If Derk’s “big plan” is portraying Carney has a liberal, they that plan was probably written by someone with a crayon.

I don’t particularly like Carney, because he’s not the slightest bit liberal and he’s barely distinguishable from a Republican. It’s a conservative district, so it makes sense. But, calling Carney a liberal is ridiculous.

Liberal is relative. Carney votes with the party almost 91% of the time, and that probably includes all of the times that he goes with the Republicans against “approving the journal” and other silly votes. For the most part, liberals chair the major House Committees so they set the agenda.

He voted for the Party’s biggest issues this Congress (stimulus, healthcare overhaul, the budget, and the recent jobs bill). I could be wrong, but i think the only major vote he took against the party this Congress was the cap and trade legislation. What else is it you want him to do?

Point being- While he might not be a liberal in California, he is pretty liberal for this part of PA.

An effort by the slow-witted and neo-con John McCain isn’t going to convince anyone to switch to Republican .

David,

Commissioner Derk’s “big plan” also involved announcing his candidacy at the worst possible time of year — the holiday season, when nobody is paying attention to politics — and without so much as a courtesy phone call to the NRCC.

Combine that with his complete lack of name recognition outside Snyder County (where he’s lived his entire life, including college), and also consider that Congressman Carney managed to win comfortably in 2008 without carrying Snyder County (the only county in PA-10 carried by Hackett) and he begins to look like a fringe candidate that isn’t going to be taken very seriously anywhere north or west of Selinsgrove.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Derk personally. He was a few years ahead of me at Selinsgrove High School, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, he’s got a bright future ahead of him, and I wish him well (despite disagreeing with him on many political issues and remaining a die-hard Carney supporter). But I’m just not sure he’s a “serious” candidate for Congress at this point.

PA_Republican-
If the GOP wasn’t more interested in being obstructionists against Obama than helping the country, they would have supported the bills you are talking about. Certainly, McCain would have. But, he’s too busy being bitter about losing and having to pretend Palin was a good choice.

The Republicans have lost all credibility on the governing and helping people. The stimulus plan stopped the free-fall and prevented another Depression. The “objections” to health-care reform are to the falsehoods and distortions the GOP has used to portray HCR. The jobs recovery will be slow, but that was understood to be the case from the get go.
The Republicans haven’t offered a single credible solutions to the problems we face.

There are legitimate concerns with the stimulus and healthcare legislation (they are both extremely expensive, will create bureaucracy that won’t go away, and with the stimulus- a lot of money was allocated for programs that won’t create or keep jobs). Those are real issues with Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.

It isn’t about the House Republicans forming an alternative plan- whatever the House Republican leadership puts together will be voted down because that’s the way it works in that body (same when the R’s were in charge). It’s about how expensive and far reaching the D’s legislation will be. And so far it’s been both.

Dave- you sound pretty liberal (not a criticism). I just think that in NEPA (where even the Dems are Conservative), Carney’s voting record won’t fly.

This really does show that the GOP has no intention of fighting hard to take back the 10th in 2010. It essentially makes any Republican nominee appear to be the “second choice” of (at least some of) the party establishment.

I don’t understand the strategy (or lack thereof). The 6th and 7th are both more liberal than the 10th, but the GOP seems to be putting up more of a fight there.