Paterno On Run For Lt. Governor: 'I'm Here For The Issues That I Care About'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Chris Stigall spoke with Jay Paterno on Thursday on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about his run for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.
Click link below to listen to the podcast...
Jay Paterno
Paterno, the son of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, refused to engage any questions about the Jerry Sandusky scandal that has engulfed the school for over two years and led to his father's removal from the program.
He also denied any accusations that he is trading on his name recognition as an avenue to enter the realm of politics.
"I'm here because of what we stand for. I'm here for the issues that I care about, and whether my name is Paterno or something else wouldn't affect my decision to run one way or the other. Obviously, I'm aware that it's there, and I'm aware that some people will pay attention to it, but ultimately, at the end of the day, they're going hear what I have to say and they're going to make their decision based on what I stand for," he emphasized.
Paterno also voiced his agreement with Attorney General Kathleen Kane's decision not to enforce Pennsylvania's ban on same sex marriage.
"I think we're at a point now where marriage equality is going to be reality. The momentum is that way ... [Changing the law] will happen over time. The last polling that came out showed that the vast majority of Pennsylvanians are in favor of marriage equality," he said.
On the issue of privatizing Pennsylvania's liquor sales, Paterno said he favors remaining with the current state store system.
"When people go in there, they are very serious about how they card, and very serious about not letting people who are under 21 get access to it. Right now, until somebody comes up with something that's noticeably better, the state gets a lot of revenue from liquor stores, [and] unless someone can come in and say, 'Here's a model where we can get even more revenue,' and 'Here's a model where we can ensure that we have control of distribution of liquor around the state and that we keep it out of the hands of people under 21, and we don't saturate certain markets versus other markets,' that's something you have to look at, but nobody's really come up with that yet," he explained.
On tapping Pennsylvania's energy resources, Paterno said he feels there is a right way to go about getting to them.
"I'm an environ-realist. What I mean by that is, there is energy in the state and it's going to come out of the ground. There are companies that have invested billions of dollars. But that said, we have to do it in a way that protects the water we drink, the air we breathe and the land we grow our food on. That's got to be priority number one," he said.
Paterno is set to face off against five other challengers in the Democratic Primary on May 20th, 2014.
