The local Republicans took a hit not because of Santorum but because of Madeleine Dean. She was a far better candidate and the voters recognized that fact.

It's a great day to be a Democrat in Abington. It's a great day to be a woman in the 153rd! So happy to have such excellent female representation in our state legislature with Madeleine Dean as we do in congress with Allyson Schwartz.

It will be a greater day for all of Abington when Nick is elected the State Rep in November!

Dean is no better than the demoncrate she is replacing. We will see just how much she is for the American people & Support of the U.S. Constitution.

Her oath is to her constituents and to obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth. Each elected legislator represents, serves, and is responsible to a specific portion of the Commonwealth. "In all forms of government the people is the true legislator."
- Edmund Burke

The people spoke. If you consider the people of Abington to be demoncrates(whatever the hell that is, pun intended) and you would like more far right wing conservative government you can always move to Mississippi or some other conservative utopia red welfare state that leaches off of the rest of the country where education is at the bottom, healthcare is ranked at the bottom, and they would live in third world status if wasnt for the blue states.

As far as Asheads comments go about Santorum, does this mean they concede and won't be claiming that Mattiaci is a democrat or independent? Since they were hoping on the far right tea party conservative vote that Santorum would have brought had he not suspended his campaign.

erock.....when you use the phrase "far right tea party conservative vote" you should be balanced and state that the Democrats "depend on the ultra left unwashed Occupy fringe." Of course both statements are gross exagerations. Of course all of the jobs go to "conservative utopia red welfare states that leech off the rest of the country...etc." But then you have to face the fact that more than 50% of all Americans now qualify as "takers" of the people's governmernt rather than "contributors." That fracking is creating a boom in the Baaken shale region, and adding to the treasuries of those states through increased state income tax revenues, thus making education funding, etc. easier for each state. Here we say let's increase funding to education, but discourage fracking, even though many residents have seen lower gas bills as a result.

no red states take more from the federal dole than they pay in taxes while blue states pay more in federal taxes while taking less from the federal govt. http://www.alternet.org/story/154338/ayn_rand_worshippers_should_face_facts%3A_blue_states_are_the_providers%2C_red_state_are_the_parasites?akid=8320.272471.1iDiUE&rd=1&t=2 that's what the statement red welfare states refers to. and no i dont have to be balanced im making reference to mattiaci having signs stating democrats for mattiaci and independent voice on it but nowhere did he mention that he was a republican because most republicans are still embarrassed to admit they are republicans after the worst president ever gwb. so when he runs in november he should specifically run on being a republican of the tea party far right wing fringe that ashead said was gonna vote for him had santorum not suspended his campaign. and since we are talking specifically about voters in the 153rd of abington and upper dublin you are calling these so called dems for mattiaci "unwashed occupy fringe". is this what you think of our township, district, and neighbors?

Who the heck is Schwartz? Never makes any appearances ... does not provide constituent services ... send out blast e-mails (with no ability to respond), and hoards of robo-calls. PUKE!

Simple matter...
Santorum in the race = higher GOP (conservative and moderate) turnout = advantage Nick = erock putting words in Adshead's mouth = typical.

santorum was behind in every poll to romney in his home state how does that equal higher turnout. conservative math just doesnt add up. A study by the Bipartisan Policy Center of the 13 states with primaries through Super Tuesday, March 6, found that turnout was down in eight states. In the five states with increased turnout, all allowed Democrats or independents to vote in the Republican contests. PA is closed primary state. And republicans are not enthused with their candidates. Not to mention regardless santorum was still on the ballot. If mattiaci wanted conservative turnout he should have campaigned as a conservative. Ask his campaign manager why he didnt? because conservatism is dead not only in the country but in the township. Prediction mattiaci loses by a larger margin in November if he runs. everything that ashead said is just an excuse from a party that has lost and continues to bleed out as demographics in party affiliation has changed away from the republican party.
"Bob Adshead, chairman of the Abington Township Republican Organization, said that voter turnout was low to average, hovering around 25 percent. He added that local Republicans likely took a hit because of Rick Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign.
Asheads words = ed boyd either can't read or can't comprehend = typical.

erock....is that what you think of your Republican friends and neighbors? Most Republicans are not "extreme, right wing, etc." just as most Democrats are not "ultra liberal,etc." While we may agree to disagree on politics, we are all friendly to our neighbors. It is you who put words in Adshead's mouth. He was simply saying that the lack of a competitive Presidential primary had a negative impact on GOP turnout. A first year political science major would agree with that assessment. You paint all GOP voters with the same broad brush...not very thoughtful....and not very considerate of your neighbors.

do you have an original thought you basically repeated what i said? are you a child? you cant articulate an argument yourself? no i consider far right wing tea party republicans that support santorum to be the minority in this district. your comprehension is lacking like ed boyd. adsheads words reflect differently believing that somehow with santorum staying in the race mattiaci would have won. that would not have been the case. ive alrteady pointed out that adsheads theory is wrong as turnout has been down in all closed repub primary states anyway. you guys should fire him and replace him with someone that is competent. or dont. people like adshead and you in charge will guarantee minority status in the district and will keep PA blue for years to come. Unlike mattiaci im not afraid to admit that i am a democrat and progressive/liberal. mattiaci should admit that he is a republican and conservative be proud of that and then lose by a landslide in doing so. you know nothing about political science or the district or your neighbors thats why you're in the minority now. time to move to mississippi johnny. or run moderate candidates that deviate from the far right conservative platform on the state and national level.

erock, it seems that your " Education " of the southern states is lacking. People in the South are educated in the histroy of the U.S.A., The U.S. Constitution, Bill of rights. We live in a " REPUBLIC " not a Domocracy. Most people in the south believe in a hard days work for a days pay. People in the south are relaxed most of the time, not rushed like they are here. The southern states don't leach off the rest of the country as you have stated. The fact is, the southern states are creating jobs and that is why people and business in the north are moving to the south, ( lower taxes ) that are lacking here. When it comes to the " Healthcare " system, many of the southern states have some of the best healthcare facilities in the U.S. Politicians no matter who they are should be held accountable to their " specific " portion of the commonwealth of Pa or where ever they are. Politicans should be held accountable to their " Oath of Office " to the people and the U.S. Constitution and that includes " Artiicle 4 Section 4 " protecting the states from the " Invasion " that is taling place 24 - 7. It is my guess ( could be wrong ) you have not lived outside PA. The only reason Dean won over Mattiacci is because their are more Democrate than Republican in this area. When it comes to the Tea Party, some people don't like the " Idea " politicians are being held " accountable " to the people.

The United States is a democratic republic. There are fine healthcare institutions in every part of our nation. The larger question is how will the finest healthcare system the world has ever known be able to survive Obamacare as the ominous elements of the hideous law rollout after the 2012 election, unless Obama is defeated in November. Certainly access can be improved without remaking 1/6 of our economy. BTW, I wonder if former Speaker Peolosi has gotten around to reading the bill yet.

it alot more complicated than that john we are a constitutional republic that practices representative democracy. it is all irrelevant as it is red herring made up by wordsmiths in the republican party like frank luntz and his newspeak. are you upset that Scalia didnt read the bill? http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/03/28/454099/scalia-says-court-cant-be-bothered-to-read-obamacare-you-really-want-us-to-go-through-these-2700-pages/ fox news didnt tell you scalia said this? didnt you get the right wing talking points that you cant use the pelosi didnt read the bill argument anymore because of what scalia said?

stop making excuses for the supreme court scalia said what he said. i never categorized anyone into two groups just dont like far right wing whackos who have destroyed the middle class and the republican party. politicians respond to the times they are in. politicians of any era are no better than any other era. they care about one thing getting re-elected. your yearning of your past "hero's" is your attempt to clasp for a past that aint coming back. those politicians were hated as much than while people yearned for their predecessors too. your argument is the same as those talking about kids in this generation being worse than whatever generation came before. i reject those arguments out of hand. your comment about pelosi not being able to hold tip oneils briefcase are keeping with the conservative war on women. repuclicans were for "re-ordering" the economy before they were against it. it was there plan against clinton's healthcare proposals of medicare for all. medicare for all would eliminate unemployment overnight as business would be unshackled from the expense of rising healthcare. jobs would come back to america in droves. another myth the bill was debated for months and lied about by republicans(death panels also won lie of the year by politifact). get out of the bubble and stop repeating right wing myths they dont get past me.

Whatever. Enjoy MSNBC and all of your left wing buddies. Hope your heart beats faster every time Carville speaks. Meanwhile we'll get on with things and see if "the war on women" is just a clever phrase by the spinmeisters who can't defend Obama's record. The old saying is that if you can't talk about your record....then talk about the other guy. The Democrats had two years of total control from 2009 to 2011....look what it brought us. But oh, I forgot, it's all George Bush's fault.

finally the wash post admits what everyone has known for years...

"...we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html

The debt that was started by Bush has exploded under the current administration. Facts are hard things.

turn off fox news and right wing radio

"All told, Obama-era choices account for about $1.7 trillion in new debt, according to a separate Washington Post analysis of CBO data over the past decade. Bush-era policies, meanwhile, account for more than $7 trillion and are a major contributor to the trillion-dollar annual budget deficits that are dominating the political debate."

the deficit is also declining under obamas policies.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/obamas-budget-tax-revenue-rising-deficit-declining/1

but the most obvious is that democrats created a surplus bush gave tax cuts to the wealthy and exploded spending republicans sat in silence and now want to blame obama for enacting economic policies that keep us out of a depression like the austerity that is engulfing europe in higher debts and deeper recession. keynes was right and is being proven right again. you dont make cuts during downturns in the business cycle. you make cuts during boom periods. facts have a well known liberal bias. keep living in your conservative fantasy.

The US' Austerity in Charts -- Or, "Where is the Government Takeover Again?"

http://bonddad.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-austerity-in-charts-or-where-is.html

A big reason for the high unemployment rate is the cut in government jobs, especially at the state and local level. As Krugman notes:

If public employment had grown the way it did under Bush, we’d have 1.3 million more government workers, and probably an unemployment rate of 7 percent or less.