Three democrats to look for on the Democratic ballot

Three democrats to look for on the Democratic ballot

By Judi Panasik
The Weekly Recorder
April 18, 2008

This may be the first time in a long time where masses will come out to vote in a Presidential Primary. Usually the race is decided long before Pennsylvania’s vote comes along. With a tight race for the Democratic nominee, Democrats will be out in full force voting. This year they also have several choices for other positions including delegates for the convention.

Because most of these seats are not limited to local positions like state representatives and state senators many of the candidates are less known.

Over the past month I have had the opportunity to speak to several of the democratic candidates.

Steve Lucas- Delegate for Hillary Clinton 12th District

The first was Steve Lucas, a Student at Penn State Main Campus that is running as a delegate in the 12th district. Lucas traveled to Washington and Jefferson College to see President Bill Clinton and to Solider and Sailors field to cheer on Hillary.

Lucas is an oddity, a young person who is supporting Hillary. Lucas is running to get one of the delegate seats for Pennsylvania. Because the way the state is divided Lucas is running in parts of at least three counties. As a college student it makes it hard for him to get out and campaign. But that’s also why he’s the perfect candidate.

If this election comes down to delegates and super delegates at the convention, wouldn’t Hillary supporters want someone young who can talk to the groups she needs. Lucas knows the candidates and their policies. He can give a compelling argument to those young people supporting Obama.

As a sophomore at Penn State Lucas has seen an overwhelming support for Obama, and realizes what it is the other students see in him. Lucas said that he represents a breath of fresh air that they fell they need. However Lucas feels that Hillary, “Can be the agent of change that we need.” He feels that students are attracted to Obama’s ideologies, but that Hillary can actually make things happen.

Hillary serving on the arms services committee, which entailed her working closely with republicans and her ability to get legislature passed also make Lucas believe she is the better candidate for president.

This is not Lucas’ first involvement in politics, not old enough to vote in the last election, he still worked on the presidential campaign and has stayed active in politics. He understanding and ability to express Hillary’s positive attributes to a younger crowd are a much-needed entity in such a close election.

John Cordisco- State Treasurer

John Cordisco is one of the democrats running for state treasurer. To be honest before talking to Cordisco I had no idea what the state treasurer was responsible for, you usually think of the person who writes out checks and is responsible for money, but it’s more than that. When I asked him what the treasurer really did Cordisco had no problem explaining it in terms anyone could understand, and his answers weren’t vague.

First and foremost the treasurer protects the hard-earned dollars of taxpayers. They are also responsible for making sure state pensions for teachers and state employees are kept in tact, and how they are invested. Cordisco believes a lot of money is going into fees for Wall Street and hopes to renegotiate this. He wants to be able to give cost of living increases to those on pension funds. Cordisco said at a time when we are trying to get young people to go into the teaching profession we need to show that they will have a livable retirement that won’t be decreased over time.

The treasurer is also responsible for the investment of state money.

Cordisco sees a chance for economic development. He’s seen a lot of money invested in South Eastern Pennsylvania and wants to see the same thing happen all over the state. He’s seen people in over 52 different counties that want opportunities. Cordisco has a full understanding of the resources within the Commonwealth.
Currently the state has a lot of money invested in investment firms, but because they don’t have to disclose what they are doing with the money we don’t know if they are investing any of it in Pennsylvania.

Cordisco, like the democratic nominees for president, plans to look into areas of green technology to bring jobs to Pennsylvania and make government building run more efficiently. He believes it could create a new economy for the state and that Pennsylvania needs to start to compete globally.

The Treasurer has about 3 billion dollars they can put in long term investments. Cordisco feel they need to focus on how they can take that money and put it into areas like Western Pennsylvania and help build up the communities. He sees our learning institutions and access to transportation as resource tools in economic development and believes we need someone who cares and is going to take the time to make it happen. Cordisco said he would put an emphasis on Western Pennsylvania.

Cordisco believes his strongest quality for the position is that he has experienced hardship. While going to school and working in the steel mills, he’s stood in the unemployment lines and faced the fears of being responsible for taking care of a family. He’s been a teacher and served on the PA House of Representatives. He’s authored laws for veterans and started the “Have a Heart Foundation” to help families with disabled children, served on a board of directors for a bank and owned and operated two small businesses.
According to Cordisco one of his opponents is a venture capitalist whose taken 85% ($1.8 million) of his funding from Wall Street. Cordisco stated he would not take any money from Wall Street seeing it as a conflict of interest.

Cordisco showed a true understanding not only to the needs of Western Pennsylvania but to humanity as a whole. He realizes that we are all touched by experiences, whether it is war or hardships, which tie us all together.

Brien Wall- Congress 18th district

The third candidate on the Democratic ballet to look for will be Brien Wall who is running for congress in Pennsylvania’s 18th district. Since Republican Tim Murphy currently holds the position the democrats need to nominate someone who can win over a percentage of republican votes on Murphy’s home turf.
Brien, who’s name came from his grandmother, is from Upper St. Clair and has worked with many Repbulicans in the area.

He has not only served as a Democratic Committeeman, but has also been involved in civic and charitable organizations.

Wall is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and like Cordisco, worked at a steel mill when going to college. Working for the state welfare department after serving in the Army, he learned empathy for people who have fallen on hard times.

Wall said he knows what it’s like to raise a family, earn a living and go through the ups and downs of life. He has a bachelors degree in economics and understands why the economy is in the trouble it’s in. Wall sees how his vote in congress will affect the small businesses and the everyday man. He’s not going to be there for big business, he’ll be there to represent us.

What Wall sees in this country is the haves and have not’s with a shrinking middle class that he believes is the backbone of what built this country. He’s proud to say he’s supported by labor unions in the districts four county area.

Wall understands the need to bring back working class jobs. He’s seen business leave town and an abundance of low wage jobs like Wal-Mart take over the job market.

Wall wants to see us pull out of Iraq and take care of the soldiers that come back. He wants to see the Kelly facility stay open that is used by military families and offers jobs locally.

Jennifer Hafer is one of Walls opponents. Having spoken to her about a year ago the only thing she seemed interested in was what money she could raise for her campaign. She seems to be running off of her family name, which may win her the election if people don’t research whom they are voting for and blindly pick a candidate.

As more and more flyers come in the mail everyday I scan them to see what sticks out about a candidate. Hafer’s was her lack of information. Compared to Wall she has little to no experience at all. There was no job record or lists of groups and organizations she has been involved with, just her own consulting business.
Wall comes off as the everyday working class guy that understands what Western Pennsylvania and the Country need to get back on track. Being an involved resident with many organizations in the Pittsburgh area he has a better shot at beating Murphy than his democratic opponents in the fall.