The coming storm in the PA Democratic Senate primary

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Quoting Michael Buffer“Let’s get ready to rumble.”

Penn Progress’s super PAC warns potential donors of Conor Lamb’s U.S. Senate runs that it trails Lt. Governor in the lead John Fetterman of 30 points.

A score obtained by POLITICO says that for Lamb to have a path to the Democratic nomination, public opinion of Fetterman must change. The analysis – Lamb is more centrist than Fetterman and when voters finally realize this – and they will – it may be too late.

In the Franklin & Marshall College’s most recent poll, a small sample of respondents were asked, “Do you consider yourself a progressive Democrat, a centrist Democrat, or something else?” Forty percent answered progressive, while 35% chose centrist – a change of 2% positive for the former and negative for the latter since October.

But is it a question of ideology? Not according to Paul Waldman at the Washington Post. He says Lamb is “pretty indistinguishable from a thousand congressional candidates who came before him: a clean, solid resume, exactly the kind of person you picture when you think ‘congressman.’”

Compare that to the 6-foot-8 Fetterman who has tattoos and is known to wear athletic shorts during the winter months. Compare and contrast, indeed!

PAC document highlights test of negative messaging against Fetterman, including that he is a ‘dangerous radical who proudly calls himself a socialist’ and ‘supports far-left policies like a $34 trillion government takeover dollars for health care”.

Could his more progressive positions make him vulnerable to the more centrist Lamb? May be. His long record of concern for people could also attract voters from struggling parts of the Commonwealth. As Waldman says, “Some people like Fetterman because of who he is, and some people don’t.”

According to POLITICO, the slide deck made no mention of testing what is believed to be one of Fetterman’s biggest liabilities: an incident in 2013 when he pulled a gun on an unarmed black man as mayor of Braddock. Fetterman said he believed the man may have been fleeing a shooting and he did not know the man’s race or gender at the time.

“This race is wide open,” said Lamb Campaign Manager Abby Nassif-Murphy in a statement to The daily beast. “The biggest question on the minds of Pennsylvania Democrats is who can win in November,” “When they find out that John Fetterman has real baggage and has never beaten a Republican, they have serious questions.”

“Conor was unable to gain traction with the Democrats, so he decided to run as a Republican and use the Fox News talking points to attack a fellow Democrat,” the racketeer said. word of Fetterman. Joe Calvello at POLITICO. “This is a desperate move by a campaign that has been unable to raise funds on its own and hasn’t broken through with anyone except some political insiders.”

“All the polls make me think Fetterman’s lead is real, but that doesn’t mean it’s firm,” wrote JJ Balabana Democratic strategist from Philadelphia who has worked on the races in the Senate, the Inquirer of Philadelphia. “But it will take money to move it and I’m more skeptical now…that Lamb has the resources to get back up and take Fetterman down.”

State representative Malcolm Kenyattaa third major contender in the race, has impressed many but could be outrageously priced with just $285,000 in cash, compared to $5.3 million for Fetterman and $3 million for Lamb.

Obviously Lamb has found that reminding everyone that he is the moderate candidate only gets him so far. There may not be a simple solution, but it looks like the gloves are coming off in the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Keystone State.

Prepare to rumble, indeed.

March 23, 2022 | Posted in Front Page Articles, Senate, Top Stories | 5 comments

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