Down the dark hallway of a Best Western motel, past Room 335 and a supply closet, is the headquarters of Raj Peter Bhakta's congressional campaign.
Both the modest office and its location in a nondescript area off the Pennsylvania Turnpike are a far cry from the bustling streets of Manhattan and the posh boardroom where Bhakta first made his name on Donald Trump's TV show "The Apprentice."
The bow-tied Bhakta was fired from the program after a home renovation project went awry. Now, two years later, he is trying his hand at politics, challenging Democratic freshman Rep. Allyson Schwartz for her seat in the state's 13th Congressional District.
Bhakta, 30, hasn't been given much of a chance - especially in a district that went for Democrats Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry 2004, and at a time when President Bush's approval ratings are low.
"It's not a seat mentioned ... on anyone's list of competitive seats," said Terry Madonna, a pollster and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. "It's a huge struggle for a Republican to beat Allyson in this election cycle in particular."
Fundraising advantage: 1.3 million for Schwartz and less than 80,000 for the neophyte. This carpetbagger was done before he announced.
Re: Now a political apprentice, Bhakta takes a shot at Congress
This guy is a joke…but it is not as though Republicans were knocking the door down to run, so maybe “Bowtie” was all they could get!
Re: Now a political apprentice, Bhakta takes a shot at Congress
There actually is some demographic sense here as the NE and the suburban parts of the 13th are now home to many
Indian and Pakistani immigrants. It is possible Bhakta
would appeal to one of both of those ethic groups as well as to Republicans in general. That said, he has no shot to unseat Schwartz.
Re: Now a political apprentice, Bhakta takes a shot at Congress
There might have been some potential here, but potential wonderful if coupled with the means of developing it (i.e., money – see SWANN, LYNN under “ political casualties of cash shortage”). Bhakta seems like an interesting guy, and Melissa Brown, if I’m not mistaken, gave both Hoeffel and Schwartz decent races in this district the past couple of cycles (although Brown was supported heavily by the NRCC). That said, with too many other priorities, the national GOP will pass on this contest, leaving Bhakta on his own against a well-known and heavily financed incumbent.
Re: Now a political apprentice, Bhakta takes a shot at Congress
Brown gave Hoeffel a run the first time, but by the time she ran against Schwartz she was old news and got clobbered.
pd
Re: Now a political apprentice, Bhakta takes a shot at Congress
That’s right. The NRCC wooed Montco DA Bruce Castor as the only candidate who had a shot for the GOP. Castor took a pass and the rest is history. I often wondered if the GOP would have been better off looking at Montco Commissioner Jim Matthews for this seat. Heaven knows his selection as the LG candidate did nothing to help the ticket, and Swann is a disaster so Jim can’t ride into office on Lynn’s back. Truth be told, this is not a Republican year, anyway. Had they nominated a Gov. candidate with high popularity in Rendell’s SE base, they could have taken advantage of Ed’s vunerability in the rest of the state. But, they didn’t. The state GOP is in a hopeless tailspin and is preparing to crash and burn.
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