While we hate to beat a dead horse, we feel that this is something that merits mention. Again. We're becoming more and more impressed with the organizational skills of the Cumberland County Democrats. If you thought the national party was making strides, you should check out the county party. Today's winner: Gail McDermott. Either Vic Stabile is asleep at the wheel or all that support for Arlen Specter 3 years ago has made him question what party he'd rather belong to. Either way, Gail is swimming laps around the chairman. As we said before, she's got a full slate of candidates for almost every race in the county. And from what we hear, she's letting the Republicans self-destruct. While the Democrats are running as a cohesive team in almost every municipal election we've heard of, the Republicans are all over each other. From Hopewell Township (where?) to Carlisle Borough to Camp Hill, Cumberland County has turned into an Ultimate Fighting Championship. Unless there are some saavy Republicans in the mix (and frankly, at this level, we doubt there are), 2007 could be an even bigger year for Democrats. We'll keep you posted.

So we missed the Hampden Township candidates' night. Monday night is our bowling league night, so it was one or the other and well....never mind. The word is that we didn't miss much. Bruce Barclay was MIA once again, however Gary Eichelberger had a little spring in his step. Maybe being way out in Boiling Springs just made him nervous? Hampden Township has always been a safehouse for Republicans - Hampdeners are loyal but tough. You'd better know what you're talking about before you roll in there. And if you're into scoring extra points, we'll take your answers in limerick form, please.

For those of you who are sick of tracking down commissioner candidates' events, only to find an empty chair (or Scott Perry or Glen Grell), we do have good news. We overheard two people at the Denny's in Mechanicsburg last week and learned of a planned debate way down in Carlisle at that bastion of non-partisanship, Dickinson College. Good news, bad news however. Good news is that Commissioner Barclay will be in attendance - perhaps to ask tough questions from the audience. Bad news is that its only for the Republicans, so please have your ID cards ready at the door. We'll keep you posted.

Meeting of the Minds

We had our eyes and ears out last week and frankly, even got pretty excited about the concept of the Boiling Springs Civic Association's planned debate. While the South Middleton township supervisors' debate looked more like a cliched cowboy movie where the good guys wear white and the bad guys wear black, the commissioners' debate proved as interesting as we had hoped.

Maybe its that we're psychic. Or maybe the topics were just so predictable that we could've seen it coming weeks ago. Either way, the township supervisors got some batting practice with the softballs that they fielded during the debate. While there's no question that the issues were matters of public interest, we'd think that you'd want a little more to go on when voting than opinions on a dog park. And, in all fairness to the League of Women Voters, it was the responses that were far more bothersome than the questions themselves. Asked about dog parks, Democrat challenger Marti Green responded, "Well, I like dogs. And people like dogs. So I'd be for it." The wisdom of Socrates in government these days. Our prediction? Incumbents Tom Faley and Ron Reeder hold their seats. Nuff said.

The second half of the double header, much to our chagrin, only featured 80% of the Spring slate. Where was Bruce Barclay? Putting a fresh coat of wax on his jet, maybe. Our guess is that he was as far away from questions about clean air and higher taxes as he could be. With a massive media blitz that looks like he's setting up for 08, you'd think the commish would have no problem fielding a couple, but no. And what's even more amazing to us is that the other Republicans continue to latch on to him like remoras on sharks. Gunnison and Barclay: the endorsed team. Barclay and Eichelberger: the commissioners team. We're waiting for Gunnison and Eichelberger: the team that shows up.

The other side of the coin? Rick Rovegno. He was literally so full of facts that he reminded us of this guy. Yikes. Numbers, and figures, and projections, oh my! He took on every issue head-on and even went so far as to defend Eichelberger against Gunnison and her evil, evil MTP. Keep your friends close, I guess.

The outright winner: Rick Rovegno. Overall, we're just downright impressed with everything he's been doing lately. He knows his stuff and can back it up when he's on the spot. Also, unlike Eichelberger, he's the human cucumber. As in, cool as a. And Barclay, well....Rovegno DID show up - that's got to be worth something. And the biggest props? Rovegno's campaign strategy seems to be simple: attend every event everywhere in the county. All the time. Whether its a civic association debate, or a Farm Bureau dinner, or a Little League game, Rick will be there. No internet, no radio, no newspaper. Just pure people-to-people. And he does it so much that we've got 500 bucks that says Rovegno has found a way to clone himself.

Tied to the Dock

54% of voters in 2004 were women. That's a fact. So it's no surprise that women's issues play a significant role in courting the vote for any election. Wouldn't it be fair to assume that such an issue would come into play this year? We think so.

According to her website, Karen Gunnison's campaign team is 60% comprised of the fairer sex. Unless you count Ray Zaborney, who is oddly absent from the listing on the website. As for Linda Cecconello, all we can tell you is that she is most likely headed the same way, if she's smart. Kathy Miller is counting the beans, and we're guessing that Gail McDermott and Stephanie Christ aren't far behind.

Here's the word around the campfire though: while Democrats don't hold any significant positions of leadership in the county (unless you count Rovegno and well, we don't), they have been as busy as little bees putting together a comprehensive coup d' etat. They've worked to get a full slate of candidates on almost every municipal election in the county. That's every borough council, township supervisor, auditor, everything. We even heard rumors of a third Democratic candidate for county commissioner but when you've got everyone heating races for Newville Borough Council, who has time to run for commissioner? We understand. Wink, wink.

On the other side of the aisle, we've heard rumors of folks throwing weight around like George Foreman. The Anne Anstine girls pack a powerful punch when they can get their act together, and they've been as busy as a flock of hens working for Gunnison. They've even managed to enlist the Queen Bee herself, Senator Pat Vance. Rumor on the street is that Pat Vance played a very instrumental hand in Gunnison's not-so-meaningless endorsement a couple weeks ago. Frankly, we had no idea so many people were out to get Commissioner Eichelberger. This looks like a remake of 1976's "The Outlaw Josey Wales," although we prefer Eastwood as Josey Wales rather than Eichelberger. Everyone might be out to get him, but Eastwood just had...well...grit.

Welcome

The first post. This can make or break a blog, huh? The impetus here is really no secret: we just got tired of the few straggling blogs that even MENTION Cumberland County. If we wanted to get news about the politics around here, we would have to take bias like a shot in the arm. So here's our simple pledge to you, the reader: Cumberland County politics, fair and balanced. Okay, maybe a little gossip too. But that's the only warning you'll get. And if we're critical, well....we'll try to be equally harsh to both sides.

In all fairness, we can only publish what we hear, so if you hear something to the contrary, or something juicy that "we didn't hear from you," drop us a line and we'll do our best to check it out and get it out there. After all, don't we have the right to know???