PA Political Astrology: DemFest 2010 and Social Media

Photo courtesy of micahmj11

[tweetmeme]When I heard the snowmageddon was coming, I was prepared for a comfortable, snowed-in Saturday. What I wasn’t prepared for was the phenomenon of #DemFest on twitter this morning and afternoon. I’m not a political insider in the traditional sense, so I wasn’t invited to attend the actual Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee endorsement gathering, known as DemFest. I don’t really rub shoulders with powerful people either but I read and watch a lot of news like MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN, Daily Show, Colbert Report and pay attention to local political blogs like PoliticsPA, Pa2010, Capitol Ideas, and subscribe to CapitolWire‘s Under the Dome email newsletter. What I also do is follow people that are interested in politics on twitter.

Lucky for me, I was able to pick up on the gossip of DemFest 2010 as it was happening thanks to the #demfest twitter hashtag and the wonderful political twitterati and bloggerati that kept us all up to date. Some, like @micahmj11, even had live video and pictures of the event that they shared with their tweet updates. It’s funny that while I was immersed in the PA Drama, I also clicked on a link tweeted by @spedwybabs (also partner in Progressive PST) on How Scott Brown friended, tweeted, and LOLed his way into the people’s Senate seat. Back in January, I tweeted about how Scott Brown had 3x more twitter followers than Martha Coakley. I even wrote a post comparing their astrological charts to see who’s chart looked more favorable for the special election (Brown’s did). And even though I was ultimately disappointed in the unsurprising endorsements by the PA Dems of Arlen Specter for PA Senate and the disappointing drop of Joe Hoeffel from the 1st round of ballot voting, I found out that I wasn’t alone and that I am still connected for change.

I exchanged tweets with 4 wonderful twitter “entities” that are also in my voting area: @Susan1030, @politicslovr, and of course @spedwybabs / progressivepst. This is wonderful for me because I recently relocated to Lancaster County (see also Lancaster Democrats), after having lived in Montgomery County my whole life (see also Montco Democrats), and haven’t had the chance to meet a lot of local Democrats because I commute to Philly for work everyday and still spend the majority of my time there. From these twitter connections, I’m looking forward to having a tweet-up and talking with and ultimately organizing a nice grassroots social media group for 2010 and beyond. Oh, what fun!

Stay tuned as I begin to analyze the astrology charts of our candidates for the upcoming Senatorial and Gubernatorial races. For the Democrats, we’ve got Aquarius Arlen Specter and Capricorn Joe Sestak against Republican Scorpio Pat Toomey for PA Senate, as well as Democrats Virgo Joe Hoeffel, Capricorn Jack Wagner, Aquarius Dan Onorato, and Pisces Anthony Williams, against Republican Leos Tom Corbett and Sam Rohrer. You can read my previous posts on Jim Gerlach, Tom Corbett, and Ed Rendell to catch up on what I’ve seen so far. Please feel free to tweet me, too: @signon2nine.

PA Political Astrology: Governor Ed Rendell (D-Capricorn) Touches Haiti Ground and Catches Some Hot Air from CNN’s Anderson Cooper (Gemini)

[tweetmeme]Haiti has been on my mind since I saw a friend’s troubling facebook status update last week when the earthquake hit. Yesterday, when I opened my gmail and read the email blurb from CapitolWire about Governor Rendell (Capricorn) rescuing 53 orphans from Haiti, I thought, “Whoa, that was the last thing I expected to read in my Under the Dome email!” Of course, the story doesn’t end there. As I was perusing the headlines on Politicspa, I saw that Anderson Cooper (Gemini), the “Silver Fox” of CNN, had something to say about Ed Rendell’s trip. In essence, Cooper wants to know why the Governor could gain access to enter Haiti while many rescue workers still cannot. It’s a valid question, no doubt. But is Anderson just a little jealous because he couldn’t be the one to throw some power around and be the on-the-ground savior of the day? The bottom line is, 53 Haitian children are away from the dangers that still exist in Haiti—not just the imminent dangers of aftershocks, dehydration, and starvation—but the dangers of kidnapping and trafficking.

So what would motivate the Governor to attempt such a daring act? Apparently, he is writing an autobiography, according to a PennLive article. But what else could have inspired him to leave the comforts of the Governor’s mansion and the political parties in Harrisburg, to fly to Haiti, still in a state of chaos and tragedy, just to help out a few orphans? Let’s check out the chart. (See below. 6am default time used- birth time unknown.)

Bang! Eddie has a natal Mars/Uranus conjunction while transiting Uranus is not only squaring his progressed Mars but also conjunct his progressed Sun. The Governor has spontaneous action written all over his chart. He doesn’t play around and he didn’t during this 22 hour rescue mission. Also, looking at his estimated natal Moon position, ranging from 13-26 degrees Taurus, he’s also got the compassion of a transiting Neptune square natal moon and progressed Moon conjunct transiting Saturn and natal Neptune. There’s emotion mixed with duty and compassion, right there. And it’s not just the moon under Neptune’s spell. His progressed Venus is conjunct transiting Chiron and Neptune, plus his natal Jupiter is receiving an opposition from those planets as well. I know I’ve trashed Neptune on numerous occassions but here is an example of Neptune’s good side: compassion and service. Judging from his comments on seeing the children, his natural sense of justice and service for good was moved to initiate immediate, charitable action:

“I don’t care about [criticism from Cooper]. If you had seen the faces of these kids … it would have absolutely melted your hearts,” Rendell said.

I mentioned Chiron earlier, as it is transiting close to his progressed Venus, but his natal Chiron is opposite his progressed Mercury as well. Chiron is most often referred to when speaking about healing and sacrifice. Perhaps, as our beloved and notorious Governor is winding down his final year in office, he found a way to redeem himself amidst constant attacks on his character and affiliations. Yea, so he used his political weight and contacts in the Secretary of State’s office to get entry into Haiti when most people are trying to get the hell out. He also gave 53 orphans a new chance at life. I’ve got no problem with that. Do you?

PA Political Astrology: Pisces Jim Gerlach (R) drops out of 2010 Gubernatorial Race

While I was fluttering about on twitter, I came across a tweet by Politicspa about Jim Gerlach’s withdrawal from the PA Governor’s race. My immediate reaction was, “Well, that sounds very Mercury Retrograde-esque,” and then I decided to check the planets. I found a birth date of February 25, 1955 on Wikipedia, and plugged it into Astro.com. I’ve used a default birth time of 6am, though exact time is unknown- I will not be taking house positions or rulerships into account. (See chart graphic below.)

The first thing I noticed was good ‘ol Uranus- the King of Unexpected. Gerlach has a natal Venus/Uranus opposition, though Jupiter is also conjunct Uranus which adds an element of expansion or luck (good or bad) into the equation. This opposition is currently being hit by a conjunction of the transiting North and South Nodes. In addition, his progressed Venus is sitting in a conjunction with transiting Uranus. To me, this signals an unexpected change in a financial situation. God knows, finances are key to succeeding in politics. It could also indicate issues with a spouse but I don’t know anything about his personal life. We’ll see if the news sheds any light on this issue.

I also noticed that transiting Pluto is conjunct Gerlach’s natal North Node, which is also being squared by transiting Saturn. Pluto always brings a heavy load with it- even when it’s good. He could be going through a major change to his lifestyle or career path, though I’d need further details on house positions to see that. There is talk that he will instead, run for re-election in the 6th Congressional District. (See articles on Politico, Politicspa, and Capitol Ideas.) In any case, I do wish him the best in whatever he decides- he is a good looking guy, even for a Republican. 🙂 I’m no longer hostile towards him since he defeated Lois Murphy…twice. She has just been elected as the first Democratic Judge in Montgomery County. You can also follow him on twitter: @JimGerlach.