News from the Susquehanna Valley Conservatives……………..
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1. Thanks to all who supported round #2 of our FORUM 2022 series of appearances by Republican Candidates for a) Governor, b) Lt. Governor, and c) US Senate.
This past Monday, May 2nd, nearly 200 attended (the large meeting room was fully packed !) our FORUM 2022 U.S. SENATE Republican candidates, televised live on the PCN, Pennsylvania Cable Network across the commonwealth.
We invited all seven registered Republican candidates, so appearing were Carla Sands, Jeff Bartos, Kathy Barnette, and Sean Gale. George Bochette was confirmed, but did not appear during the one hour and thirty minute program.
Candidate Mehmet Oz emailed several months ago that he declined to appear but thanked us for the invitation.
Candidate David McCormick apologized for a conflict that night in the Pittsburgh area, via a phone call from his campaign manager.
We note, with some concern, that a trend is beginning to show on these political debates/forums over recent years. The Susquehanna Valley Conservatives have held many such debates/forums for local, regional and statewide candidates for various offices. The trend lately seems to be that those candidates who offer a combination of political clout, financial backing, media star power, as well as a number of other political advantages, such as the press releases that show them “in the lead” or “likely to win” stories in the newspaper,TV or on Radio, cause them to decline appearing in our rural/upstate region, even though we are only less than an hour from the state capitol.
This phenomenon occurred as well with our April meeting when only 4 of the 9 registered candidates appeared at our Forum 2022- Penna Governor race. The five who did not appear are often referred to as the “leading candidates” in various media listings.
Each candidate did indeed have an initial ten minutes to stand before the camera and answer the question: Why Should You Vote For Me? A “wrap up” three minutes was given in round 2 during the last half hour. We asked for no press/radio/TV panels filled with pointless questions, instead treating our in-room and statewide TV audience to listen to the candidates for what they say, what they don’t say and in general, taking their comments to task for the title of United States Senator from Pennsylvania.
Thanks to our Board of Directors, SVC, for all the support in this huge endeavor. With your support, we are continuing to set the pace in our key six-county area of the Susquehanna Valley.