The campaign of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett sent an email to supporters Thursday criticizing Democratic opponent Tom Wolf for being lovestruck by first lady Michelle Obama.
Corbett campaign manager Mike Barley sent supporters a copy of a Wolf email “showing his giddiness over having Barack Obama’s wife campaign for him” Wednesday in Philadelphia. Mr. Wolf’s attached email has a subject line of “Michelle Obama” with four hearts next to her name.
Mr. Barley asked supporters in the fundraising email, “Why would Tom Wolf enlist the help of a surrogate that connects him to an overwhelmingly unpopular President who has a 31 percent approval rating in Pennsylvania? The answer is simple: Over the past 10 days or so, Tom Wolf’s poll numbers have begun imploding, and he is quickly becoming desperate.”
Although Mr. Wolf has been leading in polls by nearly 20 percentage points, Mrs. Obama said at a rally in Philadelphia that the election will be “tight.”
“If we don’t elect leaders like Tom Wolf who will put our families first instead of just fighting for special interests, then we know exactly what will happen,” she said. “We’ll see more folks interfering in women’s private decisions about our health care. We’ll see more opposition to immigration reform, to raising the minimum wage for hardworking folks.”
The Corbett campaign suggested the first lady’s appearance would backfire on the Democrat.
“When she was in town, Michelle Obama said Barack Obama needs Tom Wolf help pushing the President’s agenda in Pennsylvania. Yikes,” Mr. Barley said.
He said a new poll coming out “very, very soon” will show Mr. Corbett trailing Mr. Wolf by less than 7 points.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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