HEADLINE: No one was arrested at the Mercer PA GOP Meet and Greet

Written by Roberta Biros

All was calm and friendly at Hempfield Station One on Thursday night for the Meet and Greet of Republican Candidates that was sponsored by the Mercer County GOP. Fair warning from this “blogmaster” prevented confrontation and kept “greedy incumbents’ out of the limelight. These were all good things. I attended the affair with “backup” and bailout cash, but it was unnecessary as everyone was on their best behavior. No arrests!

Some ‘not-so-local’ attendees may have thought that the crowd was small, but as a Mercer Countian I was impressed with the turn out. Those that attended were genuinely interested in hearing the candidates (and their representatives speak), and they listened intently to the presentations from nine speakers. I’ve written exhaustively about each of the candidates in the past, so I’ll focus my comments today on some summary thoughts from the evening, a few ‘highlights’, a couple of ‘head scratch moments’, and a photo montage with comments.

Summary

Representing the candidates for Governor, we had Mercer County Commissioner John Lechner speaking on behalf of the Corbett campaign and Ed Henderson was on hand to speak on behalf of the campaign for Sam Rohrer. Once again, Ed Henderson did a stand up job in representing Rohrer’s campaign. He accidentally coined a phrase last night when he stated “Sam’s the Man”. It was an inadvertent slogan, but (in my opinion) it should be adopted campaign wide. In John Lechner’s presentation for Corbett’s campaign he took time to touch on the BonusGate scandal (a topic that is close to my heart). He pointed out that the investigations were not politically driven . . . which I accept, but I would have liked the opportunity to ask one question. “If the investigations weren’t politically driven, why hasn’t the Attorney Generals office gotten actively involved in the Jane Orie investigation with the same intensity?” This was just a question that I had at the top of my head, but, unfortunately, NO QUESTIONS were accepted from the audience. Bummer.

Who was on hand to represent the candidates for Lt. Governor? No one. Not a single individual showed up to discuss the candidacies of nine different Republicans that are competing for the nomination in the Primary. Hmmm. Was it disinterest on the part of the campaigns or was it lack of effort on the part of the event planners to notify the candidates of the opportunity? The Mercer GOP has a history of only inviting the candidates that they actually want to attend the event, so this may not have been a simple clerical error. Either way, it was a missed opportunity for the candidates and it was a missed opportunity for concerned citizens to be educated about their choices.

Were Senatorial candidates represented? I suppose you could say “sort of”. Committee Chairman Dave King told everyone that they should vote for Pat Toomey, but he failed to mention that Toomey has a Republican opponent in the race in Peg Luksik. Rather than providing an informative presentation of ALL of the names on the ballot, Dr. King choose to focus his attention on the GOP’s personal horse in the race. Again, this is the norm for the Mercer GOP, but as a matter of fairness I found the move despicable. The obvious attempt to insult Ms. Luksik was mentioned to me MORE THAN ONCE by concerned attendees. Shame on Dr. King and the Mercer County GOP for lacking open-door and even-handed political policies . . . but are we really surprised?

The big race in the area is for the 3rd Congressional District and all six candidates were personally on hand for this gathering. Dr. Martha Moore, Mike Kelly, Ed Franz, Paul Huber, Steve Fisher, and Clayton Grabb were all provided an opportunity to speak. Having listened to these candidates present their platforms more times than I can count, I’ll admit that there was very little ‘new material’ for me to report from last night, but I’ll try.

Dr. Martha Moore has managed to re-invented herself. She has embraced herself for exactly what she is and she makes no attempt to morph into something that she is not. She is a straight-shootin’, no-bologna-talkin’, firecracker of a concerned citizen. She spoke from the heart with levity and quirkiness that has gained her a bit of a “Betty White following”. She has become the highlight of events and I have become a real fan. God Bless Dr. Martha Moore.

Mike Kelly drew the short straw when he was selected to speak AFTER Dr. Moore. She is tough act to follow. His points were basically the same. He made one comment that I thought was worth repeating. When describing his role as a business owner he said “You can get through the good times with a smile on your face, and you get the through not-so-good times with a bigger smile on your face”. I found the comment humorous as one of the main complaints that I’ve had with Mr. Kelly is his inability to ‘put a smile’ on his face in an effort to hide his anger. I thought the irony was funny.

Ed Franz’ message was pretty much the same as usual. I would like to point out to Mr. Franz that he really shouldn’t continue to repeat (time and time again) about how he supported “conservative candidates like Phil English”. As a conservative, Mr. Franz, your choice of friends doesn’t impress me, and your desire to repeat it to the crowd at each and event makes me laugh. I’d admit that Ed did switch it up just a bit last night when he mentioned that (aside from supporting Phil English) he has also worked for the campaigns of Michele Brooks and Bob Robbins. Hmmmm. Good to know, and thanks for the info. As a “conservative”, it is good to see his choice of friends. In a musical reference that is loosely tied to the great “Meatloaf” I say “One Out of Three Ain’t Bad”.

Paul Huber was himself. He has a polished delivery and a packaged message that hasn’t changed much. His jokes and delivery are good, but they don’t change from one presentation to the next. There was nothing about last night that stood out to me, although he did get into some deep discussions with attendees when the meeting broke out into individual conversations. He worked the crowd well.

The most memorable part of Steve Fisher’s evening was Chairman King’s introduction of Mr. Fisher as “Mike Fisher” rather than “Steve Fisher”. Steve politely and light-heartedly corrected Dr. King’s error (which made Steve look great), but in the end Dr. King made himself look like a dufus (which was not a long trip). As with my earlier note that the Mercer GOP failed to fairly represent ALL of the Republican candidates, Dr. King highlights how out-of-touch the County Committee is by failing to know the candidates names. I know each and every one of the 3rd Congressional Candidates on sight (and, in return, they all know me . . . it is referred to as mutual respect). Dr. King should have done his homework. It was, perhaps, a Freudian slip, but I don’t forgive him for it either way. It was unprofessional to say the least. Steve Fisher wasn’t phased and he managed to present himself with the same positive and upbeat message that he offers at each event. It is worth noting that Steve Fisher and his campaign showed their commitment to the people of Mercer County with a forma information booth at the event (the only candidate that took time and effort to do so), and he seemed to have a large team on hand to handle questions and engage the attendees. Steve Fisher showed a commitment and seriousness that was not matched at this particular gathering.

Clayton Grabb did not disappoint. Surprisingly Dr. King “allowed” Mr. Grabb to speak, which was a relief (knowing that Dr. King has not been shy about his dislike for “Tea Party Candidates” like Clayton). Mr. Grabb did not hold back and again used his quote “My Republican Party has left us down before”, which was met with nods across the crowd (and an unapproving look from Dr. King). Mr. Grabb’s big quote of the night also made it in The Herald when he stated “I’m not going to work with Obama, I will be going there to cut him off at the knees, to make sure he doesn’t do anymore damage to this country of ours”. Clayton’s message doesn’t change from one venue to the next, but it is always spot-on and connects with those in attendance.

In Closing . . .

It was the Mercer County GOP’s night to shine . . . and they did not. The Committee leadership did what they always do . . . they attempted to hijack an event with the eventual goal of hijacking an election.

If you’d like another angle on the night’s events, I suggest that you read a post by my fellow Mercer County blogger, Rich Talbert HERE.

In the words of Rich Talbert, “(Chairman) King MUST Resign”.

Photo Montage with Comments:

The Steve Fisher campaign was well represented with a full promotional booth and numerous representatives (below).

Ed Henderson of Stoneboro (below) was on hand to represent Sam Rohrer, candidate for Governor.

Before the formal presentations began, I was able to catch some shots of candidates mixing with the attendees. Here is Paul Huber (below) discussing issues with constituents.

Mike Kelly (below) is having a serious discussion with attendees.

Clayton Grabb (below) is sharing his thoughts with some interested locals.

Ed Franz (below) chatting it up with friends and concerned citizens.

Dr. King (below) presented the opening announcements and closing statements. He managed to promote the candidates that he supports and attempted to stumble over those he does not. His preferences were clear. [As a side note, the duct tape on the decorative photo of Lincoln was a nice touch. The tape has a strikingly familiar look which is similar to a Mercer GOP yard sign mis-hap from last year. Perhaps Dr. King and his crew need to realize that transparent tape was invented YEARS ago. I'll be glad o provide them with an 89 cent roll next time I see them.]


Dr. Martha Moore (below) was the first to speak. She admitted later that she was unprepared, but that is generally when she is at her best.


Steve Fisher (below) addressed the crowd. He and his staff were on hand to answer questions and to discuss issues.

As always, just my opinion.

~Mercer County Conservatives