Boehner gives talk in Pa.
HARRISBURG — Fresh off the announcement of a new Pledge to America, U.S. House GOP leader John Boehner delivered a pep talk to Pennsylvania Republicans on Friday night who hope to win a U.S. Senate seat and the governor's office in November.
Boehner told a dinner crowd of hundreds Republicans probably have a better chance to score big election wins in Pennsylvania than anywhere else.
"We have a great opportunity this year to win," said Boehner, who is expected to become speaker should Republicans win the House in the Nov. 2 election. "There's probably no place where we have a better opportunity than we do right here in Pennsylvania."
Eight incumbent Pennsylvania Democrats sit in U.S. House districts he said Republicans have a very good chance at winning. Nationally, more than 100 House seats are competitive, and all but two are held by Democrats, while Republicans are competing for the first time in 20 years for U.S. Senate seats and the governors' offices in California and Illinois, he said.
In Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, Republican Pat Toomey held a slight lead over Democrat Joe Sestak in a poll this week. In the state's gubernatorial campaign, Republican Tom Corbett has a solid lead over Democrat Dan Onorato.
Boehner also criticized Democratic leaders in Congress for postponing a vote on extending the Bush-era tax cuts until after the election.
"You know why? Because Republicans have taken the fight to them over the last six weeks about extending all the current tax rates for all Americans," Boehner said. "And you know why they're not going to bring it up next week? Because we have the votes to extend all of the tax rates for all Americans."
Democratic leaders want to allow tax cuts for higher-income Americans to expire Jan. 1 as a way to narrow the deficit, while Republicans warn allowing tax rates for higher-income Americans to rise will be a drag on the economy.
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