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Campaign Crawlers
Don’t Ignore Pennsylvania’s 3rd District
Freshman Democrat Blue Dog Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper is vulnerable — and has only herself to blame.
“Today Is the Beginning,” beamed the subject head in my email box the morning after last Tuesday’s election. It was a rally cry from the office of Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), a freshman Congresswoman representing Pennsylvania’s 3rd district, a large area traversing the northwest corner of the state, from Erie to Mercer County.
“Dear Paul,” began the mass email. “Thank you for your overwhelming vote of support. I am both humbled and honored to represent you and I look forward to a spirited general election campaign.”
It was an odd message to send to a committed non-supporter, a conservative with no intention to vote for the Congresswoman. Undeterred, the email continued, wasting no time responding to the verdict from the previous day’s Republican primary, won by a local businessman named Mike Kelly:
The Republican primary resulted in a late night win by Mike Kelly, a car dealer who spent more than $300,000 of his own money to win the race. The Republican primary turned negative early and was full of attack ads and never focused on the important issues facing this region and country. It is my hope that we can engage in a civil and healthy debate, but I do not hold out hope based on how the Republican primary was run…. This race is about all of you, about creating good, family sustaining jobs, about protecting “Main Street” from the greed of Wall Street.
It was the tried-and-true class-warfare card, lifted from page one, paragraph one of the Democratic Party playbook. The deadly sin of envy works handsomely in this blue-collar, union-ridden Democratic region — a variant of the “Murthanomics” insightfully delineated in the Spectator by Robert Stacy McCain in his analysis of Democrat Mark Critz’s victory over Republican Tim Burns not far down the road in Pennsylvania’s 12th district.
Of course, it was the Burns-Critz race to replace the deceased John Murtha that captured the nation’s attention. Murtha held the seat since practically the Civil War. No matter what his transgressions, the Johnstown faithful, in repeated acts of self-mutilation, blindly re-elected the Congressman, even as he denounced them as “racists” and “rednecks,” disparaged his last Republican challenger as a “God-damned carpetbagger,” and accused heroic U.S. Marines of being “cold blooded killers.” No big deal: Fat on government pork, Murtha’s recipients, like dogs crawling back to their vomit — or, perhaps, pigs to the trough — yet again yanked the lever for the Congressman.
Of course, also capturing the nation’s attention was Pennsylvania’s Senate race, where Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter lost to an even bigger liberal named Joe Sestak. Conservatives were always troubled by Specter’s position on social issues like abortion. Well, Joe Sestak makes Arlen Specter look like Mother Teresa on the abortion issue. The analogy is a good one, as Sestak is not only horrible on matters of life, but is Catholic to boot — which brings me back to the Dahlkemper-Kelly race in Pennsylvania’s 3rd district.
Most interesting about Dahlkemper-Kelly is that it pits a pro-life Catholic Democrat (Dahlkemper) against a pro-life Catholic Republican (Kelly). In fact, such was the scenario two years ago, when Dahlkemper defeated six-term pro-life Catholic Republican Phil English. Dahlkemper, a neophyte, stood nowhere near English in policy knowledge. Yet, the DNC was confident that Dahlkemper’s social conservatism — her pro-life stance being the capstone — could play a decisive role in drawing traditional/Reagan Democrats away from English. The DNC was right. It worked.
What has happened since, however, doesn’t bode well for Dahlkemper’s prospects. She complains about Mike Kelly spending $300,000 of his own money on his campaign, but that pales to her spending $800 billion of other people’s money on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid “stimulus” package. With the paint barely dry on her office door in Washington, the Congresswoman displayed a flash of fiscal insanity that didn’t please the folks back home.
Yet, she was still pro-life. Or was she? That brings me to political sin #2.
Dahlkemper is indeed pro-life. I know people who know her. I’ve heard her personal testimony about the choice she made as a young woman that has kept her on a pro-life path her entire life. She remained on that road as the crucial vote on “Obama-care” approached the final Sunday in Lent. Dahlkemper was one of the “Blue Dog” holdouts among the Bart Stupak Democrats. Alas, in the end, she, too, caved. Hers is among the hoodwinked faces of duped Democrats standing aside their beloved leader, President Obama, as he signed a last-minute, midnight executive order to (allegedly) ban taxpayer funding of abortion — a ban, incidentally, that the bishops who run Dahlkemper’s Church insist will be ineffectual.
This was a fateful move by Dahlkemper, one that infuriated pro-lifers in her district. When I left Mass the Sunday before the primary, I saw pro-life voter-guides tucked under the windshield wipers of the cars in the lot. The guides listed Dahlkemper as “pro-abortion.”
The ultimate sign of discontent with the Congresswoman was the floodgate of Republicans licking their chops to challenge her. Five serious Republican challengers stepped up, almost stampeding one another for the honor. All were good candidates, genuinely conservative, from economics to social policy — and, of course, all solidly pro-life. Not one would have voted for Obamacare or the “stimulus.”
Finally, the Republican who emerged on top is 62-year-old Mike Kelly. Born in Pittsburgh and raised in nearby Butler, Pennsylvania, Kelly was a high-school football standout who earned an academic/athletic scholarship to Notre Dame, where he was a starter his freshman year, until a devastating knee injury cut his career short. He went back home and eventually took over his father’s car dealership. He’s a real conservative, running under a mantra of “Never Raise Taxes” and eliminating out-of-control spending. He’s a winnable candidate.
This is one of those seats Republicans need to take back the House. If Mike Kelly defeats Kathy Dahlkemper, it will be a good night for the GOP this November. If he loses, it could be a long night. This is a race Republicans should be able to win.
The Dahlkemper seat is not getting much attention from the national media. That’s a mistake. Don’t ignore Pennsylvania’s 3rd district.
About the Author
Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. He is author of the new book The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor. His other books include The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
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Drudge ette Obama| 5.25.10 @ 6:17AM
She is among the Rahm Catholics/ProGun/AntiAbortion/ProMilitary types who were allowed to pretend to be conservative Democrats for the more conservative regions. But believe me, when push would come to shove, these Rahmers would vote for the Pelosi/Obama/Reid; otherwise, their ambivalent power-hungry rumps would be denied Democratic cash and shown the door.
Another one of these is Jim Marshall - Rep. GA -
None of these wimps ever spoke loudly to condemn their no votes - they just want their pension and have tired of whatever the hell they were doing before being put in Congress by the Rahm machine.
Georgians, vote Jim Marshall OUT.
Buddy| 5.25.10 @ 11:58AM
If I was in Marshall's district I would surely vote against him, but I am in Sanford Bishop's district. He is a blue dog in liberal clothing. I will be doing all I can to defeat him. Wish us luck, we'll need it.
drudge ette obama| 5.26.10 @ 5:38AM
Buddy, Sanford Bishop is the same thing. I suggest those of us who are inclined to get the biggest bang for their buck, send a few dollars to these leeches' opponents. I am with you.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 5.25.10 @ 8:05AM
And, in an interesting turn of events, all Mike Kelly need do is point out that she placed a tax burden of $300,000 on each voter in her district and he wants keep Main Street away from the greed of government.
Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.25.10 @ 8:14AM
So Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, is just another Pro-Life Democrat, who stuck to her principles, and by doing so opened the door for more abortions in America by voting for Obama's Healthcare? That's all I needed to hear about her. So I just got off of Mike Kelly's website, after sending him $100, after reading this article. So if you've got a few extra bucks left in your checking account, maybe you can do the same thing. Every dollar raised counts, every District won counts, every phony Democrat who we send into early retirement is a small victory in saving our Country's future. If your interested in supporting Mike Kelly too, I'll save you a few seconds looking for his website today, by posting it below. Call it my good deed of the day if you will, but it's not really, I'm just trying to fulfill my New Year's resolution, which is to single handedly destroy the entire Democratic Party in America. It's a small dream, but it's my dream!! Won't you help me reach my New Year's resolution? Thank you all!!
http://www.mikekellyforcongress.com/
drudge ette obama| 5.26.10 @ 5:39AM
Send those bucks, while you still have them.
Bob K.| 5.25.10 @ 8:29AM
There are 2 other Districts like this in PA that are vulnerable. The 10th District in the Northeastern top corner of PA. It was solidily Republican until 1996 when it's Republican Congressman was thrown out for admitted dalliance with a staff member. He was replaced with Chris Carney, a PhD Poly Sci Professor at the Worthington (Scranton) Campus of Penn State. He is also a Naval Reserve Officer who has spent time in Iraq. He is Catholic but has made no notable statements about abortion, none about gun control and none about cap and trade. He is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, moving late to this area. He really does not have much in common with his constituency.
The Republican Nominee for the seat is Tom Marino, an attorney from Williamsport who will be smeared by the press for being Italian and somehow or other associated with organized crime. He was formerly the Federal Prosecutor in the District.
The 11th District just south of the 10th district is also vulnerable. It's congressman is Paul Kanjorski, who lost his own home county in the last election to Lou Barletta, Mayor of Hazleton, Pa. Barletta is running against him again.
The big news in the area is the Judicial Scandal that has resorted in the removal of 5 judges from the 10 that sat on the Luzerne County Bench. Plus one retired Judge from another county who was assigned here to help out with the work load. It would make great material for a novel by someone like Carl Hiassen!
This is a notorious low wage area. The policy since after WWII has been to discourage high wage industries from locating in this district. This has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of talented and ambitious people over the years. The unions were complicit in this policy. The result has been that the best jobs with the best pensions that exist in the area are now government jobs in the municipal, county, state and federal governments. The best paying jobs here with the best benefits and best pensions are teaching jobs. There is no demographic base left here working in private employment to sustain these jobs. Or to sustain the daily business of government like schools, police, fire protection, roads, bridges, etc for that matter. Wilkes Barre, the county seat, is a city of 40,000. It has 3 High Schools within it's boundaries which have been functionally obsolete for at least 30 years. They serve mainly as employment mills for the families of the politically connected.
The businesses left here have resorted to importing low wage hispanics to exploit in their industries. This district has one of the bleakest outlooks, job wise, in the state.
Dan Hirsch| 5.25.10 @ 9:08AM
I am encouraged that the Democrats are using the exact same strategy in '10 that they used in '06. Democratic Congressional candidates campaign as conservatives and vote as left wing liberals. That shouldn't be too hard to combat.
Oh, I forgot we are counting on Republicans to be both smart and conservative....
We are so screwed......
ds80| 5.25.10 @ 9:15AM
Correction: "Sestak is not only horrible on matters of life, but is Catholic to boot"
... should be "but calls himself Catholic"
Nick| 5.25.10 @ 10:18AM
ds80,
Or, Sestak is a CINO: Catholic In Name Only.
gearjammer| 5.25.10 @ 10:57AM
I hope Kelly gets up to speed on 401k's, IRA's, etc. He needs to make it clear that he knows this issue inside out and how it relates to the middle class. This is a big anxiety issue for many people across the board. Democrats=Crummy golden years is a message the GOP must get to the right people. Don't let the democrats and their media pals get away with blaming these current woes on Europe.Point the finger at the democrats- " since 2006 and six the democrat congress yada, yada, yada ". Make it clear to people that they are making themselves and our nation poor by voting democrat.
gearjammer| 5.25.10 @ 11:07AM
I understand your point Bob K. But, for a long time what passes for affluent in even the poorest areas has felt cozy and smug voting democrat-it may be no more that 10-15000 thousand voters and they try to emulate the sense and sensibility of people in richer more sophisticated places. The women in particular take their cues from visible, opinion leader females in national media, you know the ones I mean. But, now they are losing money and older. They can't indulge their pretensions any more. Vote republican or stand in line for government cheese-don't say it so bluntly of course be smoother and sensitive but make the point to this subset all over districts in the country. It will swing them our way .
Retired Coastie| 5.25.10 @ 1:28PM
I am also from Erie, PA and have a few issues with the story as well. First of all, as was pointed out in the primary, Mike Kelly donated money to democrats in 2008. He was also a registered democrat until recently. Where has his head been the last 20+ years? Kathy Dahlkemper didn't win the district from Phil English because she was pro-life. It wasn't even an issue. She won because the electorate believed the democrat and main stream media garbage that if only democrats would be elected, we're on our way to the promised land..........yada, yada, yada. In order for Mike Kelly to win he only needs to ask the voters a few important questions.
1) Did Kathy Dahlkemper vote the wishes of the majority of her constituents when she voted in favor of the Health Care Bill?
2) If she didn't, why would you vote for a representative that does not represent you?
If she says she did, she should be required to produce the phone, e-mail & snail mail tracking numbers from her offices to prove it. Otherwise, she's lying. If she didn't, well, we didn't send her to Washington DC to represent Obama, Pelosi & Reid. She was supposed to be representing us, not them.
Petrolia Pete| 5.25.10 @ 1:50PM
Retired Coastie - You are getting your candidates mixed up. Mike Kelly has been a republican and conservative all of his life. Paul Huber was the democrat from 1978 until 2008, when he turned Republican.
Also, Mike Kelly donated to the "Republicans for English" campaing in 2008. You might be thinking of a small donation it was rumored that he made in 1998 to Bill Leavans who ran for State legislature on a platform of balanced budget and cutting congressional and staff salaries. It was reported he allegedly did this as a favor to one of his employees who was trying to raise money for Mr. Leavens and was having a difficult time.
Big Jim| 5.25.10 @ 2:40PM
I live in PA's 10th and work in PA's 11th. From where I sit it looks like Carney is dead meat and Barletta has a better than 50% chance to unseat Kanjorski. Let's clean house in the House!
John3| 5.25.10 @ 6:33PM
She is the same class as Mr. Ellsworth of Indiana. Truthfully, inasmuch as we wanted to be open minded about the elections, we cannot elect ANY of the Democrats--even those who say that they are socially conservative. The words Democrat and social conservatism CANNOT be used together anymore---and probably for a long time. It's too bad: the Democratic Party needs to rename themselves the Liberal Socialist Democratic Party (at least the British were more honest!)
Nick| 5.25.10 @ 6:45PM
John3,
I prefer Democratic Socialist Workers' Party.
Then we can call them dazis!
MTB| 5.25.10 @ 7:25PM
Don't trust a democrat! Not a single one of them. They are liars, they cannot be trusted, they will do what is good for them and/or their party, but not for the American people. Just ask any democrat running about the healthcare bill and see what they say. Oh, by the way, it's going to cost way more than they said it would, and it did not create the hundreds of thousands of jobs Nancy Pelosi said it would once it was signed into law. See? Liars.
Crusader| 5.25.10 @ 9:21PM
Wow, those Dem women are always so attractive.
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