February 18, 2007

A tangled Web at state House

GOP campaign material was improperly stored on a Pa. government Web site funded bytaxpayers.

Mario F. Cattabiani INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

In the blue corner, Ed "Fatcat" Rendell, his gut spilling over his boxing trunks. In the red corner,a cut State Rep. John Perzel, muscles rippling.As the theme from Rocky plays, Perzel - former speaker of the state House - pummels theflailing governor, who gnaws a hoagie between rounds as he signs a bill raising taxes.Perzel makes quick work of Rendell - a metaphoric triumph over higher taxes.It's animated political humor, posted online in the style popularized during recent elections bysuch sites as JibJab.com.But it wasn't on JibJab. It was parked online by the state House Republican Caucus, on a Website funded by tax dollars.So, too, were other campaign materials: photos of Perzel going door to door in his NortheastPhiladelphia district, and a 20-minute video tribute narrated by his wife, Sheryl. There was evena 487-page primer on how to run legislative campaigns, produced by the Republican NationalCommittee.Within an hour after The Inquirer began asking about the material Friday, House Republicans purged it from their computer network.Steve Miskin, press secretary to House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson), saidRepublicans were investigating the matter, preparing a memo to all staff, and rewriting theemployee handbook to bar such use of state computers."It's wrong. It should not have happened, and it should never happen," Miskin said Friday.The head of a nonpartisan watchdog group agreed. "There is supposed to be a very clear and bright line between political activity and state government activity," said Barry Kauffman,executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, who laughed out loud when he watchedthe animated boxing match. "This has clearly crossed the line."