Why we have no choice but to vote for Onorato.
Here in Pittsburgh, we all associate Onorato with the Poured Beverage Tax. Pretty much everyone who likes beer or bars dislikes that tax, and I think it's pretty stupid- sin taxes are generally just a way of targeting the weak. So on general principle it wouldn't break my heart to see Onorato lose the Governor's race.
Unfortunately we don't have that luxury. PA is going to lose a seat in the US House due to the last census, so the voting districts of PA are about to get gerrymandered. This is a really simple, straightforward way to reduce certain people's fractional representation so as to keep one party in power; if you don't know how it works I'd urge you to read the first page of the Wikipedia article. The PA legislature and the Governor get to agree on the new political boundaries, so when redistricting is to happen you really don't want the legislature and the Governor to be from the same party.
Well, guess what? The PA State Senate is under Republican control; the House is marginally under Democratic control but it would be astounding if it stayed that way after tomorrow. Corbett is leading Onorato by a pretty wide margin, but a win by Onorato is probably the best hope of getting a divided State government. If we don't, the districts that are going to get split up are going to be urban districts; the people who are going to get their representation reduced are us. I don't like the man, but I will do what I have to and punish him next time around.
This is real stuff, folks. I personally know people who were given a contract to find an optimal gerrymander last time around; they work from precinct-by-precinct voting histories. Think statistical classifiers and genetic algorithms. If Corbett wins, urban Democrats are really and truly going to lose a fraction of their representation.
Unfortunately we don't have that luxury. PA is going to lose a seat in the US House due to the last census, so the voting districts of PA are about to get gerrymandered. This is a really simple, straightforward way to reduce certain people's fractional representation so as to keep one party in power; if you don't know how it works I'd urge you to read the first page of the Wikipedia article. The PA legislature and the Governor get to agree on the new political boundaries, so when redistricting is to happen you really don't want the legislature and the Governor to be from the same party.
Well, guess what? The PA State Senate is under Republican control; the House is marginally under Democratic control but it would be astounding if it stayed that way after tomorrow. Corbett is leading Onorato by a pretty wide margin, but a win by Onorato is probably the best hope of getting a divided State government. If we don't, the districts that are going to get split up are going to be urban districts; the people who are going to get their representation reduced are us. I don't like the man, but I will do what I have to and punish him next time around.
This is real stuff, folks. I personally know people who were given a contract to find an optimal gerrymander last time around; they work from precinct-by-precinct voting histories. Think statistical classifiers and genetic algorithms. If Corbett wins, urban Democrats are really and truly going to lose a fraction of their representation.