A lot of York County residents voted for cartoon characters in the April primary.

Recently, I stopped by the York County Elections and Voter Registration office to check the write-in results. I didn't bother to count them, but the cartoon references seemed to number in the hundreds.

Disney, Warner Brothers and Hanna Barbera were all represented, with votes for Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny and Boo Boo.

Off-hand, I'd estimate that the cartoon character written in most frequently was Mickey Mouse, which kind of offended my sensibilities. I wasn't offended by any inherent disrespect for the democratic process, so much as the lack of creativity. Mickey Mouse? Come on, try harder!

Posted in Dems and Republicans

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

It's been an eventful week, hasn't it? I guess the wait is on now for Hillary Clinton's official concession speech tomorrow at noon.

Earlier this week, I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Mel Kulbicki, a Penn State York political science professor whom I often call when I'm looking for cogent analysis of national politics.

Kulbicki believes that Clinton did everything right -- by 1996 and 2000 standards. She swooped in early and traded on her party establishment credentials to pick up all the big donors.

What she didn't count on was the rapidity at which the very nature of campaigning is changing, rendering effective techniques from just a few years back as passe as the megaphone.

Posted in Dems and Republicans

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

As promised, here's the special surprise from my coverage of the James Carville and Mary Matalin visit at the York Expo Center last night. You might want to get a couple of hankies ready before you watch this video, because it's very emotionally moving.

Posted in Dems and Republicans

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (2)

OK, I'll admit it. I got spoiled during those weeks building up to the Pennsylvania primary.

At the beginning, I was all like: "I'm covering an appearance by Hillary Clinton in Harrisburg? Gee whillikers! I hope I don't do something stupid!"

Toward the end, my attitude was more along the lines of: "Ted Kennedy is putting in an appearance a few blocks from my apartment? Yawn. I'll see if I can pencil him in."

It didn't take me long to lose that jaded attitude. Now I start every workday frantically checking my e-mail, eyes moist and lower lip trembling, thinking to myself, "Don't any national political figures want me to interview them?"

Now it looks like I've got my chance. On Wednesday, James Carville and Mary Matalin are going to speak at the Toyota Arena at the York Expo Center.

Posted in Dems and Republicans

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)