The Republican candidates were EXTREMELY scripted. Andy Lewis and especially Tom McGarrigle barely looked up from their talking point notes from which they read verbatim. The Democrats ALL looked the camera and the voters in the audience in the eye and spoke from their knowledge and their philosophy of government.
Ann O'Keefe took a soft spoken approach appealing to voters making a thoughtful choice. David Landau kept up his attack on the cronyism at the courthouse (with the latest stat that 250 out of 255 employees in 12 key department are all Republican). John Innelli was on fire and challenged the GOP fiercely on their made-up numbers.
If you watch the tape, you will notice that McGarrigle rarely glanced up from his notes and was just reading, and with questionable comprehension. Several times I felt that if his time hadn't been cut off, we would have heard: "See Dick and Jane play with the ball. Run Dick. Run Jane. See Spot. Run, Spot. Run." Tom McGarrigle was BY FAR the weakest candidate there.
Andy Lewis's main response to most questions was "current council is doing a great job", or "DA Green is doing a great job". In an amazing bit of irony, Andy talked about having a bi-partisan record in Haverford and claimed how he is for hiring based upon qualifications. However, he failed to mention that township employment in leadership/administrative/key jobs is 100% Republican. Pat Biswanger was nowhere to be seen. There was some speculation that she was under the table, either curled up by Andy's feet or feeding him talking points.
Christine Fizzano-Cannon provided the comedy for the evening with her microphone problems. While she came off as smart/capable (by comparison to Andy and Tom, that is), she was a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, she claims she is for open government, televising council meetings, making meetings more accessible, etc., but on the other hand she had nothing but praise for the current county council which does NONE of those things.
The issue of Open Government generated one of the most lively exchanges. Landau talked about making it easy to get campaign finance records and other information from the courthouse. Fizzano-Cannon claimed that part of the GOP "platform" was open government and, as "proof" the words "open government" could be found on their website.
Suddenly, John Innelli fired back using one the 30-sec "rebuttal cards" to point out how the county budget had a 100 million dollar line item for Federal money with NO DETAILS or breakdown. Fizzano-Cannon threw down with her rebuttal card and claimed the information was readily available at the courthouse.
Well, David Landau was having NONE of that BS. He tossed in his rebuttal card and passionately explained that the Dems had been making requests to the courthouse for SIX months and not only couldn't get the information, but were told it was not on computers, or in different places, or not available, etc. He then pointed out that they made a similar request to Bucks county and got a 700 page answer in 48-hours. John chimed in with the PA number state law that requires the County to keep track of the information that Delaware County claims not to have.
Another highlight was during the debate about a County Health Department. Landau not only advocated for a county health department, but explained why it could occur WITHOUT a tax increase as the State would be picking up half the cost and much of the remain funds were already available. Tom McGarrigle claimed that we couldn't rely on the State, in case the State changed its mind and cut off funding in the future. (Maybe he thought the State wouldn't have the funds if everyone else was as delinquent on paying taxes as he's been.)
John Innelli was quick and decisive on the rebuttal. He pointed out two different State Acts that REQUIRED the state to pay $6 and $1.5 per resident toward health care and environmental health issues. That's $4 million right there that the State has to make available.
On the issue of being able to handle a $560 million budget, Tom McGarrigle talked about his rinky-dink business dealings. The issue was made for John, who mentioned that he has TWO degrees in economics and deals regularly in his law practice with large figures in government fraud and waste cases. John pointed out that he not only knows how to balance the books, but knows from experience how to identify books that appear balanced, but really aren't. While Innelli came off as the most educated candidate, McGarrigle came off as the least. It appears that McGarrigle doesn't have more than a high school education (no mention of college in his thin campaign resume). Managing $560 million should go to the guy with the bigger brain.
In short, the Republicans were ALL about the status quo and how one-party government can be a good thing. The Democrats were about change and cleaning up the one-party side-effects like closed government, waste and stagnation.
The Delco Times also covered the debate. While they didn't declare a winner, they did pick up on some of the same things I saw:
Republicans stuck with their game plan of praising the past efforts of council and committing to continue those efforts in areas like crime prevention, economic redevelopment and open space preservation.
Democrats, meanwhile, pointed to a failure of leadership in health care, population growth, and revitalizing older communities, saying a diverse political spectrum could go a long way to reversing those trends.
- When questioned on handling a large, countywide budget, Democrat John Innelli was able to list his extensive experience in the area of finance, including two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in economics, a degree from the Wharton Business School in finance, and work-related experience as an attorney handling finance matters.
- Landau and Innelli tag-teamed a question on Democrats’ desire for a county health department in light of the unfolding wildfire disaster in California and a recent MRSA outbreak at county schools, beating back calls of a tax increase by citing numerous funding sources from the state and by “cutting the fat” of a bloated county government.
When I find out the televising schedule for the debate, I'll post it here.
8 comments:
I just watched the debate, and I have to commend you David: you outdid yourself in mischaracterizing it.
Neither Tom nor Andy read from a script.
The Dems were as on-message and scripted as the Republicans.
The most solid performance came from Christine Cannon. She has the passion, but she also has the information.
Ann O'Keefe has a lot of passion, but she spoke mere platitudes.
David Landau was rather subdued, and just repeated his usual schtick about one-party rule. (Earth to David: Democrats have been on the ticket since time began. If the voters wanted a two-party Council, they would have elected one of them.)
You are as reliable a source as Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh. You see things through Democrat-colored glasses.
Pat-
Delco Times AND the Daily News both characterized the GOP candidates as highly scripted.
Tom and Andy most certainly read directly from their notes, particularly McGarrigle. The way McGarrigle read it almost seemed like his note were written out phonetically.
Many voters haven't realized how much one-party rule has been costing them (and the GOP does its best to hide it from them).
I'll grant you that Christine Cannon came off as the only Republican with a clue, but she did erroneously place the landfill/dump as begin in Bucks and Landau had to correct her that it was in Berks.
Pat-
BTW, hate to double-post, but other thing I left out of my review was that when Andy touted that the current council was doing a great job: mild gasps, murmurs and chuckles arose from the audience. I doubt they thought even Andy believed what he was saying.
I also noticed you left out John Innelli. His two degrees in economics from Penn undercut the GOP argument about who is most qualified.
I'm guessing you had no problem with the revelation by Landau that in 12 key departments investigated so far, that 250 out of 255 employees are Republican. The GOP percentage is even higher in Haverford.
If Pat Biswanger said they weren't scripted, I guess I will believe her. I will believe her over Daily Times or Daily news! Pat accept the fact they were highly scripted.
I am very disappointed in these candidates they really don't seem strong. They seem like puppets! Not addressing patronage that takes place in the courthouse! What is their views on Tom Judge's job, and John McNichol's former job.
Conor-
Pat is pretty funny (especially when she isn't trying to be).
I think their "view" is whatever gets them elected.
David:
Christine mispoke when she said "Bucks" instead of "Berks." Big f***ing deal.
I have two degrees from Penn, too: undergrad and law (and I was near the top of my class there). So I guess I can count on your vote if I ever run for anything?
As impressive as John's two economics degrees are, don't forget that Andy has an MBA from Wharton, and he has actual business experience. John sues businesses, he doesn't run them.
Pat-
If I were you, I wouldn't brag about getting your degrees from Penn. You might cause them to lose their accreditation. :-)
John sues businesses that cook the books. Perfect qualifications for uncovering and correcting Delco.
Isn't Innelli a sole practitioner that has his own lawfirm? Doesn't that mean that he not only runs a business, he owns that business, and appears to have paid all his taxes and disclosed all of his business interests. That puts him ahead of some other people.
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