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GOP: A Pennsylvania problem

Posted: November 22, 2022 by chrisharper in politics
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By Christopher Harper

Winning Pennsylvania in the 2024 election may be extremely difficult for any Republican candidate.

The headlines of this November election focused on the losses by two Trump-backed candidates in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.

But the Republican losses go much deeper than that.

In the useless arena of conventional wisdom and polls, the so-called experts predicted that the GOP would win 10 of 16 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with one seat a tossup. The actual outcome pushed the House delegation to the Democrats, with a 9-8 margin.

But the big story buried in the mass of election analytical outkill was the potential loss of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to the Democrats, who picked up 12 seats from the last election and haven’t held control of the legislative body since 2010.

Because of a death and a few governmental changes, the House hasn’t officially changed hands, although it’s likely to do so when the dust settles.

There’s mostly bad news when you dig into the voters themselves. The Black and Latino communities weren’t particularly interested in the nonpresidential election, with Philadelphia voters staying away from the polls in hordes.

A Philadelphia Inquirer analysis found the following:

–Philly’s vote count dropped 33% from 2020, more than any other county and the statewide average of 22%.

–It’s not just a 2020 comparison: This year saw a stark divergence between Philly turnout and the rest of the state compared to every federal election since at least 2000.

–Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, has about 133,000 fewer voters than Philly — but cast about 67,000 more ballots this election.

–Philadelphia’s share of the state’s total Democratic vote has dropped from 20% in 2016 to 15% this year.

These results demonstrate that Philadelphia may have less clout than Pittsburgh in the foreseeable future.

More important for Republicans, however, is that many traditional Democrats didn’t participate in the 2022 election, and the Dems still won big.

Moreover, the expected Latino surge for the GOP didn’t happen in Pennsylvania, as traditional Hispanic locales saw a drop in voting turnout. The steepest dives were in heavily Latino cities such as Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Reading, and Allentown, which all saw turnout drop even more than Philadelphia.

Some community leaders said the turnout in Latino communities shows a failure of candidates and both parties to connect with long-neglected voters.

“There’s lots of things to say about how ignored Latinos feel by the electoral system,” said Erika Almirón, a senior organizer with Mijente, a national Latino social justice group that works in Philadelphia. “And it manifests by not wanting to participate, and so if we want those numbers to improve, candidates have to knock on doors, we need resources.”

Simply put, the GOP has two years to turn it around in Pennsylvania.

Homage to Syd

Posted: November 15, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Syd, a Great Pyrenees dog, joined our family eight years ago, just before Thanksgiving.

Like many Great Pyrenees, he had been given to a rescue society because he was too big at more than 100 pounds, slobbered a lot, shed his long, white hair all over the place, and barked like a basso profundo in an opera. A practiced escape artist, he’d also jumped out of the second-floor window of his owner’s house, breaking a leg in the process.

When we arrived at the halfway house for the National Great Pyrenees Rescue in central Pennsylvania, he jumped into the back of our car without a worry. He’d found his forever home.

A genuinely sweet dog at home, he didn’t play well with others. Great Pyrenees protect other sheepdogs and sheep from predators like wolves. Syd protected our family from invaders, including lunging at a local veterinarian who made house calls.

Often, he would sleep just outside our bedroom to make sure no one messed with the Harper family.

On walks, he was constantly sniffing the ground and surveying the landscape, ensuring every animal around wasn’t messing with HIS turf!

Syd loved the snow. He’d rub his hose in the snow and drop down on his side and make Pyr snow angels.

He loved playing with his fellow rescue Pyr, Sparky, and later Lucien, a Husky. They’d romp around the yard and run through the hallways in our home in an almost never-ending bout of roughhousing

Syd often sat outside and barked at almost everything that walked by or drove by. It wasn’t an annoying bark, but one that transfixed virtually everyone. People would stop to listen to the bark that rose from the depth of his lungs. I once found a mother and young son mesmerized by the sound.

He hated motorcycles and postal trucks. The sound differed from ordinary traffic, and he’d tear after both when he had a chance.

A few months ago, he had trouble walking. By last Tuesday, he couldn’t get up in the morning.

I took him outside and sat with him, but I knew it was time to say goodbye. Almost at that instant, Syd heard a mail truck. He paused, hobbled to his feet, and barked at the retreating vehicle. He’d sent it on its way once again.

At age 12, Syd, our wonderful friend and protector, went out in style just a little while after his final bark.

Pennsylvania: A bad night for Trump and the GOP

Posted: November 9, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Donald Trump had a lousy night in Pennsylvania.

Two top candidates he endorsed—Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate and Doug Mastriano for governor—went down in flames in a state critical for any presidential candidate.

In 2016, Trump won Pennsylvania and its electoral votes by a hair. In 2020, Biden won.

What’s discouraging about the election is how mediocre the Democrat candidates were.

John Fetterman makes Bernie Sanders look like a right-winger. He served as a mayor in a small town near Pittsburgh and somehow became lieutenant governor. He suffered a stroke earlier this year and has had problems understanding questions and providing answers.

Still, he beat TV personality Oz by more than 100,000 votes in a 50-48 percent vote. Oz wasn’t a great campaigner, but he talked an excellent conservative line.

In the governor’s race, Democrat Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general, won handily despite Mastriano being a true conservative and solid Trump supporter.

Shapiro won by more than 600,000 votes in a 55-43 percent landside.

Fetterman and Shapiro outpolled Biden’s 2020 results in both races, particularly in the crucial suburbs around Philadelphia.

With party hack Bob Casey not up for reelection until 2024, the Democrats hold all the top positions in Pennsylvania for the first time in decades. Moreover, the U.S. House contingent will likely favor the Democrats, 9-8.

Fortunately, the Republicans will hold onto both houses of the state legislature. Unfortunately, the GOP doesn’t have enough votes to override vetoes.

The Pennsylvania results are worth dissecting because the state mirrors almost every aspect of the national electorate. Two major cities—Pittsburgh and Philadelphia—vote primarily Democrat, with a sprinkling of other outposts in the state. Almost every county, including mine, votes heavily Republican between the two coasts.

Alas, the votes in Pennsylvania flyover country weren’t enough to counter those in the cities.

Republicans have some significant issues ahead if they couldn’t break through in places where inflation, crime, and COVID chaos have dominated the conversation over the past few months.

Fetterman’s follies

Posted: November 1, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christopher Harper

In a neck-snapping argument, U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman and his fellow travelers in the media maintain that his recent stroke has made him more cognizant of the issues confronting families and the ill.

In a recent editorial, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: “Fetterman deserves our respect, not ridicule, after the U.S. Senate debate. The Democratic nominee could become a role model in helping the nation better understand that a person’s struggles can also be a source of strength.”

I think that Fetterman is unfit to serve in Congress because of his irrational views on issues facing the country. I think he is incredibly unfit to serve in Congress because of the continuing effects of last May’s stroke.

Fetterman suffers from aphasia, which is seen in many brain diseases and is an impairment in the construction and communication of ideas.

“It doesn’t merely prevent someone from translating his thoughts into a natural language. An aphasic patient … won’t be able to communicate his meaning any better by switching to American Sign Language. Nor does it simply distort one’s articulated speech. An aphasic patient can’t get around his inability to speak by writing instead. By impairing language itself, an aphasia mars the mechanisms that make formulating and understanding one’s thoughts possible,” neurologist Michael Stanley wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal.

At the only debate in the race, Fetterman tried to downplay his illness or what he called the “elephant in the room.”

“I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” Fetterman said of Oz, who has persistently questioned his ability to serve in the Senate. “And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down, and I’m going to keep coming back up.”

He refused to commit when pressed to release his medical records later in the debate.

During the debate, Fetterman read closed captions of the questions and answers. He fumbled through various answers, including an apparent flip-flop on fracking, which he said he now supported.

Unfortunately, Fetterman suffered a stroke. But let’s face it—he’s physically unfit to serve in a demanding and stressful job.

It would be better if he admitted it long ago. Now, he should sit the game out and get better.

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