Forget Labor Day. Election season is here.
Delco Republicans threw a little gas on the fire yesterday, holding a press conference on the steps of the Media Courthouse and demanding an apology from Delco Democrats - in particular district attorney candidate Jack Stollsteimer.
All of this stems from a bogus email that purported to show a county Probation and Parole supervisor using racial slurs.
When the story first was posted on an online news site, Democrats, including Stollsteimer, held a press conference of their own expressing their outrage and asking for an independent investigation, despite acknowledging that they were not sure of the accuracy of the report and statements from the county that they could not find any record of any such email in their files.
We did not carry the original report on the email because we could not verify it.
We did cover the Democrats' press conference - and we included the county's statements as well as comments from Republican leaders.
A Marple man who runs that website last week was charged with fabricating the email, as well as posing as a New York Times reporter and "Good Morning America" producer.
We went back to the courthouse yesterday to hear county Republican Chairman Tom McGarrigle and County Council Chairman John McBlain castigate the Democrats and demand an apology, specifically from Stollsteimer, who they say was using politics to slander hard-working county workers.
Don't kid yourself. This is all about the November elections.
The days when Republicans could sit back and watch as their overwhelming edge in voter registration translated to easy wins in county races are over.
They're still licking their sores over losing two seats on County Council to Democrats the last time around, as well as a Dem sweep of the county row offices up for grabs.
Then last November several statewide Republican incumbents were shown the door - including McGarrigle, who lost his 26th District state Senate seat to Swarthmore Democrat Tim Kearney.
In November there are three more seats on County Council on the ballot, as well as the D.A.'s post.
Democrats continue to expand their lead in voter registration. The numbers say that if the Democrats are able to get their people to the polls, they could sweep these races.
An all-Democratic County Council? It could happen.
The fiercest, most hotly contested race could be the battle for D.A.
The Republicans have a solid, well-known face in incumbent D.A. Katayoun Copeland. At this point she is the face of the party.
Try this quiz: Name one of the three Republican candidates for County Council? See what I mean. Then again, I think the same might be true for the three Democrats.
Copeland vs. Stollsteimer will be the main event.
So I was not surprised that Republicans are going to use every chance they get to lambaste the Democrat.
That includes yesterday's press conference.
The Republicans believe there was politics behind the original story and that Democratic press conference. The Democrats are having none of it.
Copeland vs. Stollsteimer.
Brace yourself, this one is going to be a rocky ride.
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