Media coverage of Pennsylvania political races in The Philadelphia Inquirer


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OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Barack Obama: Insurers must provide contraception, but not employers.     Bob Casey: Roe v. Wade Should Be Overturned.     Bob Casey: Right to Privacy means contraception, not unborn.     Kathleen Sebelius: Make contraceptives available to everyone.     Tom Smith: No abortion under all circumstances, including rape & incest.

Budget & Economy     Jack Ciattarelli: Pandemic restaurant restrictions devastated the economy.     Joe Sestak: Auto & bank bailouts were to clean up Bush's mess.     Joe Sestak: Deregulation of banks led to the economic meltdown.     Pat Toomey: Real threat to economy is billions on bailouts.     Pat Toomey: We can't borrow and spend our way to prosperity.     Pat Toomey: Growing government was not the key to economic recovery.     Tom Smith: Stagnant economy due to over-regulation & complex taxes.

Civil Rights     Arlen Specter: Oppose gay marriage but support civil union.     Betsy Summers: Support gay marriage.     Jim Clymer: Oppose gay marriage and also oppose civil union.     Joseph Hoeffel: Oppose gay marriage but support civil union.

Corporations     Tom Smith: Compliance with regulations is strangling business.

Education     Bob Casey: Intelligent Design in religion class, not science class.     Jeff Bartos: Silencing conservative students is fundamentally un-American.     Jeff Bartos: Critical race theory is "state-sponsored racism".     Joseph Hoeffel: Voted to increase funding for No Child Left Behind 4 times.

Energy & Oil     Katie McGinty: No fracking COMPANY donations; but some from fracking execs.     Tom Smith: Former coal company executive; ease up on coal mining.     Tom Smith: Fossil fuels are key to reasonable energy prices.

Families & Children     Bob Casey: Mandatory reporting of the pure evil of child abuse.     Mary Gay Scanlon: Helping women around the world key to helping their kids.     Sean Parnell: Denies wife's claim of physical and verbal abuse.

Government Reform     Jeff Bartos: Investigate 2020 election, particularly mail-in ballots.     John Fetterman: Mocked Texas AG on voter fraud accusations.     Kathy Barnette: 2020: Something horribly wrong took place in this election.

Health Care     Joseph Hoeffel: Voted against a sweet deal for pharmaceutical companies.     Shiva Ayyadurai: Coronavirus: diet & vitamins better defense than masks.

Homeland Security     Bob Casey: Don�t censure Bush for domestic spying.     Rick Santorum: We need to spend money to study the EMP threat.

Immigration     Craig Snyder: Refugees among most loyal and contributing Americans.     Katie McGinty: Communicate with federal officials instead of sanctuary city.     Pat Toomey: Withhold community funding from sanctuary cities like Philly.     Sean Parnell: 30,000 refugees from Afghanistan is irresponsible.     Steve Lonegan: No on amnesty; tighter border security.

Jobs     Joe Sestak: Increase minimum wage to $10.80 now & $15 later.     John Fetterman: Backs $15-an-hour minimum wage.     Katie McGinty: Backs $15-an-hour minimum wage.     Malcolm Kenyatta: We need to value service industry employees.

Principles & Values     Betsy Summers: Specter and Hoeffel are both big-government candidates.     Joe Sestak: TV ad: Toomey's record is same as Sen. Rick Santorum's.     Pat Toomey: TV ad: Sestak served well in Navy; but not on Congress.

Social Security     Joe Sestak: Never raise, never, the age for our seniors to retire.     Katie McGinty: Cuts to Social Security are wrong for working families.

Tax Reform     Josh Shapiro: We need to lower taxes, close loopholes, increase wages.     Tom Smith: Supports flat tax; remove loopholes but keep exemptions.

Technology     Rick Santorum: Scale of potential destruction from EMP demands action.

War & Peace     Betsy Summers: Get soldiers out of Iraq as quickly as possible.     Bob Casey: Disagrees with timeline & pulling troops out.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Arlen Specter Former Democratic incumbent (elected as Republican) Pennsylvania Barack Obama Illinois Democratic President Betsy Summers 2004 former Libertarian Challenger Pennsylvania Bob Casey Democratic Sr Senator; previously state treasurer Pennsylvania Craig Snyder Republican Senate Challenger Pennsylvania Jack Ciattarelli New Jersey Republican Challenger Jeff Bartos Republican Challenger Pennsylvania Jim Clymer Joe Sestak Democratic candidate for President; Navy Admiral John Fetterman Pennsylvania Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Joseph Hoeffel 2004 former Democratic challenger; US Representative Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro Pennsylvania Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger Kathleen Sebelius Kansas Former Democratic Governor (1994-2002); Cabinet Sec'y (HHS) Kathy Barnette Republican Challenger Pennsylvania Katie McGinty Democratic Senate candidate Pennsylvania Malcolm Kenyatta Senate Candidate Pennsylvania Mary Gay Scanlon Democrat U.S. Rep Pennsylvania-5 Pat Toomey Republican Jr Senator Pennsylvania Rick Santorum Republican Presidential candidate Sean Parnell Republican Challenger Pennsylvania Shiva Ayyadurai Massachusetts Former Independent Challenger Steve Lonegan Republican Senate Challenger New Jersey Tom Smith Republican Challenger Pennsylvania