The LuLac Edition #535, August 12th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: YEARS AFTER OUR INITIAL MEETING IN 1967, DAN FLOOD WAS STILL ATTENDING EVENTS ALL ACROSS HIS DISTRICT. HERE'S THE BLOG EDITOR WITH CONGRESSMAN FLOOD IN 1979 AT THE NOW DEFUNCT ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST CHURCH PICNIC IN WILKES BARRE. (YEAH, WE WERE THE ONLY TWO GUYS IN SUITS!!!!) THE NEXT PHOTO IS HAZLETON MAYOR LOU BARLETTA ALONG WITH THE BLOG EDITOR AT THE 2008 THOMPSON STREET BLOCK PARTY. BARLETTA SEEMS TO BE FOLLOWING IN FLOOD'S FOOTSTEPS USING FACE TO FACE CONTACT TO GET THE JOB DONE.

SHOE LEATHER

It may seem to be as obsolete as an old black and white console TV or a crisp pack of Pall Malls, but in the old days of electioneering, shoe leather played a big role in politics. Maybe that oddity just might be making a comeback in 2008, especially in the race for the 11th Congressional district. But as I always do, let me take you back in time 41 years ago to the summer of ’67.
It was the dog days of August and I was playing softball with my friends from Pittston Junction on a street called Barnum Place. Actually, it was an alley. We were in the middle of a game, using pseudonyms of our favorite baseball players. Every day we’d pick a different team and it was our obligation as a player to come up with a fake name. On this hot sunny Sunday we were the Chicago White Sox and sticking to my admiration of fair to middling players, I proclaimed myself Sherm Lollar. As we kicked up the dust, our game was interrupted by the approach of a white Cadillac convertible. Now the only guy who had a “caddie” in our neighborhood was Ted Haddock and I knew for a fact he was away with his family. As the mystery car approached, I realized that in the car was a man I had seen on TV for most of my childhood. Every Sunday morning at 10:55AM. The voice boomed, “This is your Congressman Dan Flood reporting to you from Washington!!!” Here he was in the flesh. I nudged the other guys and said, “It’s a freaking Congressman”. He waved and we respectfully reciprocated back in hushed reserve. Now there’s one kid in every group who either just doesn’t know any better or just doesn’t care. I think that might have been the case for our third baseman John “Iggers” Ignatovicth, Junior, aka on that Sunday, Pete Ward. As the Congressman got out of the car, wearing a snow white double breasted suit with lavender shirt and black tie, accompanied by his wife Catherine, “Iggers” yelled out, “Hey Dan, your suit matches the color of your car. What’ya doing in our neck of the woods?” in a cracking voice that could be the poster child for puberty in the 1960s. I thought, “This is a Congressman man, let him be”. Flood turned around and looked at us and then at “Iggers” and said, “I know how to accessorize young man”. Now we didn’t quite know what that meant but Flood had his opening. “Who’s winning?” he asked. “My team” I said. Flood replied, “Keep a slow and steady course, your eye on the ball and a magnificent victory will be yours!” He then shook our hands and walked away into a yard. It turned out that some family was having a graduation party for one of their kids. College. Maybe there were about 50 people there tops. Just regular folks from the neighborhood. Flood apparently got an invite and went.
That night I went home and told my dad I had met Dan Flood. “Did you take your bike down to Wilkes Barre without permission again?” he scolded. “No, he was down the street. Went to a graduation party”. My mother then entered the room and my father said, “David met Dan Flood!” My mother rejoined in anger, “Did he sneak his bike down to Wilkes Barre again without telling us?” “No Flood was at the graduation party for that college kid near Barnum Place”, my father replied. My mother said, “But he runs next year, right, in an even year?” My father nodded yes and then said, “But being somewhere in a year when he doesn’t run will pay off for him when he has to”. And of course it did for Dan Flood. For years.
I thought about those 50 people at the Graduation party 41 years ago on Saturday when I went to the Thompson Street block party run by my fellow blogger, "Mr. Wilkes Barre On Line." I spied about 60 or 70 people there, about 30 of them kids. And there making the rounds was none other than Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta. The Mayor talked to each and everyone who would talk to him.He never seemed to blatantly asked for a donation or support but you knew he was campaigning. My conversation with him consisted of the whereabouts of some of my old Hazleton broadcasting buddies. After he left, the buzz was “He came down all the way from Hazleton for this?” What struck me was there was no cynical comments like, “Oh he’s asking for votes” or “He’s just here because it’s an election year”. People truly appreciated the fact that Barletta made the effort to attend the event and stay and chat. This is not the first time I have heard about these visits on the campaign trail by the Hazleton Mayor. There have been numerous visits to hospitalized veterans as well as other groups that have not gotten great media attention. But after each event, he quietly made an impression. Perhaps here’s our answer as to why the race in the 11th Congressional District is so tight. Maybe Barletta has subscribed to the old axiom that 90% of being a success is just showing up. Shoe leather. Face to face contact. Being seen and more importantly seeing and hearing the people you want to represent. Lou Barletta made quite an impression on Thompson Street Saturday night and he didn’t need a Cadillac or white double breasted suit to do it.

LOU TV

A week ago, the Hazleton Mayor was on WYOU TV’s Interactive News. Here’s the link of his appearance: http://pahomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=36671. Hit the WATCH button and you’ll see Barletta's interview with Eric Schiner.