OK, I ended up hanging out at the office way later than I intended to, so I'll keep this relatively brief.
On Tuesday, I went to the York County Republican Victory Dinner at the Holiday Inn in West Manchester. (I was away on Saturday, so I missed the Democrats' dinner that night.)
Their guest speaker was Joe McCain, John McCain's younger brother. I spoke to him beforehand, and found him very intelligent and personable.
Not to disparage the efforts of dinner organizers, but Joe McCain was a bit of a B-lister as far as speakers go. I suspect the national party is sending the big speakers -- the Joe Liebermans -- to the places where a Republican victory is in doubt.
Local Democrats have made some impressive advances recently. But Republicans still enjoy a healthy majority around here, and it's highly unlikely Barack Obama is going to win York County.
So if Joe Lieberman is the Republican equivalent of the band that sells out stadiums, Joe McCain is the guy opening for Warrant at county fairs.
That's not a put-down, because Joe McCain himself joked about it -- referring to himself as the "discount John McCain" and referring to his usual appearances at a Wendy's somewhere. And he was a fine speaker, amusing and self-effacing. I personally wasn't the least bit disappointed.
Also, today I stopped by a Habitat for Humanity project in downtown York. York Habitat for Humanity calls it "Unity Build," and it's a cool concept. For four days, they invite Democratic and Republican political rivals to show up and work on five properties.
They had about 40 elected officials or candidates signed up. Elyse Kauffman, executive director of York Habitat for Humanity, said the idea is to demonstrate that people from both parties truly care about the community.
I'm sure that's true. But frankly, I suspect that Habitat for Humanity is also taking advantage of the inherent competition between the two factions in order to get volunteers out to the site. The Democrats wouldn't want to miss something like that if the Republicans show up in force, and vice versa.
It's all for an undeniably good cause though, so I can hardly fault Habitat for Humanity. And both parties came through.
As I pointed out in a story I wrote for tomorrow's edition, I wondered if it wasn't inviting trouble -- getting a bunch of people who have been at each others' throats for months, putting them in an enclosed space, and giving everyone a sharp or blunt implement.
When I stopped by this morning, however, everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, and Democratic rival Phil Avillo were working side-by-side, natural as can be.
They both could have easily passed for construction workers. Although neither of them yelled out suggestive comments at passing women. At least not while I was there.
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