Anyone that has come to this site via Google knows my opinion of Matt Shaner.

I think he is the worst candidate in the race to represent Pennsylvania District 5 as a Congressman.

He seems woefully ill prepared, completely disconnected from the common voter, and incapable of sound judgement. But that’s just my opinion.

Why should anyone in PA Congressional District 5 vote for a person who:

* Drops out of college, yet manages to become President of a family corporation that allows him to make enough money to spend $720,000 personally on his bid for Congress. Now the money doesn’t bother me. It’s the people who spin this into a declaration of “passion” for the political process and his personal beliefs. Fair enough, but his beliefs are part of the problem! His vision is a more focused version of his mentor Rick Santorum. And we all know what happened to Rick! It seems to me that the Shaner corporation has much to gain from having a family member in Congress. This extremely wealthy central PA family would naturally love to see the death tax repealed. Yes, they would also love to see President Bush’s tax cuts for the rich made permanent. And I have a hard time believing that any energy company really is interested in energy independence, the environment, or anything else that would fly in the face of profit. Fill up your heat fuel tanks with oil from Shaner Energy…And guess what…You just made a campaign contribution to Matt Shaner for Congress.

* Drunk Driving. We have all heard this story. The thing I find the most disheartening are the community members that are willing to defend this fatal flaw in judgment by Mr Shaner.

I have to wonder if they are the same individuals that regularly are seen at bars with a drunken Matt Shaner in tow? I think this “mistake” is more than a simple lapse in judgment that was clouded by alcohol. This is symbolic of larger character flaws from this candidate. This demonstrated in broad strokes the way an individual conducts himself when he is caught in a mistake. Rather than taking the high road, Mr Shaner called his friend the District Attorney to find out if he should or shouldn’t answer the door as the police knocked on it? Worse yet, he came out and denied it all the next day. When this made news, like a typical politician, he blamed the media for reporting on his lapse in judgment. Instead of owning up to his mistake, he tried to hide it, bully it, and otherwise deny it was his fault.

This is from the original reporting in the CDT: (emphasis mine)

PATTON TOWNSHIP — (Feb 2, 2007) A police report on the accident involving hotel executive and Republican Party figure Matt Shaner said alcohol was a factor in the crash and that Shaner admitted to police he had been drinking and was “probably under the influence.” Shaner, 27, of Willowood Court, Port Matilda, rejected the police report released Thursday and said that alcohol was not a factor in the single-vehicle crash that occurred at Meeks Lane and state Route 550 just after midnight Jan. 19. Shaner, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state House in the May primary election, said he pleaded guilty and paid $500 in fines Thursday for three citations stemming from the crash. None of the charges was alcohol-related. He was cited for accidents involving damage to an unattended vehicle or property, failing to notify police of an accident and failing to stop at a stop sign. ... Shaner admitted he left the scene of the accident and said he walked home. When police arrived at his home soon after the wreck, he said, his wife would not open the door to them. “She was just terrified,” Shaner said. “She froze up. She didn’t know what to do.” Shaner said he was suffering a concussion from the deployment of his car’s airbags and does not remember his walk home or the arrival of police. Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said Shaner’s wrecked car alone did not amount to enough probable cause to legally justify police forcing their way into the Shaner home. Because police could not obtain a blood test to determine if Shaner was legally intoxicated, no DUI charge could be even considered, Madeira said. Shaner called police about 9 the next morning, then went to the Patton Township Police Department. The accident report states: “Shaner told (police) that he had been drinking and probably was under the influence at the time of the accident.” When told of the accident report Thursday, Shaner denied he said any such thing to police. “That is false. There is a miscommunication somewhere,” Shaner said. “There was never an admission that alcohol was a factor in the accident.”

Worse yet, and offering a true view into Mr. Shaner’s character, it goes on:

Shaner said he thinks his treatment is politically motivated — despite the fact that the top law enforcement officer in the county is one of his close friends. “Yes, I do,” he said. “I just don’t think that if my name is Joe Smith that this would be going on. I was a public person, am still a public person. I believe this is politically motivated and unfair.” Shaner told police the crash happened when he hit “black ice.” Police said there was no ice or snow on the road at that time, according to the accident report. Shaner and Madeira have worked together on their respective election campaigns. But Madeira said he was not contacted by Patton Township police about the crash and that he did not offer Shaner any help. “If officers had contacted me, I would have told them ‘Do what’s right,’” Madeira said.

So that was February 2007…And this is January 2008:

Asked if he thought he was drunk at the time he ran off the road, Shaner told The Associated Press: “I had too much alcohol to be driving. I may have been.” “I was in a condition where I shouldn’t have been driving my car, and I handled the situation very poorly afterward,” he said. “It was probably the biggest mistake of my life.” Shaner, 28, of Port Matilda, is president of Shaner Investments. He once worked for former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and was the county chairman for President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign.

Is it only me that finds it interesting that Shaner flip-flops the story just after Peterson announces his retirement? That is just one part of a troubling series of questions about the rich kid, that at 29 years old, without a college education, has the money to personally spend over $700K on a Congressional race.

These are the broad strokes that paint a question of suitability to rural PA and our needs. Things get even more interesting when you start to look to his policy positions. He is a classic “family values” candidate. But don’t the things outlined above call into question his real values? They do for me.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone with the financial advantages of Shaner could have anything in common with the average citizen of District 5? After all, most people that don’t complete their college educations don’t do that by choice, but as a result of need. When the money runs out you get a job and leave school. I don’t think that was a challenge that came to Mr Shaner.

How many voter in District 5 have really benefited form the Bush tax cuts? Can you say recession? Mr Shaner wants to make the permanent!

If you are considering this candidate…Do some homework! He isn’t good for you, and he isn’t good for America.

For PA 05 Shaner is the worst. candidate. ever.