I realize some of you are likely Republicans - but at the moment it appears that Tom Wolf Democratic businessman has the overwhelming lead in the Democratic Primary making him the most likely replacement for Corbett
Tom Wolf is a Dartmouth College and MIT graduate with not ties to PSU or any other PA university. But Wolf's rather insurmountable lead in the primary is undercut by his less than favorable polling vs Corbett.
Given this situation this is my suggestion:
The popularly elected BOT members along with the reform candidates Bagwell, Glocker, Pope, Jubelirer and Lord should try to reach an agreement to reach out to the Wolf campaign. This should be done ASAP.
We can wait for a period of time to see if one of the other Dem candidates is able to overtake the sizable Wolf lead and then move to support his or her candidacy
OR
We could form teams - One existing BOT member with one BOT candidate and one SMSS author/editor or Eileen Morgan & one or two Freehdom Fighters for each of Wolf, McCord and Schwartz - thus covering all of our bases.
I'm sure some current BoT members and candidates already have favorites in the race - i.e. Lord with McCord. The trick in politics is to offer assistance when it is most needed and the candidates are looking for support. They are much more apt to listen at that point.
If you take the combined membership of:
PS4RS 10,000 Facebook members
PSU Alumni for Reorganization 1000 FB members
PSU ReBOT 2100 members
SMSS Freehdom Fighters 1000 members
March for Truth 1000 members
Put Back the Statue 1000 members
The 2500 to 3500 BWI McAndrew Forum members who typically follow SMSS posts
and the 60,000 to 70,000 visits per month to SMSS websites
We have a 20 to 30,000 person circle of influence - potential all pretty dedicated to seeing Corbett defeated. We will be supporting something most already support. I've seen many comments from Republican PSU people who say they will vote for whomever opposes Corbett.
What we want to see happen is for Barb Doran, and the other 5 popularly elected trustees along with (hopefully) 3 more reform candidates elected on May 8 to present as united a front as possible to the strongest Corbett opponent offering support and a plan to take back Penn State from Corbett control. Pre primary contact would be optimum but not absolutely required. Since Lord already has a relationship with McCord and McCord is already on board that really isn't an issue. But it would be good to have someone at least in contact with someone in the Wolf and Schwartz camps. How difficult would it be for Barb to find out if any of the existing Alumni Trustees or strong reform candidates are already Wolf or Schwartz supporters?
I see the best way of doing this as creating a plan that each one of the 9 or as many as possible are willing to support.
The message should be something like this:
We the popularly elected members of the PSU BOT are fighting an uphill battle against Tom Corbett and his controlling faction of 9 appointed Trustees. We believe that Corbett and his cronies caused the defamation of our Alma Mater by his actions - and the actions of the Board on Nov 9 2011. In order to correct his problem we wish to assist your campaign.
We suggest that if elected you consult with us on potential replacements for the Corbett appointees - 1st Ask for the resignation of all Corbett appointees 2nd Replace those Trustees with your own appointees - we would be honored to make the following suggestions.
The 9 popularly elected Trustees plus 9 appointed by the new Governor would give us an 18 Trustee majority - enough to replace Steve Dunham as General Counsel - enough to repudiate the Freeh Report - enough to take back Penn State and restore the Pride and Culture so defamed by Corbett Surma and their cronies.
I personally think Graham and Barb & whomever they feel most comfortable with in the group of elected trustees and candidates - should get together first and compose the wording of such a plan. Then reach out to the others with a plan in mind to see if anything needs to be adjusted to get them to sign on to the plan.
The fact that these trustees have been popularly elected with fairly substantial vote totals should be very impactful with any campaign.
2013 Election
Candidate – Vote Total
Winners
22. Barbara L. Doran, '75, New York, NY – 15,085
36. William F. Oldsey, '76, Basking Ridge, NJ – 13,940
7. Edward "Ted" B. Brown, III, '68, State College, PA – 11,403
2012 Election Results
Candidate – Vote Total
Winners
77. Adam J. Taliaferro, '05, Swedesboro, NJ -- 15,629
59. Anthony P. Lubrano, '82, Exton, PA -- 10,096
2. Ryan J. McCombie, '70, State College, PA -- 4,806
The Corbett appointees and the Business & Industry Trustees have no constituency among the Alumni in terms of people who actually voted for them to serve. The Agriculture group was elected by Farm Bureau - I suspect nowhere near the 10,000 plus vote mark. The fact that the Alumni members won with those vote total in open non primary contests with 86, 40 and 32 opponents will be impressive to campaign managers.
Penn State alumni numbers are impressive:
The fact that the anti-Corbett pro reform anti-move on candidates have won the past two trustee elections by significant margins should be emphasized.
To get an idea of vote totals involved: Click for larger images
As you can see the ability to deliver or influence votes in a primary is far more valuable than in a general election.
I spent most of August September and October of 2008 working for the Obama campaign in Colorado and North Carolina - Two states that made a huge difference in that election. My job in Boulder CO and Asheville NC was managing the data entry staff. Since I have some serious time with elections serving on the campaign staffs for McGovern, Carter, Gore and Obama in national races and for more local political campaigns than I care to admit, I think I can speak from experience. Candidates will welcome our support and input phrased in the right way.
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| With Congressman Jared Polis |
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| My Michello Obama pics from the Boulder Rally |
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