What do you think of Wolf for GOV? (Pittsburgh, Franklin: public school, income)

[Evergrey]

On the other side... Corbett has a primary challenger.

Corbett Gets A Republican Primary Challenger « CBS Pittsburgh

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

On the other side... Corbett has a primary challenger.

Corbett Gets A Republican Primary Challenger « CBS Pittsburgh

I was happy until I clicked the link to see he is running against something good Corbett actually did (transportation bill)

[sskink]

It's too early for me to be thinking about this. I'll pay more attention when they start eating their own. But as a first impression, Wolf seems like a nice guy who will get eaten alive and ultimately be ineffective.

Any political promises regarding education are just hooey unless said candidate comes out and declares s/he's detaching the state from federal education funding/regulation. Then and only then that person might get something done. Burn it down and rebuild it based on what today's real world needs are. Turn education into an economic engine instead of dumbing down to the LCD.

And while there are many who are PO'd about Corbett and fracking, to me, there was no more egregious example of Corbett being completely useless than the fact that he did absolutely nothing regarding the PALCB despite promises to get rid of it.

[gg]

Originally Posted by PenguinsFan14

..he's an old rich white man...

Does this mean that ALL rich white men are bad? What is your view of poor white men? Rich black men? Poor black men? Just wondering what that means is all.

[gg]

Why are people so against Corbett? Sometimes I wonder if anyone in office will ever be popular again. The media loves to bash anyone in the public eye. Look at Obama's hatred that goes on. It is pretty wild and really borderline racist, but they do it to all races, so it is hard to point fingers.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Why are people so against Corbett? Sometimes I wonder if anyone in office will ever be popular again. The media loves to bash anyone in the public eye. Look at Obama's hatred that goes on. It is pretty wild and really borderline racist, but they do it to all races, so it is hard to point fingers.

Honestly, if you compare Tom Corbett to other Republican governors elected as part of the class of 2010, he's far more moderate (although not enough he would get my vote by a long shot).

I think the main issue with Corbett people have is he's totally politically tone deaf. He sees himself as a glorified county clerk with a job to do, not a politician, so he approaches every political question from the logic of "what solves problem X" not "what will make my agenda popular."

Thus his signature move as governor was to cut education spending, which is one of the most popular things government spending is used for in the state, and alienated a lot of moderate suburban voters. In contrast, unlike governors like Walker and Scott, he hasn't thrown any red meat to the base - there's not a single thing Corbett has done which would meet with their approval (unless you're really into fracking companies not paying any taxes), and he's actively pissed them off with the new transportation bill.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Why are people so against Corbett? Sometimes I wonder if anyone in office will ever be popular again. The media loves to bash anyone in the public eye. Look at Obama's hatred that goes on. It is pretty wild and really borderline racist, but they do it to all races, so it is hard to point fingers.

He wants to plop an oil derrick onto my Park.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Honestly, if you compare Tom Corbett to other Republican governors elected as part of the class of 2010, he's far more moderate (although not enough he would get my vote by a long shot).

I think the main issue with Corbett people have is he's totally politically tone deaf. He sees himself as a glorified county clerk with a job to do, not a politician, so he approaches every political question from the logic of "what solves problem X" not "what will make my agenda popular."

Thus his signature move as governor was to cut education spending, which is one of the most popular things government spending is used for in the state, and alienated a lot of moderate suburban voters. In contrast, unlike governors like Walker and Scott, he hasn't thrown any red meat to the base - there's not a single thing Corbett has done which would meet with their approval (unless you're really into fracking companies not paying any taxes), and he's actively pissed them off with the new transportation bill.

As a Democrat, I've actually been pleasantly surprised with a few of Corbett's decisions. Of course... those very decisions (such as bare minimum transportation funding instead of letting infrastructure collapse) are what people on the right detest about Corbett. He's in a hopeless situation... Democrats just aren't gonna vote for him due to the "wild west" fracking push and education defunding and offensive statements on gay marriage... and Republicans hate the few sensible things he's done.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

As a Democrat, I've actually been pleasantly surprised with a few of Corbett's decisions. Of course... those very decisions (such as bare minimum transportation funding instead of letting infrastructure collapse) are what people on the right detest about Corbett. He's in a hopeless situation... Democrats just aren't gonna vote for him due to the "wild west" fracking push and education defunding and offensive statements on gay marriage... and Republicans hate the few sensible things he's done.

When both side dislike you, you're probably doing a reasonable job.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by stburr91

When both side dislike you, you're probably doing a reasonable job.

Why? Compromise is sometimes needed in order to pass an agenda, but that doesn't mean it leads to good policy in and of itself. If anything (taking off my left-wing glasses for a second) it's more likely that each side is 100% right about certain (different) things, than there is some magical point in the middle between the two extremes which would lead to the best outcomes.