George Badey is not a happy camper this morning. If you don’t know who George Badey is, he’s the chairman of the Radnor Township Democrats. He was expecting a big rally Wednesday morning for 7th District Democrat Congressional candidate at Radnor High School featuring Vice President Joe Biden.
But Badey had the rug pulled out from under him. And he’s crying foul.
Badey sees politics behind the move by the Radnor School Board to rescind the offer to host the rally. School officials are saying Dems jumped the gun. Badey says he had a deal in place last Friday. School officials don’t agree, saying they didn’t get the paperwork until Monday.
Badey believes the Republican-controlled Radnor School Board decided to put the kibosh on the event.
Actually, the first questions came from the camp of Republican candidate Pat Meehan. They wondered who would be paying for the political event at the high school.
“Radnor High School is a public high school, funded with taxpayer dollars and Bryan Lentz should be required to reimburse taxpayers for coasts associated with this political trip,” said Bryan Kendro, Meehan campaign manager.
The Lentz camp isn’t buying. They see politics as behind the school board’s change of heart. The school board replies that it was the Lentz camp that jumped the gun, announcing the rally before the school district had signed off on the offer.
It’s not unusual for candidates to use schools as backdrops for political campaigns. Hillary Clinton spoke at Radnor High when she was running for the Democratic nomination back in 2008.
Both Republican John McCain and then-Democratic candidate (and soon to be president) Barack Obama held rallies at Strath Haven High School during the presidential campaign.
Radnor School District Superintendent Linda Grobman said she believed the event would be disruptive to students. She also admits there was disagreement on whether the event was a done deal or still in the planning process.
None of which is likely to calm Badey, who was irate when I talked to him yesterday about the canceled event.
“Pat Meehan should apologize to the schoolchildren of Delaware County,”
Badey said about the move to ax the event at the school.
And Badey made it clear he does not for a minute think logistics or any disruption of school schedules is to blame. He sees pure politics.
“For the first time in history, a sitting vice president of the United States was coming to our school, right here in Delaware County. His appearance was canceled because a small band of radical right wing Republican zealots, presumably at the behest of the Meehan campaign, were able to force their narrow agenda upon the Republican majority school board to cancel the event. This is heavy-handed Delaware County Republican strong-arm tactics at their worst.”
The event now will be held at Sulpizio Gym in Radnor.
Just another day in Delco politics.
By the way, just seven more days until the election.
But Badey had the rug pulled out from under him. And he’s crying foul.
Badey sees politics behind the move by the Radnor School Board to rescind the offer to host the rally. School officials are saying Dems jumped the gun. Badey says he had a deal in place last Friday. School officials don’t agree, saying they didn’t get the paperwork until Monday.
Badey believes the Republican-controlled Radnor School Board decided to put the kibosh on the event.
Actually, the first questions came from the camp of Republican candidate Pat Meehan. They wondered who would be paying for the political event at the high school.
“Radnor High School is a public high school, funded with taxpayer dollars and Bryan Lentz should be required to reimburse taxpayers for coasts associated with this political trip,” said Bryan Kendro, Meehan campaign manager.
The Lentz camp isn’t buying. They see politics as behind the school board’s change of heart. The school board replies that it was the Lentz camp that jumped the gun, announcing the rally before the school district had signed off on the offer.
It’s not unusual for candidates to use schools as backdrops for political campaigns. Hillary Clinton spoke at Radnor High when she was running for the Democratic nomination back in 2008.
Both Republican John McCain and then-Democratic candidate (and soon to be president) Barack Obama held rallies at Strath Haven High School during the presidential campaign.
Radnor School District Superintendent Linda Grobman said she believed the event would be disruptive to students. She also admits there was disagreement on whether the event was a done deal or still in the planning process.
None of which is likely to calm Badey, who was irate when I talked to him yesterday about the canceled event.
“Pat Meehan should apologize to the schoolchildren of Delaware County,”
Badey said about the move to ax the event at the school.
And Badey made it clear he does not for a minute think logistics or any disruption of school schedules is to blame. He sees pure politics.
“For the first time in history, a sitting vice president of the United States was coming to our school, right here in Delaware County. His appearance was canceled because a small band of radical right wing Republican zealots, presumably at the behest of the Meehan campaign, were able to force their narrow agenda upon the Republican majority school board to cancel the event. This is heavy-handed Delaware County Republican strong-arm tactics at their worst.”
The event now will be held at Sulpizio Gym in Radnor.
Just another day in Delco politics.
By the way, just seven more days until the election.
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