With the Pennsylvania Primary Election only 3 months away, there is not a lot of time left for Democratic challengers to make much headway against former Third Way co-chair Allyson Schwartz.
Still, I think Democrats in the state of Pennsylvania, and perhaps even elsewhere in the country, would benefit from knowing there may potentially be a more Progressive option for Democrats against Tom Corbett for PA Governor:
Tom Wolf
Tom Wolf is not your ordinary candidate, but that's exactly why he'll be an extraordinary Governor for Pennsylvania.
Because of Governor Corbett, Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that doesn't charge an extraction tax on Big Oil & Gas companies to help fund key priorities like education and infrastructure.
With Tom Corbett's approval ratings so low, even an unconventional candidate like Wolf has favorable numbers against him in November. As far as the residents go more than the politicians, Pennsylvania is a state that values education, community, and the working class. Why shouldn't Democrats put up a candidate that best represents these values?
Tom grew up in a small south central Pennsylvania town and still lives in the house he was brought home to from the hospital.
While serving in the Peace Corps, Tom worked on agricultural and irrigation projects for two years in a small rural village in India.
As Revenue Secretary, Tom turned down the perks and donated his salary to charity. He even drove his own Jeep all across Pennsylvania to meet with 2,000+ workers and learn more about their jobs.
While Secretary of Revenue, Tom instituted reforms that protected and strengthened the state lottery, which laid the foundation for millions of dollars in additional benefits for our seniors. (Something Corbett is trying to undo. -P)
Tom Wolf is fighting for Pennsylvania's future.
And oh yeah, he's written
a diary here in support of Pennsylvania unions.
In early 2009, I received an urgent phone call. The business I sold three years earlier -- a company I spent twenty-five years building and growing -- was on the brink of going bankrupt and closing.
Rather than walking away and leaving my former employees -- people I grew up with and who helped make me successful -- to join the ranks of the unemployed, I knew I had to act. My wife Frances and I put our life savings into re-purchasing the business and turning it around.
We turned it around by investing in our workers and encouraging them to help us think about the future differently.
It wasn't easy, but by working together we changed the business from a wholesale distributor to a company that sources our own American-made products that compete directly with foreign imports.
That's why my company pays its workers a living wage, provides good healthcare and retirement benefits, and shares 20-30% of its profits with the workers who help make the business successful.
Treating workers fairly isn’t just right, it’s smart business and good for our economy.
As
I've written before, Corbett's low approval amongst Pennsylvania voters offer the Democratic Party a golden opportunity to claim a major victory in this state, and perhaps even retake the state General Assembly. To truly improve the odds, for Democrats throughout the ticket, offering a truly Democratic candidate at the top state-wide would be the best way to mobilize the Democratic voters and bring the strongest weapon against Tea Partiers like Corbett: Populist values.
Whether or not Tom Wolf truly offers a more Progressive option for Governor still seems to be up for debate. Still, with a vulnerable Corbett as the opposition, the Democratic Party owes it to its loyal base voters and not the Third Way Corporatists to put up as Progressive a candidate as possible to live up to its values. And if anyone currently in the primary field can claim that title other than Tom Wolf, they had better come out strong.