{"id":32254,"date":"2016-10-22T12:17:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=32254"},"modified":"2016-10-22T12:20:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-22T16:20:25","slug":"democrats-play-their-trump-card-and-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=32254","title":{"rendered":"Democrats play their Trump card and hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ads start to go negative, too, shockingly<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"timespoliticsunusual\"<\/a>Last week, in this space I noted that Democratic candidates would be looking to staple their Republican opponents to GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on a flurry of TV ads and mailers I\u2019ve seen this week, I had it mostly right, except maybe the implement: Democrats are using a nail gun, and one has to wonder how much bleeding this linkage of the self-immolating Trump to local Republicans is going to cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

From Marty Malloy\u2019s mailers \u2014 the Democrat running against state Sen. Tom Killion (R-9) \u2014 to Carolyn Comitta\u2019s TV ad that can only be described as Thomas The Tank Engine\u2019s Scary Nightmare featuring Deplorable Donald The Tank Engine with Your Friendly Conductor, State Rep. Dan Truitt. Spoiler alert: the train flies off the tracks and things end badly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sen.<\/a>

Sen. Tom Killion gets his moves on in a Marty Malloy mailer.<\/p><\/div>\n

And yes, it\u2019s true that Truitt has long ago fled Trump like diners running from Chipotle during one of its semi-regular food contamination scares, but as the GOP presidential nominee has made clear, truth is overrated in politics \u2014 and in his case, to be avoided whenever possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a campaign where \u201cNo, you\u2019re a puppet\u201d were actual words uttered in a presidential debate, it doesn\u2019t seem like much of a losing prospect to burden local GOP candidates with Trumpy McTrumpface \u2014 as those wacky kids love to call him on the Internet \u2014 and see them attempt to do damage control.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Trump Train is truly a scary place — in a Carolyn Comitta commercial.<\/p><\/div>\n

There seems to be three options (and we\u2019ve seen all three from Republicans in the county): denounce and abandon Trump (and then try to change the subject); condemn him and his comments du jour (women, voter fraud, Russia, etc.) that are the day\u2019s latest media sensation but stick with him or grimace, say little and hang tough with Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

All three are problems, though.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those bailing on Trump \u2014 and this is one of those your milage may vary things depending on where in Chester County you\u2019re running \u2014 stand to lose support from that warm and fuzzy portion of the party that is in open rebellion against the county party leadership, the southwest portion in the county in particular. Without those votes, the numbers are tough.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those sticking with Trump, especially in the more affluent and educated areas, the \u201cgiant sucking sound\u201d is married women dropping their support. Again, without those votes, the numbers are tough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which leaves the last option: don\u2019t say much and hope no one notices. Or do that and run attack ads on your opponent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Option 3 (and 3A) seems to be the most popular choice, so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of them problematic, of course. Or as Col. Walter Kurtz put it so well in Apocalypse Now<\/em>, \u201cThe horrors, the horrors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s move Wednesday to say he wouldn\u2019t necessarily accept the results of the election \u2014 in essence delegitimizing the election process \u2014 puts local legislators are in an extra bind. Many of them have banged the drum of voter fraud during recent pushes for Voter ID, which to be honest, was a ham-handed attempt to depress minority, largely Democratic turnout (as the courts have noted). That makes it hard to take a hard stand against Trump\u2019s argument \u2014 or to be taken seriously when expressing \u201coutrage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest: there\u2019s a bit of voter fraud and a decent amount of voter intimidation in Pennsylvania, but statewide it is generally balanced out between the parties. Let\u2019s just say any pro-Democrat edge from dead people voting in Philadelphia has generally been cancelled by the combination of voter intimidation in Delaware County (which also has been known to cast a few post mortality votes for the GOP, by the way) and yes, in Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yes, I\u2019ve seen voter intimidation in person \u2014 at least in Delaware and Chester counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The claims that illegal aliens are voting \u2014 at least in Chester County \u2014 are silly and without merit. As someone who\u2019s spent time trying to register voters among the Latino community, it\u2019s a tough sell to get the naturalized and native-born Hispanic citizens to register and vote. Illegal aliens? They want nothing to do with voting or much of anything that might attract attention from the authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are these bipartisan shenanigans something to be proud about? No. Is it statistically significant? No. In fact, human error (mis-tallied or misreported results, people making ballot errors) likely has a bigger impact on the outcome of races \u2014 again, tiny and statistically insignificant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did my Tammany ancestors steal elections? Sure. But it only went so far \u2014 or my great grandfather, Edward Cox (where my middle name comes from), would have been elected Queens (N.Y.) Borough President in 1929, instead of getting routed by a Fiorello La Guardia-backed fusion ticket just days after the great market crash that kicked off the Great Depression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today \u2014 with the checks and balances \u2014 widespread fraud is almost impossible. Trump\u2019s attacks on the Philadelphia vote is an indictment of former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Carol Aichele \u2014 a former Chester County Commissioner. Apparently, in Trump\u2019s world, Aichele turned a blind eye to fraud and handed the election to Barack Obama in 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

Except, of course, Aichele did no such thing. While one might not of have agreed with her on everything, consensus is that she ran a fairly tight ship and worked to keep the election process in the state honest during her time in office.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are lines that shouldn\u2019t be crossed and this one is one.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, not all of the attack ads out this week are Trump-related \u2014 but not surprisingly they have some calling foul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One of the mailer images from an Andy Dinniman mailer taking on state Senate opponent Jack London.<\/p><\/div>\n

State Senate candidate Jack London (R) is taking exception to a mailer in support of Sen. Andy Dinniman\u2019s campaign \u2014 paid for by the state Democratic Party \u2014 portraying him as a muscular body builder \u2014 complete with a faux-Wheaties box suggesting that London doesn\u2019t pay his bills and supports digital billboards.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the images come from London\u2019s time as a professional bodybuilder \u2014 he competed in the 1990s in the sport, after serving as a police officer. Since the end of his sports career, London has worked in the financial services industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

London\u2019s campaign has a press conference Sunday to denounce Dinniman for alleged body shaming.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to note that the GOP went negative first in local cable TV commercials \u2014 suggesting that Dinniman has gotten \u201cmillions\u201d in state pension money while serving in government. Dinniman is a former West Chester University professor and earned a pension from that position. He also is eligible to collect a pension from his terms as a Chester County Commissioner \u2014 which he was until winning election to the State Senate in 2006. Whether it is a fact that that Dinniman has collected \u201cmillions\u201d is somewhat unclear \u2014 but it is important to note that Dinniman paid into the pension fund during his employment, so at least a portion of the\u00a0 <\/span>pension checks he receives were funded with his own money.<\/span><\/p>\n

The GOP has also aired moderately \u201cnasty\u201d commercials against Congressional Candidate Mike Parrish (D) who is running the Sixth Congressional District against U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello. Parrish has had well-documented financial issues \u2014 which he attributes to a messy divorce. The Costello commercial hammers him over those issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s a legitimate argument, it begs some questions: if Costello is truly as far ahead as some polling suggests, is running an ad like that a bit like trying to score a touchdown with 2:00 left when you have a 50-0 lead? Or \u2014 is the Costello campaign seeing concerning internal polling numbers driven by the Trump debacle?<\/span><\/p>\n

Also on the trash train: State Rep. Harry Lewis, Jr. \u2014 backed by the House Republican Campaign Committee \u2014 went negative on Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell in the 74th District race, hitting him over his previous DUI charges \u2014 an issue during the last campaign cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look, here\u2019s an ugly truth: while everyone says they don\u2019t like negative ads, they work. If they didn\u2019t, we wouldn\u2019t keep seeing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, when one party goes to the well a lot on negatives, it kind of hurts their credibility when they claim to be incensed when the other party does the same thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Democrats seemed primed to pile on London, pointing out this week that the Avondale resident has only voted seven times in the 30 years of his adult life \u2014 which they say suggests someone not very involved or committed to political or civic life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chester County Democratic Chair Brian McGinnis took issue with that this week:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is beyond astonishing that Jack London, the hand-picked candidate of the local GOP power players, has barely voted in his adult life,\u201d McGinnis said in a statement. \u201cAs a registered voter, he chose to stay home 83% of the times that his fellow citizens went to the polls to choose our local, State or Federal leaders. This does not even include the 10 years he spent as an unregistered adult. We already knew that Jack was an inexperienced candidate with little to offer in the way of civic involvement or even ties to our community. Now we also know that he has spent decades of his life in total indifference to the important issues our government deals with every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, London said that was correct and that he was focused on his professional and family life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s correct,\u201d London said in a statement. \u201cI am not a career politician nor have I been involved in politics prior to my race at any level. \u00a0Like many people, I have focused on my private sector career and family. \u00a0I am small business owner, family-man and former professional athlete. My opponent, however, is a career politician who has lived off the taxpayers his entire career. He and his political bosses are waging a negative campaign after claiming to be above it on social media. Their attacks have been personal in nature even going as far as to mock and ridicule my appearance. The same body-shaming which unfortunately goes on in our schools and promotes bullying. I will stick to the issues, and I am undeterred. \u00a0I look forward to addressing these issues publicly on Sunday during the debate. Thanks to this process and folks like Senator Dinniman, I will always be involved in the political process moving forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

A new polling memo is out from Christina Hartman, the Democrat running to replace the retiring U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in the 16th District. Her new polling suggests that the race against Republican Lloyd Smucker is a three-point contest, with her trailing 45-42.<\/span><\/p>\n

We reached out to Smucker\u2019s campaign for comment on the poll, but did not get a response. The GOP campaign previously declined to release its own polling data.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poll of 400 likely voters this past week took place before the third presidential debate and subsequent meltdowns seen at the top of the ticket, so it is possible that the numbers could be trending even worse for Smucker right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

An interesting tidbit: the poll suggest that Hartman enjoys a double digit lead in the Chester County portion of the 16th. If true, that could be a good sign for the legislative candidates in that area: state Senate Candidate Marty Malloy, state representative candidate Susan Rzucidlo and state representative candidate Josh Maxwell.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m told that Public Policy Polling is in the field with a poll on Malloy\u2019s race, the Truitt-Comitta contest and potentially more legislative contests. It will be interesting to see those numbers from a well-established national polling outfit, likely early this week. While PPP typically has a Democrat \u201chouse effect\u201d or lean, according to FiveThirtyEight.com<\/span><\/a>, PPP has actually had a bit of a GOP lean this year. If PPP shows the races as close, it should be a good indicator of the current state of play.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ads start to go negative, too, shockingly By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Last week, in this space I noted that Democratic candidates would be looking to staple their Republican opponents to GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. Based on a flurry of TV ads and mailers I\u2019ve seen this week, I had it mostly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1283,8684,4615,8137,7426,8926,8683,188,9024,9025],"class_list":["post-32254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-andy-dinniman","tag-christina-hartman","tag-dan-truitt","tag-donald-j-trump","tag-featured","tag-jack-london","tag-lloyd-smucker","tag-ryan-costello","tag-trumpy-mctrumpface","tag-voter-fraud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32254"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32258,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32254\/revisions\/32258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}