Winners and losers for the week ending February 17

Ordinarily, I would use this space to roll around in whatever colors of the fubar political spectrum happen to be shining brightest when putting fingers to keyboard. Today, though, there is nothing I would rather you do to fully appreciate the Jabberwocky intensity of the Trump administration’s antipathy toward the Fourth Estate than click on this link. It will take you to the administration’s “Mainstream Media Accountability Survey.” If this exercise doesn’t bring to mind the Stasi-ruled, informant-infested state of East Germany, then, please, feel free to refresh your memory on that regime.

Or you could skip all of the above and check out this handy little 140-character synopsis of Trump’s reasoned, not-at-all demagogic view of the media he provided just today.

Anyway, on to present-day Winners & Losers …

WINNERS

Larry Krasner: When Speaker of the California Assembly Jesse Unruh coined the phrase, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics,” in the 1970s, he could have been talking about the outsized influence of politically active billionaires like George Soros. This week, it was reported that Safety and Justice, a PAC funded by Soros to influence sheriff and district attorney races around the country, has thrown its support behind Krasner, who is gunning for the Democratic DA bid in May. If true, the funding will no doubt do his body good.

Josh Shapiro: the AG has definitely hit the ground running in Harrisburg, as evidenced by a passel of high-profile actions this week, including two major drug busts and taking on funeral homes and wire fraud.

Joe Cosgrove: As any candidate for office can tell you, the bigger the endorsement, the bigger the impact. So when Cosgrove, who is running for Commonwealth Court, was able to secure the backing of one of the most popular presidents in history in a commercial, it was big news for the potential judge. Never mind that Josiah “Jed” Bartlet is a fictional character from “The West Wing” – when Martin Sheen speaks, people listen.

LOSERS

Cheri Honkala: The longtime Philly activist, who is running under the Green Party banner in the special election to replace convicted former PA House Rep. Leslie Acosta in the 197^th District, had her name struck from the ballot by a judge this week after missing the deadline to file nomination paperwork. Undaunted, she subsequently announced plans to run as a write-in candidate. If she wins, her write-in victory will probably be the only thing she has in common with PA Sen. Scott Wagner.

Tariq El-Shabazz: In a suddenly wide-open race to determine the next district attorney of Philadelphia, Shabazz, who resigned earlier this week as embattled DA Seth Williams’ top deputy, would appear to have as much of a shot as any other candidate should he decide to enter the fray. Yet a widely expected Friday announcement as to his intentions never materialized, perhaps due in part to his lack of a satisfactory answer to a report that he has some $190,000 in tax liens.

John Schnaedter: The executive director of the Allegheny County Republican Committee was arrested in Pittsburgh for pulling his girlfriend out of a car and punching her repeatedly. While his girlfriend was uncooperative with Pittsburgh police called to the scene, the arrest led Republican Committee of Allegheny County Chairman D. Raja to suspend Schnaedter pending the outcome of a court hearing.