Free Republic

Poll Shows Huckabee Gaining Ground By Elizabeth Caldwell LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Huckabee’s lead over opponent Jimmie Lou Fisher is up slightly in a new poll conducted for Stephens Media Group’s Arkansas News Bureau, although the pollster points out that the numbers are essentially the same as a month ago. The poll, conducted by Opinion Research Associates of Little Rock, shows Huckabee is favored by 51 percent of respondents while Fisher is the choice of 42 percent. An August poll by the same company showed Huckabee, a Republican, with 49 percent support, to 42 percent for Fisher, a Democrat....

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A poll released Wednesday shows Democrat Edward Rendell maintaining a double-digit lead over Republican Mike Fisher in the race for Pennsylvania governor.</p> <p>Rendell is the choice of 46 percent of likely Pennsylvania voters, while Fisher is favored by 35 percent, according to The Morning Call/Muhlenberg College Poll. Fifteen percent were undecided.</p>

It appears we are going to have a governor's race after all. Ed Rendell was leading Mike Fisher by double digits, but that lead has been cut to eight points. We still have a long way to go. Be sure to watch the televised debates. The first one held on Thursday was informative and entertaining.Actually Michael Morrill of the Green Party would be a better Democratic candidate than Ed Rendell and Libertarian Ken Krawchuck would be a better Republican candidate than Mike Fisher. I say that because Krawchuck thinks like I do on many issues. He doesn't want the government...

Huckabee Leads Fisher In Newspaper Poll Story by The Associated Press Posted 9/23/02 9:09:16 AM A new poll shows Republican Governor Mike Huckabee with a double-digit lead in his race against Democrat Jimmie Lou Fisher. However, the survey shows Fisher has gained ground since the same firm took a poll on the race a month ago. The poll by Zogby International of Utica, New York, was taken for the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette. The poll shows Huckabee with 49 percent and Fisher with 37 percent. The poll has a margin of error of four-point-five percentage points. Thirteen percent were either undecided...

Dems try to stop photo ID requirement for voters Monday, September 23, 2002By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent HARRISBURG -- A Republican bill that would require voters to produce photo identification at the polling booth is an "appalling and disgraceful" attempt to suppress Democratic voter turnout, some state Senate Democrats said today. The bill, pushed through the House by Republicans in June, has languished in the Senate, and Democrats fear it will gain final passage in the days before the November election. Republicans who support the measure say it would cut down on voter fraud, preventing people from voting...

  AP Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher waves to the crowd as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell applauds before the IssuesPA Gubernatorial Debate at Penn State University in State College, Pa. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Their TV commercials have begun to bite as the election draws near and the polls show a tightening race for governor, but Republican Mike Fisher and Democrat Ed Rendell rarely disagreed last night when they met on stage for the first televised debate of the campaign.Their biggest difference during the 90-minute discussion centered on education issues, including kindergarten. Rendell wants to mandate all-day kindergarten...

Poll finds Fisher is closing on Rendell The gap between the two gubernatorial candidates has narrowed from 13 percentage points to 8, the survey said. By Tom Infield Inquirer Staff WriterAn independent poll shows that Republican Mike Fisher has narrowed the gap in his battle for Pennsylvania governor against Democrat Ed Rendell, and is in position to make it a close election on Nov. 5. Tonight's debateWhat: A 90-minute, statewide broadcast featuring the four candidates for governor.Who: Republican Mike Fisher, Democrat Ed Rendell, Green Party candidate Mike Morrill, Libertarian Ken Krawchuk.When: Today, 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Where: Eisenhower Auditorium, Pennsylvania...

Posted on Sat, Sep. 14, 2002Fisher ads mark new turn in race In the spots, a cabbie rips Rendell's record. The rivals clashed over negativity. Inquirer Harrisburg BureauRepublican Mike Fisher debuted a new television character yesterday in the first critical ads of the fall race for Pennsylvania governor: a sarcastic cabdriver who talks about how Democrat Ed Rendell "took Philly for a ride" as mayor.The ads, after a month of gauzy introductory spots from both campaigns, mark a sharp turn in the race with just over seven weeks to go and Fisher trailing by double digits in polls."Let me take...

Poll Predicts Outcome of PA Governor's Race Sep 10, 2002 5:06 pm US/Eastern (KDKA)-(Pittsburgh)-While Labor Day is traditionally the kick-off for the fall campaign, voters can be forgiven if they think this race for governor has been going on forever. Defying the old tradition that pegs labor day as the start of the campaign, Republican Mike Fisher and Democrat Ed Rendell have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaign commercials -- since early August. Judging by the results of our exclusive KDKA-TV News Poll, (conducted September 7th-9th by SurveyUSA), though, voters may not be paying much attention. One...

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...

So I went down to the City-County Building in Pittsburgh this morning to protest Pennsylvania Treasurer Barbara Hafer's endorsement of Rendell. I know this was not an official FREEP - but thought I would post this report anyway. Republicans are lame. Republicans in Pittsburgh are usually really lame. Despite mass emails to Young Republicans and other Republican distro lists, only about 20 pro-Fisher people showed. I know that it is tough during a business day, and that unlike most Dems, Republicans have jobs. At least they had huge signs already made up: Benedict BARBARA; and quotes from Hafer ripping on...

Hafer crossing party lines to back Rendell for governor Tuesday, September 03, 2002By James O'Toole, Post-Gazette Politics Editor State Treasurer Barbara Hafer, a Republican, will cross party lines to endorse Democrat Ed Rendell in his race for governor against GOP Attorney General Mike Fisher. The surprise development will be showcased in Fisher's political back yard in a press conference tomorrow morning on the steps of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh. Hafer and Rendell will then set out on a cross-state tour with stops in Harrisburg and Philadelphia later in the day. Hafer is to continue to campaign actively for...

  HERSHEY, Pa. - They showed up on doorknobs all over town last week, 10,000 bright yellow flyers informing residents that they had a friend in the foxhole."Attorney General Mike Fisher ... Leading the Fight to Protect Your Community and Your Jobs," the flyers said.Fisher, the Republican candidate for governor, has become mired in chocolate syrup as he battles in court to stop the sale of the venerable Hershey Foods Corp. by the company's controlling trust.The proposed sale has inspired a firestorm of protest from locals afraid a new owner would slash jobs at the chocolate maker and destroy their...

Fisher, Rendell preparing for tight race Sunday, September 01, 2002 BY PETER L. DeCOURSEY Of The Patriot-News After spending the summer studying and preparing, the four candidates for governor face an autumn of tests and a Nov. 5 final exam. They'll endure 18-hour days when they'll be quizzed by voters, reporters and interest groups. During at least a dozen joint forums and debates all over the state, they'll face each other. Their wallets and supporters will be tested severely. After a $33 million Democratic primary, which broke the state record for election spending, the candidates expect to combine to double...

The Democratic candidate has proposed a limit on handgun purchases of one a month per person. By KENNETH P. VOGEL Times Leader Harrisburg Bureau HARRISBURG - Gun control is about as popular with the Northeast's many hunters as Brussels sprouts are with the average first-grade class. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher, the state's attorney general, is hoping to capitalize on the gun control aversion to win support from Northeastern Democrats by highlighting Democratic candidate Ed Rendell's plan to limit handgun purchases to one per person per month. "If you're for gun control up in this area - it doesn't matter...

GOP is sweating 'Ed effect' on racesA campaign letter warns that the party's control of the House could be swept away by Rendell's shirttails.By Ovetta WigginsInquirer Harrisburg Bureau Sounding a bit desperate and more than a little scared, Pennsylvania House Republicans are pleading for help to maintain their seats in November.In a recent campaign letter soliciting contributions and voter turnout for GOP House candidates, Speaker Matt Ryan worries about what some are calling "the Ed effect."Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, who is running for governor at the top of the Democratic ticket, threatens House Republicans in the Southeastern counties and...

Poll: Rendell Still Leads Fisher for Pa. Gov.By the numbers, it's unchanged from the same poll taken three weeks ago. Republican Mike Fisher losing to Cemocrat(sp) Ed Rendell in this poll, fifty-two percent to thirty-eight percent with a margin of error of three-point-nine percent. Now the western Pennsylvania numbers are a more significant story. In the western portion of the state, which is Fisher's home turf, Rendell has now taken the lead over the attorney general forty-five percent to forty-one percent. If Rendell can hold this lead into November, he'll be tough to beat. The Eyewitness Survey-U.S.A. Poll questioned 628...

TEHRAN - German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has said that the enforcement of Islamic law, or the Sharia, is not acceptable in Afghanistan, according to some reports from Berlin. Speaking at the Bundestag, or German Parliament, on Friday night, the German foreign minister claimed that Islamic law disregards human rights, and that it is not in line with the principles accepted by Germany. Thus, he said, Germany cannot agree to the return of Islamic law in Afghanistan. Fischer said the enforcement of Islamic law in Afghanistan is unacceptable despite the fact that the Loya Jirga delegates, during their recent seven-day...