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Pa. primary has become a road show

Before their umpteenth meeting Thursday night, the four Democratic candidates for governor lolled about in a room offstage at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Candidates for governor at a Philadelphia forum in March. From left are Democrats Jack Wagner, Anthony Hardy Williams, Dan Onoroto, and Joe Hoeffel and Republican Tom Corbett. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)
Candidates for governor at a Philadelphia forum in March. From left are Democrats Jack Wagner, Anthony Hardy Williams, Dan Onoroto, and Joe Hoeffel and Republican Tom Corbett. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)Read more

Before their umpteenth meeting Thursday night, the four Democratic candidates for governor lolled about in a room offstage at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

None of them was quite sure how many times they had gone head to head. But they guessed they'd already set a record for debates in a statewide race.

"It's dramatically different than it's ever been before," said State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams of Philadelphia, leaning back in a leather chair.

"It is different," agreed Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, sitting at a heavy wood table. "There was nothing like this in '04 when I ran for the Senate."

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, always the pacer, always on his feet, was first out of the door as the group departed for the auditorium.

Meeting them en route was Auditor General Jack Wagner, running a little late. The men shook hands all around and continued on, a troupe of rivals headed into rhetorical battle yet again.

Never in memory of even the most veteran political observers have candidates for governor spent so much time together on the road in Pennsylvania.

With the May 18 primary still a month away, the Democrats - often joined by the two Republicans running for governor - have gathered to discuss campaign issues about a dozen and a half times, with none establishing a clear edge.

Williams has cast himself as the hard-to-peg Democrat, a liberal on social issues who rings conservative notes with his support for school choice. Onorato portrays himself as the can-do guy who has brought economic growth to the Pittsburgh area. Wagner has presented himself as the social conservative, pro-gun and antiabortion, yet a favorite of organized labor. Hoeffel, with strong stances on the environment and abortion rights, calls himself the only true liberal in the bunch.

The Pennsylvania Cable Network, which makes no claim to have captured every joint appearance, has televised 17 debates - or forums, as they often are billed.

The candidates have shared marbled halls and community back rooms. They've gathered in a blizzard and - as on Thursday night in Philadelphia - among cherry blossoms. They've choked down the same Swedish meatballs and the same wilted lettuce. They've gotten to know whose daughter is doing well in school, and whose son just got a job.

This onslaught of oratory comes in sharp contrast to the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, in which Sen. Arlen Specter has met just once with Rep. Joe Sestak. And that was at a party meeting closed to the public.

A single broadcast debate is scheduled for May 1.

Sestak has called for a half-dozen debates. But Specter, as the incumbent and a heavy favorite in the primary, has seen little reason to engage Sestak. "Let Sestak earn his own publicity," he told the Times-News in Erie.

Gov. Rendell, a Democrat, cannot seek a third term. With no incumbent running, the Democratic candidates have been crabs in a barrel. None has been able to separate himself from the others, although that could change now that Onorato and Williams are running TV ads.

"No one here has established himself as the clear front-runner," said pollster Berwood A. Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College.

The debates are "probably their best way to get known to the people who are interested in the races," he said. "Some of the candidates don't have enough money to buy a lot of advertising, so this gives them a chance to get a lot of free media."

On the GOP side, prohibitive favorite Tom Corbett, the state attorney general, has been willing to meet several times with his foe, State Rep. Sam Rohrer, who passes himself as the true conservative in the race. Often the Republicans have shared the same crowded dais with the four Democrats.

Yost said Corbett might be willing to share the stage with Rohrer because neither man is all that well known to voters, according to polls.

The last time this many candidates were engaged in such a wide-open election for governor was 1994, when five major Democrats and four major Republicans were on primary ballots.

Even then, there were few debates compared with today's mother lode.

"There wasn't anywhere near the number of forums or joint appearances that I think have become more popular in politics," said Philadelphian Sam Katz, who was a GOP candidate for governor in '94.

Americans read in school about the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, in which Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas met on seven occasions while competing for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois.

But debates were the exception, not the rule, until the television age.

Ironically, the one type of debate that became dominant in past decades - the live, high-pressure broadcast on a major TV station just days before the election - has yet to be scheduled in this year's governor's race.

A lot of the change, from a few high-profile debates to a lot of little ones, might reflect the fragmenting of the media. TV stations are less willing to bear the cost of a commercial-free hour, while YouTube and Webcasting have given every group a chance to put its own debate into public view.

Katz noted that groups with special concerns, such as the environmental interests that sponsored the debate at the Academy of Natural Sciences, have also figured out that they can call attention to their cause by hosting a forum.

The 2007 Philadelphia mayoral primary, in which five Democrats were bunched together, set a local standard for that with dozens of joint appearances.

Former acting Gov. Mark Singel, who won the 1994 Democratic primary but lost to Republican Tom Ridge in the fall, remembers "plenty of requests" for debates.

But he noted: "I was the front-runner, and I avoided them. It was simply political strategy. There was little for me to gain and much for me to lose. It made sense for me to limit those engagements."

Singel said that for all the times this year's candidates had met, they had done little to distinguish themselves one from another.

He said of a recent debate: "It was as dry as toast. The problem here is that everybody believes they need to tap into the voter discontent, which means they are all pretty much saying the same thing."

The candidates have been generally pleasant with one another in the debates. Hoeffel and Williams have thrown the occasional dart, but none with a barb in it.

Singel called it "oatmeal."

But Williams said that, as a candidate, he thought the debates had been useful and informative.

"It's a way to communicate," he said, "no matter how much money we have."