SUNBURY — Sarah Palin, and the tea party movement flexed their muscles in Tuesday’s primary elections, and Valley Republicans took notice.
“We have had talks with Palin about coming to the area, but nothing is confirmed,” said Jason Fitzgerald, Tom Marino’s campaign manager, when asked if she might endorse and stump for Marino.
“We have spoken to top staff people at SarahPAC,” Fitzgerald said, “and they made it clear that she is interested in Tom Marino becoming the next congressman.”
Marino, a Lycoming County Republican, is running against incumbent Democrat Chris Carney, of Dimock, for the 10th District seat in Congress. The 10th District includes Montour, Northumberland, Union and Snyder counties.
Attempts to contact SarahPAC, Palin’s political action committee, were unsuccessful.
“You don’t ever turn away a Sarah Palin if she wants to come here,” said Yvonne Morgan, chairwoman of the Union County Republican Party. “She is very dynamic and charismatic. She draws crowds. But I believe that we already have a highly motivated electorate here in Union County, made up not just of Republicans and Independents, but perhaps a few disenchanted Democrats.”
Impressive energy
Morgan said she was impressed by the energy she saw on Tuesday night in Delaware, “and we want to tap into that kind of voter excitement.”
But in Union County, Morgan said, there many voters who are disgusted by the current policies of the administration, “and they are not necessarily tea party members. In fact, we have a relatively small tea party presence in this county. I believe that in the next election, voters will hold their representatives accountable.”
Like Morgan, Northumberland County Republican Party chairwoman Beth Kremer was impressed by the excitement and energy she saw in Tuesday primaries.
“The tea party doesn’t have much of a presence in Northumberland County,” she said. “But it’s a good movement. I’d rather see the tea partiers join with Republicans, rather than Republicans all become tea party members.”
“Their enthusiasm is great. It’s exciting,” she said.
Split-vote fears
What concerns Kremer is a three-way race, and the possibility of splitting the vote between two good candidates. “Suppose we have a Republican candidate and a good tea party candidate and a Democrat. With that scenario, a split vote could allow the Democrat to win.”
Republican candidate Fred Keller, vying for the state House’s 85th District seat, said that Tuesday’s results were inspiring. “Like the tea party candidates, I have had a lot of people working in my campaign who’ve never been in politics before,” he said. “Anytime we can get people excited and believing they can make a difference, it’s a good thing.”
Keller sees his positions as similar to those expressed by tea party candidates. “I started out as someone with little political experience, but I learned, studied hard and believe in some core principles like lowering taxes and cleaning up the excesses in Harrisburg,” he said.
Erik Viker, the Libertarian candidate running for the same House seat as Keller, said that while he was impressed by the sentiment and the enthusiasm he saw Tuesday night, “from a strategic point of view, I question what it is they want to do. The tea party candidate in Delaware is, the experts say, unlikely to win in the general election because she’s too far to the right.
“I hope those tea party members who truly care about fiscal conservatism and a smaller, more constitutional government realize these are exactly my principles,” Viker said. “I am not part of the two-party system, a system where both parties have contributed to record-breaking deficits.”
Meanwhile, Lee Fessler, a spokesman for the Susquehanna Regional Tea Party, based in Williamsport, said that he was thrilled to see the enthusiasm expressed by tea partiers in the Tuesday primaries. “I was energized by what I saw in Delaware. We’re beginning to see what I believe is a serious challenge to the traditional two-party candidates. We’re seeing nonpoliticans running and speaking their minds and people are responding to that. I’m hoping we can translate that kind of grass-roots enthusiasm to local elections here in the area,” he said.
Locally, he said, the tea party is planning a rally, tentatively scheduled on Oct. 23, at Brandon Park in Williamsport.
“Before that date, the party will send out questionnaires, asking candidates to give their opinions on a number of issues,” he said.
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