Talk:William Scranton III

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I removed this bit

I removed this bit from the article after an email to me from a reporter claimed that Scranton says that it is false. Can we find a source for it?

"Scranton supported John Hagelin, the Natural Law Party candidate and fellow transcendental meditation practitioner, in the 1992 and 2000 presidential elections, but supported President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential campaign."

Thanks.--Jimbo Wales 15:09, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Who did he "endorse" and "support"?

It seems we have a political mystery on our hands. Here is the scope so far.

• Representatives of the Scranton campaign contacted the Republican leaning GrassrootsPA.com blog insisting that Scranton had never endorsed Hagelin, but had supported Bush. They even provided a photograph of Scranton at a Bush campaign rally.[1]
• I can only rely on secondhand information since the website is no longer active, but apparently Hagelin's 2000 campaign website included Scranton's name in its list of endorsements. [2]
• In a 2001 article in the Harrisburg Patriot newspaper, Scranton denied that he had endorsed Hagelin and instead claimed that he had endorsed George W. Bush. He did however admit to giving active assistance to Hagelin's 2000 campaign. [3]
• The public records appears to indicate that he did not make any direct financial contributions to either candidate during the 2000 election cycle. [4] Scranton is listed as having made a $1,000 contribution to Haglin in August 1992.
• Scranton participated in a February 16, 2000 conference call to members of the US Green Party and Ross Perot’s Reform Party in an effort to garner support for Hagelin's candidacy. Scranton campaign chairman Mike Devaney later claimed that Scranton only took part in Hagelin’s conference call to "show support for his former aide Nat Goldhaber, who was Hagelin’s runningmate.” However Goldhaber was not announced as Hagelin’s runningmate until the summer of 2000, nearly six months after the call took place. [5]

Like Bill Clinton with the word "is", I suppose we have to define what the words "endorse" and "support" mean to the Scranton campaign.

--Great Scott 18:30, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I love these drawn-out Wikipedia discussions.

Here's some more grist for the mill:

• He still practices TM and did some promotional stuff for last year's Natural Law Party presidential candidate John Hagelin.
  • "Not your traditional grand ol' pol" JOHN BAER. Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia, Pa.: May 22, 2001. pg. 6
• He still practices transcendental meditation, and made a promotional pitch last year for presidential candidate John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party, but Scranton said his connection to TM would not have been a factor in a campaign.
  • "Ex-Lt. Gov. Scranton not up for governor The favorite of GOP moderates decided not to run. This could ease the path for conservative Mike Fisher. Scranton not in race for governor" Thomas Fitzgerald. Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa.: Jun 5, 2001. pg. A.1

That's still kind of vague, but if we could add a summary so long as we word it carefully. Maybe something like, "Scranton promoted Hagelin's candidacy in 2000."   Will Beback  talk  10:30, 19 December 2009 (UTC)