Pennsylvania
Related: About this forum'We want to win': Democrats face choice in key Senate race
John Fetterman was sitting, alone, in the corridor outside the hotel ballroom where Pennsylvanias Democratic Party committee members were gathered, looking every bit like someone who didnt belong there. Moments later, Fetterman Pennsylvanias sitting lieutenant governor got trounced by more than 2 to 1 by U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in the endorsement vote in the partys primary race for U.S. Senate.
Not only did Fetterman come from the partys progressive wing, but he is irreverent, blunt and, well, something to see. At 6 feet 8, he is tattooed and goateed, his head is clean shaven, and he is most often seen wearing shorts even in winter and casual work shirts. Fetterman leads in campaign fundraising and is also the only one in the race to have won a statewide campaign, or even run statewide.
But the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol stiffened the resolve among Democratic state committee members to vote for the candidate who is most electable in the November general election in this presidential battleground state, some Democrats say. For many, that means voting for Lamb, viewed as a more moderate, more conventional candidate with a resume that has more crossover appeal.
Those of us in politics who are in the know, we want to win the Senate race, so we want to pick the most electable person statewide, and I think a lot of people agree that that person is Conor Lamb, said Christina Proctor, the Democratic Party chair in Washington County. Lamb, 37, a clean-cut former federal prosecutor and ex-Marine, worked hard for months to win the partys endorsement, coming up just short of the required two-thirds vote threshold after months of courting state committee members. Lamb has backing from the state partys Latino Caucus, the National Organization for Women and the vast majority of building trades unions, plus Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Rich Fitzgerald, the chief executive of Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh.
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/03/we-want-to-win-democrats-face-choice-in-key-senate-race.html
John Fetterman (left) and Conor Lamb (right)
Sneederbunk
(15,102 posts)FakeNoose
(35,666 posts)They are both strong, worthy candidates. Either man would do us proud.
modrepub
(3,612 posts)Having seen a lot of "moderate" democratic politicians attempt to win state-wide office, I'd say there's no guarantee that someone like Lamb would be a sure thing. I don't know how the Rural "T" in this state will respond to another suit and tie Democrat, but I'd imagine it wouldn't be someone they'd run to and bear hug.
Fetterman, seems more of a regular type guy to me regardless of his "progressive" stances. Coming from a rust-belt town with a working person mentality (and a wife who works also) I see someone who is far more relatable to most of the folks in the forgotten parts of PA. I think just his appearance and how he communicates will do a lot to soften the rout Dems will inevitably suffer in the more rural parts of Pennsylvaina.
What will be really telling is how folks in the SE parts of the Commonwealth and the Lehigh Valley vote in the primary. There's also a chance that these 2 spit the Democratic vote in the west leaving Kenyatta with a plurality carrying the Phila Democratic vote.
A Democratic win is possible in November, but I suspect this will be close. I cringe knowing that PA is notorious for low primary turnout; about a third of registered voters can't vote in our closed primary. That always throws a monkey wrench into the general election. But on the other hand, low turnout on the Republican side is apt to have them pick a real outlier fringe type person.
msongs
(70,170 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Plus Allegheny county which is Pittsburgh.
Looks like lamb has eastern and western Pennsylvania behind him.