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December 8, 2012
In New York, it's candidates and cocktails as Democrats jockey for position.
By John Micek
A former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Hanger, 55, is the first Democrat to formally declare a 2014 challenge to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. He also wants to be the first person to break a decades-old streak of sitting governors successfully winning re-election to a second, four-year term.
As supporters chatted and noshed on pretzels and chips and drank wine from vanity bottles bearing the candidate’s name, Hanger said the reception supporting his candidacy on the second day of the annual Pennsylvania Society gala that ended Sunday was about “sending a message to Pennsylvanians that there’s a choice” in a gubernatorial derby that is still two years away.
But if choices are what voters are looking for, they abounded here. Other would-be candidates filled the salons at party central in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Park Avenue, as well as other bars and restaurants around the city.
There, they refined their non-denial denials, bashfully demurring, but never explicitly saying “No” when they were asked whether they harbored ambitions of taking on Corbett, whose sagging approval numbers have state Democrats eager to take him on in two years’ time.
“People have approached me and are encouraging me to think about it,” said U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-13th District, whose name added seasoning this weekend to an ever-enlarging stew of potential candidates.
Others in the mix: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; state Treasurer Rob McCord; Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski; retiring state Auditor General Jack Wagner; Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro; former Rendell administration official Tom Wolf of York and onetime Philadelphia mayoral candidate Tom Knox.
Asked if she was mulling a run, Schwartz said, “I don’t even want to say it that strongly … Listening to people is the closest I’ll get on it.”
Seconds later, a supporter clapped Schwartz on the shoulder and jokingly addressed her as “Governor.”
At a reception later in the day on Friday, Wagner greeted friends and supporters filing into an increasingly cramped reception. The Pittsburgh Democrat has been open about his mayoral ambitions in the Iron City.
When he was asked whether he was considering a reprise of a 2010 gubernatorial bid, Wagner quickly replied, “I’ve said I’ll never rule myself out for anything.”
According to one veteran observer, the would-be candidates were playing their appointed roles to a tee.
“Your plan is to meet as many people as you can. The big thing is to create a buzz about your candidacy and to raise expectations,” said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.
Freshly re-elected to a second, four-year term last month, McCord sung a common seasonal hymn for an ambitious politician whose name has been attached to a higher office:
“First and foremost, we’re trying to do the job at hand,” McCord said, without ever ruling anything out. “Right now, I’m working hard to listen and learn.”
Shapiro, a former state House member considered among the state party’s rising stars, danced the same “Not Saying No” waltz.
“I love what I’m doing in Montgomery County,” he said. “We are doing very important work and doing it well. I’m happy to be here to catch up with old friends and colleagues.”
While the subjects of electoral gossip demurred and denied, other prominent Democrats were developing clear opinions about the sorts of candidates they believed the party should field in 2014.
Bolstered by the dominating win last month of Attorney General-Elect Kathleen Kane, who is the first Democrat and woman to become the state’s top cop in the four decades it’s been an elected post, Democrats said the party needed to come up with a diverse slate.
Kane, a former assistant district attorney from Lackawanna County and political newcomer, rode a strong wave of Democratic turnout that allowed to her outpoll both Casey and President Barack Obama in many areas of the state. She defeated Republican David Freed, the elected district attorney of Cumberland County and Corbett’s hand-picked candidate.
“First and foremost, where they stand is the most important thing,” said state Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, who is black. “But it’s not falling on deaf ears that Kathleen Kane ran against the NRA and kicked their ass.”
And as Democrats jockey, Republicans could also face some internal dissent. Last week, Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor said he was contemplating a possible primary challenge to Corbett.
Speaking to reporters after a speech to business leaders on Saturday, Corbett dryly dismissed Castor’s apparent gubernatorial ambitions.
“Everyone can dream.” Corbett quipped, saying he’d been more focused on the camaraderie of the annual gala, which traces its roots to the turn of the 20th century when wealthy Pennsylvanians living in Manhattan would invite family and friends to the city for a celebratory dinner.
After dinner, those same influential Pennsylvanians would gather to name a slate of candidates for the coming year. While that practice has been long abandoned, the Society weekend (which still includes the annual dinner honoring a worthy state resident) is now the unofficial launch-pad for statewide political campaigns.
One weekend highlight for Corbett: sharing drinks and cigars with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, when the two men bumped into each other during a Friday function at the Carnegie Club known as “The Captains of Industry” reception.
During the event sponsored by Consol Energy, Corbett and Scalia chatted about the high court’s decision on the federal healthcare law, among other matters. Corbett quaffed a gin and tonic. The cigar he, noted, was “quite mild.”
The intensity of the gossip here was anything but.
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