Special Guests: newly-elected state legislator Aaron Kaufer is in studio and Nate Benefield of the Commonwealth Foundation calls in.
Tea Party Mike offers his congratulations to Betsy Summers and Melanie Madeira for throwing their hats into the ring, despite not gaining the state House seats they sought. Mike had his taste of campaigning in his 2011 county council bid. Gary calls in. His summation of the 2014 election: “We get what we deserve.” Mr. X notes that in many races across the country the third-party and Independent candidate received more votes than the margin of victory separating the victor from the second-place finisher.
Segment II
Nate Benefield, vice president of policy analysis at the free market think tank, Commonwealth Foundation, calls in to explain what the foundation does and why it believes Tom Corbett missed the Republican wave which swept the country this election cycle. Their summation: the result was an indictment of his persona, not his policies.
Segment III
Aaron Kaufer talks about his win in the 120th Legislative District race, says he’s already being lobbied by state legislators as the Republican committee assignments come up for grabs. As for Kaufer, he’s requested inclusion in the Finance and State Government committees as a freshman legislator. A summation of his campaigns in 2010 and 2012: he respected the voters.
Segment IV
Mr. X reminds Kaufer that his supporters are going to “hold his feet to the fire.” Kaufer explains that he ran a true grassroots campaign and refutes some of the claims made by local shock jock Steve Corbett on his WILK show. Kaufer claims the two-party system doesn’t represent the people.