Republican Reboot?
Maybe state Republicans will now reboot and seek ways to recapture key voting areas outside Philly. Or not.
Republican Reboot?
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
(A brief discussion twixt Baer & Baer’s editor, a.k.a. BE)
BE: So, Pennsylvania Republicans must be pretty distraught and looking for ways to change their ways.
JB: You’d think so. They lost the presidency, a shot at a Senate seat and all three state row offices.
BE: But they’re not distraught?
JB: Well, no. They still control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office.
BE: Yeah but surely Tuesday’s results bode ill for the GOP future. Surely they're looking to revamp their direction and policies to recapture the Philly burbs again. Surely they're rethinking hard-line positions on budget cuts, immigration, voter ID, the female vote, guns, gays...
JB: Uh, actually, no. What they're doing is blaming Philadelphia.
BE: Oh?
JB: Yep. Wednesday, House GOP Speaker Sam Smith said he was told 90% of city precincts turned out 90% of their votes, and that is "questionable." When asked if he was suggesting fraud he said, "Maybe a good investigative reporter could track some of that down."
BE: But city turnout was about 60%.
JB: I'm just telling you was he said he was told. And, trust me, other GOPers are saying similar things less publicly, and a little more graphically.
BE: But they also lost Bucks, Montco and Delaware counties. Shouldn't they be rethinking stuff?
JB: They already have. It's called voter ID and redistricting. Both issues got tied up in court this time but GOP thinking put them in play and GOPers say they'll be in place come next election: new district lines more favorable to Republicans, and a new ID law to help keep down that "questionable" Philly vote.
BE: So their reboot already has happened. Pretty good planning.
JB: And clever, to boot.
Comment removed.- Baer:
GOP tax cut for millionaire brought Bush depression
GOP false war cost us 3 trillion and 5,000 lives
GOP incompetence allowed Osama to fly hijacked planes over our skies for hours
But they did not change. Why would it be different this time?— Seed1 - GOP can still thrive if they can keep the education level low
And they just need to be able to peep into peoples bedroom to keep control of their private life
Control and ignorance are tested tools that worked for centuries. I don't know if it would work this century.— Seed1 - And the democrats will thrive while they continue to breed votes in the hood, while getting the rest of us to pay for them.
Then, they threaten them that those evil republicans will actually expect them to work for their "free" obamaphones if they don't vote democrat.— DeltaV - Red states has the most number of Moochers, according to Romney, that don't pay tax and leave on subsidy.
Red States are the one's that take more from Fed than they give.
Republicans are moochers at individual and state level according to data. But you live in an alternative reality, we know that.— Seed1 - so you honestly believe the majority of the people who voted for obama dont work? Does that include voters in swing counties outside DC, Philly, NYC, Boston, etc? Are you aware of the fact that generally speaking "blue" states are the states with the highest incomes? The poorest states in the US are largely in the south and they are red as the chinese flag. — Yakov
- I would love to see a breakdown of votes for people who had a net payment of taxes vs. those who had a net refund of taxes. — DeltaV
- you didnt answer the question. Do you believe that the swing suburban voters who helped put Obama in office don't work? In case you missed it, Obama won the female vote by a large margin. That includes many millions of white women. Are you suggesting they voted for him because they don't believe in working? Only a fraction of the populace receives more in refunds than they pay in taxes. The notion that the majority of the 51% who voted for Obama did so because they live off government handouts is silly. As noted, southern states are the poorest and they are reliably red. Poor whites vote republican all the time, even many of the ones who receive benefits from the government. — Yakov
of course, no mention that every single congressional republican won by massive margins, and that the democrats lost a seat (Critz)— hannibal barca- There's already been stories about how the Republican gerrymanered voting districts to give Republicans for state office a huge advantage. Their most recent attempt ended up in court and the judge ordered them to redo the districts. Now news there. — MikeP
- wrong. the congressional districts were never rejected by any court. maybe if democrats didn't nominate far-left radicals like kathy booqkvar they'd have a shot in district that obama won — hannibal barca
- Sadly, we Republicans who do not live in Philadelphia see rampant fraud and corruption throughout the city. If it's PHA, police officers selling drugs, the Dept. of Education's leader getting a million-dollar severance for messing up, L&I kick-backs, malfeasance at the Parking Authority, the Bridge authority, Fumo's "Other People's Money" and a host of other things, it seems as if everyone in the City of Brotherly Love is on the take.
It's not a leap for us to believe that unions and pols work together on election day to tip the scales. So, we initiate a voter ID plan (supported by 80% of Americans) to make elections fairer. It's easy to see how Democrats believe it's voter suppression of minorities. But the heart of Voter ID is a good-faith effort to reduce fraud in a city that thrives on it.
Perhaps I'm naive. But Philadelphia certainly has earned a bad reputation in other parts of the state. It's irrefutable that decades of one-party rule has produced a slimy mess of cronyism and corruption.— yahzooman - 1. PPA is run by the state
2. PHA isnt run by the city
3. A bad cop isnt a product of a political system. Cops are not elected and are nonpartisan. A bad cop is solely responsible for his own actions
4. You didnt list any specifics about which examples of rampant L&I corruption you are speaking about.
5. The school district is run by the state and they appoint 3 of 5 members of SRC. city government has no say over PSD.
6. No amount of voter ID legislation will change the huge number of votes philly delivers for democratic candidates. Preventing a few thousand minorities from voting will not make PA red again. Be realistic.— Yakov - No big surprise for people who deny global warming and evolution. It's really easy to learn the facts so no you're not naive. You're stupid and lazy. As Yakov pointed out, you have most of the facts wrong. Republicans took over the PPA and things got much muc worse. Salaries of crony management skyrocketed. PPA revenue was supposed to go to the school district but not a penny comes out of PPA depite the fact the Republicans estimated a $20 million surplus. That was all spent on patronage jobs. — MikeP
- The problem is Romney didn't go after the moderates...I mean, other than a handful of social issues, there's not much difference between Obama or Romney. But when the candidate panders to the farthest of the far right, you're gonna lose the moderate undecided voters...he shouldve focused on the moderate repubs and dems because the far right wouldnt have voted for Obama anyway. He isnt white and christian enough.— yourmomsfavoriteposter
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
