Bulletin From Tom Manion Campaign

Today's (Monday's) initial PA column is available if you scroll down a way, but I've recently received an urgent message from Tom Manion's campaign asking for our help. Here it is:


Hello Everyone,

We would like all of you to help us out with a poll that is online. If you go to www.politickerpa.com and click on where it says “Murphy Manion Race seen as competitive” you then look to the left and you will see an opportunity to participate in the poll “Will Republicans be able to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep Pat Murphy in PA-8?” Click “yes”. Thank you all for your help.

Regards,
Krista Foy

Manion for Congress
215-348-9080 Phone

Get on Krista's Manion mailing list by e-mailing her at: krista.foy@manionforcongress.com.

I sent the following message to Krista and Tom about Gov. Sarah Palin:

Krista, will vote today. Keep up the great work. I hope Tom will endorse Sarah Palin for Republican V-P -- he may know little about her, but she's a human engine of victory in states like PA. I know the conventional wisdom is that candidates are supposed to cower in terror rather than make such endorsements. (Sarah got a great endorsement yesterday from Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- see my blog below). Boldness and imagination are going to be necessary to win this year. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Tom MUST attract "unconventional groups" -- like women professionals, young people, and working-class families -- to win, and those are the very groups to whom Sarah has a special appeal.

I'm going to be on Sirius radio from New York tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:30 p.m., and I'll try to mention Tom's campaign. (Gov. Palin's son is in U.S. Army infantry, something Tom may not know.)

Note: As far as competitive races, Melissa Hart versus Jason Altmire is a hot one, and Melissa may have a slight edge.

On Toni Gilhooley versus Tim Holden, that race could very well become intensely competitive about mid-October. People in Toni's district generally vote for Holden much the same way as Pavlov's dog salivated when the bell rang, but ex-cop Toni is changing that. She's my "upset special" for 2008.

On Marina Kats against Allyson Schwartz, the next three months (up to Labor Day) are crucial. Conceivably, Marina can move up to 45% by mid-October if she campaigns with tremendous intensity. When a race goes to 45-55%, it has reached the tipping point and becomes in essence too close to call.

The Lou Barletta-Paul Kanjorski race in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area is uncertain. Kanjorski is involved is so many scandals right now that they could undermine his candidacy. He's probably the worst congressman in America.

An out-of-state candidate who has a slim (but intriguing) chance to win is Dana Walsh of California. Her opponents (I'm not making this up) are Nancy Pelosi and Cindy Sheehan (running as an Independent).

If Dana can get 40%-plus of the vote in her three-way race, she will be congresswoman-elect from San Francisco. Pelosi could then comfort herself with her husband's mega-millions. You'll hear a lot about this contest. The Democrats are pouring in gazillions of dollars.

All the challengers listed need your support, including financial donations. Please be generous.

Sarah Palin Critical in PA Races

Important Note: This afternoon (Monday) I'll have up on my national blog(s) another column going into some detail about the Kelly endorsement of Sarah Palin (see below) and the criticality of the vice-presidential choices this year. If you want to see the column a little early, e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com, and I'll send it immediately. Thanks so much for visiting. (I love the pic below of Sarah.) On my Hillary Supporters for McCain site I have a guest column by a Black woman strongly endorsing John McCain. Why is all this so important to what's happening in Pennsylvania? McCain's naming Sarah Palin to the ticket would great enhance the Senator's chances of carrying the Keystone State. The better McCain-Palin ticket does in generating votes, the more likely it will be that challengers (Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, Marina Kats, Tom Manion, Lou Barletta, and Craig Williams, as well as Dana Walsh) can win their races. As McCain goes, so goes the GOP in PA. It's that simple. For reasons discussed below, Gov. Palin has tremendous appeal to working-class families (Hillary Supporters), military families, working mothers, gun owners, fiscal conservatives, and social conservatives, groups that make up a majority in PA (and most other states). I'm urging all candidates and their supporters to join noted columnist Jack Kelly and the editor of RealClearPolitics in strongly endorsing Sarah for V-P. Her presence in PA (and Ohio) campaigning for Republican candidates would be a tremendous boost to GOP chances in November.

Sarah Palin gets MAJOR endorsement and is now front-runner for the V-P slot on McCain's ticket. On my national blog, I speculate today that the two major party presidential candidates in the not-too-distant future might be Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.

Bulletin: One of the nation's most important conservative columnists, national security writer Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade, has just endorsed Sarah Louise Heath Palin of Alaska for the vice-president slot on John McCain's ticket. Please tell everyone in the blogo-verse! Good for Jack!

He calls her McCain's "secret weapon" and a major key to victory. He says she's "a running mate who's got it all."

Sarah's candidacy is critical to the victories of Republican congressional candidates like Melissa Hart (PA, 4th CD), Toni Gilhooley (PA, 17th CD), Dana Walsh (CA, running against Nancy Pelosi & Cindy Sheehan), Marina Kats (PA, 13th CD), and many others. Jack's column is at: http://post-gazette.com/forum.

To all bloggers and other onliners: please pass along this important information.

Scroll down to read more about Gov. Sarah Palin . . .

Hillary's Failed Speech, Sarah's Promise

Note: At the botton of this column I've posted what might be the first blog comment on Hillary Clinton's preposterous speech today in Washington, DC. The remarks conflicted with most of the statements she's made over the past 18 months, but perhaps that's par for the course in Beltway Rhetoric. If you want to read about a true American patriot, check out my comments on a remarkable woman: Gov. Sarah Palin.

This very strong woman, Gov. Sarah Heath Palin, of Alaska, could be a key to victory for the women whose pictures are below: Marina Kats, Toni Gilhooley, Melissa Hart, and Dana Walsh. If John McCain names Sarah as his running mate, which seems increasingly likely, she would campaign hard in places like Pennsylvania and, one hopes, in Dana Walsh's California. I will be writing this weekend on this site (and on my national blog) about what Sarah's presence on the McCain ticket would mean to Republican challengers in the Keystone State. For obvious reasons, Sarah has tremendous appeal to young voters, women professionals, mothers, social conservatives, gun owners, and military families. (Her son, Track, is an infantryman in the U.S. Army.) She also appeals to working families, mainly because she comes from one. (Her husband, Todd, has been a commercial fisherman and oilfield production worker.) If McCain chooses Gov. Palin, he could break the election wide open. For women generally, the best way to ensure that a qualified females gets elected President is to start voting for people like Sarah, Marina, Toni, Melissa, and Dana. As early as 2012 or 2016, we could have two women running against each other for President (Sarah versus Hillary?). To learn more about Sarah, go to: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/. If it sounds as I'm asking Toni, Melissa, Marina, and Dana to start promoting Palin for V-P well, that's exactly what I'm recommending!

Republican congressional candidate Marina Kats, PA 13th Congressional District

Republican congressional candidate Toni Gilhooley, PA 17th District

Republican congressional candidate Melissa Hart, PA 4th District

Republican congressional candidate Dana Walsh, opposing Nancy Pelosi and Cindy Sheehan in San Francisco

On this site I've urged Republican congressional candidates in Pennsylvania and elsewhere to go aggressively after supporters of Hillary Clinton. The following three paragraphs are from a column I put up today on several sites:

The biggest buzz in the blogosphere nowadays reflects the vast number of Hillary Clinton supporters who intend to vote for McCain. As I explain on my Hillary Supporters for McCain blog -- the original such site -- one of the Hillary supporters for McCain may be the New York Senator herself.

Here's the link: Doesn't Hillary Really Favor McCain?

On the above column on that popular site, I assert the following: Tomorrow, Senator Clinton will endorse a man she despises: Barack Obama. Her heart definitely will not be in it.I believe Hillary Clinton will be "blowing smoke" at us in her Saturday endorsement of Barack Obama. She's going to have her fingers crossed.

Everything Sen. Clinton does between now and November 4 (Election Day) is going to be based not on the 2008 election, but on the one in 2012. Right now, she's in full "grin-and-bear-it" mode. Conversely, her supporters are not grinning -- and, as we hear in the movie "Network," they're "not going to take it any more."

I'm putting up pictures of four Republican candidates: Dana Walsh, running aganst Nancy Pelosi and Cindy Sheehan in California; Melissa Hart, running against Jason Altmire in PA; Toni Gilhooley, running against Tim Holden in PA; and Marina Kats, running against Allyson Schwartz in PA. Today (and everyday), I'm asking all visitors to make at least a small contribution to these outstanding candidates.

Do any of them have a chance to win? I believe that all of have a chance (key word) to win.

Here's what my friend Adam (founder of the palinforvp movement) said about Dana Walsh:

"While I'm obviously skeptical of our chances of beating Speaker Pelosi, this might be a good campaign to highlight. With two strong liberals in the race, there is an slight outside chance that a very well funded and publicized Republican might be able to run up the middle and win a plurality. If nothing else, a strong second . . . place showing would be a major black eye for Pelosi, who usually makes mincemeat of the local GOP out there."

ADAM


Adam makes an excellent point: yes, Dana Walsh is a true long-shot, but there is a "just maybe" factor. Just maybe this is the year and the time to defeat Nancy Pelosi. If Dana could get 40% of the vote in a three-woman race -- not an impossible number -- she just might end up as congresswoman elect.

The whole point of this column has been to discuss ways that Republicans -- especially first-rate female candidates -- can win. To achieve that, however, they need your support, and they need it now.

In very difficult races, winning and losing should not be a major concern -- at least until late October. Christine Todd Whitman of NJ "lost" a big race against Sen. Bill Bradley 20 years ago. But she came so close that she wrecked Bradley's presidential aspirations. She also established the foundation for a great political career (as Governor and as head of the EPA) for herself.

Winning is part of a process. Admittedly, it's a process great candidates want to speed up. As I keep reminding people, Newt Gingrich lost his first two elections for Congress. The third time for him -- in 1978 -- truly was the charm. Get the process underway candidates, and most assuredly you will win at some point.

Supporters: Please visit those web sites -- and give as generously as you can.

HILLARY'S PRO-OBAMA SPEECH: AN EXERCISE IN FAILURE

"I would rather lose an election than lose a war." (John McCain) Can anyone believe that either Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama would make such a statement?

Hillary Chooses Party Over Country
Senator Clinton's address today was well-delivered but substantively empty. She reminded me a great deal of Roseanne Roseanna Dann (Gilder Radner) on the old "Saturday Night Live." She was the one who wildly misunderstood political concept and, when that was pointed out to her, would say, "Oh, never mind."

Today, Sen. Clinton gave us a tagline for her presidential campaign: "Oh, never mind."Sen. Clinton's speech today was one that valued Party over Country, which is profoundly disturbing. In her campaign, she raised serious question about Barack Obama's fitness to be President. In today's speech, she did not deal with -- or resolve -- those questions.

Are we really to believe that when that 3 a.m. call arrives on the red phone that Obama has suddenly become ready to answer? Does she want us to believe that he has suddenly transformed himself into some who can deal effectively with great challenges? Is the man -- Obama -- that Bill Clinton said last week had "slimed" his wife through surrogates like Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger now a man of decency?

Mrs. Clinton told us this afternoon how great the Democratic Presidents of our lifetime had been. Oh really? President Carter with high inflation, high unemployment, a terrible energy crisis, and Americans languishing captive in Iran? President Johnson engaged in an endless conflict in Vietnam? President Clinton entertaining Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office? Those are not good memories, Hillary.

Presidents Johnson, Carter, and Clinton were all men who valued Party slightly more than country -- and they did great damage to their nation. In the campaign, Hillary Clinton spoke some hard truths about the inadequacies of her opponent. Today, she delivered a speech, one written by someone else, that was in total conflict with everything she said over the past two years. It was certainly not her finest hour.

The people who supported Hilary's historic campaign should be very dismayed at what she said today. If you want to read about a woman of real courage and toughness, you'll find one right below. She values country and family first, and she's a critic of her Party when it falls short of its obligations. Mrs. Clinton feels her Party is perfect, and that's just one of the ways she fails to live up to the standards manifested by Gov. Palin.

Sarah is America's future. Hillary Clinton is a fading remnant of America's past.

Dana Walsh: Rebuilding the GOP

San Francisco enterpreneur and Republican congressional candidate Dana Walsh taking on Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi. If you'd like to send a check by mail to Dana:
Dana Walsh for Congress
1592 Union St.
Suite 52
San Francisco, CA 94123-4531






By 6:30 p.m. today ET I'd had 397visitors (wow) and nearly 550 hits. The old record was 257. You may just have set the new one. Thanks. I do believe you can find information here that isn't available elsewhere. If you want the "real skinny" on American politics, material you won't read elsewhere, please visit my national blog at: http://camp2008victorya.blogspot.com/. Thanks. You're always welcome here.

The goal of this site is to re-energize the Republican Party, both in PA and nationally. With your help that will happen. Please let your friends and family know this blog exists to build support for candidates who respect and encourage your way of life. Candidates need to put a link to this site up on their campaign web sites. The same for local GOP organizations.

Candidates, supporters, and vistors: Let's make a major effort to support Republican congressional candidate Dana Walsh. I am going to put up on every blog (and I have a bunch) an appeal to send a contribution to Ms. Walsh. She's pro-military and running against Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi, "the witches of the West." I hope a whole lot of people online will feature Dana Walsh at: http://danawalshforcongress.com/. Her web site is terrific. It has pics of Sheehan and Pelosi playing huggy-bear with dictators (Chavez and Assad) Please contribute whatever you can to help this courageous woman.

Later today, I'll be writing more about online resources (and individuals) who are available to help Republican candidates for federal offices. These resources are NOT coming from national Republican organizations, which are mainly exercises in narcissism. They are from people (including yours truly) who are spending their own time and money to support Republican causes.

One site candidates and their online supporters need to visit is Kathy Morrison's http://mccainbloggerresources.blogspot.com. The resources she mentions also apply to so-called "down-ballot" candidates, that is, everyone not running for President or Vice-President. Kathy also has sites related to local races and to battleground states. (Links will be up shortly.)

Also, most candidates don't use their campaign web sites nearly as effectively as they could. Those web sites should features lots of videos (giving a bow to the "YouTube" generation) and pictures. They also should (MUST) feature a video appeal from the candidate for donations. Campaigns cost money, and it's up to every Republican -- conservative, moderate, or otherwise -- to help candidates get their messages across. If you can contribute only $10 or $20, that's fine.

For GOP candidates who need help with fundraising, they should e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com. I can't help you raise hundreds of thousands, but I can help you raise in the thousands (if we're both lucky). Also, every Republican candidate should have a tie-in with the independent fundraising operation at http://Slatecard.com. Contact a representative of that organization through Joe@Slatecard.com.

If you're a candidate or supporter who's asked by a representative of McCain Campaign for support, remind them of the first rule of "Italian politics": "you scratcha my back, and I scratcha yours." If someone asks you to contribute to national Republican organizations (the Republican National Committee or the National Republican Congressional Committee), ask them how that is going to help congressional and Senatorial candidates in your area. If they don't have an answer, tell them (as we say in Beaver County) to "hit the bricks."

It is profoundly important we all work to elect John McCain as President. It's even more important that we re-build the Republican Party, especially in states (like New York) where it's wasting away.

This can be a decent year for the GOP -- and it might even be a good one. However, that will require us all working together. We have some great "new" candidates, and they deserve my support and yours.

MELISSA HART ON LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN AMERICAN HISTORY -- BROUGHT TO YOU BY CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2008 CONTACT: Alicia Collins
724-779-4750 office
724-612-9490 cell

HART APPALLED BY ALTMIRE’S VOTE TODAY TO RAISE TAXES ON WORKING FAMILIES

Cranberry Township, PA – Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart sharply criticized Congressman Altmire’s vote today in support of the Democrat Budget resolution.

Congresswoman Hart stated, “The budget resolution passed today is appalling. The spending is continuing to increase at a dangerous level with the Democrat led Congress. I hope to have the opportunity to return to Washington and trim the fat out of this overstuffed budget.”

Hart added, “I think Altmire will have a hard time explaining his vote for tax increases to the people of the 4th Congressional District. Hard working families and small businesses owners here are tightening their family and business budgets to cover increasing gas costs, now they have to worry about their tax bill increasing as well.”

Economic publications have recognized the budget for what it is – the largest tax increase in history.

“The Senate's new $3 trillion budget for 2009 is big, but it fails to do something vital to the U.S. economy: extend President Bush's tax cuts. If this isn't fixed, we'll soon face the largest tax hike in our history … The House is also expected to pass the measure this week.” (Investor’s Business Daily, 6/5/08)

“Republicans in both the House and Senate have been strongly opposed to the budget as outlined by the Democrats, calling it the largest tax increase in history. That's because Democrats don't renew many of Mr. Bush's tax cuts, which are due to expire in the next few years.” (The Wall Street Journal, 6/4/08)

However, Democratic leaders continue to deny the facts.

Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), Chairman of the Budget Committee: “Let me say emphatically, this budget does not raise taxes.” (House Floor Remarks, 6/5/08)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “This year’s budget plan does not include a tax increase.” (House Floor Remarks, 6/5/08)

“Pelosi and other Washington Democrats, including my opponent continue to claim they are ‘fiscally responsible’ but there are no facts to back it up. You can’t just say there are no tax increases in a bill over and over and make it reality – you have to vote that way too. This level of insincerity is troubling,” remarked Hart.

The final version of the 2009 Budget resolution was passed by a vote of 214-210. The Democrat Budget resolution will hit 116 million American taxpayers with an average tax hike of $1,833. Working families will be hit especially hard under this new plan. A family of four with two children that currently earns $50,000 annually would have to pay roughly an additional $2,155 in taxes – this is almost a 191% increase.

NOTE: If you'd like to get e-mailed releases from the Hart campaign, please e-mail campaign manager Alicia Collins at: alicia@peoplewithhart.com.