In the interest of disclosure I have to tell you that I have done
a few hours of volunteer work and plan to do more for the Carney for Congress campaign.
But because I have met Chris and some of his staff I feel like I can talk a little bit about the campaign and urge you in good conscience to send some money their way.
So yesterday I stuffed envelopes. It has been a long time since I stuffed envelopes and I was happy to do it. I had a chance to talk a little bit to Chris and get to know him a bit better. I think he is exactly the right person to be running in this district.
He is smart, very nice and has a great resume.
Here is his web site. You can sign up for their email list if you want to keep up on how the campaign is going.
If you had asked me several months ago if Sherwood could be beaten, I
would have said it could be done but only with the right candidate.
Now that I have met and talked to Chris Carney I think that we
have he right candidate.
Please go and support the campaign with a few bucks, even 5 or 10
dollars would be very handy if enough people contributed. Of
course if you can give more that would be great.
The 10th district in Pa is republican. In fact a few years ago the area
was redistricted to take Scranton out and give it to the next district.
Scranton is the democratic strong hold in this area.
However several places in the district are becoming more
democratic, including my town which is now half democratic party by
registration.
Several areas are getting an influx of people who moved out of NYC
after 9-11. They have added to the shift to the left in this
district. But it is still leaning republican. So why do I
think Carney has a really good shot at winning this?
I think he has a good shot for several reasons. First of all
Sherwood is a Bush rubber stamp. I don’t think that’s such an
advantage anymore. People around here need good jobs and
healthcare. They are frustrated about the cost of the war and we have
lost a lot of young men to this war in Iraq. We had five men
blown up in one incident a few months ago and another one just about a
week before that. People of all parties are questioning why we
are there.
My friends who are more or less apolitical are disgusted with the
direction the country is headed. There seems to be a general
feeling of depression or enui. People are ready for a change.
I have many republican friends and they are as ready for a change
as anyone else. They are the ones who always let me know when
they are going to vote for a democrat. It’s funny when they tell
me, “hey Teresa, you’ll be glad to know I have decided to vote
for Rendell”.
So far no one is thinking too much about november, but when they do I
fully expect a whole lot of people to be telling me they plan to vote
for Carney.
Another reason Carney has a really good chance is because he has about
20 times the personal character of Sherwood. Sherwood has run on
“family values” for years, but he has been accused of choking his 29
year old girl friend who he had been having an affair with for several
years. He’s admitted to the affair but denies the choking
incident. However, he is not convincing and I don’t think the
people around here approve of men who cheat on their wives and beat up
women.
Following are some links and quotes about this campaign. There is
more good stuff coming in the future and I will let you know when it
comes out.
From the campaign website:
* Lt. Commander Naval Reserves
* Senior Terrorism and Intelligence Advisor at the Pentagon
* Penn State Associate Professor of Political Science
* Husband of 18 years
* … and very proud father of five
A Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve, Chris Carney
served multiple tours overseas and was activated for operations
Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Southern Watch.After 9/11, Chris served at the Pentagon as an intelligence analyst and
senior advisor on intelligence and counterterrorism issues. Chris
coordinated counterterrorism activities in the Middle East and later
worked on the integration of national-level intelligence products in
the effort to destroy international terrorist networks.Chris grew up in rural Iowa, near Cedar Rapids. He graduated in 1981
from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa where he double majored in
Environmental Science and U.S. Diplomatic History.After college, Chris did graduate work at the University of Wyoming,
where he met his future wife Jennifer. After enjoying teaching at the
University of Wyoming, Chris decided to pursue a career in higher
education.In 1992, Chris and Jennifer moved their young family to Northeastern
Pennsylvania when Chris was offerred a position at Penn State
University in Scranton.As an associate professor at Penn State, Chris teaches courses in U.S.
Foreign Policy, American Government, and U.S. Security Policy.Chris lives in Dimock, Pa. with his wife Jennifer and their five
children. Their oldest is a freshman in high school and their youngest
just started kindergarten.
Here is a bit of analysis from Sabato’s Crystal Ball:
Pennsylvania (10)
Outlook: Likely Republican
This race is part of the Crystal Ball’s “Watch List” of the next 20 House races worth keeping an eye on.
Four-term GOP Rep. Don Sherwood won his seat in Congress by only
several hundred votes against Democrat Pat Casey in 1998, but since
then the district was reconfigured to substantially improve Republican
performance, dropping most of Scranton. Sherwood’s biggest
vulnerability this year does not seem to stem from the nature of his
district but rather the nature of public reaction to his personal
problems. Though there is no evidence that he has experienced much
political fallout at home, the 64 year old Sherwood’s name got plenty
of ink last year over allegations that he choked a much younger
Republican Party activist with whom he later admitted to having a
multi-year affair.Democratic candidate Chris Carney, a Naval Reserve Officer, has been
quick to invoke character and integrity as themes of his campaign, but
Sherwood must start out as the strong favorite in this heavily GOP
district.Candidate – 4th Quarter Raised – Cash on Hand
Don Sherwood (R)* – $166,808.10 – $497,783.15
Chris Carney (D) – $65,876.81 – $78,257.62
You can see Carney needs to raise some money to battle Sherwood’s
headstart advantage. Sherwood has not had a serious challenge since
2000.
And from his local paper:
WYOMING COUNTY – The revelation that U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood,
R-Tunkhannock, had been engaged in a 5-year affair with a woman not his
wife and the woman’s charges of physical and emotional abuse was the
top local story in 2005.Parts of the story initially came to light in late April when Victoria
Hannevig, the Constitution Party candidate who lost to Sherwood in the
Nov. 2004 election, faxed to most of the region’s news media a copy of
a preliminary police report dated Sept. 15, 2004.The Fax asked of the media if they were aware of the report from an
alleged choking incident involving Sherwood, 64, and a 29-year-old
Maryland woman, Cynthia Ore. Hannevig wanted to know if the media were
aware of it, how did they report it, and if they weren’t, why didn’t
they report it.On May 3, Sherwood apologized “for the pain and embarrassment I have caused my family and my supporters.”
He offered little follow-up on the matter until on June 15, Ore filed a
$5.5 million lawsuit claiming physical and emotional abuse in what the
suit said was a “five-year intimate relationship.”In July, Sherwood admitted, “For about five years I had an affair I deeply regret.”
Although there is some legal wrangling on both sides about whether a
trial in the matter should take place before or after the 2006
election, the matter becomes moot when both sides decide on Nov. 8 to
settle the issue out of court. The terms of the settlement are kept
confidential.
There have also been stories in other papers in the district.
I really think this is a good chance for the party to take back a seat
in congress. I would hate to see us miss this chance because it
is not a district with huge democratic party money donors as of yet.
Oh yeah.. and the campaign is very well organized and ready for the election season.