#262287
Saturday morning August 16th the Democratic Candidates for State and Federal office introduced themselves to voters at the Norristown Library auditorium.

Seated from left to right at the Library are candidates:

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Daylin Leach - PA 17th State Senate District -> www.votedaylin.com/
( Senator Connie Williams is retiring from the district)

Bob Roggio - US Congress for the PA-6 District -> www.bobroggioforcongress.com/

Matt Bradford - PA 70th House District -> www.mattbradford.org

Kelbin Carolina - PA 150th House District -> http://votecarolina.org/



Their Republican opponents were invited to join the forum but sent their regrets that they were unable to attend. Too bad. The Democratic candidates presented many ideas about health care, education and the economic condition of working families. I would like to know if the Republican candidates agreed with those ideas or had better ones.

Matt Bradford addressed the issue of State funding for education. He noted that the State no longer paid its fair shared of school costs since Governor Ridge was in office. The lack of State funding has made property taxes higher forcing seniors out of their homes and making it more difficult for young families to buy a home. Kelbin Carolina promoted more funding for vocational training and special education. He noted that Employers in the area complain about the difficulty of finding qualified employees. He suggested that Corporations should be more involved in their local schools. He also proposed that Corporations could support the community college so the local work force could be trained with low or no tuition fees. There seemed to be general agreement among the candidates with Senator Obama’s proposal to forgive Student loans in exchange for public service. The candidates also felt that there should be more Pell grants and lower interest on student loans. They all believed that education was key to better employment and reduced crime rates.

Because the Republican Candidates did not show up, we had more time to ask questions of the remaining candidates and even talk to them after the forum. We could express our concerns and see how ready they were to respond to them. It is easier to judge their enthusiasm for your ideas talking to them in the same room than from a web site or a TV ad.

Among the questions asked:

Addressing the concerns of working families, ‘MzPaula’ asked if the candidates would support a thirty day delay on a home foreclosure, while the homeowner received public supported credit and loan counseling. There was general recognition of that need among the candidates. Having spent 32 years working as an accountant for various financial institutions and banks, Kelbin Carolina felt a critical need to teach consumer finances to high school students.

Another older man was concerned about the high truancy in our school district. To cut down on truancy Kelbin Carolina said the School district needed volunteers that would be willing to call the parents of children that had not reported to school that day. Apparently Mr. Carolina is not so liberal as to suggest more government as the solution to all problems.

When Mr. Roggio was principle partner of Zenith corporation, the company provided health care to several hundred employees. I assumed that he would be keenly aware of health insurance costs. So I was stunned when he proposed a universal single-payer health care system that would reduce the cost of insuring a family of four from $12,000 to $3,000. I challenged him on that statistic. He claimed other industrialized countries with universal health care had much lower cost and the quality of their health care is rated higher than the USA ( Infant mortality and life expectancy are common measures). He cited the administrative, advertising and inefficient duplication costs of our current system. There is no central data base on the cost effectiveness of various treatment procedures, which would be possible under a single payer system.

These forums don’t happen often and they are a great opportunity to learn much about the people who will impact our lives in many ways. Glad I went. Hope you can come to the next one.
#268708
Dr. Jill Biden accompanied by her daughter Ashley (Wife and Daughter of VP Candidate Joe Biden) addressed about 50 volunteers at the Obama/Biden Headquarters at Logan Square in Norristown. After explaining how times are getting tougher for her community college students in the past year, Dr. Biden joined the other volunteers in asking voters to support Senator Obama's campaign for the White House. She left us no doubts as to why we were all there.

#273222
I went early to Graeme Park in Horsham, PA and stood for two hours waiting for Senator Clinton to arrive. Hillary was worth the wait.

[img]http://home.comcast.net/~vff63/Nor/Graeme081011.jpg[/img]
I was in the second row behind the rope around the podium. Took pictures and Movies and most frustratingly ran out of film before Hillary came by and picked up the sturdy new baby (named Ysreal) of the women just in front of me. Photography was made difficult for us amateurs by all the very bright spot lights the camera crews mounted high up - thus the pink light in the background. When Hillary came by a few feet in front of me, the secret service man pushed against my back while I tried to take a picture of her with the baby. I turned to ask if he wanted anything but he said nothing. I admire the dedication of the secret service. Our democracy depends on them. Without them we could only see the candidates through the filter of the media. McCain supporters probably feel the same way about this one federal service.

Hillary is prettier and more slender than she appears on TV. As a public speaker she gets better all the time. She was both relevant, funny, and connected with her audience in a positive way. All this seems to be lost in the media. ( I suspect her campaign did not put her in the best light ) Her major PA Primary supporters: Philadelphia Mayor Nutter, Gov. Ed Rendel and other local Pols remarked about the lovely place and day for a reunion of the proudest moment of their political lives - the successful Hillary Campaign in PA for President. They spoke in earnest about the importance of voting for an Obama/Biden administration. Hillary promised her followers that Senators Obama and Biden would promote the causes to which she was devoted. Her followers enthusiastically and cheerfully shouted their support for her and Obama. They also loudly cheered Mayor Nutter when he quoted Martin Luther King's dream of judging a man by his character. While waiting for the event to begin, the other women I met there were all in agreement that McCain was clueless if he thought that Sarah Palin could be substituted in their minds and affection for Hillary.
#273227
Last Saturday the large upstairs room of the Norristown Friends Meeting House was filled with Norristown area residents anxious to hear what our candidates for local State and Federal Office proposed for our region. The event was sponsored by the Norristown Initiatve.

[img]http://home.comcast.net/~vff63/Nor/candidates0810.jpg[/img]
From Left: Jay Moyer, Mike Vereb, Lance Rogers, Bob Roggio, Daylin Leach, Kelbin Carolina, Matt Bradford.

The contested Offices are:

REPUBLICANS vs DEMOCRATS

U.S.Congress 6th District
James Gerlach vs Bob Roggio

17th District State Senate
Lance Rogers (Independent) vs Daylin Leach

State Representative 150TH District
Mike Vereb vs Kelbin Carolina

State Representative 70TH District
Jay Moyer vs Matt Bradford

After each candidate’s introductory spiel, Stan Huskey, editor of the Times Herald, took written questions from the audience and read each one to the candidates. This system allowed for all questions to be answered in an orderly fashion. However, there were so many questions that the candidates had only one minute to answer. They had to talk so fast, it was a challenge to keep up. I wish there had been more time for some questions.

Right off the bat, Stan read a question asking if the candidates would promise to refrain from negative attacks. All candidates replied in the affirmative. That promise did inhibit some but not Lance Rogers, who was running as an Independent for the 17th District State Senate. He accused his opponent Daylin Leach of all sorts of misdeeds. The accusations were rather tedious, so I don’t remember them. Besides Daylin mounted a reasonable defense. The next to go mildly negative was Matt Bradford ( not listed in the first post) who is running against Jay Moyer for 70th district State Representative. Democrat Matt chided Republican Jay Moyer for seeking a federal earmark even after Republican candidates McCain and Palin frequently and vigorously condemned them. Obviously an independent thinker, Jay wisely pointed out that not all earmarks are bad. He explained how he is working with Senator Spector to apply for a $100 million Federal earmark to upgrade or replace Norristown’s sewage treatment plant - music to the ears of this volunteer watershed monitor. As a dedicated campaign worker for Senator Bob Casey in the 2006 election, I hope we can obtain some bipartisan support from Casey for Moyer’s sewer proposal. Since the treated Norristown sewage water is released into the Schuylkill the condition of the sewer plant affects the entire Delaware Valley

I submitted a question regarding my perennial peeve: “Will you support redistricting to eliminate our State and Federal districts of their absurd gerrymandering." The answer from all candidates was unequivocally “yes”. So we shall see, but my hope is not grand.