Daily News - John Baer http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer RSS Feed for John Baer en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:58:01 GMT John Baer: Pa. pols in the zone ... the Twilight Zone http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091109_John_Baer__Pa__pols_in_the_zone_____the_Twilight_Zone.html WARNING: YOU are entering another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind - an election cycle for Pennsylvania governor with multiple candidates. John Baer: Hope, change, and the reality that 365 days brings http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091105_John_Baer__Hope__change__and_the_reality_that_365_days_brings.html A YEAR AGO today, a nation fearing a crumbling economy and weary of war awoke to new expectations after electing Barack Obama on a premise of hope and a promise of change. John Baer: In court races, it looks like the GOP cashed in on the low turnout http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091104_John_Baer__In_court_races__it_looks_like_the_GOP_cashed_in_on_the_low_turnout.html PENNSYLVANIA voters yesterday gamely reasserted their right to elect statewide judges, an act akin to playing a political lottery. Fifteen candidates for seven spots on three state courts were on the ballot in a municipal election year with no marquee races to generate voter turnout anywhere in the state. John Baer: For NY-Pa. sporting pols, all bets are off, except 1 http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091029_John_Baer__For_NY-Pa__sporting_pols__all_bets_are_off__except_1.html POLITICIANS GO ga-ga over sports. From using tax dollars to build stadiums, to attending big games with great seats in owners' or donors' boxes, to inviting championship teams to the White House, the state House, City Hall, wherever. John Baer: Judicial campaigning under the rule of flaw http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091028_John_Baer__Judicial_campaigning_under_the_rule_of_flaw.html THE NASTY RACE for state Supreme Court is making yet another strong case for not electing statewide judges. Pennsylvania, no surprise, is among only a handful of states with partisan judicial elections at all levels. John Baer: West meets East in Supreme Court debate dustup http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091023_John_Baer__West_meets_East_in_Supreme_Court_debate_dustup.html IT WAS, for a judicial debate, unusually sharp and bitey. The one and only TV face-to-face between state Supreme Court candidates Democrat Jack Panella and Republican Joan Orie Melvin yesterday at Temple Law School was no warmed-over legal fare - it was pretty politically tart. John Baer: Should Corbett run investigations & run for guv, too? http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091021_John_Baer__Should_Corbett_run_investigations___run_for_guv__too_.html THE QUESTION I get most often these days (actually, for a long time now) is: When does Tom Corbett drop the other shoe? John Baer: Are you voting for Panella or Melvin? Who? For what? http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091019_John_Baer__Are_you_voting_for_Panella_or_Melvin__Who__For_what_.html WAY BELOW the noise of the national health-care debate and the state budget debacle is a whisper of a race for state Supreme Court with possible loud and long-term impact. John Baer: Arlen needs magic before his reelection vanishes http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091014_John_Baer__Arlen_needs_magic_before_his_reelection_vanishes.html A RECENT notice from Arlen Specter's campaign caught my eye - an e-mail tag-lined "Arlen Gets Magic." Good thing, I thought - he might need it. John Baer: A few final thoughts on the state budget http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john_baer/20091012_John_Baer__A_few_final_thought_on_the_state_budget.html SOME FINAL, I hope, state budget observations. A Radnor reader writes, "All these shenanigans will in the end be good for the commonwealth."