I had the pleasure of speaking with Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Valerie McDonald Roberts here in PA last night on the phone for forty-five minutes after a long day on the campaign trail which didn't end for her until well after sunset. The race is for the #2 spot in the 6th most populous state in the country and she's a very progressive/liberal person with a progressive political agenda. This position has been called a vanity position, but it would not be so with a person like McDonald Roberts at the post. Seeing progressive candidates in statewide races gives me hope and a sense that all is not lost. We've still got some great candidates to fight for.

McDonald Roberts is currently in her fifth year as the Allegheny County [Pittsburgh's county] Recorder of Deeds and prior to that she served on the Pittsburgh City Council and was a member of the Pittsburgh School Board. Her background also includes experience as a teacher, small business owner, Fortune 500 employee, mother and chemist. She'd love to serve the state as an elected official and bring her progressive agenda to the other 11+ million residents of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states which holds separate primary elections for the spot of Lt. Governor and Governor which McDonald Roberts says has its advantages and disadvantages. While it has been the tendency for the gubernatorial candidate to indicate who their preferred running mate is, it is not always the case and it wasn't in 2002 where now Gov. Ed Rendell did not indicate a preference and the ensuing campaign was said to have more of a shotgun wedding feel to it. McDonald Roberts feels that the Lt. Governor, in addition to simply having a good working relationship with the Governor, s/he should also be philosophically in tandem as s/he could take over the position of Governor for one reason or another, she feels that she is in tandem with Gov. Rendell's philosophies. It happened in 2001 when Tom Ridge was picked by President Bush to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. If the Democrats take a house of Congress and the Presidency in 2008, Gov. Rendell, the former chair of the DNC, could very well be picked by President X (D) for a cabinet position. On the upside, it allows the people to choose the ticket they feel best represents their views thereby empowering them. McDonald Roberts points to her experience in legislative and executive capacities as examples of her superiority as a Lt. Governor candidate.

I recieved two letters via email today concerning what's going on in the Democratic Party here in Philadelphia. The Dem leadership of this city is worried. They are panicking. They are calling the people who want to get involved in the Democratic process "outsiders" and "Republicans" and I know I may be an outsider, but I am no Republican outsider. Following are the two letters in their entirety.

He's not well-known. His name sounds like Pinocchio. He's a teacher. He doesn't have money... All of those things have been said about my candidate for US Senate Chuck Pennacchio. Well, fuck that shit.

OpEdNews.com commissioned Zogby International to poll Pennsylvanians about the issues at stake. The Senate race, Alito, paper ballots, W, the War... The results are in and the analysis has begun.

Well, it's been a week and Joe Hoeffel has his latest post up now. I responded to his last post [on the 2006 PA races] here. Why do I continue to go after Hoeffel? Because he really let me down. How? He slunk away from this race, seemingly told to do so by the Rendell-Schumer-Reid trio, and stepped in line behind their candidate Bob Casey Jr. when there was a more progressive candidate already out there, Chuck Pennacchio.

Above is a drawing by Brenna Lorenz from State College, PA, she emailed it to the Pennacchio team and asked us to use it as we pleased so there it is. She very well captures what I feel Bobby Casey Jr. is trying to do to the voters in Pennsylvania.

I was on a conference call with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan KIA 4.4.04, about an hour ago. She's been camping out in front of W's vacation home [it's not a ranch, there no livestock is there last I heard, just a ton of brush he constantly has to buzz down in plaid shirts and jeans] trying to get a follow up meeting. She initially met with him, but it seems as W was his normal jovial, oblivious self calling her "Mom" and not knowing who Casey was.

The call was organized by Joe Trippi, Bob Fertik and Jodie Evans. Also on the call were tons of bloggers, journalists and even a member of Congress. As far as question askers went, I caught: Deb from Heart, Soul & Humor, Greg from American Free Press, Mike from Crooks and Liars, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Liza from Culture Kitchen, Dave Johnson from Seeing the Forest, Peter Daou from The Daou Report and even a caller from London.

Cindy's been sick lately and the nearly three inches of Texas rain she and the rest of the brave souls down in Crawford got last night didn't help. She cancelled her interviews this morning to rest up her ailing voice she told us. But her strength is coming back to her now which is good to hear. W's got another four weeks of vacation down there so she's got a long road ahead of her. She's been threatened by the Secret Service. They told her and others there that they should not be camping out there because they could get hit by a truck in the middle of the night. When the Secret Service officer was asked if that was a direct threat, s/he said that wasn't how s/he meant it, but I'm sure s/he wasn't just looking out for Cindy and Co. Cindy said that they were offered a large parking lot and the use of a local [high school?] stadium to hold large protests/gatherings that are not suitable for a ditch in the side of the road.