Capitol Whispers

Reporting what's really going on

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Michigan About to Enact "Right to Work" Bill

First Wisconsin limited government workers in collective bargaining. Then Ohio. Now, maybe the most remarkable of all, Michigan is about to enact "Right to Work." If you would've told me that Michigan, the birth of the labor movement, would become a Right to Work state I would've said "never!" But it is about to happen.

And how about Pennsylvania???

That silence you hear is from the GOP leaders in Harrisburg. It's remarkable how unsuccessful GOP leaders in PA have been when compared to GOP leaders in other states. The GOP controls the state House, state Senate, and Governor's Mansion. Yet has very little to show for it.

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Good blog piece from Nate Silver on PA . . . I concur with him that the GOP was right to play in PA this election. In the end, Romney came closer to winning PA than he did in Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, and even Colorado!

Romney especially did well in the Philly suburbs. He won Chester County (and Obama had won there by 10 points in 2008). Likewise, Romney pulled even in Bucks County - also a place Obama had won by 10 points in 2008. For all the love Obama has been getting from the press, he performed well below expectations in the Philly suburbs and outer suburbs. Even John Kerry in '04 did better than Obama in many of these areas.

But Obama was able to win PA by 5 pts (which is 2 pts more than Kerry won by) because he increased turnout and won by greater margins in the cities - especially Philadelphia.

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Corbett

He sat down for a bunch of "Q and A's" with reporters late last week. Obviously an attempt to be more visible and increase his favorability ratings. Still can't figure out just how much trouble he's in. Clearly he's vulnerable. But he has time to recover. While he's been an invisible governor, he could change that with a more active 2013.

The question is which Democrat could capitalize on Corbett's weakness? No name really jumps out there as a no-brainer candidate. As of Dec 2012, here are the Top Tier Potential Democrats:

1) Joe Sestak: almost won Senate race in 2010, which was a terrible year for Democrats; sure he's a little crazy and has bad relationships with some institutional Democrats. But guess what? That doesn't matter to real voters.

2) Rob McCord: has won two statewide races and can raise money

3) Dan Onorato: yes, he is still top tier. He still has name ID from a previous run and did a good job in that race with fundraising. Remember, Casey Sr lost like 17 times statewide before becoming the state's most popular governor.

4) Jack Wagner: has high name ID statewide after serving two terms as Auditor General and has run for governor before, coming in 2nd in the Democratic Primary. However, one gets the sense his moment has passed by.

5) Alyson Schwartz: she makes the top tier because she has raised oodles of cash. However, she would certainly be the weakest of the Democrats as her profile is wrong for PA: She's an uber-liberal, Jewish woman from suburban Philly. Corbett would love it if she were the Dems' nominee.

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Here goes nothin . . .

Well our first day posting . . . seems appropriate that the first quote to appear on this site is from William Penn . . . also seems appropriate that the second quote is from Frank Rizzo - possibly the most famous PA pol in the last 100 years . . . William Penn represents the most noble of our aspirations . . . And Rizzo? Well not so much. But he sure was fascinating and fun - much more so than Penn.

And speaking of that infamous Rizzo quote, the big news from today is the state Rep. Mike Fleck came out of the closet as gay. This should come as shocking news to approximately ZERO Harrisburg staffers or to pretty much anyone who works in the Capitol. Seems like the only person who didn't think Mike Fleck was gay was Mike Fleck. That said, we commend Fleck for coming out and now living honestly. Commendable.

Now the question is will Fleck's courageous announcement inspire some of his other closeted colleagues join him??? We wonder . . .

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“When I’m finished with them, I’ll make Attila the Hun look like a fag.”

Frank Rizzo

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“Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”

William Penn