Was BuzzFeed right to publish alleged Trump dossier?

By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times If those allegations weren’t news before January 10, they sure are now. The post that contains the download to the full 35-page version of the allegations was viewed over 5,000,000 times in its first 3 days online.  (The 2-page executive summary has not been posted.) Here is Buzzfeed’s self-justification: “BuzzFeed News is publishing the...

A shiny new year: things are about to get interesting

Congressional, legislative officials face new political minefields in 2017 By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times From Harrisburg to Washington, D.C., it is a bold, bright new year in politics. From fresh starts to fresh panics, 2017 looks to be among the most interesting ever in the history of our little republic — and possibly not in a good way, but time will tell. To kick off the year, we’ll...

Letter: To save public education, Senate must reject DeVos

To The Editor, When describing public education in America our President-Elect Donald Trump compared our schools to third world countries. To fix the education system at a national level, he has chosen Betsy DeVos as education secretary. The former leader of the Michigan Republican Party, DeVos’ only contribution to education policy has been advocating for school vouchers and charter schools....

Letter: Republicans, you own this

To The Editor, Donald Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton faced off their final debate, and once again Mr. Trump found new ways to embarrass the Republican Party – and those in the Chester County Republican Committee and their candidates who have continued to endorse him.  

The Trumpocalypse hits home

Meanwhile, local candidates gather and talk issues thoughtfully By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Well, that was a week to be proud of in politics, right? As Donald Trump continues to loom over the election of down ballot candidates much as he did over Hillary Clinton during last Sunday night’s town hall forum — frankly, all it needed was slasher movie music to make it perfect — it seems...

Trump puts local candidates in a deplorable situation

No good choice for down ballot GOP candidates By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Um, now what? If you think the average American doesn’t know what to think about the tapes revealed Friday involving Donald Trump’s comments on women, imagine if you happen to a Republican appearing on the Nov. 8 ballot for Congress or the State Legislature. I’m not going to address the actual content of the comments...

Welcome to the center of the political universe

National media highlights major role of Chester County in presidential race By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Well, we told you so. For most of the summer in this space, we’ve told you that Chester County figures to be ground zero in the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — and now multiple stories from outside the region, in USA Today, The New York Times and The Harrisburg...

Tribute to a great man: Mayor Kennedy

Meanwhile, Trump claims PA election will be ‘rigged’ By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times In a week that we should be celebrating the legacy of a Chester County legend — James C. Kennedy, the long-time Mayor of South Coatesville who passed away Thursday at the age of 99 — we are forced to deal with the specter of a presidential candidate who claims the commonwealth’s elections are...

Local Democrats appear to enjoy surprising enthusiasm gap

Flap over Parrish’s finances may prove double-edge sword for GOP By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times With what seemed like a weekend of bad news, followed by the chaos at the start of the Democratic National Convention, if local Democrats seemed a bit down in the dumps, it wouldn’t be surprising. Instead though — and I witnessed this first-hand at the Kennett Area Democrats office opening...

Trump, Clinton, Killion post big Election Day wins

Roe appears to have won write-in for 158th State House GOP nomination By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times The voters of Chester County spoke loud and clear — and picked Donald J. Trump as the Republican nominee, Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for president as both won statewide, Tuesday. Turnout was very strong for a primary election, with nearly 52% of registered Republicans casting...