You can't sit in front of a blank blog post longer than than I have while trying to come up with something to say about this stinker. Carole has set a standard for legislators in the 157th that will be hard for the next Rep. to match. Not an impossible task but probably pretty hard to achieve. So that seems to be the foundation that this election is built on.

This election was covered pretty nicely by TTPN and even a bit of coverage by the Local and the Phoenix. There were also 2 debates that had streaming video on the interweb. The coverage was there for the voters to make some informed decisions. The problem being that issues mask underlying conflicts with the electorate. School vouchers hurt school districts and thus tax payers. Tort reform limits the ability of someone to legitimately sue in court for real damages while doing little to lower insurance premiums. A smaller corporate tax rate is needed so the burden can be placed more squarely on the backs of the individual workers or severely cutting the state budget. These issues are used as dart to be thrown at the voters in hopes of hitting the bulls-eye. There is a hope that the corporate tax argument will make people mindlessly say "hey taxes are hurtful" without thinking "hey the 157th is pretty prosperous". Very few people will actually acknowledge the fact that the corporate tax rate in Pa does not adversely affect the residents of the 157th with the exception of a small portion of upper level income small business owners. Taxes bad message = Election gold?

Sorry about that mini rant but it points out the problem with this election. The micro issues that affect us in these communities don't get addressed . I think very serious issue facing the economic survival of older Borough's have gone largely ignored. I have heard a lot about Brownfields, Brownfields, Brownfields but we have written off that clusterfuck a long time ago and we are eagerly awaiting the first candidate that will pledge $5 million in Growing Greener 3 funds to purchase parcels Q and N to build a park and parking lot respectively. We don't hear it though. We want some elected official in a shiny Buick come riding in, check in hand, to save us from the publicly funded breast feeding class that PPG has been putting on the last decade. (side note ---We hear Gerlach thumping his chest about getting money for the SVM and the French Creek Parkway but one project is dead and one is languishing in purgatory.) We need to have a serious talk about economic development and what it actually means for the Borough of Phoenixville. Though there are some legislation in place that should aid the development of the Steel Site, we are getting pigeon holed into a retail and entertainment model for our revitalization. I don't even blame Barry Cassidy for this because that model is the quickest way to see results. I don't see the sustainability in it though and that needs to be addressed. Our infrastructure can't handle the model we have in place and our tax base can't handle the upgrades.

Pinch your nose in this election. I think Paul Drucker matches the district better than Guy Ciarrocchi in terms of ideology. I believe that people decide on their elected officials based on something other than their own real self interest and vote based on some perceived self interest. We are a moderate electorate and Guy is not a moderate candidate. He tried to put that out there and he may have fooled a few but he can be as radical as they come in some of his views. Carole Rubley bucked her party for the good of the district and the Commonwealth. I don't think electing someone that has spent his career as a political operative will be carrying on the work that Carole has started. Paul Drucker doesn't impress me but Carole Rubley didn't impress me at first (a bunch of elected officials didn't impress me at first). We need to continue to elect the political middle. Paul Drucker is that political middle.