As readers may know, TheBurg often is a supporter — even a defender — of life in much-criticized Harrisburg.
But, sometimes, it’s admittedly a hard place to defend.
That’s how I feel this weekend following Dan Miller’s stage-crafted return to the mayor’s race following a four-day absence. Sounding like Harrisburg’s own Hamlet (“Oh, what a tragedy that this terrible burden should fall on me”), Miller presented himself as the reluctant warrior willing to accept one more fight for the good of his people.
He said he would return to the political stage to battle Eric Papenfuse’s bid to become the city’s next mayor. Papenfuse beat Miller in the Democratic primary, but Miller won the Republican primary with 196 write-in votes. On that basis, Miller will run as a Republican.
So, Dan Miller, who was endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats and opposes almost everything that local Republicans support, including the receivership, the receiver’s plan and a refusal to file municipal bankruptcy, is now a Republican.
But I guess we’re supposed ignore that profound contradiction and just focus on his photo op as he stopped in mid-action on Friday to smile and make sure that the scrum of media dutifully memorialized his handover of $25 in the county building, which ensured his place on the ballot in November.
As a Republican.
At first, he said he was running just in case independent candidates Nevin Mindlin and Nate Curtis were thrown off the ballot by a petition challenge, which will be heard by a judge on Monday. But then he changed his mind and said, no, he’d run anyway, reversing his very public decision of just four days before, in front of the same press gaggle, not to run as a Republican.
Let me put it bluntly: This is absurd. The man who wishes to be mayor of Harrisburg changed his position on seeking the office three times in a week. It’s stunts like these that helps give Harrisburg a reputation as a confused, hopelessly divided place.
To make matters worse, Miller accused Papenfuse of orchestrating the petition challenge without offering any evidence. Mindlin later did the same, again without publicly stating his evidence, a charge Papenfuse has denied.
Miller had his chance. He was, in my opinion, the front runner in the Democratic primary, starting more than a year before his opponents. The election was his to lose — and he did. He ran a weak campaign, seemed blindsided by Papenfuse’s energy and organization, was out-hustled and came in second.
Normally, when you lose an election, you make a gracious exit speech, thank your opponent for a spirited campaign and step aside with your self-respect still intact. But not Miller, who blames “big money” for his loss, especially the donations of Harrisburg Capital PAC.* In the process, he ignores his own shortcomings as a candidate.
He and Papenfuse actually raised similar amounts of money, with the difference being that Papenfuse put in $100,000 of his own cash. In any case, money, while vital to a campaign, is hardly the only contributing factor to the outcome. Organization, likability, messaging and the ability to connect with voters, especially in a small place like Harrisburg, are at least equally important.
So, after a lifetime as a Democrat, Dan Miller is now running as a Republican. Having won that primary as a write-in, that is his right, even if it’s difficult to see a viable path to victory for him. I wish, however, he could have done so without making Harrisburg look even more ridiculous in the public eye.
* Disclosure: the PAC’s chairman Alex Hartzler also is publisher of TheBurg.
