Politically Uncorrected

7 Things That (Probably) Won't Happen in Pa. This Year

If we expect the unexpected in Pennsylvania politics in 2013, we aren’t likely to be disappointed.

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young In 2012, Pennsylvania had quite a year, not a year everyone will want to remember, but certainly a year few will be able to forget. Consider some of the highlights of a year filled with dramatic, often disturbing and frequently surprising moments. Read More: Bad Gamble: Pa. Lottery Privatization Early in the year, a beloved football icon dies in the midst of a messy investigation involving embarrassing questions about how his program may have abetted the decade’s long career of a notorious pedophile. Later in the year, that pedophile’s public trial and conviction attracted vast national attention, mesmerizing the state’s media and much of its citizenry more than any trial in memory. In electoral …

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Politically Uncorrected

Who Will Oppose Corbett for Pa. Governor in 2014?

Frenzied maneuvering for position in the Keystone state’s 2014 gubernatorial election has begun

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young Pennsylvanians might reasonably expect that the political world would take a breather from campaigns following almost two years of non-stop presidential campaigning. After running nationally more than one million commercials and spending an estimated six billion dollars, everyone should be ready for a rest.   Silly you!   In fact, the next political campaign is already underway—it started the day after the presidential election. We speak, of course, of the already frenzied maneuvering for position in the Keystone state’s upcoming 2014 gubernatorial election. For the first time in modern times, an incumbent governor is all but certain to face serious opposition for re-election to a second term. Some of …

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Politically Uncorrected

America's Game of Electoral College Roulette

The electoral college system has transformed presidential campaigns into a series of state contests aimed at a small minority of voters rather than a bona fide national campaign.

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young In this most contentious election year, one proposition looms not at all contentious: few disagree that America faces a host of imposing challenges--both foreign and domestic. But while we clearly recognize the formidable nature of those challenges we utterly fail to understand that it is our flawed presidential electoral system that prevents us from solving them. Rather than serve as a solution, our electoral system has become part of the problem. It has become America’s great game of Electoral College roulette. Roulette is a fitting metaphor for the insidious presidential election system that has evolved in America over the past several decades.  Like its notorious namesake “Russian roulette,” …

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Politically Uncorrected

Democrats Had Stronger Convention - But Does It Matter?

Political analysts put this year's political conventions in perspective by referencing some tumultuous events of the past

By G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young Let’s say it clearly. The Democrats had a good convention, one clearly reflected in a respectable post-convention bounce – the Republicans, not so much. Not that the GOP had a really bad or a dreadful convention. In truth, it had its moments. As conventions go, however, mediocre would describe it best. It wasn’t the worst and certainly wasn’t the best. But the really interesting question is whether it matters that one party had a solid convention while the other party’s convention was merely so-so. Will it alter the outcome of the presidential race? While many modern conventions of both parties have been uniformly dull affairs, long forgotten by Election Day, historically some party conventions have…

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Corbett Less Popular After Second Budget

Gov. Tom Corbett signed Pennsylvania’s second consecutive on-time, no-tax-increase budget on June 30, but his approval rating with voters continues to slip in August.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent   HARRISBURG — Following the passage of his second state budget, Gov. Tom Corbett’s approval rating slipped again, according to a new Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday. The poll shows 28 percent of voters think Corbett is doing a good or excellent job, while 66 percent believe he is doing a fair or poor job. Corbett visited the Lehigh Valley last week to tout the creation of more than 500 manufacturing jobs at a Breinigsville plant. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was up slightly in July. Terry Madonna, a professor of political science and the director of the poll, said Corbett’s low ratings are largely based on his support for budget cuts in higher education, basic education and human …

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How Will Obamacare Decision Affect Pa. Voters?

Political experts say Pennsylvania voters may be more or less motivated if the Supreme Court strikes down Obama's health care reform

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young The New York Times calls Pennsylvania a “toss up state.” Others have tagged it a “battleground state” and even a “swing state.” Electoral labels aside, Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes comprise the second largest prize among the competitive states. Not surprisingly, both presidential campaigns seem to be taking the state seriously despite Barack Obama’s approximate 8-point lead and a string of Democratic victories stretching back to 1988. But if the Keystone State is in play now, it may not be for long once an impending Supreme Court decision is handed down.   Shortly, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce whether the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obama Care) passes constitutional …

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