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Decisively Undecided
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Race
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy May 08, 2010 05:06am |
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| Category | Profile |
| Author | Chris Potter |
| News Date | Thursday, May 6, 2010 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | It's hard to remember now, but in 2006 and 2008, Democrats were caught up in an election-year-frenzy. The chance to defeat Rick Santorum, and then to put a Democrat in the White House, generated unprecedented excitement.
But in 2010, we're seeing unprecedented levels of apathy -- even though two critical statewide races are at stake in the May 18 primary. (Not to mention the race for Lieutenant Governor, as well as for seats in District 19 and District 20 of the state House of Representatives.)
Congressman Joe Sestak is taking on Arlen Specter, and there are four candidates vying to be the party's nominee for governor.
They're good candidates, too, even if Democrats have a hard time telling them apart. "I dunno" dominates the Democratic field: In a March poll by Franklin & Marshall College, seven out of 10 Democrats said they still didn't know who they'd vote for.
"The pool of undecided voters is monstrous," says pollster Terry Madonna, who conducted the F&M survey.
There's even a lack of enthusiasm in Allegheny County, which is home to two candidates: Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and state Auditor General Jack Wagner. "From talking to committeepeople, no one is all that excited about any of the candidates," says Jeanne Clark, a veteran activist on women's and environmental issues, and a longtime Democratic committee member.
Part of the problem is that both history and current trends favor the GOP heavily. For more than a half-century, Pennsylvania has alternated between Democratic and Republican governors every eight years -- and when Ed Rendell steps down, the Dems' turn will be up.
But Clark has found her candidate: Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel. An unabashed liberal from the Philadelphia suburbs, Hoeffel is little known to voters here. But more than anyone else in the race, he represents the promise and peril for Democrats now that the Obama honeymoon is over. |
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