With his opponent doing everything he can to make the race a referendum on incumbency and Washington, Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) is trying to turn the focus local, taking some hard swipes at Republican Lou Barletta’s stewardship of Hazleton.
The local focus, in campaign e-mail missives to reporters framing Barletta as a failed mayor, mirror efforts by Democratic incumbents across the country to localize races that Republicans prefer to play on national issues. Whether Kanjorski’s criticisms gain any political traction—and whether they will form a foundation for his paid media campaign against Barletta—remains to be seen.
Kanjorski’s latest tack against the candidate he’s dispatched twice before began earlier this month, when campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell e-mailed reporters to say Barletta “has mismanaged the city of Hazleton for years.” The strategy continued when Mitchell highlighted Hazleton’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which, at 15.6 percent, is the state’s highest. “Barletta’s lack of leadership and incompetence in running the city are shaping up as a big issue in this fall’s contest,” Mitchell said.
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