In the end, it was the enemy within who finished off Joe Hoeffel.
It wasn't the ignorant Republicans lobbing mudpies in the comments section of the Times Herald, or the lumbering, heavy-handed Bruce Castor whining about the latest effront to the giant Castor ego, or the right-wing barrage from a "newspaper" that long ago lost the right to call itself unbiased, or even the trumped-up investigation launched by a DA's office that still operates as the sock puppet for its former boss.
It was none of those. I still believe that Joe could have overcome all of that.
But the thing Joe Hoeffel could not overcome was the cowardice and political malice that blindsided him from within his own party.
Anyone who knows Joe Hoeffel knows he is an honorable man, probably too good for the political slime he's had to swim through for the past four years. Here's what one commenter at the Times Herald had to say once the news broke today:
"Elected officials who are in the public, give up their personal freedom to serve the electorate and are subject to allegations by opponents that usually have no root in fact...Joe Hoeffel is such a public servant. I have known him and his service for three decades and know 1st hand of his high ethical standards, desire to maximize the efficiency of county government and leave its people better than when he initially attained office. Many attacks against Hoeffel and Matthews have been initiated by office seekers and party hacks who view bipartisanship as un-American and therefore suspect."
So true, so true.
Joe was shockingly effective as the lone Democrat on the county commission. From a position that should have yielded absolutely no leverage for his voice to be heard, he was able to form a coalition and at least have some impact.
Could he reform the county single-handedly from its century and a half of Republican business as usual? Of course not. And of course, the Repub cabal knew exactly what to dredge up and use against him, because it was all familiar territory to them - in effect, they were able to take their own corrupt practices and accuse Hoeffel of somehow being the first to go there.
And not once did anyone in the county Democratic establishment step up to support him against these smears. Not once.
I really do wish Josh Shapiro and whats-her-name the best in November. But whichever of them ends up the minority commissioner, I hope they'll frame the bloody knife pulled from Joe Hoeffel's back to remind them of how they earned their office.
3 comments:
I agree with you that Joe was treated poorly by his own party. He deserved better. He made a couple mistakes, however. While Joe is an honorable man, Jim Matthews is not and Joe suffered for it. And while Bruce Castor is an insufferable egomaniac, he actually is an honorable man and would have been better to work with for Joe because at least Castor can be trusted. Joe's biggest mistake was trusting that Matthews was not corrupt and taking too long to realize it. His second biggest mistake was cutting Castor totally so the guy had no incentive to play nice. Bitty Matthews and Hoeffel underestimated Castor's skill at manipulating the media and the public. It only took a couple of provable facts to make it look like Castor was right all along. The depth of Matthews corruption is still not fully realized and Joe was right there in full (though ignorant) support. Joe was left with the choice of trying to work with a distasteful, though honest, Castor or a friendly and easygoing, though dishonest, Matthews. Joe chose poorly and it cost him dearly. Still, Joe did not deserve this humiliation. That was just wrong.
Given the choice between a rascally scoundrel who knows how to get along with people and a sanctimonious stuffed shirt who alienates everybody that tries to work with him, I'll take the scoundrel every time. Neither of them is going to be a very good partner, but at least with the scoundrel you know it's going to be interesting.
Joe made the best of a bad situation and I'm thankful that he saved us from four years of having Bruce Castor call the shots. THAT would have been the worst of all possible worlds.
Castor never had to "manipulate the media and the public." The Times Herald and the Castor Republicans were like hounds after raw meat from the day that the Matthews-Hoeffel alliance was announced. Hell, the Times-Herald practically appointed Keith Phucas to take dictation from Castor. I suspect Phucas was probably bringing him meals and shining his shoes, too.
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