<http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/9373743.htm>
House speaker says Democratic opponent has Communist Party ties
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - The state House Speaker alleged that his Democratic opponent has Communist Party ties because a party chapter's Web site contains a link to his campaign literature.
John Perzel, a Republican seeking a 14th term in his Northeast Philadelphia district, issued a news release Tuesday urging Tim Kearney to "dissociate himself from that extremist group."
The home page of the Communist Party of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware includes a link with Kearney's last name misspelled, "Kearmey 2004." That link leads to a letter from Kearney recruiting campaign volunteers and advertising four fund-raising parties that were held in December.
"I find it very distressing that a candidate for public office would align himself with an ideology that not only espouses hatred for America and our capitalistic system but has sanctioned some of history's most horrific crimes against humanity," Perzel said.
Kearney said he never has been a Communist Party member, and he did not know about the Web site link until a reporter asked him about it. He said, however, that he had "no problem" with the link.
"Some of the most active and progressive citizens of Northeast Philadelphia, Germantown, Mount Airy, Center City and West Philadelphia" are Communist Party members, he said.
Perzel also called on Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell to "denounce" Kearney for his alleged party ties.
"I'm stunned. I thought the Communist Party was totally defunct," said Rendell, who added that he hoped Kearney would try to remove the letter from the Web site.
-- Matthew Snyder Philadelphia, PA