Two years ago, Rep. Jim Gerlach of the 6th Congressional District was the only one of three area Republicans who withstood serious threats to their seat (Patrick Murphy dispatched Mike Fitzpatrick, and Joe Sestak finally put down the remarkably resilient Curt Weldon). Gerlach narrowly, narrowly defeated Lois Murphy, whom he narrowly defeated in 2004 as well.

He’s facing a vociferous challenge from Bob Roggio, who slammed Gerlach for voting against the economic bailout plan. According to the Inquirer article, Gerlach’s office says that a majority (but not a substantial one) of calls about the plan have been critical of his decision. But to underscore the importance of this issue, over 400 people have called his office to comment. When was the last time you called your Congressman? We don’t even know who ours is! (Kidding – we know we got Bob Brady up in Congress’s grill).

We’re not even remotely economic experts, but as has been pointed out by just about everybody, the idea of giving $700 billion to Henry Paulson, without any oversight, made us just as uncomfortable as it made various members of Congress, pundits, and Jon Stewart. But his party allegiance in this case has served to point out that Gerlach has voted in step with his Republican colleagues 84.4% of the time over the past two years, according to the Washington Post.

Party allegiance might not be the best strategy when, oh, everybody thinks the country is falling to pieces. Will Gerlach’s campaign be roadkill collateral of the attempts to consolidate power in the executive branch? Hey 6th District readers, don’t forget to register to vote this week!

Roggio for Congress: It’s Not My Fault I Look Kind Of Like A Vulture
Gerlach for Congress: Quit Hovering, Vulture!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pm.