Pennsylvania has always been one of those states where it was nearly impossible for an independent or third party candidate to get on the ballot, especially for major races like governor, senate, or the House.

A recent court ruling just made it easier for candidates not married to the D & R teams to run for office:

In a settlement approved by the federal courts, third parties will have easier time getting on Pennsylvania’s ballots.

Under the new guidelines, the number of petition signatures is capped at 5,000 signatures.  This is a large decrease from the old requirement that was set at 2% of the vote total of the top vote getter in the last general election.  

The settlement also ends the practice of having third parties pay for legal challenges to their petitions, which often cost in the thousands of dollars.  

Both the Green Party of Pennsylvania and Libertarian Party Senate candidate Dale Kerns hailed the decision.  

“This is a day that, not only our adversaries, but also our friends, never thought we’d see.  It also shows that folks of varied political views can come together for the betterment of all,” 2006 Green Party Senate candidate Carl Romanelli told the Associated Press.

“If I’m not spending months on end trying to fight to get on the ballot, well then we can spend all of our time campaigning and talking about the ideas with voters and debating with each other, so that the election is actually what it’s supposed to be,” Kerns said.  

The settlement does not apply to Congressional candidates though, meaning third party candidates would need to get enough signatures to match 2% of the districts winner in the last general election.

This is a win for the voters of PA. I loathe the Green Party, and the Libertarians are generally ineffective in the commonwealth, but anything we can do to get independents to run, I am in favor of. 

If you have a some time, check out this set of short remembrances of Keith complete with some YouTube clips of games and moments he called.

Jackson had a way with words. Looking at the videos, there are too may little catchphrases and quips to name, but in the pregame of the 1996 Florida-Florida State game, he introduces his color commentator Bob Griese, by saying "He has 99 pounds of paper notes, and a telestrator a-hummin."

That made me laugh and things like that made Jackson a once in a lifetime announcer.

 

This is another one of those weird things we've learned in the age of Trumpim.

I had always thought that evangelicals were detrimental to politics because they were uncompromising and inflexible.

It turns out that they will look the other way to those things they claim to be against (adultery, smut, cultural rot, etc.) so long as it suits their political purposes.

Which is ironic because they can't push an agenda when their so-called leader is neck deep in the things the purport to hate. 

Nothing matters anymore.

I completely missed the Fake News Awards. 

I'd like to think Sean Hannity won the William Randolph Hearst Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The way I figure it, he was asleep by halftime and has probably forgotten he was even at the game.

But forget about Trump. 

What a game. For the last three years, the college football National Championship Game has delivered the goods. 

And what stones on Saban to make the switch from a QB with a 25-2 record at Alabama to a freshman who has never played to lead the Tide to a come from behind victory. 

Georgia is young and I expect them to be back their next season. 

But man, what a game!!!