Endorsements for Tuesday's Election: Towne (I), Sestak (D), Mensch (R), Freeman (D), Onorato (D)--REMEMBER TO VOTE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND!

And the winner IS...

Posted by: Noel Jones


By "winner" of course, I am not predicting who I think will win, rather who I think should win these races. I even use the term "should win" loosely, as in some cases, I am voting for the lesser of two dangers, rather than for a candidate that inspires me, but in the absence of inspiring candidates in every race, what else is a voter to do?


Readers should know that those I was raised a Democrat, I am an Independent at heart,  so I never straight-ticket, and often vote for multiple parties, as evidenced by my endorsing one Independent, one Republican and three Democrats in this election. To me elections are about the individual candidates and where they stand, not any party machine with which they are affiliated. While I know that there are many fans of the President who feel it important to send him the largest team of Democrats possible to be able to get anything meaningful passed, after some intent study, I have come to disagree. A "majority" of Democrats or Republicans has little bearing on what gets passed or not passed. What matters is having a majority of members in congress on both sides who have not been bought off by corporations and special interest groups, and it would be a fallacy to insist that one party or the other is free of sin in this regard, otherwise the Democratic majority that the President has already had would have been able to get more bills through with less dilution in these first two years.


DISCLAIMER: the main platform issue motivating these endorsements is each candidate's position on hydrofracking for natural gas, which I feel strongly is the most serious threat to our quality of life in the Lehigh Valley, whether people have waken up to that fact or not (and I have taken several other factors under consideration as well):


U.S. House of Representatives: Jake Towne (I)
I have seen this candidate in two live debates now, as well as interacting at community events and on this blog. Aside from coming out first in this race in favor of a state-wide moratorium on hydrofracking for natural gas until safety studies can be completed, this candidate strikes me as the most earnest and the least political of all three candidates, as he engages genuinely and thoroughly with candidates when approached. While I do not agree with him on all issues, he has bold ideas for change in our government and in our economy, and whereas some of these ideas sounded shocking and radical at first, he has gotten a lot better at explaining them along the way. I suspect his "Open Office" policy would be a mere extension of his openness with voters on the campaign trail and offer rare transparency and accountability. It's refreshing to meet a candidate who is not afraid to think out of the box, takes a clear stand on issues without playing politics by being vague, is not polarizing in his arguments, and admits when certain aspects of his strategy are still in formation, leaving the door open to voters to contribute to that strategy. Towne wants to end our wars overseas so as to inspire less terrorism and drastically reduce our taxation for trillions of dollars in defense spending. He wants to fade out the federal income tax over time and fund schools at the state level, rather than taxing residents at a federal level and requiring them to apply to get their money back. He thinks any American in love should be free to marry another, and that the federal government has no business trying to ban gay marriage.  I called him as the winner of the Express-Times debate at the State Theatre on this blog, and the Express-Times likewise endorsed him as the best choice over the Democrat and Republican in this race, who have been turning voters off with regurgitations of typical party talking points and their confusing and offensive tit-for-tat mudslinging campaigns. I agree with the Express-Times--let's send Towne to Washington.


U.S. Senate: Joe Sestak (D)
Most importantly, Joe Sestak is a co-sponsor of the FRAC Act in Congress, which seeks to pull natural gas drillers back under the regulation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which Cheney and his team exempted them from in 2005. But almost as importantly, his opponent is a former Wall Street banker who opposes Wall Street reform and is part of the industry that got us into the mess we're in. Sestak co-sponsored anti-bullying legislation and supported legislation for increased funding of disadvantaged students, as well as supporting merit-based pay for teachers. Aside from being strong on the civil rights of gay Americans--and especially gay troops and veterans--Sestak supports tax cuts for small businesses, closing tax loopholes for companies who send American jobs overseas, and sees nationwide passenger rail as a great potential job creator, carbon emissions reducer, tool for economic development of areas hard-hit by the recession, and a means of reducing American independence on foreign on oil, by reducing our dependence on car travel to commute. His opponent is in favor of tax cuts for companies that outsource American jobs. His opponent is also against gay rights, uses polarizing terms like the "Death Tax" and has no stated position on education when our nation's educational system is in crisis. We need innovative, forward-thinking candidates like Sestak. Bring on those railroad jobs!


State Senate: Bob Mensch (R)
Bob Mensch is one of the few Republicans in our senate taking the environmental dangers and health risks of hydrofracking for natural gas seriously, and as polarized as politics have proven to be in the past two years, we need allies in both camps that are intelligent, diplomatic and savvy enough to be able to talk to each other to work it out and do the right thing to protect the drinking water and health of 15 million people who get their water from the Delaware watershed, where 50,000 oil rigs are waiting for a green light to drill. Aside from that, Mensch has proven himself accessible to voters both through this blog, via email and phone, and by meeting in person with Easton residents concerned with pension reform and its effect on property taxes for our school district. He is in favor of merit-based pay and career ladders as incentives for getting and keeping great teachers. He is also a fiscal conservative passionate about reducing wasteful spending in Harrisburg, which we really need. I am breaking rank with my Democratic upbringing to vote for a Republican in this race not only for his own strengths, but because his opponent has been much less accessible and proven himself less diplomatic and savvy in short conversations I have managed to have with him at public events, which usually ended in his handing me his literature, rather than engaging in a earnest conversation. In one 5 minute conversation, Mensch's opponent managed to insult the intelligence of rural Americans (not realizing that I grew up in rural Alaska) and to compare natural gas drillers to Hitler (see my earlier blog post on Hitler references and Godwin's Law).

State House: Bob Freeman (D)
Bob Freeman has been in office 22 years and his depth of experience and connections have paid off for our region, especially with regard to funding for economic development, historic preservation, environmental conservation. He has co-sponsored four bills with regard to hydrofracking, including moratoriums on drilling in floodplains, state forests, and within 2500 feel of community water sources. He is a true statesman in an era of polarized vitriol when we desperately a statesman with his grace, diplomacy and savvy representing us in Harrisburg to be able to open the kind of dialogue that will get anything meaningful done. Bob has also proven himself very accessible to residents via phone, email, through the blog and in agreeing to meet with residents in the community concerned about the pension crisis and its impact on our property taxes for schools. In researching his opponent's positions, I found it incredibly hard to find clear ideas or compelling stances on what he is for, and I question his judgment with regard to statements like, "only God can give rights," especially with regard to gay rights. Freeman, on the other hand, supported legislation adding gays and lesbians as a protected group under the Hate Crimes Statute. In an election where anti-incumbent sentiment has rarely been higher, this is one incumbent to keep.


Governor: Dan Onorato (D)
This, for me, is a vote against his opponent, more than an enthusiastic vote for Onorato. While Onorato has done great things in the Pittsburgh area with regard to economic development, it concerns me greatly that he is clearly passionate about drilling in the Marcellus Shale as a job creator and instituting a severance tax on drillers to help balance the state budget, making no statements about health risks or safety concerns.  Still, he is better than his opponent, who is against all moratoriums and severance taxes on drillers (PA is currently the only state that doesn't have a severance tax on natural gas drilling, so Big Gas is getting rich off our land for free, while putting our health and property values at risk). Onorato's opponent added our state to a federal lawsuit over Arizona's controversial SB 1070, which allows law officers to violate civil liberties by demanding identification papers of any individual they think might be an illegal immigrant, as well as suing the federal government to fight implementation of the measly bit of health care reform that we did get this year. Onorato is pro-rail, and made Allegheny County one of the few in PA to protect against anti-gay discrimination. He has my vote, because the alternative would be dangerous, but it will take a seriously letter-writing and rallying campaign to convince Onorato that he needs to take health concerns over hydrofracking seriously.


So there you go--those are my picks. You are welcome to drop comments that agree or disagree to get a final conversation of persuasion going leading up to the close of polls tomorrow--whatever you do--PLEASE MAKE A PLAN FOR TOMORROW TO GET OUT AND VOTE AND REMIND ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Polls are open until 8:00 p.m., so there is plenty of time to vote after work! If you have any questions about where or how to vote, please pick up a voter's guide at a local business near you, or download The West Word Voter's Guide from the Downloadable Documents link on the right side bar of this home page.