Ron Klink

Ronald Klink (born September 23, 1951) is a Democratic politician and former Representative from Pennsylvania, USA.

Klink was born in Canton, Ohio, in 1951, and graduated from Meyersdale High School in Pennsylvania in 1969. After working as a television news weatherman (and later,reporter) from 1978 to 1993, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992 and served four terms there. In 2000, he left his House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Senate against incumbent Rick Santorum.

Many credit Klink's pro-life and anti gun control views with helping him to lose the race. According to this theory, Klink's conservative social views alienated the liberal donors from Philadelphia that any Democrat running state wide must rely on. He was already at a considerable disadvantage in fundraising since he wasn't well known in the eastern portion of the state prior to the race. Others feel that Klink lost because he was not a very charismatic candidate. Nonetheless, Klink only lost by five points.

In 2004, Klink took fire from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party for endorsing Pennsylvania's Republican Senator Arlen Specter over his Democratic opponent, Congressman Joe Hoeffel.

He had been recently been mentioned as a possible candidate for his old congressional seat against the person who succeeded him, Republican Melissa Hart. However, in December 2005, Klink announced he would not run.

According to Rep. Curt Weldon in his book Countdown to Terror, in 2003, Klink offered Weldon the identity of an intelligence source with information on Iraqi uranium purchases. The agent was thought to be Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. The intelligence reportedly later proved to be fabricated.

References

• Weldon, Curt (2005). Countdown to Terror: The Top-secret Information That Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America—and How the CIA Has Ignored It. Washington, D.C.: Regnery. ISBN 0895260050.
• The Front, The American Prospect, April 4, 2005