The LuLac Edition #1673, July 10th, 2011

PHOTO INDEX: EILEEN SOROKAS, CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY COUNCIL AND LONG TIME POLITICO WIL TOOLE.

EILEEN’S PLAYBOOK

There’s a lot of talk going around about the candidates for County Council boning up on the Charter. Many have been attending meetings. Democratic candidate Eileen Sorokas has taken it one step further and carts around a binder filled with charts, cost estimates, meeting minutes and just about everything you needed to know about Home Rule. It is good to see candidates competing for the fall election for the Council studying hard and taking this whole thing seriously.

TOOLE’S TRAVELS

Wil Toole is a well known politico in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. Toole ran for Controller in ’09 and also for County Council in ’11. He has been a constant at public meetings and is always willing to express his opinion on how government can and should work. Toole has also been generous with information to various candidates as well as other political players. As a senior citizen (people who watched Toole play football at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston have a hard time visualizing him at this age) Toole is seeking information on Medicare. He also is in contact with various federal offices to get a bead on what is happening with the military. This week Toole, as a private citizen made a few attempts to talk with officials from a Senator’s office as well as a Congressman’s venue. What he found in terms of knowledgeable staff people was pretty sad. Maybe we’re spoiled around here having had cracker jack staffs manning the offices of Dan Flood, Paul Kanjorski , Joe McDade and Chris Carney. But get a load of what Toole, as a knowledgeable private citizen had to go through.
Here is my story for today.
I received an email alert that President Obama has put Social Security on the table. I called Senator Casey's Scranton office and asked if it were true. The woman told me they have no idea what the President is doing. They were not told anything. I asked her how I could verify it and she told me the Times-Tribune had a story about it so I should call them for verification. Can you imagine? I call the US Senator's office and they tell me to call the local newspaper.
I called the White House switchboard and the woman told me that they know of nothing that has been decided and if I wanted to make a comment, she would connect me with the White House comment line. OK ....... I waited! I was on hold for over a half hour but did get the pleasure of listening to a dozen messages as to what I might do if I didn't want to hang on. The only thing they didn't suggest was that I go screw myself.
I then called Casey's Washington office and spoke to a nice young man who was absolutely no help but didn't give me any stupid suggestions. I told him about my call to their Scranton office and I swear I could hear him bite his lip to keep from laughing. He said they just don't know what President Obama is doing.
So next I called the Scranton Times and left a message. I got a call back later in the afternoon and the editor could only laugh when I told him the Senator's office used him as my "go to" source and the White house had no clue. We talked a bit, he said I was right, Obama did say that "everything" was on the table so that meant SS and Medicare. So I got off the phone and wrote a blazing email to Obama through the White House site. Among many things, I suggested that Obama grow a set of stones and find the backbone to stand up with the 80% of all Americans who do not want our programs messed with.
Pray with me ....... Please God, send us a candidate, bowlegged from huge gonads who will run against Obama in the Primary and give we the people a decent candidate in November and then solid representation in the White House. Amen.
A few observations here. Wil Toole is a long time Democrat. The lack of conviction from this President has good Democrats who trusted him, rooted for him and supported him running away from him in droves. Centrist Democrats, left wing Democrats, Reagan Democrats are getting the feeling this guy cannot stand up to anyone. Elections are won and lost on major issues. But there’s another component. In lieu of a national emergency, like terrorism, races are decided sometimes by an undercurrent. George H.W. Bush had a 91% approval rating in 1991 but the undercurrent around the country was that Bush didn’t care about the economy. And we got Clinton. Obama might meet a similar fate because he has not even played to his base. George W. Bush won re-election by a narrow margin in 2004 because his base, core believers were solidly for him. Obama will not have that luxury.
The second point is the staffing issue. I will bet that most of the staffers running Casey’s, and Toomey’s office are people with no political acumen about what perception means. Constituent services doesn’t mean having all the answers all the time, but it doesn’t mean telling a voter “Christ, I don’t know, call the newspaper. “ Why not try, “I don’t have the answer for you at this time, but I’ll certainly be glad to research it for you and call you back”. But what do I know? I just think making sense is the way to go.