More than 200 Blair County Republicans filled the banquet room at the Bavarian Aid Society in Altoona to listen to Carol Fisher, wife of Attorney General and Republican candidate for Governor Mike Fisher, speak at the annual Repulican Fall Dinner.
Mrs. Fisher, a native of Johnstown, spoke of some of her memories of Altoona growing up.
“I had many opportunities to come to this area as a youngster,” said Fisher. “I came to Lakemont Park, and my father worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad so we always had to take people to see the Horseshoe Curve. My fondest memory was when my father took me on a train to Altoona to buy my prom gown at Kauffman and Sons.”
From her youthful memories of Altoona to her mission at hand, Fisher spoke of her husband’s involvement in Altoona.
“Mike’s involvement in Altoona was more professional than mine,” said the wife of the attorney general. “He has worked very closely with both law enforcement and your Altoona School District and what a fine effort they have done to try to eradicate drug use among young people. He has used your county and your school district as a model and example when he has spoken to many groups telling them of a wonderful cooperative effort. You may not always hear those compliments, but he is out there indeed complimenting you and all the work that you have done.”
Fisher spoke of her summer on the campaign trail.
“I have had the opportunity to judge a rib cookoff, an apple pie contest, flew in a helicopter numerous times, I have been in parades, rodeos, fairs, and truly have eaten more kettle corn and BBQ chicken that is legally permissable,” joked Fisher.
“I’ve been to farms all over Pennsylvania and even helped to milk a cow. I have toured many small businesses and factories and I have to admit my favorite was the tour of the chocolate factory. Many of you have seen on PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) was continually following us and followed me every step of the way in the chocolate factory and watched every sample of chocolate that I had eaten.”
Following talking of her summer touring Pennsylvania, she started to hammer home her husband’s message.
“One of the reasons that Mike has been so successful goes to his genuine concern that he has for people,” said Fisher. “He listens to people, he takes peoples’ views into consideration, he listens to peoples’ problems and to their needs before he reacts.”
Fisher shared a memory of her family getting involved in her husband’s campaigns.
“We always had our children involved,” said Fisher. “I remember one summer on one weekend we didn’t have any parades or anything to attend, we were at home. Our son Brett, who was seven at the time, announced that he wanted to have a lemonade stand. I thought that was a great idea. We got out the card table and made the lemonade. He asked for a few posters that he could to use to make signs. We gave him magic markers and he made his signs. After a few minutes, I look out the window and saw that the neighbors were smiling and a few more were coming over. You know a mother’s intuition that something was up here. This was not your typical lemonade stand. As I walked out to check on things, there among the cups and lemonade were Fisher brochures and a big sign that said, ‘Lemonade 10 cents money to be given for the campaign to re-elect Mike Fisher.’”
The wife of the attorney general spoke of Fisher’s goal to have families stay in Pennsylvania.
“You probably have never heard anyone say that they left Pennsylvania because they didn’t like it.” said Fisher “They left Pennsylvania because they couldn’t get a good job. Jobs are one of Mike’s main concerns. Governors and mayors do not create jobs. What they do is provide the resources to attract good jobs and keep good jobs here. More than anything else that, will keep jobs and people here are low taxes.”
Fisher compared her husband to his opponent, former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.
“Mike’s opponent is full of promises,” said Fisher. “He promises everyone everything, particularly those people that live in Philadelphia. Two weeks ago there was a seminar of business people from Philadelphia and his promises total $10 billion in brand new spending. With a state budget of $20 billion, $10 billion more is an awful lot of money, with most of that money going to the city of Philadelphia and you know who will be paying for that, you and I.”
Fisher, a lifelong educator, spoke of her husband’s committment to education.
“We need every county in Pennsylvania to have high speed digital internet access,” said Fisher. “This will keep jobs here and attract new jobs to the area. We need our students trained in technology. Mike wants to place a lot more importance on vocational education and elevate it to the esteem that it deserves. When you are developing educational programs, you need to start with the premise that all children, no matter where they live, must be given the opportunity to succeed. That success really begins in pre-school. There has been a lot of research that shows a high quality early education really develops a strong foundation for school readiness, reading readiness, academic success and adult achievement. For every one dollar spent in early childhood education, it saves us seven dollars a little later in a child’s life in special education, learning support and even in the welfare system. It is money well spent.”
Fisher attacked Rendell and the Philadelphia school system.
“All of you should be angry about something,” said Fisher. “It’s a real shame that each and everyone of you is paying for those failed Philadelphia schools. Something that you may not realize, in 500 of the 501 school systems, there are elected school boards. One school district does not have an elected school board. That one school system has a school board that is recommended by the mayor and the mayor also runs most of the day to day operations of the schools. Do you know what district that is? The one in Philadelphia. When Mike’s opponent talks about all the wonderful things he has done for Philadelphia, we need to look at the wonderful things he has not done for Philadelphia. We don’t want other school districts to have that problem.”
Following Mrs. Fisher, Congressman Bill Shuster, Senator/Lt. Governor Robert Jubelirer, Rep. Rick Geist, Rep. Jerry Stern and Rep. Larry Sather spoke on behalf of Fisher for governor. They asked to keep the team together.
You can make your decision on November 5, when you vote.
