State GOP endorses Corbett for governor

HARRISBURG – White-haired and assured, a candidate from central casting, Attorney General Tom Corbett captured the endorsement for governor from the Republican State Committee today and assumed the leadership of a party brimming with confidence for across-the-board electoral gains in Pennsylvania.

But just down the hall, conservative state Rep. Sam Rohrer was holding a daylong counter-convention for his own campaign for the GOP nomination for governor, drawing 350 right-wing activists from evangelical churches, home-schooling associations and the anti-tax "Tea Party" movement.

It was a reminder that despite the balloon drops and cheering in the main ballroom, divisions remain between establishment Republicans and many of the grassroots conservatives the party needs for victory.

"Rebelling against our party's decision may sound romantic, but ultimately it hurts our party," state Republican Chairman Rob Gleason warned from the dais as the state committee deliberated on endorsements for governor, Senate and lieutenant governor.

With a recent poll showing him leading any of his potential Democratic opponents, Corbett projected confidence addressing party leaders as the nominee-in-waiting.

The GOP will not only will win the governorship and the U.S. Senate seat, Corbett said, but will capture the state House, tighten its grip on the state Senate, and regain a majority of the state's 19 U.S. House seats.

"As governor, I look forward to carrying our party's message forward," Corbett told a ballroom full of 400 Republicans. "Lowering Taxes. Cutting the spending of state government. Creating jobs. And charting a course of honest change."

For Senate, the committee endorsed former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, whose primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter forced the incumbent to switch to the Democratic Party last year in his push for a sixth term. Toomey nearly defeated Specter in a GOP primary in 2004.

Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley emerged from a field of seven contestants with the official endorsement for lieutenant governor. As a Philadelphia-area candidate, Cawley would provide regional balance to ticket headed by Corbett, who's from suburban Pittsburgh.

As the Republican State Committee meeting began, about a dozen people from the Berks County Patriots, a Tea Party group, paraded in the hallway with signs protesting the state committee's endorsement process as "machine politics."

"Both parties are full of lies," said Willard Strunk, 71, of Mertztown. "We have to take the country back from these socialist programs." A registered Republican from Rohrer's home county, Strunk said, "We like Sam, but we belong to nobody."

Rohrer and Senate candidate Peg Luksik, a leader of the anti-abortion movement, represent the more conservative side of a conservative party, and pulled some support among the 348 voting delegates.

On the vote whether the party should endorse anyone for governor, 51 delegates said "no." Nearly as many - 47 -- said "no" on a Senate endorsement.

Rohrer's influence was strongest in his home county, Berks, and in neighboring York County, but he had some support in suburban Mongtomery County and in other pockets across the state.

Toomey, who congratulated Luksik in his acceptance speech, said he has actively reached out to Tea Party activists and wants to "welcome them to our cause." Pressed by reporters, he pointedly declined to get behind the endorsement of Corbett. "I will support the Republican nominee," Toomey said. "I have a lot to do, and that's what I'll focus on."

On the other hand, Toomey did not attend Rohrer's rally though he was listed on the program.

Rohrer's "Mobilize for Liberty" event turned into an all-day affair, replete with box lunches, a campaign school and, finally, a rally featuring Joe Wurzelbacher -- the "Joe the Plumber" of 2008 presidential-campaign fame.

Vowing to keep running, Rohrer characterized the party's endorsement of Corbett as the work of a few insiders. "The vote on May 18 by the people is the one that counts," he said.

Activists listened to training sessions on how pastors can discuss politics without jeopardizing a church's tax-exempt status; how to organize a precinct; effective blogging; and mobilizing via the Internet.

With the voter anger against incumbents in general - and many Democrats, in particular – Republicans believe they can gain the four seats necessary to retake control of the state House.

Corbett, by most accounts, is a slight favorite to beat whoever wins the Democratic nomination -- likely to be either of two fellow Pittsbughers, Allegeny County Exectutive Dan Onorato or state Auditor General Jack Wagner. Even Democratic strategists admit privately that Corbett starts with an edge.

Among all gubernatorial candidates, Corbett is by far the best known, the fruit of his five years as the state's chief prosecutor. Corbett's Bonusgate prosecutions of legislators and aides has boosted his candidacy, but also poses a threat.

Partisans on both sides are watching the ongoing trial of former Democratic House Whip Mike Veon, who is charged with running a scheme to award state bonuses to Democratic House employees for purely political chores. If Corbett loses the case, it could damage his credibility as a reform crusader. He failed to win an earlier trial.

Perhaps because of the Bonusgate investigation and trials, Corbett has laid low since announcing his candidacy with balloons and loud music last fall in Pittsburgh. The Republican State Committee meeting marks one of the few times that he has engaged publicly in pure political theater.

For most of last year, he had no opponent at all. Rohrer, who entered the contest in November, has been unable to raise even a small fraction of the more than $3 million that Corbett has in the bank. Almost all of the state's top Republcians, starting with former Gov. Tom Ridge, have anointed Corbett as the party's presumptive nominee.

In his campaign, Corbett has been the ever-so-cautious front-runner.

Outlining what he'd do if he became governor yesterday, Corbett said he'd introduce a package of good-government reforms within in a week of taking office. But he offered few specifics, except to say that he'd end WAMs -- the "walking around money" that legislators use to fund pet projects in their districts.

He also proposed to eliminate the per-diem payments that members of the House and Senate receive for expenses when in Harrisburg.

Both proposals have been staples of gubernatorial campaigns for decades. But John Brabender, Corbett's campaign strategist, said the difference is that Corbett intends to make them his first priority.

Contact staff writer Thomas Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.