The Lehigh Valley Democratic Party Committee has thrown Chairman (for now) Walter Felton and the new minority party members shown above under the bus. Yesterday afternoon one of the committee members forwarded their statement to blogger Bernie O'Hare, stating that Walter Felton was speaking for himself, and not the local party. We are seeing a schism between the county suburban, mostly white establishment and the city urban core, which they had formally embraced to mint new voters.
When Ed Pawlowski was campaigning to win the Democratic primary, I reported that he was courting the minority beauty and barber shop owners. I called it the Marion Barry vote. A Black Democratic political consultant accused me of being racially insensitive on facebook, because of my bluntness. A Black woman who moved here from Washington DC told me outright that she supported Barry in spite of his criminal wrongdoings. She is now very comfortable supporting Pawlowski.
Now that Pawlowski's indictment has become very real, Felton and the folks pictured above apparently spoke out of turn. They apparently were not authorized to endorse Pawlowski, who now is a full blown liability.
I believe that we're witnessing the beginning of a split between the city and county Democrats. The County party wanted those urban votes, but the white suburban voters aren't ready for Marion Barry moments. Don't expect any committee members to verify my observations, but the people shown above don't appreciate being dissed.
A local Democratic activist on the molovinsky on allentown sounding board contributed to this post.
The person who served Aa a sounding board is one of only two individuals whose patronage Pawlowski was able to buy this cycle by offering his support for their political aspirations. The rest of the Deck Party opposes Pawlowski, and even Felton's decidedly lukewarm statement was enough to earn him roinr criticuam from the rest of the committee. In otherwards, the two Pawlowski supporters are outliers.
ReplyDeleterobert@5:58, let me compliment you for commenting. i'm sure this post will be read by many democrats, but commented on by few. as you know, i'm familiar with several of the people shown in the photo. I sanitized the post to preserve their privacy, as much as i could and still make my point.
ReplyDeleteit is accurate to say that over 1,700 newly registered Democrats voted for pawlowski in the primary. i assume that most will stand by him in the general.
allow me to clarify that the identity of people who register for a pseudonym is unknown to me, or anybody else.
I saw a video of that news conference yesterday. If the gentleman leading this mob of supporters of Mayor Pawlowski is the spokesman for the Democratic Party in Allentown, I really have to wonder about the party's leadership.
ReplyDeleteOr is it that Allentown has degenerated so badly that what I saw is truly representative of Allentown Democrats. Mayor Daddona would be turning over in his grave.
Shame that people are naive about how critical it is to choose leaders that hold high ethics and morals. It seems that the fiduciary duty to place the well being of our citizens is not always paramount. I fail to understand how people can continue to vote against their own self interest. It is important to maintain a compassionate position and hope for the citizens to come to an understanding and get their party back to working for them.
ReplyDeleteAllison(Bessesdotter)@8:39, the democrats haven't lost an election in allentown in almost two decades. with this confidence they were reaching out to new constituents, who are more concerned with influence and benefit, than integrity.
ReplyDeleteI'm most frequently registered an independent or Green Party member because of my pacifist and environmental beliefs. It's just sad to see the schism in the Democratic party and people voting against their best interest.
DeleteThe Lehigh County Democratic Party has two distinct factions that has interests and lines of patronage completely at odds with one another.
ReplyDeleteInter-city, largely people of color vs predominately white suburbanites are jockeying for position on a sinking ship.
Of course this major political clash is better left untouched in polite, politically correct outlets.
The political implications for individual players, both parties and the future of a city in political and civic collapse can't be overstated.
The entire Lehigh Valley is compromised by the all but unbelievably collapse of Pennsylvania's third largest city.
The schism in the Lehigh County Democratic Committee began in 2013 after a fractious campaign/nomination process between Walter Felton and Bar Johnston for chair of the committee. Many people like me were so disgusted by what the supporters of Felton did that they were no longer involved with the committee after that. For the record, I have lived in the city of Allentown since 2006.
ReplyDeleteThe Lehigh County Democratic Committee leadership needs to either convince Walt to resign as chairman or appeal to the State Committee to have him removed. His presentation was a disgrace to all Democrats that have a brain and can think.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see what the LC Dem Committee does about supporting a candidate. They did not during the primary and the person who won that now has serious legal problems.
The County Democratic Committee is busy reorganizing the seating chart on their own Titanic. Unfortunately, there are good people in a bad situation. Ed stacked the deck to get control of the County Party as well as the City, and Fleck did it for him. The best thing to do is let the rats drown, and save the good souls if they want to be saved
ReplyDeleteThe unsung (or at least under-sung) hero here is Louis D. Lappen, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Allentownians owe him a debt of gratitude for his tenacity in enforcing the law.
ReplyDeleteI chuckle thinking how Tom Muller prostituted himself to align himself with the party of Pawlowski. I'm sure he's proud of himself.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, Mr. Cowen.
ReplyDeleteIn my own dealings with County Executive Muller, I've found him to be, shall we say, rather light in the integrity and honesty department.
I've got a Right to Know request due for deliver Aug 16 that should prove to be enlightening in this regard.
Stay tuned...