Through campaign manager Brian Hickey, John Dougherty has responded to my post talking about his political donations through COPE, the IBEW PAC. (The same PAC for which he wants to overturn our campaign finance laws.)

I thought I might as well just respond point by point.

First:

The first rule of commentary is picking a side of an issue, building a case and presenting it in a clear, decisive manner. The first rule of reality is looking at all sides of the issue, making a reasoned decision and presenting it in an honest manner.

These rules came to mind Friday morning after reading a post on the Young Philly Politics Web site entitled, “John Dougherty’s Priorities.” In it, a blogger notes that John “donates to almost every politician in the City.” Then, it questions the IBEW 98 PAC’s financial support several of those candidates, in a transparently shameless attempt to tie John to their policies. It’s a flimsy argument that closes with the line, “it is time for everyone to start asking him some tough questions.”

So, I am unreasoned, dishonest, shameless and have flimsy arguments? Geez, Brian, tell us how you really feel! It is funny, when we were doing that YPP/City Paper project, I never heard those complaints...

But whatever, Brian is a nice enough guy who I guess is doing a job, so let's focus on ol' Johnny Doc himself.

Yes, it is time to start asking some tough questions. But they should be posed to all of the candidates.
As in, why does YPP-darling Anne Dicker take a good chunk of the money she’s been able to raise from Bob Guzzardi, of 12th Street Gym HIV-discrimination-suit infamy, while placing herself atop an LGBT-friendly pedestal?

Or “reformer” Larry Farnese’s blatant ties to the insolvent Vince Fumo Inc.? (Read all about it in the Sunday Inquirer.) Should we not ask why Farnese was a card-carrying member of the GOP for much of his adult life? Should we inquire as to which Republicans he supported with his votes and money? (The answer: Yes.) Or should we ask him about those signatures that his campaign manager admitted were um ... so questionable that she never planned to submit them?

I agree questions should be asked of all candidates. In fact, if you do a quick search on this site, we have, for example, asked Larry some of those exact questions before. And, Anne will have to explain the Guzzardi stuff.

But, of course, this wasn’t a post about Anne or Larry, it was about the guy running all the TV commercials, already sending me mail, etc. When you respond to questions with questions for other people…

It is sort of reminiscent of when Doc allegedly told Dave Davies he had the phone records of Jim Kenney, and Doc responded with a letter that didn't deny he said that, but instead said that Doc was a public servant and did a lot of good stuff.

But let’s digress, because John actually invites such queries, considering he’s not the type of person who runs from anything or presents himself as something he isn’t. You have something to ask him? Go right ahead. And here’s part of the answer:

Besides the Young Philly Politics post of Friday, one of John’s opponents recently claimed he’s not a real reformer because his union made donations to Republican candidates. We can’t imagine anything more naïve.

Shorter Hickey: We welcome questions. You morons.

If we are to move forward as a district, commonwealth and country, we must sweep aside the antiquated notion that people of different political stripes can’t work together for the betterment of us all. If John hadn’t reached across the aisle, the City would have lost the potential for thousands of jobs to come to the area because of the much-needed Delaware River dredging project. Cooperation is the key to accomplishing anything in Harrisburg. Whether we agree with somebody’s political leanings or not, a state senator has to not only have to work with Republicans, but also with conservative Democrats from other parts of the state, or else they won’t get anything done.

Let John make this clear: He is a staunch Democrat who is the lone candidate in the race with the experience to forge relationships that will make the First District a better place for us all.

Ha. Ha. Ha. See, you can peddle a line that you need to support Republicans as the head of a Union. I might think that even as the head of a union it is dramatically short-sighted, but there is at least an argument for it. But, as a Democratic Senator? Are you kidding me? Can you imagine if Chaka Fattah or Bob Brady or Bob Casey started shoveling money to GOP Congressmen, to help them keep GOP control of the House or Senate? They would likely be expelled from their party’s caucus.

In fact, in the world of John Dougherty, it appears that the Democrat-Republican breakdown in the House and Senate, nationally and locally, is frozen in time. You want an enduring Progressive majority? Sorry, but Doc disagrees. He thinks to get things done, he must give thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars to incumbents of both parties, including repulsive ones like Santorum.

And, the reason why this is important is that Doc has said he will keep his position at IBEW, which means he will still be controlling their cash, and means he will still be showering 'progressives' like Rick Santorum, John Perzel, Mario Civera and others with lots of cash and labor.

So, again, if he is a staunch Democrat, will he no longer give a dime to help the GOP keep their big majority in the Senate, and try to take back the House from us?

Since people are naming names, how about we also look at the other people who John has given money to? You know, those who were conveniently left out of the online hatchet job.

A basic public-records search indicates that John has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to people YPP has embraced repeatedly and who have led the way in advancing the march of progressive Democratic causes.

Do you like the initiatives Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr. has championed on behalf of the working poor?

Do you support Tony Payton Jr.’s plan to provide college educations to every young person who wants one?

Do you applaud the reform of the city’s DROP program being advocated by Councilman Bill Green?

Do you think Congressman Patrick Murphy’s unique voice is an important one in the Congress?

Are you pleased with Representative Mike O’Brien’s efforts to fight the proposed sites for Philadelphia casinos?

What about Joe Biden’s plan to end our occupation of Iraq?

Ed Rendell or Hillary Clinton’s plan to ensure every Pennsylvanian with health insurance?

John Kerry’s platform of penalizing companies that ship American jobs overseas?

Allyson Schwartz's efforts on behalf of women and children?

Well, John Dougherty has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to these elected officials, too, yet they were conveniently ignored for the purpose of the blog post (Remember the first rule of commentary, right?)

Aw, ‘online hatchet job.’ Cute. But, I sure do appreciate the naming of all these Philadelphia politicians, because it was a wake-up call that I need to be more honest in my posts. It makes me wish I wrote something like this:

The first thing you notice when looking at the reports is that Doc spends a ton of cash. No surprise there, right? He donates to almost every politician in the City.

To their credit, that was a line that could easily be missed. It was buried all the way in the 6th sentence of the post.

I never said Doc didn’t give to Democrats. I said that in his desire to accumulate power, he showers certain people with money who are decidedly anti-progressive. That matters to me now, and it will certainly matter to me if he is an elected Democrat.

Of the three candidates running for the State Senate, and taking into account both lists of contributors, the question stands: Who is best prepared to go to Harrisburg, reach across party lines and deliver the votes we need to take back our power on gun legislation, fully fund our school system and provide much-needed resources to the city of Philadelphia?

Who knows the answer here- maybe Doc, maybe not. (But, just because he is good at accumulating power in Philly doesn't mean he will become a uber-powerful Senator). Anyway, when he props up pro-NRA politicians, does he actually think gun laws are easier to pass? When he donates money to keep the GOP entrenched in Harrisburg, does he really think that it makes it more likely that we will get fully funded Philly schools?

Doc, where have you been the past twenty years? You have been making these donations to Perzel, Civera, Pillegi, Keller, et. al. Why do you need to wait until you get to Harrisburg to take care of all of this? Tell them now, eh?

You bankrolled Bill Keller, with $345,000 in cash the past few cycles, yet you couldn’t get him to stand against the NRA? Geez, maybe if you gave him a mil?

If you’re keeping it real, and not perpetuating tired myths, the answer is simple: John Dougherty.

Note to Brian Hickey and John Dougherty: Use of the the phrase “keeping it real” is restricted to people about two generations below you. Thanks for your cooperation.

Which brings me back to the tough question I have for Philadelphia: When will anybody take the time to look beyond the tired stereotypes and understand who John really is: A man who will be a dedicated public service fighting in Harrisburg every day for the betterment of his constituents.

All BS aside, now we get to the real question, right in that last sentence.

Who are John Dougherty’s constituents, and what will their order of priority be if he wins? Doc has made clear already that he puts the needs of IBEW over the need of the larger union movement, by funding explicitly anti-working class, anti-labor people like Santorum.

Now that he is running for Senate, we need to ask him again: Who comes first? The people of the first district, or the IBEW? If it is us, and he is a 'staunch Democrat,' will he stop shoveling money to anti-worker, anti-LGBT, pro-gun politicians?

There are more questions for him, too. But, let's just start with those. I welcome the response, because I prefer to be called a moron at least twice a week.