Countdown to Tuesday: Corbett, Wolf try to fire up their bases

As the 2014 gubernatorial campaign headed into its final weekend, Gov. Corbett got a boost from a Republican luminary on a swing through south-central Pennsylvania, while Democratic challenger Tom Wolf rallied union and abortion-rights supporters in the Philadelphia suburbs.

As the governor listened, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the oft-talked-about potential presidential candidate who landed on the cover of Time e last week as "the most interesting man in politics," told a luncheon crowd of 300 in Chambersburg that he couldn't understand why Corbett wasn't a shoo-in, given the booming success of the Marcellus Shale natural-gas industry.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Paul asked about 300 diners who gathered at a banquet hall for the Franklin County Republican Party event. "You want to be New York? You want to be California?" he said, referring to states that do not allow the natural-gas drilling method known as fracking.

"You've got energy you didn't know was there 10 years ago. Why would you want to give that up?" he said.

For his part, Corbett mentioned the drama of the night before - when he was able to announce on live TV that state and federal law enforcement authorities had captured Eric Frein, the suspected Poconos cop-killer.

"Everybody worked together to bring somebody to justice," Corbett said to applause.

Resuming his political attacks on Wolf, he contrasted what he said were the benefits of private-sector investment with bigger government and higher taxes under the Democrat.

"Fiscal discipline and free enterprise is the way to grow the economy," he said. "Compare that with Tom Wolf, who wants to grow the economy through government."

Later Friday, Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley - to the delight of those attending a veterans rally in Carlisle - punctuated the tax point with humor about the school where Wolf got his doctoral degree.

"We hear a lot about how Tom Wolf went to MIT," said Cawley. "I'm beginning to think MIT stands for More Income Tax."

Corbett supporters at the Chambersburg event said they think he has earned another term. "I've been watching these ads about all these taxes," said Marlene Funk, a retiree from Greencastle. "We only have so much money."

About 140 miles east, Wolf was beating the get-out-the-vote drum to a group of 70, including Planned Parenthood supporters and AFL-CIO members at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenixville.

Wolf has an edge of 10 points plus in polls, but Democrats worry that his lead could wither if their "base" voters don't show up Tuesday, with pollsters predicting a lower-than-average turnout.

"Let's go out to vote," Wolf said. "Let's make this a defining election. Let's realign Pennsylvania."

He has hammered Corbett throughout the campaign on the governor's education policy, and he began his comments with that issue Friday.

"If you want to have a strong economy, it has to start with making education a priority," he said.

Wolf also pointed to a study that the left-leaning Keystone Research Center released last week that found Pennsylvania had fallen to 50th in job creation.

"We are a great state," Wolf said. "We should not be last in anything. We should be first in most things."

Later in the day, Corbett drew a different reaction from the older crowd of about 100 outside the Old Courthouse in downtown Carlisle, home of the Army War College.

As he has in recent days, Corbett linked his rival with President Obama and another well-known Democrat, warning that electing Wolf would mean a "rerun" of the "tax-and-spend" policies of former Gov. Ed Rendell.

"Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Corbett asked. The crowd roared, "Yes!"

Corbett told supporters his campaign's internal polls suggest that the contest is tightening.

"The race is not over," he said.