Toomey's Triumph: Inside a Key Senate Campaign

Preface: Where I’m Coming From

Preface Where I’m Coming From I don’t quite remember my first kiss. However, i do recall my first significant election. it was for student-body president of my then all-boys high school. On the one hand, my opponent, Tom swanson, demonstrably superior to me in every way, was unfortunately no politician. in the assembly just prior to the vote he simply said he would do his best. On the other hand, encouraged by a campaign manager so skilled in rhetoric that he became a methodist minister, i promised everything from new bleachers for the sports field to more soap in the washrooms. it was no contest, kind of like when Frank lautenberg vanquished pete Dawkins. By the time our fellow students came to their collective senses, it was too late. They were stuck with me for the next year. There was another election of almost equal importance that year. Harry Truman retained the presidency. His victory became the subject of my geriatric doctoral dissertation a half-century later. Cut in half and translated into english, it was then adapted into my first book, The Upset That Wasn’t, in 1998. Then in 2010, in the midst of considering something similar—a reappraisal of the Carter-reagan election of 1980—i became intrigued by a current campaign right in my own backyard. pennsylvania’s contest for the United states senate, initially between incumbent Arlen specter, Joe sestak, and pat Toomey, looked to be the most representatively compelling of all the midterm elections of 2010, a microcosm of the great national divide. And so i decided to x / Preface switch gears, shifting from retrospection to reflection. This book is the result , a narrative account of an American election as it unfolded, with a few personal asides. How well it works, my fellow citizens, i leave in your hands. since it was assembled from within the Toomey campaign, i’m particularly indebted to those on the tireless Toomey team, from mark Harris, nachama soloveichik, susan Zimskind, Tim Kelly, and Kristin Anderson , to shawn Conway, who greeted visitors at the front desk of their Allentown headquarters, and Jennifer Deloggio, who in trying to help campaign manager Harris stick to some semblance of his tightly structured schedule , included sharing it with me. i’ve also benefited from the generous input of Toomey’s exceptional consultants, Jon lerner and mark Dion, and, of course, from the encouragement of the candidate himself, now senator patrick J. Toomey, sr. particularly after the election, i received invaluable insight from Kevin Harley, Tom Corbett’s communications director in the concurrent pennsylvania gubernatorial race, and Kevin murphy from the pennsylvania Department of state. Jackie rose of philadelphia media network was very helpful in terms of photography, as was scott richards of Finch Brands. As stressed throughout, this is not an authorized campaign tract, but my own observations. since i persist in writing each draft on nixonian yellow pads, the ability of elsa efran to skillfully adapt everything into a format acceptable to my publisher has been absolutely invaluable, as were her perceptive comments along the way. in her absence, my eternally empathetic wife, Betsy, performed these logistical wonders. in transforming this material into finished form, i’m deeply indebted to Alex Holzman, director of the Temple University press, who was kind enough to also serve as my editor. in addition, i appreciate the thoughtful aid of his associate, Amanda steele, and the promotional efforts of Gary Kramer, Ann-marie Anderson , irene imperio Kull, and Tishna mohiuddin. Thanks also to production director Charles Ault, the remarkable team of peggy and Doug Gordon of p. m. Gordon Associates, peter reinhart for copy editing, erin new for the jacket design, and Kate nichols for production design, including adapting scott richards’s cover. i’m bound to think back to those at Temple who have been supportive over the years, most recently Jim Hilty but also Herb Bass, Waldo Heinrichs, the late norm Kaner and ernst presseisen, and thengraduate -secretary Joanne Follmer. Writing can seem the most solitary of avocations, but it has been inspiring to commiserate with such talented, tenacious practitioners as mary sue Welsh and Kevin purcell, and to enjoy the sustained encouragement of such friends and kin as Jeff lamonica, Carey rowan, Jack loughridge, Kevin Preface / xi Dwyer, Chris Wheeler, Brad Fisher, natalie Blum, phil martelli, lou petriello , sheila and Harley Gordon, Anita Zalewsky, and irene Gullan...