Politics

Arlen Specter was an important mentor and inspiration for me, and he was my friend. He was helpful to me and my family early in my career. And on one occasion, he provided a major boost for what I consider the signature achievement of my nine terms in Congress.

The long arc of Arlen Specter’s career in public service touches on most major moments in contemporary American history. Those moments required great leadership and Senator Specter always met the challenge.

You couldn’t help but be intimidated when you met Arlen Specter.

By the time I met him in the early 2000s, he was already a legend in Pennsylvania politics, the respected senior senator.

I was the mayor of Hazleton when Senator Specter came to talk about an economic development project of mine that required federal funding. Of course, I knew of his reputation as a smart, no-nonsense former prosecutor who struck fear in the hearts of certain Philadelphia Teamsters. I knew of his controversial magic bullet theory as part of the Warren Commission’s investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I knew of his reputation when it came to solving problems and finding solutions.

And he was coming to my office. I admit I was intimidated.

Money and politics have always gone hand in hand. But this year, we are witnessing the first presidential election in which big corporations can contribute unlimited funds to media campaigns that directly support or attack candidates. In this brave new world, big money donors are coloring voters’ views of candidates which can make or break political careers at an unprecedented scale. The influence of big money interests continues once candidates are elected, with all of the access money can buy.
 
We must work to fix the massive structural issues that have allowed big money to distort our political landscape. But in the meantime, we also need to find ways to level the playing field for everyone. And that means protecting today’s greatest equalizer: the Internet.

You can’t even watch the playoffs these days without being bombarded by political attack ads by groups who won’t say where they get their money.  Some political operatives now tell us if party committees could just take unlimited donations, the ads by these outside groups will go away. If you’re buying that, I bet they’ve got a bridge to sell you as well.

When President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney face off tonight in Denver, they will not agree on much. Instead, each candidate will offer profoundly different policy prescriptions to address America’s domestic woes.

But lurking underneath is an unspoken, shared assumption: that, as our next president, they could transform their good ideas into federal law. This assumption overlooks what is arguably our nation’s biggest threat to domestic policy, be it conservative or progressive — the filibuster.

As Governor Mitt Romney completes his final planning for the first debate, his aides quietly plan for an electoral victory. The so-called “Readiness Project” mirrors many of the same activities that began during the 1960 pre-election transition of President John Kennedy. It was the Kennedy team -- lead mainly by Clark Clifford with help from the Brookings Institution -- that initiated the optimistic practice of forming agency review teams, early vetting potential appointees, and establishing a nascent policy agenda.

Mike Leavitt, the former Governor of Utah, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and current Romney’s transition chief, has studied his history and has a well-staffed pre-election team encamped on C Street, planning for the day after the election.

Ohio is the birthplace of seven American presidents, second only to Virginia which has produced eight. And if one were to split hairs, you could argue that while William Henry Harrison was born in Charles County, Virginia he actually spent most of his life in Ohio.

Even when Ohio is not putting forth one of its native sons for election to our nation’s highest office, its Electoral College votes and its role as a “swing state” routinely place it at the center of the political world every four years—which is something we Ohioans are used to.

Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

It’s a question that we’ve heard a lot over the past several months. But when talking to people back home, it’s become clear that the real question is “Do you think your kids and grandkids will be better off than you are?”

Unfortunately, the answer is often “no”.

Today, on Constitution Day, it is alarming that the fundamental right to a vote - the one that generations fought so hard to expand and protect, first with Amendment 15’s Race No Bar to Vote, Amendment 19’s Women’s Suffrage, and Amendment 26’s Voting Age – is now under attack by the Republican Party.  This is ironic given the Republican Party’s constitution-centric platform.

As the eyes of the political world turn to Charlotte this week for the Democratic National convention, speculation about the fate of North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes on Nov. 6 continues. Depending on who you ask or which electoral map you’re consulting, the Tar Heel State is a safe bet for Mitt Romney one day and a toss-up the next; one week it’s the moderate “New South” and the next it’s leaning back toward its Deep South neighbors. In 21 of the 22 polls conducted by Public Policy Polling since the 2010 election, President Obama and Romney have been within 3 points of each other, and several other recent polls show a statistical dead heat. One certainty remains: North Carolina’s status as THE battleground state to watch is here to stay.