Philadelphia Is Not Enough – Clinton won big in the city but fell short in the suburbs
November 09, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Hillary Clinton hoped to use Philadelphia as the bedrock for her presidential win in Pennsylvania.
That bedrock was remarkably thin. Clinton trailed Donald Trump by less than half a percentage point Tuesday evening with 94 percent of the state’s votes tallied.
Clinton, who accepted the Democratic nomination in July during her party’s convention in Philadelphia, closed out her campaign Monday evening with more […]
GOP loses bid on poll watching
November 04, 2016
By Chris Brennan
A federal judge has rejected a bid by the Pennsylvania Republican Party to legalize a call from presidential nominee Donald Trump for supporters to serve as itinerant Election Day poll watchers.
U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert, a Republican and former state attorney general, took a dim view of his party’s request to rewrite the state’s 79-year-old Election Code just days before Tuesday’s general election.
[…]
What Happens at Polls: Trumps fraud allegations are widely dismissed. But there are some tales to be told.
October 23, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Donald Trump ‘s call for his campaign supporters to visit big cities to observe polling places on Election Day lit a new fire under an old smoldering controversy about voter fraud in Philadelphia.
Trump and his campaign surrogates have followed up with rope-a-dope rhetoric usually when pressed for evidence of past voter fraud.
At times, Trump says his claims about a “rigged […]
Pat Toomey bears specter of Specter
October 17, 2016
By Chris Brennan
A new campaign commercial from U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, released Friday, felt like a trip through a time machine, taking me back a dozen years.
“In Washington, if you don’t have some independence, some backbone, you might as well not even be here,” Toomey, seeking a second term against Democrat Katie McGinty, says to the camera.
Toomey came within 1.64 percent of defeating […]
Philadelphia GOP debunks myth of a 2012 plot
Romney really did get zero votes in 50 precincts. No surprise, say party chiefs.
September 12, 2016
By Chris Brennan
The political conspiracy theory sounds more dastardly the further you travel from Philadelphia, where the misdeed is said to have transpired.
Psst, did you hear that Mitt Romney didn’t get a single vote for president in 50 divisions in Philadelphia during the 2012 general election? Not one!
It is true.
[…]
Rendell: Pennsylvania in play for Trump
July 26, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Former Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday declared Pennsylvania “in play” for president, two days before his friend Hillary Clinton is slated to accept the Democratic nomination in Philadelphia.
The reason? Republican nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric is resonating with “white, blue-collar workers,” Rendell said at breakfast sponsored by Politico.
“People have to understand, not withstanding presidential elections, Pennsylvania is not a blue state,” Rendell […]
Political junkie: Chris Matthews
Ahead of coming to Philadelphia for the DNC, Matthews sat down to discuss the presidential election, the candidates, and the media.
July 21, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Chris Matthews looks, at first, drained of the frenetic energy that sparks so much friction on his MSNBC show, Hardball.
Slouching on a small couch in a tiny office at NBC’s New York headquarters, his striped tie pulled down from the collar of his […]
Fattah’s exit shows he just doesn’t get it | Brennan
June 27, 2016
By Chris Brennan
A very smart guy who has worked in Philadelphia politics since I was in short pants once explained how ethical lines get crossed in this city.
Politicians don’t typically walk up to the line, give it a long look, and then step over, he told me.
What really happens is they stop and look back, see the line in their distant tracks, and […]
Kasich: Trump unfit for office
In Philadelphia, he said that if the front-runner is nominated, Toomey’s seat could be at risk.
April 01, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Thursday declared Donald Trump unfit to be president and warned that if the New York real estate developer wins the Republican nomination, it would put at risk the reelection of Sen. Pat Toomey.
Kasich, speaking before a fund-raiser at the Union League, said a […]
A look at how 2016 election polls fared
February 27, 2017
By Chris Brennan
Any reporter covering a poll that asks questions about President Trump knows what to expect from readers who reject anything not fitting their partisan world-view.
“Lib-tard,” we get called.
“Democratic lackey” is also likely.
And, of course, “fake news! “
As occupational hazards go, not so bad. And, to be fair, some of this we inflicted upon ourselves.
We published […]