Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

Still only $50 in the kitty. I’ve had the car checked and struts replaced. ($225) an I’m told I need two new tires before I even think about such a trip.

I won’t be asking the readers for this since they are things I would need no matter what, but it very much looks like anything that goes on in Pa-12 will happen without me. If you want to change that click here.

However that is less important that what IS going on in PA-12 and that seems to be trending poorly:

Mark Critz, a former aide to the late John Murtha and the Democratic nominee to replace him, has pulled out to a 6-point lead in the special election for Pennsylvania’s 12th district, according to a new Susquehanna poll. Critz leads Republican Tim Burns 44%-38% with less than a week to go.

This is a huge swing from polls last month showing Burns in the lead and over 40%. Of course there is certainly time to turn this around but the interesting this is the fact that this takes place after Critz has taken pains to distance himself from both the party and the healthcare vote. That fact in itself speaks volumes to the populartiy of the democratic congress and the power of the tea party message.

Critz is taking pains to distance himself from its agenda as the vote draws nearer. Most conspicuously, the former Murtha aide launched a television ad this weekend in which — with his voice apparently hoarse from the campaign trail — he aims to set the record straight and declares his opposition to the health care law passed and signed last month. It was a response to an ad from the National Republican Campaign Committee which said Critz “will put the liberal agenda before Pennsylvania.”

“I’m pro life and pro gun. That’s not a liberal,” Critz says in his own spot.

Critz’s camp also says he opposes a proposed cap-and-trade law, something Murtha voted for when the House first acted on it last year.

Burns should be pressing on the repeal issue, Critz is talking a good game but will he vote for repeal and if he says so how long will it take him to break that promise? It only took Bill Owens of NY-23 one day to break four of his.

PA-12 voters should consider carefully before they let themselves be hoodwinked on this, and Burns should be playing that flip flop card strongly.