Philadelphia Inquirer endorses Democrats Sestak and Onorato. Milwaukee JS endorses Feingold.

[jefferson_dem]

Inquirer picks Democrats for US Senate, governor
- The Associated Press

October 23, 2010 7:18pm EDT

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Inquirer is endorsing Democrats in Pennsylvania's top two races, Joe Sestak for U.S. Senate and Dan Onorato for governor.

The Inquirer said in editorials for Sunday's editions that both would be better choices than Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Pat Toomey and GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett.

The paper praised Sestak for ideas promoting clean energy and providing small businesses with incentives to create jobs. It called Toomey, a former investment banker and restaurant owner, more conservative than former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and said Sestak's views would be more in line with those of most residents of the commonwealth.

The Inquirer also cited Sestak's support for the health care reform bill and said the 31-year Navy veteran "understands more than most lawmakers where to find waste in the Department of Defense."

The paper said Onorato, the elected executive of Allegheny County, "has confronted budget deficits and demonstrated an ability to reform and shrink a bloated bureaucracy." It said Corbett, the state attorney general, "has failed to make a compelling case to be governor."

The Inquirer said one of the key differences between the two was the issue of taxing Marcellus Shale gas drillers. The paper said Corbett opposes the idea while Onorato supports it, "but the state needs the revenue, and the drillers should pay for the resource they are taking from the ground."

http://www.centredaily.com/2010/10/23/2291172/inquirer-picks-democrats-for-us.html#ixzz13HCRnyPM

Feingold is a steady, independent voice
Oct. 24, 2010

In Russ Feingold, voters in Wisconsin have a senator who is more nuanced than his challenger paints him to be.

They have a senator who possesses a deeper knowledge of the issues, is unafraid on principle to buck his party or a president of any party, has proven he can reach across the aisle, is a harsh foe of legislative pork and excessive spending and has earned the disdain of Washington's deal-maker, corporate lobbyists.

Feingold's Republican opponent, Oshkosh businessman Ron Johnson, has tapped into a vein of anger in Wisconsin's electorate. It may work very well for him. But there is quite a difference between stoking anger and recognizing how best to relieve that anger - a difference, to paraphrase columnist Thomas L. Friedman, between letting off steam as a "tea kettle" movement and using that steam to power an engine for beneficial change.

Johnson accuses Feingold of being a career politician - a throwaway line that means absolutely nothing. Voters have had the chance three times to reject him as a United States senator. They elected and re-elected him, and they sent him to the state Senate three times before that. It's been his career because a majority of voters have wanted it that way.

It is what's in the career that should be at issue.

And based on Feingold's career, the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board recommends him for a fourth term to represent Wisconsin in the Senate.

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/105567273.html

[Cognitive_Resonance]

1. K&R nt