Smith responds to Perzel story, says Pa. 'sick' of these politics

By Alex Roarty, PolitickerPA.com Reporter

House Minority Leader Sam Smith issued a statement Monday afternoon criticizing state Rep. John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) after Capitolwire reported the former speaker of the House had hired somebody to perform opposition research on Smith and other Republicans.

"This is the kind of politics that the people of Pennsylvania are sick of," Smith said. "My interest is to work within the legislature, as leader of the Republican Caucus to address the real issues of the economy, our budget deficit, health care, energy and the real things that are important to the people of this Commonwealth."

Smith is seeking to retain his position as leader of the House Republican Caucus, a position Perzel is reportedly interested in.

Alex Roarty is a PolitickerPA.com Reporter and can be reached via email at alex.roarty@politickerpa.com.

Comments

Only now does Smiling Sam

posted by Just Say No to Perzel

Only now does Smiling Sam know the error of his ways. You supported Perzel for Speaker, supported his pay raise and gave him that ridiculous Speaker Emeritus title. You overlooked his malfeasance because he was working to keep the party (and you) in power.

How's it feel now that he's gunning for you Sam. How does it feel to get stabbed in the back?

11/12/08 12:54 am

After Pennsylvania GOP

posted by GOP Needs An Enema

After Pennsylvania GOP performance last Tuesday, Sam Smith and Mike Turzai should re-examine what it takes to be leaders. This election is not one they should be putting on their resumes.

11/12/08 10:08 am

Smith and Turzai deserve

posted by soccerdad999

Smith and Turzai deserve real credit. In a year when Democrats surged and surged hard, they kept House Democrat gains to a minimum.

The House Demos should have cleaned up more, especially in the Southeast.

11/12/08 10:24 am

Laud them for the Southeast?

posted by What a crock.

Are you kidding me?

They failed to beat Taylor, Mr. Bonusgate himself, and lost a bunch of "safe" Republican open seats AND lost an incumbent who should have been reelected.

The GOP caucus in Harrisburg has been a joke for the last two years.

I'm not advocating anybody, but I'd fire the two bozos in charge who have no idea what it takes to win in Southeastern PA.

11/12/08 2:41 pm

smith

posted by suburban liberal

look from my title you can tell i am no gop fan. but smith does deserve credit i live in southeast and the dems should have picked up more seats the 152 for example but he got those rep's to work hard. as far Taylor winning. that's just as much the montco gop (which is poster of failure) as it hrcc.

11/14/08 12:33 pm

Smith As A Leader

posted by ashjpo

Sam Smith is a great leader. He places a priority on helping ALL Pennsylvanians. And, as a few others stated, the D's have to be scratching their heads wondering what went wrong in the election. They really should have taken more seats with "Mr. Popular" running as president. Trust me, in two years, the PA House R's WILL regain control. Plus, PA will have a Republican Governor and Senate. Only two years until responsible leadership is back at the helm of PA.

11/17/08 9:48 am