Category: default || By jt3y

I read two timely and thought provoking editorials yesterday; one in the New Pittsburgh Courier, the other in the Daily News.

First, the Courier, which made its election endorsements: Ed Rendell for Governor and Rick Santorum --- yes, that Rick Santorum --- for Senate:

Certainly we recognize that Lynn Swann at the top of the Republican ticket represents an historic first. The opportunity to vote for a Black man at the head of a major party ticket in Pennsylvania has never before presented itself.

But from what we have seen of Swann, he is simply not up to the task of running a state as varied as Pennsylvania. Neither does he display the kind of political acuity that we feel is necessary to wade through the deep political water that flows freely in Harrisburg.

Swann almost dismisses the fact that politicians in Harrisburg will not do his bidding simply because he says so. We do think that Swann has potential, and he has been a winner in all of his other pursuits. But in this race, Ed Rendell is the best man.

In the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Rick Santorum and State Treasurer Bob Casey, we have an interesting dilemma. In Santorum, we have a politician who complains that his message isn’t reaching Black voters, and in Casey, we have a politician who hasn’t even tried.

While some would say, “anybody but Santorum,” in this race, it has come down to “nobody and Santorum” ...

We wish we were hearing counter arguments from Bob Casey. We wish that he would send a message to the Black community detailing where he’s been and what he’s done and why he should get the vote, especially in what is turning out to be a very close election.

But we have heard next to nothing from Casey, and because of that, we cannot endorse him. Though we are quite concerned that Santorum has been the poster child for a wing of the Republican Party that has been anathema to Blacks, we endorse Rick Santorum in this race.

I don't know that newspaper endorsements carry very much weight, but I wonder whether the editorial doesn't reflect a deep dissatisfaction among black voters that Democrats are still taking them for granted. (Remember: That --- and the general meltdown of the remains of the Allegheny County Democratic machine --- slaughtered Mike Dawida and Colleen Vuono back in 1996.)

Add to that the fact that conservative "family values" candidates have been courting urban ministers for several years --- particularly over gay rights issues --- and I wonder how many African-American voters in Pennsylvania will either stay home next Tuesday, or hold their nose and vote for Santorum.

. . .

Onto the Daily News (subscribers only), and Tuesday's leader entitled "Another Silly Controversy," offering a post-mortem for John Kerry's "botched joke":

"Senator, do you regret saying the remark?" asked an unnamed reporter. "And what were you trying to say?"

"Very simple: That those who didn't study it properly, those who made the decisions, they got us into Iraq," Kerry answered. However, Kerry went on to say, "we're not going to let them change the topic."

Spoken like one closing the barn door after the horse ran out.

Sadly, the losers in all this are the voters. This is one more moment of inanity in a silly season featuring inanities from all sides.

Obscured amid his faux pas is a point Kerry made in Seattle: "We have the finest young men and women serving us in the United States military ... but this administration has let them down."

Ultimately, voters will decide if Kerry, or Bush, is right.

. . .

Also, I would be remiss in not mentioning that Tony Munson had a fine editorial about the upcoming election in last Thursday's Valley Mirror --- if I still have the issue and can post a few choice morsels, I will.

. . .

In other election-related business (oh, lawdy, lawdy, will Wednesday never come?), Maria at 2 Political Junkies deftly parses some of the nonsense in the Melissa Hart-Jason Altmire race.

Maria notes that Hart, whose district just barely touches the Mon-Yough area, has called on Altmire to stop the national Democratic Party from running commercials on his behalf.

If he does, she says she'll stop the national Republican Party from running ads for her.

But as Maria notes, if Altmire complied, he'd be slitting his own throat. Hart is sitting on $500,000 in advertising money, versus Altmire's $55,000 --- if Altmire couldn't lean on the party for support, he'd be effectively out of the race.

Writes Maria: "So if Missy 'succeeded' in ending all outside ads, she'd have a 10-1 money advantage. Ah, that Missy. So altruistic! She wants a 'fair' campaign --- one where she'll have all the monetary advantages."

Poor Missy Hart. No wonder she has such a long face.

. . .

To Do This Weekend:Trumpeter Warren Vaché and guitarist Joe Negri will be the featured musicians at Penn State McKeesport’s third annual All That’s Jazz scholarship benefit at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Student Community Center, located just off University Drive near Renzie Park. All proceeds go into the Penn State McKeesport Scholarship Fund. Call (412) 675-9048.

Serra Catholic (8-1) hosts the Duquesne Dukes (6-3) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs. It's my alma mater's first appearance in the football playoffs since the year I graduated ... and that's a long time ago. Sorry, Duquesne High fans and alumni, but GO EAGLES!

Meanwhile, it's a Lincoln Way grudge match in the first round of the Quad-A playoffs as the Norwin Knights (4-5) take on the McKeesport Tigers (7-2) at Weigle-Schaeffer Memorial Stadium tonight at 7:30.