nice to be naive and not at all an “independentvoter.”

Next please!

At the end of the day, we need a candidate who has the resources, the campaign, and the experience to win in November.

And remember – “Even those who support Trivedi are hesitant to say he can beat Pike.”

I keep hearing all of these Pike supporters claim that he was President of a hospital, but Pike’s own website doesn’t state which hospital it was. I heard that it was his mom’s family-owned senior nursing facility, hardly what I would call “a hospital.” Why the secrecy? Did they have a lot of problems at the facility for not taking proper care of patients? Any Pike supporters care to clarify this?

I would definently ask the same question as Stosh is asking. Speaking as a physician, I believe most physicians and nurses view hospital administration as an adversary rather than a partner in patient care. These “suits” do everything to cut costs and it seriously undermines patient care. Maybe Doug Pike did amazing things for the hospital he was a CEO of. Which hospital was it? How did he fare as a patient advocate? Was he able to bring in new services for his patients: a cancer care center, electronic medical records, did he decrease infection rates in his hospital, did he improve preventative care, etc, etc. I would love to hear his accomplishments as a CEO of a hospital.

What the 6th district needs is someone to work for the good of all of us. Trivedi and has campaign team has effectively communicated his history of advocacy in 1 week of campaigning. I’m still unclear on Pike’s record after 8 months of campaigning.

If Pike is such a compelling figure, let’s see him campaign without his personal wealth backing him. No one should be allowed to buy an election.

Obviously, “forthe6th” and “stosh” are clearly independent voices that speak with great authority.

In fact, “forthe6th” are you actually Manan Trivedi trolling anonymously on websites? I would suggest you get out and start campaigning.

so instead of trying to answer a reasonable question, you are going to be rude? No, I am not Trivedi.

Again, a reasonable question, what hospital Pike the President of? What effective programs did he put into place for his patients at that hospital?

I never claimed to be independent, and for the record, I don’t know forth6th.

But I have a good nose for smelling out something fishy, and when a candidate is past president of an organziation and isn’t willing to share what that organziation was, something is definitely up.

Odd that the usually verbose Pike supporters are suddenly so short on words.

From:http://www.pikeforcongress.com/media/press_kit

“He also served as chairman of the board at a hospital”

Is it really too much to ask which hospital Doug Pike worked at?

There’s more info on Doug’s degrees from over 30 years ago and what his Dad did back in the 1970’s than information on what hospital he worked at.

Without this information, Doug’s site gives the impression he is stretching the truth to fill out his resume.

This is a shame. There’s nothing wrong with his credentials as a journalist. I hope he was the president of a real hospital. Otherwise, it’ll be a careless stretch of the truth on the part of his staff that could cost him some credibility as a candidate.

Why don’t you send an email and ask them if the hospitals history is so important. Then email trivedi and ask how being iraq made him anymore aware of how to fight for healthcare than a journalist who has been nose deep in these issues for years. Knowing how to save my life does not mean you know how to save me a buck in insurance costs. where is his stand on single payer? How about the public option. What does Mr. Pike think of the Baucus plan? I don’t care what hospitol he was on the board of. I’m just glad he knows how their run so he knows what he is up against.

I don’t think the hospital’s name is important…it’s what he did while President of the hospital to improve the care of the patients.

I don’t think that that Trivedi’s experience in Iraq makes him a healthcare expert, they make him understand the consequences of sending troops into war.

Trivedi is a physician. Again, as a physician, I totally totally don’t trust the suits to understand patient needs. I believe that they try to make a profit. That is just my experience. No one advocates for patient’s in a hospital like a physician or a nurse does.

That’s just a typical cynical view of business people or a board of directors. People do the same with politicians. Just smear them with crap. How would it not be in the best interest of a hosptials board of directors to provide the BEST possible care for their patients. That doesn’t make sense.

Stosh are you a Costello disciple?

I would be interested to see my policy from both men, especially Trivedi.

Really what has either of these two done to be a Congressperson? Are there any polls in this primary? I have seen Doug Pike’s name on blogs for a few months but that’s it. At least with Trivedi he has actually risked his life for the country. What has Pike done besides collect a fat paycheck writing nonsense for a rag and sit on a board that no doubt his father used his connections to get him on?

I would love to see the polls almost as much as the name of the hospital that Pike “worked” at.

Some of the comments on Doug are pretty harsh. I never meant to imply that he’s an evil chairman or that his experience as a “suit” disqualifies him. I’m sure there’s a side to the story from hospital administration that’s worth hearing.

However, this is a simple matter of trust, but verify. Can you verify that Manan was in the Navy? Yes. Can you verify that Doug was a journalist? Yes. Can you verify that Manan studied health policy? Yes.

On what basis can you verify Doug’s performance as a hospital chairman without even knowing the name of the hospital? As a journalist, I suspect even Doug would have to agree that this is a reasonable followup question to his site bio.

We know the name of the committee his dad worked on as a congressman in the 70’s, but we don’t know the name of the hospital he was chairman at?

At the least, a primary should prepare a candidate for the general election. To not think that there is republican operative digging around into the chairman claim in a way that’s not fair to Doug is incredibly naive.

Sorry for my cynicism. It is just my experience. I am sure most physician’s and nurses would agree with me. Hospital administrators make decisions based on business not based on patient advocacy. I am not trying to smear business people, just explain the way I feel about hospital administrators. Ask around, its a commonly held view. But, really, its a conversation for a different article.

That being said, I do not mean to say that I have passed my judgment on Pike as a “suit”. I may have got off track. My point is that if he worked as an administrator for a hospital, it’s only fair that we see his record of performance there. He may have very well been a staunch patient advocate. I would hope that he was, and I would applaud him for it. Does anyone know what his accomplishments were as a hospital administrator? If so, please share.

It may be unfair to pass judgment on Pike as a ’suit’ as an administrator without knowing any of the details, and the mission of the hospital (e.g. for-profit vs non-profit). I think there’s a difference between administrators who try to save money where possible to be able to expand access or to cover the costs of treating the uninsured, vs administrators who are tasked with cutting costs to boost a profit line. At least, that’s my view from outside – not sure whether you medical insiders draw the same distinction?

Is polling available on this race yet? Also where are Pike’s workers with the name of the hospital?

To Wowzaaaaaaa,

Manan is a berks county native. He graduated from Fleetwood High School. My sister went to school with his brother, and I was 3 years behind him. SO, he is a native of this area, and a great guy too. It must be nice to be able to just throw half a million of your own dollars into a campaign. That’s the problem with these politicians these days.

As a Berks native myself, I know that Berks County voters are weary of Philadelphia suburb candidates throwing huge amounts of money in the hopes of winning a seat representing us in Congress. We would love someone from our own area who will not overlook Berks County’s needs in Congress.

Doug Pike was president of the South Oaks Hospital on Long Island.

Check it out: http://www.pa2010.com/2009/09/answering-a-question-about-pikes-biography/

[...] in the 1980s, who also served on the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer for 14 years. Pike has already put half a million of his own dollars into this campaign. What do your thoughts on [...]

I just picked up this whole exchange. The original article seems to reproach Trivedi for not getting in the race sooner. As I understand, serving under contract to the Navy as a physician, it would not have been proper for him to take political steps until that contracted ended at the end of August. Unlike some candidates….