This Week's Smerky Errata

Even when I agree with him (as I do concerning last Sunday’s column about not moving up the PA primary date next year), Philadelphia’s most notorious Repug lapdog manages to conjure up some truly inane nonsense, such as what he considers to be typical campaign behavior…

(Moving up the primary) won't increase the amount of substantive dialogue or personal interaction with candidates in our state. They'll run ads. They'll give a few speeches in the southeast and in Pittsburgh, before quickly flying on to Illinois, New York and California. The closest we'll all come to getting personal will be the interruption of the dinner hour by a telephone push-poll.

I guess Smerky is relying on the fact that many voters aren’t familiar with push-polling (as well as “robo-calls”); both are truly odious tactics practiced by, among others, Jim Gerlach in his campaign against Lois Murphy last year when Gerlach ran for re-election (successfully, sad to say – no sense calling out the 6th district numbskull voters who supported him and risk taking a shot at the wise ones who didn’t).

If, as a voter, you believe you’ve been victimized by a push-poll or a robo-call, contact the offended campaign as soon as possible and let them know (hint: the offender, more often than not, will be a Repug).

Also, concerning how Smerky votes (harking back to the “glorious” days of “Morning in America” with Ronnie Baby and Poppy Bush), he also brought us these pieces of – wisdom(?)…

I heard both speak. I shook their hands. I looked into their eyes. I watched their mannerisms. In short, I formed opinions about each man based on something other than TV coverage and commercials. Each spent time in the state, with field organizations and campaign headquarters, position papers (pre-Internet), and surrogate speakers advancing their views.

I hope Smerky actually read or familiarized himself with the position papers he mentions (and how funny is it that someone who has a column in the Inquirer doesn’t even mention the importance of newspapers in this process?).

Oh well, at least Smerky didn't say anything about smelling them or contemplating anything more sordid, as noted here.

And last as well as least, I give you this…

But what if all is not determined on Feb. 5 (2008)? What if the GOP remains a horse race between Giuliani and Thompson? Or if Clinton and Obama are still deadlocked come Feb. 6? Perhaps a candidate will pick up a head of steam in February only to have a Muskie meltdown or Dean scream in March.

(Apparently, it isn’t much of a “horse race” at the moment between Giuliani and Thompson in the most important “battleground states” at the moment based on this – silly Repug voters, falling for another slick actor…).

Putting aside the fact that the “Dean Scream” was a manufactured media moment of no significance regarding anything whatsoever, and also putting aside the fact that John Edwards is discounted here, even though he’s leading in Iowa polling at the moment based on this – and who of us remembers the “Muskie Meltdown,” I ask (which was a minor show of emotion over a slanderous article written about his wife – Muskie’s coverage would have been totally sympathetic now), I love Smerky’s implication that this sort of thing only happens to Dems (I mean, Repugs never commit these sort of pratfalls for all the world to see, right?).

God, Smerky is such a tool (pointing this stuff out is a dirty, thankless job, I’ll admit, but somebody has to do it).