Shapp has some major obstacles to overcome, the least of which is being dead. Shapp also must get around the Pennsylvania Constitution which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as Governor. Shapp was Pennsylvania's first two term Governor, being elected in both 1970 and 1976, after the change on term limits came about after the 1968 Constitutional Convention.
"I believe Shapp has a lot going for him," said Marshall and Franklin University Political Science Merry Tadonna. "First of all, even a dead Shapp has more personality than a live Senator Bob Casey. Secondly, he has eight years of executive experience. And, finally, since he currently resides underground, he has a unique perspective on Marcellus Shale."
"I don't believe Article IV, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution (prohibiting persons from serving more than two terms) applies to me due to my lack of a pulse," Shapp said while addressing one of the hurdles he faces in being elected to a third term.
"The fact that Governor Shapp died in 1994 may not be as big of an obstacle as it seems," said national political pundit Cames Jarville. "We've have dead people in Pennsylvania voting for years. Following in that tradition, I don't see any reason why we can't have deceased people being elected to office."
Buzz has run the numbers and conducted an automated telephone poll last night. Among likely voters, Shapp leads Corbett 38 to 34 percent, with a 32 percent margin of error.
"Shapp's polling numbers are very encouraging, not only among the living," said Buzz, "but he also out polls the late Governor Gifford Pinchot, the late Governor Samuel Pennypacker, and the late Governor Thomas Mifflin by significant margins."
Only former Governor Tom Ridge has more favorable polling numbers than Shapp. Ridge has not announced whether he will consider a third term, but said the Shapp run is "unusual."
Dead people have been elected to office in Pennsylvania before, but most of them were alive when their names were placed on the ballot. All of these elections involved the recently dead.
"I was a ground breaker in Pennsylvania, being the first two term Governor," Shapp said when asked about only recently dead people winning election. "The fact that I've been dead for almost 20 years, would be truly ground breaking (no pun intended.)"
Democrats throughout the Commonwealth have been enthusiastic about a Shapp run. "Shapp started this eight year Democrat, eight year Republican trend (referring to the fact that Pennsylvania has alternated between eight years of a Democratic governor with eight years of a Republican governor, said a well known Pennsylvania Democrat. "Who better than Shapp to end that streak."
Calls to Governor Corbett's office for a response a possible Corbett-Shapp match up in 2014, were not returned at the time of posting.
