Category: default || By jt3y

Cluttered items from an empty mind:

Let's put to rest the legend that Fast Eddie is a political genius. The governor can't seem to get anything through the state legislature, and the spanking Pennsylvanians gave to Act 1 on Tuesday suggests he can't get over on the voters, either.

The gov says voters "were confused" and didn't have enough information. Or maybe, unfortunately for him, we weren't confused, did have enough information and saw that this wasn't tax reform --- it was just a shell game that was going to result in higher taxes for millions of Pennsylvanians.

Arguably his tenure as head of the Democratic National Committee was undistinguished. Also consider such boneheaded moves as his apparent endorsement (quickly retracted) of Rick Santorum and the way that he goaded Teresa Kerry into confronting Colin McNickle back in 2004.

I'm not saying he's incompetent, but it's clear that the skills he used to become a power-broker in Philadelphia do not translate statewide. For whatever reason, he keeps misreading the mood of the citizens and other elected officials, making his political acumen looks less "David L. Lawrence in his prime" and more "second-term Milton Shapp."

If anyone on the national political scene still thinks Ed Rendell might make a good presidential or vice-presidential candidate, they're seriously out of touch.

. . .

Does anyone actually like having campaign workers lined up outside the polling place, thrusting slate cards in their hands? More to the point, does anyone actually make up their mind based on the slate card someone handed to them five minutes earlier?

If so, that person should not be allowed to vote. In fact, I'm against letting them pick the toppings for their "MTO" at Sheetz.

I do read the political literature sent out by candidates and my union (I'm a very lonely man), but I can't stand running the gauntlet just to get inside. Usually, though, I just mumble "thanks" and stuff the slate card they give me into the garbage. Very occasionally I will refuse to accept a slate card from someone, which has caused a couple of arguments. (There are a few Mon-Yough area politicians who I wouldn't vote for if their opponents were Pol Pot and Satan.)

There has to be a better way to campaign than shoving those stupid things in our faces minutes before we're supposed to vote.

. . .

Speaking of the atmosphere at the polling place, why does a little bit of authority turn some people into martinets? In Pennsylvania, elected constables function like deputy sheriffs --- they serve court papers and transport prisoners, and can also provide security at district magistrates' offices or polling places. Where deputy sheriffs work mostly on the county level, however, constables work mostly in local communities.

I've met many constables who were great, hard-working guys (believe me, many of them don't make much money and bust their humps). But I've met a few whose self importance was all out of proportion to their competence.

We had a constable at our polling place who was barking orders at voters for no apparent reason other than to justify his existence. (Our little polling place in North Bittyburg, Ward 3, Precinct 1, only got about 200 voters all day, so he wasn't exactly trying to control a surging throng of humanity.)

Maybe that hard-ass attitude is necessary when he's hauling DUIs and crackheads downtown for arraignment, but it sure seems self-defeating on election day.

No one has a constitutional right for life to be pleasant, but it's hard enough to get people to vote without making them confront the electioneers outside, and then the wanna-be Soviet prison guards inside.