War and Peace in the Campaign Season

The Maple Glen Community Association, Jack Easton, Ross Schriftman and the Supplee Memorial Presbyterian Church hosted a "Political Preview on What's Ahead from Our Local Political Leaders " this morning which was well-attended by area state rep candidates. The forum drew State Rep. Rick Taylor, Candidate Todd Stephens, Esq., State Rep. Tom Murt and Candidate Lisa Romanello, as well as Candidate Frank Custer and I. What never fails to surprise me at these things is how close we all are on the issues that are important to eastern and central Montgomery County.
At Plymouth Country Club this morning, GOP Thirteenth Congressional Candidate Marina Katz, State Senate Candidate Lance Rogers and I spoke to a mostly Republican crowd to garner their support in the Fall election. Marina told her truly inspiring life story--of coming here from Russia as a teenager, learning the language, working her way through college and law school while juggling two jobs, and now running for Congress. Lance's stump speech features a Floor debate where, ironically, State Rep Daylin Leach, his opponent for the Senate seat, was debating me about the DUI bill I worked on.
Clearly, however, the best event of the day was a luncheon held at The Bethlehem Baptist Church where my friend Thaddeus W. Smith Jr. was being honored by the Golden Chain Missionaries for a lifetime of community leadership. He and Judge Horace Davenport reminisced about the lawsuit that desegregated the local schools. Then many in the room, including Reverend Quann, the Ambler Olympic Club's Larry Wilson, and I all confessed that Thaddeus was, and remains, a mentor to us. His four daughters were warm and funny and everyone agreed his wife Irene gets much credit too. You could really feel the love in that room. And did I mention that Thaddeus is a Republican and Irene a Democrat ? She says that it was lucky her dad, a longtime Democratic Committeeman, was dead before Thaddeus switched to the GOP. "We all knew Daddy was kickin' the slats out of that coffin," she told me.
Later, at a picnic in Bucks County with LaSalle University Honors Program classmates, it was clear reports of the 'burbs being a "battleground" in the Presidential Campaign is true. Let's just say we had a "spirited discussion" and parted, as we always do, as friends.
Kate Harper