Suing Your Way To An Election Win

State Rep. Matt Wright came up with a good way to get his opponent in next week’s election to stop running attack ads.

He threatened to sue.

Yes, that’s right. Wright, a Republican, saw an ad for opponent Chris King that featured footage of Wright on the floor of the state house, so he went and whined to John Perzel who got a Williamsport lawyer to threaten a lawsuit if the ad wasn’t removed. (That’s Wright in the photo from his official state senate page, which includes this complete personal history: “Married to Donna[.]“)

Footage from the floor of the state house, you see, is copyrighted by, uh, the state house. And so using footage for political campaigns is against the rules. We wouldn’t want our constituents learning what actually goes on there! (The state senate has similar rules, naturally.)

Perzel spokesman Al Bowman said the purpose of the restriction is to “protect the integrity of the proceeding[.]“

Ha! Let that one sink in. King, of course, will stop running the ads on Bucks County cable television. All hail the mighty lawsuit!

Attorney: King’s TV ad violates copyright law [Bucks County Courier Times]
Matt Wright [PA House]

John Staggs Continues To Be Awesome

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has told election officials they can no longer force candidates to sign a McCarthy-era loyalty oath stating they are not “subversive.”

Although the oath was ruled unconstitutional in the 1970s, it remained on the books in Pennsylvania until it was challenged in recent years — by Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Jay Ressler last year and this year by State House candidate John Staggs, also a Socialist Workers Party member.

Staggs, you may remember, was the totally awesome third candidate in the 2003 Philadelphia mayoral election, whose platform included opposition to the war in Iraq and independence for Puerto Rico. He’s also a butcher who was working on an experimental plane.

As you can tell, if there were any justice in the world, right now Philly would be run by our plane-flyin’ meat packing plant-workin’ socialist friend. Staggs challenged the rule forcing him to sign the loyalty oath when before submitting the signatures. He’s running for the State House in District 198. If he wins — which, uh, is not going to happen — the state legislature would increase its awesomeness content by about a billion percent.

Pa. drops loyalty oath for candidates [AP/Yahoo!]
Butcher, candidate to vie for mayor spot [Daily Pennsylvanian]
State orders end to use of ‘loyalty oath’ [The Militant]

Leftovers: Hamels Called Up; Phillies Fans Prep For Disappointment

• Lefty 22-year-old Cole Hamels is going to make his first start Friday against the Reds. They were going to take it slow with him, but after three starts in a row where he allowed one run total and struck out 36, well, it was time. Let’s hope he’s the real deal. [Phillies.com]

• New Jersey: First it’s gay unions, now it’s medical marijuana. Hmm. Be careful Jerz, people are going to start confusing you with California any day now. Wait, no they won’t. [Philly Future]

• Beer makers are focusing on making beer look more upscale and marketing to more affluent consumers. This will change the time-tested tradition of beer ads where working class men get together and, say, build a barn. Ads featuring scantily-clad women are expected to stay. [AP/Yahoo!]

• Young Philly Politics asks: Is Larry Farnese secretly a communist?!?! Erhm, wait, wrong decade. I meant to say, “Is Larry Farnese secretly not a progressive?!?!” Currently, I’m pondering a similar question: Which district do I live in? [Young Philly Politics]

Blogicized: Burkle-o’s

• The real thing that possible new Daily News/Inquirer headman — well, way up the chain of command — Ron Burkle loves? His buddy P. Diddy. It really is all about the Benjamins. (Rimshot.) [Philebrity]

• Lower Merion — original home of Kobe Bryant, Dan Gross, &c. — is now subsidizing housing for families. Families who make up to $76,000 a year. Geeze, I can’t believe they’re finally letting in the upper middle-classers. [I've Made A Huge Tiny Mistake]

• Gavin Floyd — who shares a birthday, day and year, with yours truly (but he makes a little more money than I do) — has been flat-out sucking recently. What’re the Phillies to do? [Phillyist]

• The most confusing political quote of the year so far: “I like to say that over 25 years I probably showed up one Saturday night and scrubbed your back when you were getting a bath.” Uhh, Mike O’Brien? Stay out of my house. [Welcome to Phillyville]

Surprise! Anti-Incumbent Group Acting All Political

Last week, Russ Diamond, the founder of PACleanSweep, the anti-pay raise, anti-incumbent activist group in Pennsylvania, said he was going to run for governor. (As an independent, presumably.)

And, since he was embarking on a political mission, he was going to sever ties to the group he created. Well… not so fast.

This is a little confusing, but try to follow: When he decided to run for governor last month, Diamond asked for the board members’ resignations so he could reorganize the group. Four board members resigned, the other five stayed on. They say they’re now in control of the group, and are planning to sue for control. In the meantime, they’ve voted out Diamond as chairman and added a new board member.

If you think this sounds kind of like, oh, I don’t know, the machinations usually reserved for incumbent politicians, you’re not the only one. But, then again, what fun would an anti-incumbent group that didn’t act like politicians be?

Ousted group takes aim at PACleanSweep founder [Bucks County Courier Times]

Curt Weldon, M.D.

You might remember Curt Weldon from his theory that if the government had listened to him, the terrorist attacks wouldn’t have happened. (Essentially.) He’s also said that Osama Bin Laden is dead. He gets all this through “secret sources.”

Fair enough. He’s a member of the U.S. House, though. Tell me one House member who hasn’t done anything wild and wacky in their careers. The one who hit the cop or the one who just resigned in disgrace? Then again, neither of those House members have — at least not recently — criticized an upcoming election opponent for staying with his daughter while she was in the hospital.

Weldon’s November opponent is Joe Sestak, a native of Springfield, Pa., and a three-star general in the Navy who retired Jan. 1 after 31 years. Of course, when he got back he was only renting a home in Pennsylvania while continuing to have a residence in Virginia.

That might be something to bash, except that Sestak was staying with his daughter. At Children’s National Medical Center. Who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last summer and was given three to nine months to live. He kept living there because her condition improved, and she might’ve beaten the cancer.

This is a time when you call your opponent up and tell him you’re thrilled with the news. But, oh, not Curt Weldon:

Weldon attacked Sestak’s decision to continue owning a home in Virginia while only renting in Pennsylvania and questioned why Sestak did not move back to Pennsylvania when he was working at the Pentagon. Weldon commutes from Pennsylvania each day.

Weldon also suggested Sestak should have sent his daughter to a hospital in Philadelphia or Delaware, rather than the Washington hospital. Sestak said that as soon as doctors give his daughter the all-clear, he’ll buy in Pennsylvania.

He told his opponent he should have moved his daughter, who had a malignant brain tumor, to a closer hospital because… you know, it doesn’t even matter why he said it. He told a newspaper — so this wasn’t like an offhand remark, either — that a father should leave his daughter with a malignant brain tumor.

Joe Sendak has, of course, responded, and he does a nice job of it. Although, to be fair, he could have released a video of himself pissing on a photo of Curt Weldon and he’d still be the classier candidate.

Sestak’s battles — naval, familial and political [The Hill]
Joe Sestak’s Daughter Had a Brain Tumor [Eschaton]
March 15: Mr. Perfect he ain’t

Quickies: 101 Dalmations

• Pennsylvania Clean Sweep now has 101 candidates running for election against Pennsylvania state legislators. Coming in November: 101 losing candidates for PA Clean Sweep. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Guess what the contrarian broadsheet — my former employer, &c. &c. — in this town has run an op-ed piece on: Global warming isn’t real! Really, really, I’m shocked that the conservative paper in town would run a column that says that. What’s next? “Teach the controversy” on evolution? Bingo! [The Evening Bulletin]

• In the interest of fairness: The climate is crashing and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis hit so soon — and what we can do about it. I don’t think I’m all that nervous — I’ve stocked up on sunscreen — but it’s a good read nonetheless. [Time Magazine via Attytood]

• And two senators lied before the Supreme Court? Again, recent events cannot shock me any more. [Slate]

Let him run! Let him run!

If I were running for state house, I would probably try to have my shit in order. Even if I had no shot of winning — and one look at anything in the archives of this site would immediately turn voters against me, I’m sure — I would try to have all my papers filed on time, make sure I live in the legislative district, maybe have some buttons made up.

Just the simple things, you know? I wouldn’t need to have t-shirts made up or anything at this point. I think it’s sound advice. But for some, not really:

Milton Street submitted a nominating petition to run for the State House in the May primary. It was rejected because it was improperly filled out.

But a spokeswoman for state election officials says Milton Street can ask Commonwealth Court to amend the petition. [...]

The mayor also said he wouldn’t get involved in the issue of brother Milton’s residency. There are questions about whether Milton Street lives in the House district in which he reportedly intends to run, the 195th in Philadelphia.

Welcome back to politics, Milton! Let’s hope he runs; it’ll be fantastic.

Mayor Street Hasn’t Talked to Brother Milton About Legislative Run [KYW 1060]

Blogicized: Clearly, Tiki Bob’s was unavailable

• If I’m ever in politics, I want to announce my candidacy in a dive bar — Blarney Stone, for instance — like Anne Dicker. [MyDD]

• Will Bunch waxes so poetic/esoteric about a small newspaper mistake you think I would have written it. [Attytood]

• The most fun comparison I’ve heard of Ryan Howard yet: Cecil Fielder. Let’s hope Ryan stays below 300 pounds, though. [The Good Phight]

• Our new favorite specialized blog — only about one team’s run in one conference tournament — continues as Temple routs No. 6 GW, putting the Owls in the semifinals. Another two wins and they’re in the NCAAs. [Temple 2006 Atlantic 10 Performance]

• Thanks to one man, the important statistics of a social networking program are ruined! Actually, no, wait, this is great. [The Lunabomber Manifesto]

Are new candidates handi-capable?

The Inquirer reports today that there are 587 candidates for state house and senate this year, about 200 more than last year. It’s the most in at least a decade. Additionally, 22 current legislators are retiring.

The influx of candidates is mainly due to Operation Clean Sweep, which has a goal of voting out all the incumbents. OCS was formed in the wake of the legislative pay raises passed in the wee hours of the morning back last summer.

The pay raises were eventually rescinded, but candidates are running anyway. Most of them are political neophytes, driven with the idea of changing Harrisburg for the better. They’ll fail (even if they get elected, natch), but it’s a very nice gesture.

A retiring congresswoman, though, says it’s not going to be all fun and games if these first-time candidates do end up getting voted in:

“New blood may not be an improvement. We may lose some very dedicated public servants and many of those running don’t have a clue what this job is about. It’s 24/7,” said Rep. Jacqueline Crahalla (R., Montgomery) who is retiring after this term, her second.

“When I go to the grocery store, I get asked for a handicapped placard application. There is no life for yourself.”

Oh, the tough life of a congresswoman. Nice salary, full benefits, pension, “unvouchered expenses,” &c. But, you know, people might ask you for a handicapped placard application. Hear that, Albert?

New faces in Pa. legislative races [Inky]
Campaigning is Tough! [dragonballyee]
Nov. 1, 2005: Breaking: Possible big news event happens, blogger makes fun of headline typo
Jan. 31: Contrarian broadsheet, indeed!