The Times Leader - GOP Lt. Gov. Hopeful Pays Visit

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By Bill O'Boyle

Jim Cawley, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, said he and GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett are confident heading into the last 77 days of the campaign, but said they are not taking victory for granted.

Cawley, 41, a Bucks County commissioner, was in the region Tuesday and stopped at Tony's Restaurant in Kingston -- sometimes referred to as the center of the local GOP universe -- for lunch and conversation with supporters.

"In politics, a lot can happen in 77 days," Cawley said. "Actually, sometimes 77 minutes can seem like an eternity."

Cawley said the harder he and Corbett, the state attorney general, work, the better they feel about the race. They are running against Democrats Dan Onorato and Scott Conklin in November.

"This campaign is about job creation," Cawley said. "We have to help small businesses and entrepreneurs so they can take risks and create family-sustaining jobs."

Cawley said state government can't continue to create more bureaucracy; instead, state government needs to lower or eliminate taxes and create more opportunity.

"We have to let people know across the state and across the globe that Pennsylvania is open for business," Cawley said. "We need a cultural change in Harrisburg."

Cawley urged the dozen or so supporters at Tony's to spread the word and urge everyone to vote.

"Go street by street, house by house, voter by voter," Cawley said. "You to have to remember there are 1.3 million more registered Democrats than Republicans in this state."

"We're all Pennsylvanians," Cawley said. "We have to work together."

Cawley noted that most "independent polls" show the GOP ticket ahead.

"The ultimate result will be what happens between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Nov. 2," Cawley said.

Cawley acknowledged that the political winds blow swiftly and change direction often. Until the votes are tallied, he said he didn't want to appear over-confident.

"We're not picking our cabinet members and we haven't selected drapery for the governor's office," he said. "Hopefully we can start doing those things on Nov. 3rd."

"It's a great ticket, but we all need to work hard and see it through to a victory in November," said Dan Meuser Northeast coordinator for the Corbett/Cawley campaign.

Cawley was in Hazleton before he stopped in Kingston. After lunch he headed to Scranton, Carbondale and topped the day off with a visit to the Susquehanna County Fair.

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