Tom Wolf and Tom Corbett mugs for online stories. Submitted

A Wolf At Governor Corbett’s Door

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Corbett_the_PigWith slightly more than 2 months remaining before voters go to the polls, the straw house that Gov. Tom Corbett built appears to be falling before the strong wind his Democrat opponent, Tom Wolf, is blowing his way.

Corbett, the Republican Governor who decimated education funding in his first budget and is known for his close ties with the Oil and Gas Industry, which has heavily funded all his past campaigns, is going to lose re-election. His loss will make him the first sitting Governor in Pennsylvania’s modern era to earn that distinction.

Corbett has been plagued throughout his first term with his ability to piss off just about every demographic of the population. From those who are employed in the education and state systems to tree huggers and others concerned about the environment, Pennsylvania voters of both political parties see Corbett as detached from the public and not in touch with his constituents.

He even put his foot in his mouth when a remark about women as domestics, was seen as sexist.

Corbett, speaking on a local TV program in July, claimed women would support his proposal to reform his state’s liquor laws because it would save time while preparing dinner.

“I think a lot of people want to be able to walk into a grocery store, particularly, a lot of the women, want to go and buy a bottle of wine for dinner, go down, buy a six-pack or two six-packs, buy dinner and go home rather than what I described as three stops in Pennsylvania,” he said.

It wasn’t the first time that Corbett won the ire of women in Pennsylvania.

The incumbent governor has a history of sexist remarks. In 2012, he responded to the backlash against a proposed bill to mandate ultrasounds for women seeking an abortion by telling women to “close your eyes.”

His poor choice of campaign ads even extended to insulting Jeep owners (Wolf owns a 1996 Jeep), a vehicle that is honored with an annual festival in Butler, PA. In that ad, which was pulled just as quickly as it appeared, Corbett compared Wolf to an older model Jeep pitted against a new, larger gas guzzling truck. The ad showed the Jeep stalling and the truck pulling away when the light where they met turns green. Hardly an ad that convinced voters on Corbett, when he imposed a tax that will raise gas prices 25 cents.

While Corbett has unsuccessfully tried to paint Tom Wolf as a millionaire who evades taxes by registering his business in Delaware, where tax breaks for corporations are beneficial to a bottom line, the majority of Pennsylvanians don’t see it as a deal breaker in voting for Wolf. Most know that many businesses operating in Pennsylvania are registered in Delaware, including gas and oil businesses that fund Corbett’s current campaign.

Considering Corbett spent $25 million in his 2010 campaign for Governor (from campaign funds) and is hardly part of the middle-class himself, his attempt at painting another as “rich” has failed to gain traction, or sway voters.

Corbett has tried to make hay of Tom Wolf’s honesty that higher taxes may be necessary to balance the budget. What Corbett has failed to do is promise that Corbett won’t raise our taxes, which is likely to be a bigger increase with him in office. Corbett made that promise in his 2010 campaign and failed to keep it.

Corbett refuses to generate more revenue from his oil and gas friends, due to his refusal to impose an extraction fee upon them. Wolf will be looking to obtain that extraction fee, which will bring in more revenue for the state and reduce the amount of any tax increase that may be necessary.

Corbett wanted to sell the state controlled liquor stores. One of the few government controlled businesses that actually makes money, rather than losing it. It would have resulted in a one-time cash windfall that would have been burned away quickly and once gone, Pennsylvania would have again been running in the red. That might have gotten the votes of the three people in Pennsylvania who don’t drink alcohol, but it got the rest of us angry.

Corbett most recently held the state hostage, trying to force the state legislature to meet his demands on his desired budget, rather than what both the senate and house finalized.

What he achieved was angering the populace, many of whom saw their jobs in jeopardy if the budget wasn’t approved.

I won’t even go into the suspicions surrounding him regarding the Penn State/Sandusky child abuse fiasco that took place under his watch as Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

Corbett has tried to promote himself as a job creator by allowing the oil and gas industry free reign in fracking the state, claiming he has created hundreds of thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians. Exaggerated numbers most believe, with most jobs being some of the lowest paid in support sectors, such as fast food delivery people, or unskilled laborers.

If Corbett were able, he would have fracking allowed in protected state parks, next to reservoirs and streams that supply our drinking water. As it is, many Pennsylvanians have had their wells polluted to the point that the water can maintain a flame due to the gas that has infiltrated it from nearby fracking wells.

Wolf is playing it smart. He sees this election as something that he can only lose by his own hand and has yet to make a mistake. No flubs, trips on stairways, or outlandish sound bites have been made.

The latest television political ads found Wolf going tit for tat against the Corbett ads, resulting in Corbett making no headway in reducing the difference in polling numbers. Corbett is actually losing ground, with his predicted loss percentage increasing as the election nears. All of his predicted percentages are less than those of President Obama’s approval rating.

Virtually every major poll has Wolf leading by a wide margin.

If the numbers are even close to being accurate, stick a fork in the little piggie, Corbett. He’s done.

Polling Data Available

Poll Date Sample MoE Wolf (D) Corbett (R) Spread
RCP Average 7/5 – 8/25 50.3 33.7 Wolf +16.6
Franklin & Marshall 8/18 – 8/25 520 RV 4.3 49 24 Wolf +25
Magellan (R) 7/30 – 7/31 1214 LV 2.8 50 38 Wolf +12
CBS News/NYT/YouGov 7/5 – 7/24 4150 RV 52 39 Wolf +13
Franklin & Marshall 6/23 – 6/29 502 RV 4.4 47 25 Wolf +22
Quinnipiac 5/29 – 6/2 1308 RV 2.7 53 33 Wolf +20
PPP (D) 5/30 – 6/1 835 RV 3.4 55 30 Wolf +25
Rasmussen Reports 5/27 – 5/28 750 LV 4.0 51 31 Wolf +20
Quinnipiac 2/19 – 2/24 1405 RV 2.6 52 33 Wolf +19
Quinnipiac 12/11 – 12/16 RV 44 37 Wolf +7
PPP (D) 11/22 – 11/25 693 RV 3.7 44 32 Wolf +12
Quinnipiac 3/6 – 3/11 RV 39 39 Tie
PPP (D) 3/8 – 3/10 504 RV 4.4 42 33 Wolf +9

*RV= Registered Voters, LV= Likely Voters, MoE= Margin of Error

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Poll Source~ Real Clear Politics website

Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.