Certainly not a great sign for any statewide campaign, let alone one for governor, just 46 days before Election Day.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, imagine that the voice-over talent that you hire for the ad seems to mispronounce your name during the ad (click here to watch the ad—go to the 20-second mark and listen to Onorato explain how to say his name only to have his voiceover talent screw up his name just seconds later.)

While Pennsylvanians may not be able to pronounce Dan Onorato’s name, they certainly understand how to pronounce the name of his “role model,” Ed Rendell, whose tax-and-spend legacy Onorato is seeking to uphold. They certainly know how to pronounce “no new taxes,” which is exactly what Republican candidate Tom Corbett has pledged to do.

Perhaps in the next ad, Onorato will give us a lesson on how to say his nickname… Dan “Dan The Tax Man” Onorato.

Two weeks ago, four members of the Tea Party movement filed a motion against John Krupa, who had filed nomination papers to run as the supposed candidate of the Tea Party.

But Krupa had one very big problem—he isn’t involved in the movement at all.

Diana Reimer, the Pennsylvania coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots who was one of the petitioners who challenged Krupa’s spot on the ballot, said in an email: “As you know, I have attended many Tea Party events all across PA and the country and I am in contact with many of the Pennsylvania grassroots organizations. No one has heard of the guy.”

Upon closer inspection, Reimer continued in the email, it was found that 20 individuals were “closely aligned” with the Onorato campaign and more than 20 of the petition circulators were “aligned with anti-free market unions.” In fact, even Democratic Harrisburg City Councilman and former Specter for Senate staffer Brad Koplinski was one of the individuals working on behalf of the Krupa campaign.

Not surprisingly, after a Commonwealth Court-ordered inspection of the petition, Krupa’s petitions were found to be littered with fraudulent signatures.  One of the circulators they attempted to serve a subpoena upon was already taking up residence in a county prison on other charges. Another circulator admitted that he had paid two others $1,000 to fill out petitions. Facing a mountain of evidence, the Onorato-supported Tea Party faker John Krupa was forced to withdraw his name from the ballot.

But that isn’t the point.

At a time when the state and national unemployment rates are constantly flirting with double-digits, Dan Onorato decided that the best course of action for his campaign was to prop up a fake candidate in a thinly veiled attempt to walk in the back door of the Governor’s mansion. While more than a hundred thousand Pennsylvanians are without work, Dan Onorato is choosing to stand behind these weak attempts at machine politics instead of the merits of his positions.

These are despicable actions from a desperate campaign, and we eagerly await the chance to defeat Dan Onorato in November.

Fast forward a few months and it looks like Clinton is still trying to help Joe Sestak land a job. It should not be surprising that Bill Clinton and Joe Sestak would be campaigning together—both support government-run health care, both have a track record of supporting extreme liberal policies that will raise taxes and kill jobs, and both are needlessly evasive when pressed for answers about their questionable actions regarding the Jobgate scandal.

The fact of the matter is that high-ranking Democrats have spent more time trying to land Joe Sestak a job than talking about ways to help get Pennsylvanians back to work. While Republican Pat Toomey continues to share his message of fiscal responsibility and economic growth with voters throughout the Commonwealth, Sestak has adamantly refused to “spill the beans” about the specific details surrounding the series of events and the job he was offered by Clinton and the White House.

I would hope that both Clinton and Sestak are pressed further to clear up lingering questions.

Pennsylvanians deserve to have these important questions answered.

Democrats are now stricken with an increasingly unpopular president, controversial Democratic leaders (see Pelosi, Reid, Rendell), policies Americans don’t agree with (see government-run health care, cap-and-trade energy tax, stimulus, etc.), numerous scandals (see Jobgate, Rangel, Waters) and have overseen the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.

It’s not surprising, then, that Democratic candidates up and down the ballot seem to be aware of the difficulties they are facing in the upcoming election, and most are employing the “every man or woman for themselves” strategy.

Looking for proof?

One need only look no further than President Obama’s visit to Pittsburgh following the May primary. The only Democrat who showed up to the event was Senator Arlen Specter who, despite Obama’s endorsement, had just been rejected overwhelmingly by Pennsylvania voters.

Not convinced? Explain why Dan Onorato, who has been a spirited and enthusiastic supporter of Gov. Ed Rendell and his agenda for the better part of the decade, has avoided any mention of the governor like he’s a fiscally responsible alternative to the Drink Tax. And while we’re at it, why has Joe Sestak avoided being linked to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite the fact they agree on nearly all major policy issues?

While I have focused on Pennsylvania candidates, this issue is a nationwide epidemic for Democrats. ABC News released an article over the weekend, entitled Democrats Keep Distance From Each Other, which talks about how and why Democrats are running for the hills.

With the recent ethics lapses that continue to plague Democratic leaders in Congress, one can only expect Democratic candidates to work to increase the distance between themselves and Democratic Party leaders facing trouble. The Wall Street Journal released an article on Monday entitled Ethical Woes Fog Democrat Hopes for November, which highlighted the issues Democrats will face in the upcoming election in the wake of scandals by high ranking Democratic Congress members Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters.

The Democratic promises to rid corruption in our nation’s capitol are looking more and more like empty campaign rhetoric and another broken promise.

While Democrats are running away from one another and trying to distance themselves from scandals, Republicans have the opportunity to talk about the important issues facing the nation and state, including job creation and reducing the size of government. This is beginning to look a lot like 2006, except the Republican and Democratic parties’ roles are reversed.

I continue to expect great things for Republicans this November.

It’s been months since Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) first acknowledged the White House’s attempts to bribe him out of the Senate primary, and yet the party that ran on a pledge of increased openness and transparency is still fighting tooth-and-nail to keep the truth about what has become known as “Jobgate” away from the taxpayers.

It didn’t have to be this way. If, as the White House has said, “nothing improper” happened, then this entire matter could have been resolved months ago, by allowing an independent investigation of the matter. It could have also been avoided if Democrats had not taken the time to offer a sitting U.S. Congressman a bribe in exchange for getting out of a race for the U.S. Senate.

But when the going gets tough, the Democrats get spinning, forcing Americans to play a guessing game regarding Jobgate for months as they ducked and dodged the straightforward and reasonable questions of both the media and the public.

But despite breaking the news earlier this year, Joe Sestak has not a shown a willingness to be open and transparent with this issue either. In fact, even at the height of the “Jobgate” hysteria that played out on the 24-hour news networks, Joe Sestak only disclosed a few details of his conversations regarding the offer and that was only after coordinating his response with the White House. But even after this obvious collusion, there were discrepancies between their recounting of the events that took place—significant enough that there is no doubt we should have an independent investigation into these matters immediately.

After hearing Gov. Ed Rendell confirm to Sean Hannity that he had “discussions” with Rahm Emanuel about ways to get Sestak out of the Senate race, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason filed a Right-to-Know request with the Governor’s office, requesting all communications and records between his office and the White House regarding any attempts to bribe Joe Sestak.

The governor’s response? So far, silence.

And last week, House Republicans brought forth a measure that would ask the Justice Department for all communications and documents regarding the attempt to bribe the sitting congressman.

The Democrats’ response? Shot down by members of the Judiciary Committee.

These are not the actions of a Democratic Party that strictly adheres to a mantra of openness and transparency. This is a Democratic Party that did everything it could to avoid Sestak being their candidate for U.S. Senate, a situation the then-Democratic Party chairman at the time termed “cataclysmic.”

Pennsylvanians have waited long enough for the truth.

It’s time for “Cataclysmic Joe” and the White House to spill the beans.

U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey ran very strong in every area of the state and stands poised to be our next U.S. Senator.

We are also looking forward to taking on Congressman Joe Sestak, or as we have come to refer to him “Joe Says Tax” or “Cataclysmic Joe.” I believe that the results of the Democratic Senate Primary had far more to do with ousting Arlen Specter than it did with nominating Joe Sestak. I am not sure that many Pennsylvanians realize just how liberal Sestak is, but we’re more than prepared to let voters know just how far left he stands on every issue.

For example, Sestak believes the stimulus didn’t spend enough, thinks cap-and-trade should have included more regulations and believes the health care bill should have included more mandates and should spend more. Conversely, Pat Toomey is interested in finding ways to cut the size of government, reduce taxes and return fiscal discipline to Washington. Quite frankly, on many important issues facing our country, these two candidates are extremely different. Click here to watch the latest Toomey television ad highlighting the differences between himself and Joe Says Tax. In this race, voters will have a clear choice. If you want higher taxes, increased spending and more government – vote for Joe Sestak. If you want fiscal discipline, less taxes and the government to get out of our lives – vote for Pat Toomey.

The race to be our next Pennsylvania Governor is also set and we feel very excited about Tom Corbett’s chances to take back the Governor’s mansion. Tom Corbett’s record of taking on waste and corruption speaks for itself and we are confident that he is the right candidate to create jobs, reduce spending and fix Harrisburg. Along with his running-mate Jim Cawley, they have the experience and drive to take on the problems facing our state head on and will do so with the best interests of the hardworking families of Pennsylvania in mind.

In one of the worst economic climates since the Great Depression, leave it to the Democrats to nominate the only candidate in this race with a tax named after him. Dan “The Drink Tax Man” Onorato has already shown us his cards. When tough economic times hit our state, like they are right now, Dan Onorato will raise our taxes and spend more of our hard-earned money.

The primary election was a great first step. As the saying always goes, great candidates win elections. If that is true, our candidates are headed towards a number of impressive victories on November 2^nd.

Make no mistake about it, we have a real race brewing and I believe we may be witnessing the last few days of Senator Specter’s political career. I always believed this race would tighten, but now it appears that Specter is in serious jeopardy of losing the primary. After spending months talking to Republicans, independents and yes, even Democrats, it’s clear that everyone, regardless of their political persuasion, seems to have serious trust issues with Specter after he admitted that he switched political parties because he couldn’t be reelected as a Republican. Sestak, who has run a less than spectacular campaign, is the beneficiary of the anti-Specter backlash.

And in a direct contrast to the chaos on the Democratic side, our Republican candidate Pat Toomey’s campaign really couldn’t be doing any better. His message of fiscal responsibility, smaller government and lower taxes is resonating with voters and he has been able to raise more funds than both of his Democratic opponents. He clearly has the advantage over either of the Democratic candidates, regardless of who survives their contested primary.

In the governor’s race, Tom Corbett is well positioned heading into the Primary and seems to be on solid footing as we move towards the general election.  Corbett has been working hard on the campaign trail, unveiling his plans to fix Harrisburg, create jobs and get Pennsylvania working again. The Corbett campaign is rounding into great shape is running on all cylinders. This is a great sign as we transition from the primary to the general election cycle.

The same can’t be said on the Democratic side, as the main storyline in the race to take the mantle from Ed Rendell has been a general malaise regarding the candidates. Voters have only been able to identify Dan Onorato, whose I affectionately refer to as Dan, Dan, The Drink Tax Man, a reference to his tax on poured drinks in Allegheny County.

The race for Lieutenant Governor on the GOP side is a contest with a number of candidates. The best candidate in the race is Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley, a terrific candidate with a proven track record of promoting the Republican values of limited government and fiscal discipline. The state party’s endorsed candidate, he is the best person to work with Tom Corbett to get Pennsylvania back on track, and I look forward to joining with countless other Pennsylvanians in electing them both on May 18 and Nov. 2.

This time last year, Democrats in both Washington and Pennsylvania were celebrating the news that Senator Arlen Specter had decided to run away from the “Republican primary electorate” and join the ranks of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and a Democratic Party that now held a super-majority in the Senate.

But if a day is a lifetime in politics, then Arlen Specter’s had more than enough time to learn a very important lesson: You can never run away from your voting record, especially when your support a big-government agenda that your constituents don’t agree with. Failed stimulus packages, bailouts, government-run health care plans, cap-and-trade… the list goes on and on.

Just one year after his switch, Specter’s hopes for reelection have plummeted as quickly as the approval for the Democrats’ big-government agenda. He’s spent the better part of a year trailing Republican candidate Pat Toomey by wide margins in nearly every poll imaginable. And he just can’t seem to shake a terrible voting record that includes support for a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package and a government-run health care plan that raises taxes and kill jobs.

That’s a shame.

Yet while Arlen Specter may be focused solely on his own self-interests, the state GOP is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania voters have a chance to express their dissatisfaction with our Commonwealth’s junior Democratic Senator and support our efforts to return this U.S. Senate back to the people.

Just as Specter switched from Republicans to Democrat, we are committed to switching Specter from Democrat to FIRED! Visit FireSpecter.com, and see our new video below.

First of all, this race is about the candidates. Our Republican candidate, Tim Burns, is the right leader to go to Washington to fight for the people of the 12th. As a business owner, Burns is the only candidate in the race that has actually created jobs.

On the other hand, his Democratic opponent, Mark Critz, is a career bureaucrat with a poor record on job creation. In his role as director of economic development for the district, he oversaw job creation in counties that saw an increase in their unemployment levels by at least 76 percent and in some cases up to 135 percent.

The battle lines in this race are drawn right down the middle. Big-government liberal versus fiscally-conservative job creator. Washington insider versus local business owner. Pelosi supporter versus someone who shares the strong values of the 12th District.

Speaking of the architect of government-run health care, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently hosted a fundraiser for Mark Critz 200 miles away from the 12th District in Washington, proving once again that when times get tough, Mark Critz is all too willing to turn to Beltway insiders to bail him out of trouble.

Hold onto your hats—we’re headed towards another critical election. This race will serve as yet another precursor to the oncoming Republican tidal wave this November.

Over the last few weeks, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania has been working hard to make sure voters know which Democratic members of Congress voted for this atrocious bill. We have also been inviting local doctors, small business owners and students to join us at our news conferences so they have the opportunity to share how this bill will affect them.

Our first stop was in the 11th Congressional District, and was covered by the Wilkes Barre Times Leader and the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice, as we targeted Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s support for PelosiCare. Last week, we stopped in the 8th Congressional District to talk about Congressman Patrick Murphy’s support of the legislation, which was detailed in this Intelligencer article.

We have been overwhelmed by the response when traveling around the Commonwealth. We would like to take all the credit, but I have to hand it to the Democrats. They really provided us with the best surrogate anyone could have asked for, the physical bill itself. When all 2,309 pages are printed out, it embodies the big-government agenda that the public has come to despise. It also adds credence to our point that there is no way any of the lawmakers who voted for it, including Senator Arlen Specter, could have possibly read it.

With more stops planned, we look forward to continuing our tour to hold the Democrats who voted for PelosiCare accountable.