Election Guide, Nov 2010
Here is a description of all items that will be on my local ballot for this upcoming election, along with my own thoughts on the candidates.But it's late in the evening on the day before the election so I'll be brief.
Governor:
Not outstanding. For example, I don't like his position on schools. His focus on reform of state government, however, is a good one.
His position of "no taxes", not even a severance tax on national gas (like all of the other 49 states) seems a little excessive. Suing to try to prevent federal health care reform is just sour grapes and a waste of the state's money. But he's not terrible.
Lieutenant Governor:
Scott Conklin
Jim Cawley
Neither Lieutenant Governor is running a campaign of their own (each is simply cooperating with the campaign of a candidate for Governor). So I will allow my choice of candidates for governor to determine my vote for Lieutenant Governor.
US Senator:
I think Joe Sestak has been a wise, centrist politician. (Although he has been tarred with the name of extremist liberal, I don't think it has shown up in his voting record.) There are some legitimate questions about his efficacy as a legislator and about the way he interacts with his staff, but I don't think these rise to the level of a serious concern. I think he would be an excellent choice.
In my opinion, Pat Toomey is a dangerous extremist. If you like him, you probably aren't reading my opinions here, so I won't bother to go into detail.
US House of Representatives:
Democrat who encouraged and supported a third party "tea party" candidate to try to split the republican vote. I strongly support third parties; I don't support using them as a weapon against your opponent.
Republican (and I tend to be strongly liberal compared to most voters), but perhaps not so bad, at least based on some of his position papers.
Third party candidate with no chance to win. Also extremely conservative.
State House of Representatives:
As I have mentioned before, Greg Vitali is a hero of mine. It wouldn't matter who he was running against, he would have my support.
Based on his own site's positions, John Williamson says that taxes on businesses are bad because they reduce the profits of business. (Uh... yes they do just that.) His position on jobs is to stop taxing businesses. His position on education is to look for ways to reduce the spending on it. I'm not making this stuff up!