Candidate: Not being pressured to quit

[Freddie Stubbs]

Fourth Congressional District Democratic candidate Stevan Drobac Jr. on Monday disputed a report in a Pittsburgh newspaper that Democrats are pressuring him to quit the race so that U.S. Sen. John Kerry's stepson can take his place on the ballot.

"No one's said anything," said Drobac, a 52-year-old Center Township resident who is battling multiple myeloma, a type of bone cancer.

"I have no intentions of dropping out now," he said. "My intention is to run."

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported in its staff-written "Whispers" column that "local, state and national Dems" have asked Drobac to withdraw so that Chris Heinz, stepson of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, can run against U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-4, Bradford Woods, in this fall's general election.

more: http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11783406&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6

[Dropkick]

1. Since the Trib is known for it's fair and balanced reporting...

...NOT! (I HATE that mellon-scaife propaganda rag, I wish it would just fold :nuke:, it can't possibly turn a profit; pgh's own little Washington Times, complete with our own Rev. Melloon) I have to say it doesn't hold water. The trib probably based it's little whisper campaign on the May 11 Post-Gazette article on him. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04132/314452.stm

Perhaps in the future he will. It may be a good thing. It would definitely be worth it to get Hart out of there. His father was a moderate Republican, an endangered species now, and he was well respected and generally liked in PA, so he has that going for him (this being western PA, people are definitely judged by their families; not to mention he has the whole Heinz thing going for him). He has stated that if he does decide to run for office in the future, it will be as a Democrat; hopefully he'd be appealling to the repubs around here.

[Freddie Stubbs]

2. Why would a rightwing paper pump up the candidacy of a challenger to Hart?

There does not appear to be any political advantage for them to encourage Heinz's candidacy.

[Dropkick]

3. Sorry, I was referencing the original article in the trib

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_195281.html

**edited to add text of article

Despite battling cancer, Democrat Steven Drobac won the 4th Congressional District Democrat primary and the right to face Republican U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods in November.
Now, Drobac reportedly is battling local, state and national Dems who want him to drop out of the race so he can be replaced by Chris Heinz. He's the son of the late Sen. John Heinz and local ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the stepson of John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and presumptive Democrat presidential nominee.

Chris Heinz, 31, has been rumored to be targeting Hart's seat for some time. The conventional wisdom has been that if Kerry unseats President George Bush in the fall, he would take on Hart in 2006.

Apparently, a lot of Dems would like to accelerate that timetable for a race that would be a doozy: A rising female Republican congresswoman with Senate aspirations taking on the scion of a beloved late GOP senator whose stepfather is a presidential nominee.

Droback, however, is said to be resisting pressure to quit the race and has every intention of being on the ballot in November. Stay tuned.


By making it seem as if the dems are forcing the primary winner (Drobac) out in favor of Kerry's stepson, it paints a picture of us as being as unscrupulous as the repugs are with regards to elections.

Kind of like saying "Look!! See?!?! They accuse us of tampering in elections and being unscrupulous, but look!! They're trying to force out the winner of the primary so Kerry's stepson can run!! They're terrible!"