Pro-Abortion Cult Candidate Scranton vows to stay in GOP governor's race through primary

Scranton vows to stay in GOP governor's race through primary: " Posted on Mon, Jan. 23, 2006

Scranton vows to stay in GOP governor's race through primary

PETER JACKSON
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Bill Scranton on Monday vowed to stay in the race for the GOP nomination for governor through the May 16 primary, saying it is the only way to force opponent Lynn Swann to debate the issues and his qualifications to be the state's chief executive.

The former lieutenant governor said Swann implicitly endorsed an open primary when he said he is willing to participate in as many as three primary debates, but only after the Republican State Committee's expected Feb. 11 endorsement vote.

Scranton said he will urge the state committee to remain neutral.

"Lynn's candidacy is 18 days old - 18 days and he's asking Republican leaders for an unqualified (vote of) support for an unknown, untested, first-time candidate for public office," he told about 200 people at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon.

Swann is well known because of his years as a star on the Pittsburgh Steelers and a football analyst for ABC Sports, but he is new to politics.

"Running against Ed Rendell is not entry-level politics," Scranton said, referring to the Democratic incumbent, who is expected to seek a second term. "The Republican nominee must withstand tough questions, be ready with real answers and be ready with real solutions."

Swann's campaign spokeswoman said he has not decided whether he would stay in the race if he fails to win the endorsement.

"We respect the party process," said the spokeswoman, Melissa Walters. "We've been working hard to secure the endorsement and we'll continue to do so."

Scranton and Swann have been competing fiercely behind the scenes for support from state committee members and the race is considered tight. Swann has had remarkable success in straw votes among committee members in the central and northwest regions of the state, but the areas that have yet to be canvassed include some Scranton strongholds.

Swann remains optimistic that he will win the endorsement, Walters said. Scranton denied that his change in strategy reflected a lack of support from the state committee.

"I think the endorsement is very much up in the air at the moment," he said.

The other candidate for the nomination, retired Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association chief Jim Panyard, is not competing for the endorsement.

Eileen Melvin, the state's GOP chairwoman, said the committee is "sticking with the endorsement process, absolutely," and will not choose an open primary on Feb. 11. The committee's endorsements have helped launch the careers of such well known Republicans as former Gov. Tom Ridge and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, she said.

"It works," she said. "We're focused on finding the best candidate to beat Ed Rendell."

At least one GOP leader who is backing Scranton said he was pleased by the move.

Scranton is "putting his money where his mouth is," said Paul Catalano, the Republican chairman in Lackawanna County, which includes the city named after Scranton's ancestors.

Scranton made several campaign promises Monday as he unveiled a blueprint for state government that he said would rein in spending, reduce certain business taxes, expand alternatives to public schools and overhaul the rules of public service.

He promised to advocate a constitutional convention to consider government reforms, such as shrinking the size of the Legislature, to close what he described as serious loopholes in the slot-machine gambling law, and to end Pennsylvania's distinction as the only state without a lobbyist-disclosure law.

The only pre-endorsement debate among the GOP candidates, scheduled for Wednesday night in Harrisburg, was canceled after Scranton joined Swann in refusing to participate.

Scranton saw no point in a one-on-one debate with Panyard because Panyard is not competing for the party's endorsement, Scranton's campaign manager, James Seif, said Monday.

"That's not a debate," Seif said.

Seif said Scranton pulled out of the event only after Swann did not change his mind before a Friday deadline set by the debate's sponsors.

The sponsors criticized both Swann and Scranton at a Capitol news conference Monday.

"I have never seen such arrogance," said Paula Harris, president of the Andrew Young National Center for Social Change, a Harrisburg-based educational-services company that had been the lead sponsor."