THE PRESS ROOM: Local blogs spring up to slam candidates

An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns are playing out in the media—in print, on the air, online and behind the scenes.

Think pa2010.com is catering to a narrow niche? Think again.

A plethora of new Web sites are sprouting up in the blogosphere, mostly as vehicles to bash candidates loathed by their authors, but sometimes just to cover a particular race from a certain ideological view. Whether these blogs will play any…

February 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm | Comments (7)

The greatest theft in human history

Conventional wisdom holds that the bank bailouts were deplorable, but necessary. In reality, the bank bailouts were both deplorable and unnecessary. Saving the banks did not save the world. Saving the banks deepened and prolonged the recession, and saving the banks threatens to impoverish this nation. Let me explain.

According to Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) and other bank-bailout apologists, the bailouts prevented a catastrophic run on the American financial system. Just think about that claim…

February 15, 2010 at 8:45 am | Comments (6)

4 fun facts from the 4th quarter

About a week after fourth-quarter FEC reports hit the Web, here are some interesting items that caught our attention.

1. Spending on one’s own campaign is all the rage, and why not? Surely no one believes in a candidate as much as the candidate himself. Be they in-kind expenditures, direct donations or campaign loans, House candidates in Pennsylvania kicked more than $700,000 into their own races in late 2009, according to campaign finance data. There’s…

February 9, 2010 at 10:56 am | Comments (6)

After late entrance, Barletta has $52K; still in debt

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta only had about a month to raise money for his third congressional run before the door closed on 2009. In that time, racked up about $60,000 in donations, finishing the year with about $52,000 in cash on hand, according to campaign finance data.

As he looks for another showdown with Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), the first quarter of 2010 will be a more accurate gauge of his fundraising…

February 1, 2010 at 7:30 am | Comments (0)

Fundraising sparse, Paige signals he’s ready to spend

With relatively few campaign contributions to boast, Republican hedge fund executive Chris Paige signaled last weekend that he’s prepared to spend at least $300,000 on his attempt to win the GOP’s nomination in the 11th Congressional District.

Paige, considered an underdog to party-favorite Lou Barletta, has raised about $21,000 during the election cycle so far, and finished 2009 with only $3,500 in cash on hand, according to campaign finance data. Much of…

February 1, 2010 at 7:00 am | Comments (0)

Barletta’s primary challenger does his own messaging (Updated)

In going after political opponents, most candidates for office look to staffers to do the dirty work of writing up press releases and crafting the message of their campaigns.

Not Chris Paige.

A few months into his Republican bid for Congress in the 11th District, and barely a month after he got a primary opponent in Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, Paige appears to have settled into a comfortable rhythm as his own spokesman.…

January 6, 2010 at 4:02 pm | Comments (0)

Analysts see another close race in 11th District

Political watchers from Washington to Harrisburg widely considered Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) to be the most vulnerable Democrat in Congress last year, but that didn’t stop Kanjorski from beating every prediction and slipping past Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta by three points.

It’s far too early to make such a blanket “most vulnerable” statement this year. But with Barletta jumping into the race against Kanjorski for the third time this decade,…

December 10, 2009 at 7:30 am | Comments (1)

Paige: Thinking Barletta can win is the ‘definition of insanity’

Shortly after he was joined in the 11th Distrct Republican primary by Lou Barletta Wednesday, Chris Paige called Barletta “unelectable” and said that giving him a third chance to unseat Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) would yield a result no different than the first two.

“So, the real question is why would Republicans believe that Barletta can win this race?” Paige, a hedge-fund manager, wrote in an e-mail. “The definition of insanity is doing…

December 9, 2009 at 4:51 pm | Comments (1)

Barletta downplays campaign debt; aide notes earlier start

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta said Wednesday that he won’t seek to pay back about $250,000 in campaign debt before again faces voters in the 11th District next year and that he welcomes having a primary opponent.

During a conference call with reporters after he formally announced his decision to run for Congress a third time, Barletta said that money raised now would go toward his 2010 race, not toward paying down old debt.…

December 9, 2009 at 12:29 pm | Comments (0)

Barletta: Washington is ‘ignoring us’

Just over a year after narrowly losing in his bid to unseat Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta on Wednesday announced that he would seek Kanjorski’s job for the third time this decade, raising the stakes in an 11th District race that Republicans remain convinced they can win.

After weeks of speculation, Barletta made his announcement on a video on his Web site and a conference call with reporters. His…

December 9, 2009 at 12:17 pm | Comments (1)