Posted on 09/05/2002 6:42:22 PM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Editorial: Where's her beef? / Hafer's defection is good copy but perplexing
Editorial: Where's her beef? / Hafer's defection is good copy but perplexing
Thursday, September 05, 2002
State Treasurer Barbara Hafer's decision to cross party lines and endorse Democrat Ed Rendell for governor provides a high for political junkies (and probably some hives for Republican nominee Mike Fisher). But it is difficult to find substance beneath the sensationalism.
It seems inadequate to attribute Ms. Hafer's defection to pique at being pressured to pull out of the Republican primary in favor of the better-financed Mr. Fisher. But if the revenge theory seems inadequate, so does the notion that Ms. Hafer was forced into political apostasy by unbridgeable philosophical differences with her party's nominee.
True, Mr. Fisher is more conservative than Ms. Hafer, and there are stark differences in their views on abortion. But the fact that Mr. Fisher is pro-life and Ms. Hafer pro-choice is largely symbolic. In ruling on Pennsylvania's Abortion Control Act in 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court left little room for this commonwealth (or any other state) to impose additional restrictions on abortion.
Moreover, both parties are trying to reach out to both pro-choice and pro-life voters. On the Republican ticket, Mr. Fisher is balanced by his running-mate Jane Earll, a pro-choice state senator from Erie. On the Democratic side, primary voters paired the pro-choice Mr. Rendell with the pro-life Catherine Baker Knoll of McKees Rocks, a former state treasurer (and longtime political Hafer adversary).
That said, Pennsylvania is among the states where pro-life Republican candidates risk alienating pro-choice Republican voters, particularly women. Even before Ms. Hafer's announcement, this was a concern for the Fisher campaign, particularly in Philadelphia's suburbs.
That suggests a third interpretation of Ms. Hafer's unusual decision to repudiate her party's ticket: If she helps Mr. Rendell by putting a prominent face to the unease of some Republican women with his candidacy, she might be rewarded with a prominent position in a Rendell administration.
For the record, Ms. Hafer says she doesn't anticipate any role in a Rendell administration other than as a transition adviser. After this week, even that is more than she could look forward to in an administration led by Mike Fisher.
http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20020905edhafer0905p3.asp
Hafer unfazed backing Rendell
Thursday, September 05, 2002
By James O'Toole, Post-Gazette Politics Editor
As she praised Ed Rendell, a smiling Barbara Hafer ignored the taunts hurled across Grant Street.
While shouts of "Benedict Hafer" and "Sour Grapes" competed with the noises of the fading rush hour, Hafer said she was endorsing the Democrat solely because of his ability to lead the state in tough financial times.
Later, the former GOP candidate for governor dismissed the suggestion that her surprising embrace of Rendell was an act of revenge against party leaders who had rebuffed her last year in favor of Attorney General Mike Fisher. Still, even if it is true that her decision was an issue-driven act of political courage -- the portrayal advanced by Democrats yesterday -- Hafer could be forgiven for savoring the consternation she had caused among some Republican officials.
Hafer first ran for governor in 1990, drafted by party leaders for a kamikaze flight against the hugely popular late Gov. Robert P. Casey, the father of the current auditor general. Four years later, the prospects for Republicans looked much brighter. The state's two-term limit for governors ensured an open seat. The Republican nomination that had nearly gone begging in 1990 seemed a valuable commodity in 1994 and Hafer was among the hopefuls gearing up for a run.
But some of the moderate, pro-choice Republicans who were part of Hafer's party constituency were already lining up behind the Erie congressman who would go on to win the governor's mansion -- Tom Ridge.
"I was asked by Elsie [Hillman] and Arlen [Specter] and many other Republicans to get out of that race because they felt I would hamper Congressman Ridge's chances," Hafer recalled yesterday.
Another Allegheny County Republican stayed in that hunt through the 1994 primary -- then state Sen. Mike Fisher, R-Upper St. Clair.
"I got out and he didn't. Isn't that ironic?" Hafer said with a smile.
Hafer found irony in that history because of the intra-party maneuvering that shaped the current governor's race. A year ago, she and Fisher were both gearing up for the race. In the first week of that September, Ridge, hoping to head off a contentious and costly primary, endorsed Fisher as his successor. Mark Schweiker, then still the lieutenant governor, seconded Ridge's choice.
They made their announcement in the museum building near the Capitol.
An angry Hafer quipped that, "The back-room boys had their event in the state museum among the fossils."
Hafer soldiered on in her candidacy but citing the state's worsening financial condition, she abruptly withdrew from contention in early January, seemingly giving Fisher a free ride to the nomination.
Hafer was asked yesterday if she felt that Ridge had treated her badly, if she had turned her back on Fisher in revenge for perceived slights by Ridge and other Republicans.
"No, each election is individual. Nobody owes anything to anyone," she said. "I just don't think the Republican Party takes women seriously at this point. I don't think the Republican Party is trying to recruit women, women are leaving in droves. President Bush saw that in Pennsylvania."
The Fisher campaign, naturally, disputes that contention. In responding to the news of Hafer's decision, the GOP campaign pointed out that the anti-abortion Fisher had shown his open-mindedness in naming a pro-choice woman, state Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, as his running mate.
The Fisher campaign lumped Hafer with Rendell's running mate, Catherine Baker Knoll, as women of the past.
"The comments of the Fisher camp that I'm a woman of yesterday flies in the face of the fact that the majority of Republican and Democratic women in Pennsylvania are over 50 and the backbone of both parties," she said "I think the party mentality is flawed."
Whether or not Fisher could have headed off Hafer's defection will never be known. She said that it was unlikely that he could have changed her mind. But Hafer also says that Fisher didn't make any discernible effort to reach out until her decision was already made.
Hafer said she had had relatively little contact with Fisher after her decision to leave the race, and that she had practically no communication with Fisher or Earll through the summer. Rendell, by contrast, made contact with her through intermediaries sometime after his primary victory over Casey.
Finally, early last month, Rendell and Hafer sat down to dinner in a Harrisburg restaurant and talked over the campaign and Rendell's ideas for the state. Hafer said that she was impressed by his grasp of the issues and surprised that he didn't ask for her support then. If he had, she would have given it.
Rendell's campaign manager, David Sweet, got in touch with her a few days later. Sweet formally asked for her support and she said "yes."
Hafer said that Fisher called to talk with her Friday, weeks after the decision had been made. She said she responded with the message that she would be available today. Her message didn't mention the closely held secret that that would be the day after her appearance with Rendell.
Kent Gates, Fisher's campaign manager, insists the Hafer endorsement is an insider story that will be forgotten by the time voters go to the polls. That may prove true, but in the near term it is a cavernous pothole in Fisher road's toward the Nov. 5 election. It allows Rendell to dominate the news of the race at a time when both campaigns are trying to cultivate a sense of momentum crucial to the donations needed for their multimillion campaigns.
The Rendell camp, for its part, will do its best to make sure that Hafer's decision is not forgotten. She and Rendell said she would be an active campaigner in Allegheny County, the base she shares with Fisher, and in southeastern Pennsylvania, where many Republicans share the pro-choice views held by Hafer and Rendell.
To parry the Hafer endorsement, the Fisher campaign peppered the state with e-mails reminding reporters of the harsh criticisms Hafer has offered in the past for Rendell's running mate. To win her second term at the treasury, Hafer defeated Knoll in a close race in 2000.
Rendell and Hafer both insist that Hafer was offered nothing for her endorsement. Both said that Hafer, who has more than two years left in her term as treasurer, would not take a position in a Democratic administration. Rendell, said, however, that he would rely on Hafer for job recommendations.
"She can be a great source of qualified people in southwestern Pennsylvania to work in my administration," Rendell said.
Hafer said she wasn't sure what she would do after her term is up, but her answer reflected a memory for politics and political enemies.
"I don't know if there's a future for me in elected politics, but as I've said before, I thought I retired Catherine Baker Knoll in 2000, and she's back, so anything's possible," she said.
By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 5, 2002
Republican state Treasurer Barbara Hafer's surprise endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell sparked sharp criticism from some Republican leaders while others downplayed its impact.
Following the endorsement Wednesday, state Republican Chairman Alan Novak called Hafer's action "a very personal, petty and selfish decision."
Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, is facing Republican state Attorney General Mike Fisher, 57, of Upper St. Clair, in the Nov. 5 election. Hafer, of Elizabeth, also was a candidate for governor last year, but dropped out of the race in January after several GOP leaders backed Fisher. After Hafer withdrew, Fisher was unopposed in the Republican primary.
"She doesn't have what she wants. She wanted to be the candidate for governor. It's like a kid in a school yard who doesn't get a chance to play in the game, and says, 'Heck, I'm going to root for the other team,' " Novak said.
Hafer joined Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, at a news conference on the steps of the City-County Building, Downtown, for the announcement.
"Ed Rendell is the only candidate with the proven know-how and experience to be our next governor," Hafer, 59, told several hundred Rendell supporters who had rallied for the event. Rendell and Hafer repeated the announcement at news conferences in Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
Hafer cited Rendell's accomplishments during two terms as Philadelphia mayor as her reason for believing he will be a good governor.
"I remain a proud Republican. I'm also an independent thinker," said Hafer, who was surrounded by women with signs reading "Women for Choice" and "Republicans for Rendell."
About two dozen protesters — one holding a sign that read "Benedict Hafer" — stood nearby on Grant Street and traded taunts with Rendell supporters.
Rendell, 58, praised Hafer for having "political courage," saying her willingness to cross party lines for a cause should be emulated more often.
"We're facing some very, very serious challenges, and they have to be met by leaders who will be nonpartisan and do what's right for Pennsylvania," Rendell said.
Hafer said her decision didn't stem from a grudge against Fisher or party leaders who endorsed him. She said she respects Fisher, but felt he should stay on as attorney general.
Fisher campaign manager Kent Gates said he doesn't believe the endorsement would be a factor in the election's outcome.
"With Barbara Hafer, you can expect the unexpected, so she never factored into our plans," Gates said.
The Allegheny County Republican Committee fired out a news release accusing Hafer of abandoning western Pennsylvania.
Mike DeVanney, the committee's executive director, said Republicans were disappointed, but not surprised by the endorsement.
"She has a track record of supporting other Democrats. She supported Marty Weinberg in the 1999 Philadelphia mayoral race, and he lost," DeVanney said.
Several political observers viewed the endorsement as a serious blow to the Fisher campaign, especially because Hafer has a strong base in southwestern Pennsylvania, which is also Fisher's key base of support. Hafer, who has been the Republican nominee in five statewide elections, has been a public figure in the Pittsburgh area since the 1980s.
Pittsburgh political analyst Joseph Sabino Mistick, however, said it was too early to measure its impact.
"If I'm in the Rendell camp, I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth," Mistick said. "But there's a sort of jump ball aspect to this, because you don't know what direction the ball is going to come down.
"There could be those Republicans who were not zealous about the Fisher candidacy that might now redouble efforts for him in order to emphasize the importance of party discipline," he said.
Novak, the state GOP chairman, said Hafer may have done the Fisher campaign an unintended favor, because her action infused the camp with anger.
"It's lit a fire for Mike," he said. "There hasn't been enough emotion in the race from the Republican Party grassroots base. This has sparked it."
Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey, co-chairman of Fisher's campaign, called it "a tempest in a teapot."
"I don't think this is good for the Fisher campaign. It will have some effect, but not a dramatic or significant effect," Roddey said.
Pittsburgh Controller Tom Flaherty, chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, saw it differently.
"I think the Fisher campaign needed a big bump. Instead, they got a big dump," Flaherty said. "Barbara Hafer's rebuke of his candidacy could be the mortal blow to his campaign."
David M. Brown can be reached at dbrown@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5614.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_89835.html
Republican state Treasurer Barbara Hafer endorses Democrat Ed Rendell for governor Wednesday in front of the City-County Building. Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, faces Republican state Attorney General Mike Fisher, of Upper St. Clair, in the Nov. 5 election.
Protesters, standing across the street from the City-County Building, express their disappointment Wednesday with Republican state Treasurer Barbara Hafer's endorsement of Democrat Ed Rendell. Hafer, of Elizabeth, was briefly a candidate for governor last year, but dropped out of the race in January after several GOP leaders backed state Attorney General Mike Fisher.
Thursday, September 5, 2002
What are we to make of noted Republican Barbara Hafer's decision to endorse Democrat Ed Rendell for governor? A lot, actually. And it's not very flattering to Ms. Hafer.
Hafer is the former Allegheny County commissioner, former two-term state auditor general and the sitting state treasurer, now in her second term. She was all but abandoned by the GOP in her sacrificial lamb of a gubernatorial bid against Robert Casey Sr. in 1990. This year, party leaders leveraged her out of the GOP primary by directing critical dollars to state Attorney General Mike Fisher.
On Wednesday, Hafer got her revenge. The trooper Republican became a card-carrying Rendellican. Hafer said her decision was motivated by her belief that Mr. Rendell, the former Philadelphia mayor and one-time chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is better suited for the job of governor, especially in these challenging fiscal times.
Hafer, as does anyone, has every right to her personal political preference. But with Mr. Fisher down in the polls by double digits, her very public pronouncement of it was designed to do one thing — embarrass Fisher and the GOP "backroom boys" who Hafer so loathes.
The state's political soothsayers proffer that Hafer's endorsement of Rendell could deny Fisher some key votes — from moderate Republicans statewide, from women (Hafer is pro-choice; Fisher is anti-abortion), and from his Allegheny County base, considered crucial to any chance for victory.
Perhaps that will be the case. But perhaps the pundits have inflated Hafer's influence with voters. After all, she didn't exhibit much in her bid for the GOP nomination this year or in her gubernatorial bid 12 years ago, now did she.
Oh, and did we fail to mention that by endorsing Rendell, Hafer also endorses his running mate, Catherine Baker Knoll? Isn't she the woman who Hafer, for so many years, effectively has said isn't fit to be a dogcatcher? (See more below.)
Barbara Hafer's decision — fueled by revenge, tainted by hypocrisy — is unbecoming of a public servant and politician we once held in such high esteem.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/s_89778.html
Thursday, September 5, 2002
As we note in today's lead editorial, revenge and hypocrisy are key factors in Barbara Hafer's defection to Ed Rendell's gubernatorial camp. But while Ms. Hafer alone is responsible for the latter, the Republican machinery must share the blame for giving her the ability to extract the former.
Hafer now stands four-square behind a ticket for which she once routinely lambasted half of it. To wit, as auditor general, Hafer, in 1996, accused then-Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll and her top aides of being "lying scumbags."
And today, even though she's endorsing the Democrats' ticket, what does Hafer have to say about Baker Knoll? "I stand by what I've said about Catherine and, hopefully, Ed will be very well for four years."
Courageous in her convictions Hafer is not; hypocrite she is.
But as we said at the outset, and alluded to in today's first editorial, the Pennsylvania Republican Party is not blameless for this high-profile political turncoating.
Did not the party machinery, led by the Elsie Hillman wing, encourage Hafer to run for governor 12 years ago, only to provide lackluster financial support that helped ensure her embarrassing defeat? And isn't the Hillman wing of the GOP responsible for badly miscalculating and getting Hafer into the 2002 gubernatorial race only to find it "necessary" to take her out? And Mrs. Hillman now is, according to Hafer, "disappointed" in Hafer's defection?
Yes, Barbara Hafer is responsible for her own actions. But it's time for some of the Republican Party's movers and shakers to take responsibility for their role in this mess as well.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/s_89779.html
Elsie Hillman is a pro-abortion, baby-butchering RINO.
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