Did Gleason Say The Cool Kids Don’t Hang With The Tea Party?

A  little birdie has told me that Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason has given a directive that all prospective candidates stay away from the Tea Party crowd.

I think what the little birdie has told me is true.

I’ll be glad to be shown otherwise.

 

Pa GOP Tea Party Trouble

Pa GOP Tea Party Trouble — Pennsylvania’s Republican establishment has a Tea Party problem.

As indicated in an earlier post, establishment fav Steve Welch is not warming the hearts of those whose votes he needs.

Now, Paula Stiles of the Chester County Patriots is sounding the call for the common folk to attend the General Republican Meeting of the State Committee, which is 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Sept. 17, at Harrisburg Hilton, 1 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg.

“We are asking constituents from every county in Pennsylvania to attend. . . and personally experience the disdain that PA GOP leadership has for their fellow Republicans,” she says. “Please understand, the”leadership” is not elected.”

She says she already has at least one van-full of those attending this rather inconveniently scheduled event.

She asks that those planning to attend to RSVP at terminatorgop@hushmail.com.

 

Pa GOP Tea Party Trouble

 

Pa GOP Tea Party Trouble

 

 

Gleason Quits Quest?

Update: We have received a report that Gleason has quit his quest to be Republican national party chairman. Confirmation awaits.

Bill Russell, the  congressional candidate who gave Democrat power-broker John Murtha a scare in 2008, is begging fellow Republicans not to name Robert Gleason as national party chairman.

Gleason, who chairs the Pennsylvania GOP, is seeking the seat citing as creds his organization’s resounding success on Nov. 2. The Republicans in Pennsylvania flipped five congressional seats, the U.S. senate seat, the governor’s office, took over the State House and held the State Senate which gives them total control over Harrisburg.

Russell, however, in a widely disseminated email accused Gleason of throwing the 12th District congressional race in 2008 and this year in order to protect government-connected  policies issued by his company, Gleason Insurance.

Gleason is from Cambria County in the 12th District and has been that county’s GOP chairman. The 12th District was represented by Murtha for almost 38 years until his death Feb. 8.

Russell says Gleason had a close personal relationship with Murtha attending family barbecues and  having a picture of Murtha and himself — since removed — on the Gleason Insurance website, along with a list of customers who had benefited from a relationship with Murtha, also since removed.

Russell said he was warned about Gleason’s relationship with Murtha when he announced as a candidate in 2007 but the reality hit home when 15 different persons declined to sign his nominating petition or contribute to his campaign expressing a fear they or a spouse might be fired. Ultimately he was unable to get the signatures and was not placed on the primary ballot. This required him to run a write-in campaign which he remarkably won becoming the first in the state to do so as a congressional primary candidate. This meant he was on the ballot for the general election.

Due to the Murtha’s Haditha Marine comments,  personalities such as Michelle Malkin turned the race into a national one and the money poured in.

Russell said this presented a problem for Gleason since he was pledging to end the regions economic dependence on earmarks which provided the funding for the Gleason-insured businesses.

Russell said among the measures Gleason took to undermine his campaign was by attempting, usually successfully, to keep him from appearing with John McCain or Sarah Palin at rallies in the district — which McCain won as the Pa12 was the only congressional district in the nation to flip to the Republicans that year — and by leaving his name off the Republican sample ballots.

Russell says he immediately began preparing for the 2010 race and fully expected to be the GOP candidate albeit it he had two primary opponents activist Dave Battaglia  and businessman Tim Burns. Murtha’s death, however, brought the need for a special election  to fill the remaining months of his seat and this election was to take place alongside the primary.

Candidate for special elections are not picked by voters in a primary but by party people. Burns got the tap at the behest of Gleason.

Burns would lose the special election to Mark Critz, who had been Murtha’s district director. The race, however, again garnered national attention and money and most of the local publicity went to Burns and that gave him the advantage he needed to win the primary election.

In the Nov. 2 rematch, Burns did not catch the GOP wave and fell to Critz despite the district going for the Republicans at the top of the ticket.

Russell says that, like himself, Burns did not get the support of the Gleason machine.

“The only answer I can come up with for these questions is that Robert Gleason fully intended to lose the 12th Congressional District Special and Primary elections in order to protect his company’s insurance contracts with the earmark companies that John Murtha brought in, and Mark Critz promised to protect,” Russell says.

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