Democrat Conor Lamb faced GOP state Rep. Rick Saccone in a special election on Tuesday in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, which covers much of southwestern Pennsylvania, including some Pittsburgh suburbs. Read full coverage of the race here.
At 11:24 p.m. EDT, the Associated Press decided the race was too close to call. As of 11:30 p.m., absentee votes were still outstanding in Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Didn't Trump just go out to PA and campaign for this guy?
Oh yeah he did... Walked around stage mocking people, being foul mouthed, and telling everybody how great he is. Does the right even realize these things or do they see a great man on stage?
Lamb with less than a 600 point lead just came out and declared victory before election officials turned in final counts to officially call it! Nice victory speech too! lol
Even if it goes bad for him, I like that he said screw it I'm doing it!
Check out hillary saying the reason she lost so much of the white women's vote was because white conservative women do what their husband says, or what their son says, etc.
And before any idiot says 'whataboutism', or 'hillary isn't president', please know, she's still sticking her foot in her mouth. And falling.
See, hillary isn't jack, yet she keeps attempting to act like what she has to say is relevant. Consequently, I will speak about her.
Check out hillary saying the reason she lost so much of the white women's vote was because white conservative women do what their husband says, or what their son says, etc.
And before any idiot says 'whataboutism', or 'hillary isn't president', please know, she's still sticking her foot in her mouth. And falling.
See, hillary isn't jack, yet she keeps attempting to act like what she has to say is relevant. Consequently, I will speak about her.
Ummm, ok.
Not exactly sure what you are getting at there Arch, but I guess it somehow makes sense to you. So let me ask you how you feel about yet another liberal win in these special elections?
Check out hillary saying the reason she lost so much of the white women's vote was because white conservative women do what their husband says, or what their son says, etc.
And before any idiot says 'whataboutism', or 'hillary isn't president', please know, she's still sticking her foot in her mouth. And falling.
See, hillary isn't jack, yet she keeps attempting to act like what she has to say is relevant. Consequently, I will speak about her.
I agree. She was an awful candidate and she has been awful since. She refuses to accept that she owns her defeat because of what she did and didn't do.
But she isn't president and she isn't relevant to what's happening in PA.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
Check out hillary saying the reason she lost so much of the white women's vote was because white conservative women do what their husband says, or what their son says, etc.
And before any idiot says 'whataboutism', or 'hillary isn't president', please know, she's still sticking her foot in her mouth. And falling.
See, hillary isn't jack, yet she keeps attempting to act like what she has to say is relevant. Consequently, I will speak about her.
I agree. She was an awful candidate and she has been awful since. She refuses to accept that she owns her defeat because of what she did and didn't do.
But she isn't president and she isn't relevant to what's happening in PA.
No, she's completely irrelevant to everything going on, especially the BLUE WAVE that's coming. But they need to cling to their boogeymen or women as much as they do to their other nonsense.
Didn't Trump just go out to PA and campaign for this guy?
Oh yeah he did... Walked around stage mocking people, being foul mouthed, and telling everybody how great he is. Does the right even realize these things or do they see a great man on stage?
Lamb had a 5 point lead in the polls going into election day according to Mammouth poll. I work in the area, and this is where I grew up. over the last 10 years or so, it has become very liberal. The ones from Pittsburgh are moving from the city out the suburbs due to the insane taxes Mayor Paduto is putting out.
So your comments are not exactly correct. I would say that he had a 5 point lead, and then Trump came out and because of that its this close.
There are also over 1000 absentee votes from Washington County, which very rep. Its a long shot I agree, but not over.
Didn't Trump just go out to PA and campaign for this guy?
Oh yeah he did... Walked around stage mocking people, being foul mouthed, and telling everybody how great he is. Does the right even realize these things or do they see a great man on stage?
Lamb had a 5 point lead in the polls going into election day according to Mammouth poll. I work in the area, and this is where I grew up. over the last 10 years or so, it has become very liberal. The ones from Pittsburgh are moving from the city out the suburbs due to the insane taxes Mayor Paduto is putting out.
So your comments are not exactly correct. I would say that he had a 5 point lead, and then Trump came out and because of that its this close.
There are also over 1000 absentee votes from Washington County, which very rep. Its a long shot I agree, but not over.
In an area that Trump won Bigly... Dem win or this close signals very bad things for the GOP. Ask anyone with even a toe in reality.
Didn't Trump just go out to PA and campaign for this guy?
Oh yeah he did... Walked around stage mocking people, being foul mouthed, and telling everybody how great he is. Does the right even realize these things or do they see a great man on stage?
FYi, lamb is also not a liberal. He is very centrist, which was smart on the dems to run him in this area. He held events with the coal mine union leaders, blared irish music at his rallies, and was supported by the union workers - which is a lot in the areas. A lot of the unions in this area did not endorse Clinton - they endorsed lamb.
He is a a 33 year old religious marine - he ran a good campaign compared to saccone, who only ran his first ad last week. I would go out on a limb and say saccone ran his campaign similar to Clinton. he ignored voters banking on getting the trump vote, which they stayed home. In Westmoreland County, at one point about 10pm, more people had voted for trump that voted in this entire election.
I think what you have hear is a moderate centrist that won over the unions, won some military votes because he was a former marine, ran a good campaign (he actually went out to these people opposed to Clinton). Kudos to him for all of that. It really was a great campaign. I don't see how you can call this a "liberal" blue wave however. But whatever floats your boat.
Pro Life Pro Gun Pro Coal Pro Tariffs Anti Nancy Pelosi And willing to work with Republicans to get good things done.
Democrats like this are good for the Country. Liberal/Progressive Democrats are destructive to our Nation.
So he's like the Yang to Trump's Ying? Coz we all knowTrump ain't no Republican.
Just ask the Establishment Republicans if Trump is a true Republican. Ask the Conservatives if Trump is a Conservative.
No, Trump is not a true Republican or a True Conservative but all he has had to work with is Republicans.
Trump is for all those things American's hold dear like law and order, National Defense, Immigration reform, tax reform, etc... and that is why he is President.
Trump is for all those things American's hold dear like law and order, National Defense, Immigration reform, tax reform, etc... and that is why he is President.
You ARE funny.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
He’s for the ACA Against the tax cuts Supports stronger background checks Supports the ruling allowing women to get abortions.
So he only thing he was inline with the president on for key issues were the tariffs. Which contrary to popular conservative belief, a lot of Dems didn’t even say much about it when trump decided to put tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Yet we got two trump supporters already trying to spin their way into some sort of moral victory.
The reality is that if Lamb did indeed win the election, this is yet another massive L for trump and the GOP. Trump didn’t go there for a moral victory. He gop didn’t raise 10 mill for a moral victory. The people clearly didn’t go out there and vote for a moral victory.
All those things happened because they wanted a win. This isn’t a win for your ideology. This is a message being sent that now the GOP are the ones putting terrible candidates in left and right.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Your right 40. Trump fiscally is as liberal as they come.
What people fail to realize, is you can be considered a R or D for that matter, and still hold some different views on different subjects. The left thinking folks like to paint everyone with a broad stroke, or stereotype them, which ironic since they run on being against that. . . .
Look I realize a 20 point swing inside 18 months is a bitter pill to swallow.
I know that it's as damning an indictment on Trump as there could be.
I know the Right needs to soften the blow and talk about the Democrat on the ticket not really being a democrat, heck some of them might even believe what comes out of their mouth.
But bottom line - it's a win for the Democrats in an election area that was bright red, not even a hint of purple. Heck I read Dems didn't even put a candidate forward for the last 2 elections .... spin it any way you want. People have seen Trump and said no thanks ... in fact I think it's more of a Hell No than a no thanks.
Maybe if he can work some magic with NK. Maybe it'll all change before the next presidential race. Maybe the Dems will be as incompetent and inept as they were when they put Hilary forward? idk. But to me this is a black eye.
Last edited by mgh888; 03/14/1808:50 AM.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
Look I realize a 20 point swing inside 18 months is a bitter pill to swallow.
I know that it's as damning an indictment on Trump as there could be.
I know the Right needs to soften the blow and talk about the Democrat on the ticket not really being a democrat, heck some of them might even believe what comes out of their mouth.
But bottom line - it's a win for the Democrats in an election area that was bright red, not even a hint of purple. Heck I read Dems didn't even put a candidate forward for the last 2 elections .... spin it any way you want. People have seen Trump and said no thanks ... in fact I think it's more of a Hell No than a no thanks.
Maybe if he can work some magic with NK. Maybe it'll all change before the next presidential race. Maybe the Dems will be as incompetent and inept as they were when they put Hilary forward? idk. But to me this is a black eye.
The one spinning is you. I grew up in Allegheny county, in Imperial - 15 min away from Washington county. I work in the area still. I know the area, I know the makeup of the area. I gave you the FACTS unbiased. If lamb wins (which it looks like he will), it was a great campaign. But fact is, he is as much a democrat as trump is a fiscal conservative.
You realize the coal guys in the area backed lamb, right?
He is pro life right?
He is for the 2nd amendment right?
You guys have divided the country so much, that you think its D vs R no matter what. And on a ticket I guess it is, but the facts are, he is not a LIBERAL, he is a centrist democrat. Connor Lamb has more in common with Trump than he does Nancy Pelosi. FACT.
Trump is for all those things American's hold dear like law and order, National Defense, Immigration reform, tax reform, etc... and that is why he is President.
So what your saying is, a BRIGHT RED area likes a mixture of Red and Blue ideals?
I can get behind that thinking. It's better that we have that kind of thinking than the kind that says, ONE side has all the answers and the other side knows nothing. That's an idiotic way to view things.. without question.
What this election is really saying is that the "CENTER" is winning for a change.
Last edited by Damanshot; 03/14/1809:05 AM.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
Pro Life Pro Gun Pro Coal Pro Tariffs Anti Nancy Pelosi And willing to work with Republicans to get good things done.
Democrats like this are good for the Country. Liberal/Progressive Democrats are destructive to our Nation.
So he's like the Yang to Trump's Ying? Coz we all knowTrump ain't no Republican.
Just ask the Establishment Republicans if Trump is a true Republican. Ask the Conservatives if Trump is a Conservative.
No, Trump is not a true Republican or a True Conservative but all he has had to work with is Republicans.
Trump is for all those things American's hold dear like law and order, National Defense, Immigration reform, tax reform, etc... and that is why he is President.
In the 2012 Presidential election, the Voters in this district voted +17% for the Republican. In 2016, that went up to +22% for Trump.
Now, after about 14 months of this presidency, he has so alienated people (mostly because of his mouth and twitter fingers), that the Dem is about to win the district.
I don't want to hear anything about Trump "making up 5% in the polls" for Saccone from the same people who mocked the polls predicting Hillary would win.
The bottom line is that Trump has been the reason for a -22% fall in people voting for the R. Whether you think he's a "true Republican" or not, he's the face and (unfortunate) voice of the party. This is the #TrumpEffect
The canary in the coalmine is looking ill.
------------------------------ *In Baker we trust* -------------------------------
"Our job in Congress is to attack the problems, not each other."
"The results of this election are not, not a referendum on President Trump. President Trump is still very popular in this District and people can vote for him as President and also vote for me as a Conservative Democrat."
Chuck and Nancy are rolling in their stupidity over this I bet.
So what your saying is, a BRIGHT RED area likes a mixture of Red and Blue ideals?
I can get behind that thinking. It's better that we have that kind of thinking than the kind that says, ONE side has all the answers and the other side knows nothing. That's an idiotic way to view things.. without question.
What this election is really saying is that the "CENTER" is winning for a change.
I am. The rust belt always has mixtures as they are typically union workers, which tend to fall in the dem base. I absolutely think this election is saying that. Lamb was a centrist, who ran a POSITIVE and thorough campaign. Saccone didn't really campaign. Campaign wise, he ran his like Hilary's and lamb ran his like trump. Lamb was out there making stops, making calls, etc. Saccone sat and banked that it was a "red" district.
I can certainly tell you that 20 years ago it was. But more and more democrats are leaving the city and moving out this way. The area is being developed with mini malls, shopping malls, etc. FedEx Ground is in this district - the owner of FedEx is a stauch Rep., however they have made a HUGE effort to hire millennial lately, which are coming form the city. They employ about 5K jobs or more in the district, and over the last 5 years they have targeted and hired about 1500-2K millennial. The shift to blue in this district has been happening for a long time, not just since trump. This district is not a outlier.
NOW, that doesn't mean that the R party should not still be looking at what happened, but I don't think its the "blue wave" the left is touting.
Demographics change, red goes blue, blue goes red. It happens over time and has happened over time throughout our entire countries history.
CONOR LAMB’S VICTORY IN TRUMP COUNTRY SHOULD TERRIFY THE G.O.P.
And reveals how the Democratic Party can reclaim red America.
BY T.A. FRANK MARCH 13, 2018 12:02 PM
o: last night we found out, in a way, whether Donald Trump is doomed. That, at least, is the best spin I could use for sexing up Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district. Like all of the elections between now and the midterms, the race is a little bit important as a gauge of the public’s mood. Donald Trump won the 18th district by 20 percentage points in 2016, so the defeat of Republican Rick Saccone by Democrat Conor Lamb, who is the apparent winner by a razor-thin margin, is a bad sign for the G.O.P.
A quick reminder of who is who: Lamb is a former Marine and federal prosecutor who, at age 33, was seeking elective office for the first time. Republican State Rep. Rick Saccone, 60, is an Air Force veteran and businessman. Lamb ran to the center on abortion and guns, vowing to be independent from Nancy Pelosi (even stating he would prefer she be replaced as Speaker in a Democratic House), and Saccone deviated from the line of Paul Ryan, supporting the tariffs on steel that Trump recently imposed. The district is heavily white and working-class.
The final absentee ballots are still coming in, but let’s jump ahead to lessons and recriminations. After all, even if Lamb loses, he’ll have gotten very close to winning. So we can assume that Republicans will be distributed into three angry factions, while Democrats will be distributed into two angry factions. Each will have its own spin on the results. Here’s what they’ll be saying:
Among Republicans: 1. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he embraced Trumpism.
It’s no secret that many establishment Republicans (and even non-establishment Republicans) hate and fear Donald Trump. They feel his election was a historical fluke that voters are already looking to undo. So the explanation that Trump caused this setback seems to make sense. Lesson among faction one: elected Republicans should stick to traditional party priorities and give Trump and Trumpism a wide berth. Otherwise, they’ll lose as badly as Rick Saccone did.
2. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he didn’t embrace Trumpism.
Saccone told people that he “was Trump before Trump was Trump,” but it’s a debatable claim. In policy, Saccone is associated much more with Tea Party preferences, friendly to fiscal austerity and antagonistic toward unions, and he’s also determined to bring more church into the business of state, introducing a bill to require the posting of “In God We Trust” at every school. Trump doesn’t care about reining in spending; he imposed tariffs on steel, in part, to make unions happy; and religion played no central role in his campaigning. Saccone hasn’t campaigned heavily on the issue of immigration; Trump did. Therefore, according to the pro-Trump faction, Saccone’s problem was that voters saw a conventional Republican when what they wanted was Trumpiness.
3. Republicans and Trump are fine. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he was a uniquely bad candidate.
This is a handy explanation that lets everyone walk away as friends, provided you aren’t in faction one or two, or at least not openly. Unsurprisingly, the G.O.P. establishment and the White House have tried to emphasize common ground. Which means tax cuts. These were the focus of Vice President Mike Pence when he went up to campaign for Saccone, barely mentioning stress points like trade or immigration. See? We agree! And then the lesson becomes to change nothing, because it was the fault of Saccone, who is a uniquely bad politician—and a lousy fund-raiser to boot. Never mind that Saccone is much more thoughtful and much less weird than Alabama’s Roy Moore. (He speaks Korean and has a Ph.D. in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.) Losing a district that was lopsided in favor of Trump was all Saccone’s fault.
Among Democrats: 1. Lamb shows us how to win in 2020.
Conor Lamb is supportive of steel tariffs, skeptical of gun regulation, and rhetorically pro-life, and he told voters, “I’m not running against President Trump.” As a pro-gun Marine, he also checks a number of patriotic and conservative boxes at once. This helped him win back the votes of Democrats who had defected over to Trump. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb shows that the party must proceed toward the middle on some social issues to win back the white working class.
2. Lamb does not show us how to win in 2020.
Lamb tailored his message to the sentiments of his district, which is generally sympathetic to Trumpism, if not to Trump the man, especially when it comes to guns and trade. But millions of Americans are coming into voting age, and the country is changing. Winning over tomorrow’s voters is more important than salvaging yesterday’s voters, and tomorrow’s voters are as interested in non-economic social issues as economic ones. They want to be at the forefront of social justice. Plus, we want to capitalize on the anti-Trump fire out there, not douse it. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb’s social moderation is fine locally, but in no way fine nationally.
Two other factions will stick around: Bernie Sanders fans who take Lamb’s impressive showing as proof that Bernie was right—Lamb went populist on economics but stayed subdued on culture—and Hillary Clinton fans who reject such an interpretation. Clinton managed to revive the issue over the weekend, when she told an interviewer in India that she won the wealthiest places, the “places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward,” while Trump’s campaign had a different sort of supporter: “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs.” That promptly opened up two more factions: those who deplore that Clinton would say this and those who deplore that she would think this. Conor Lamb seems to respect the voters of his district, and his showing was a reminder that the Democratic Party might try being more inclusive, itself.
So what your saying is, a BRIGHT RED area likes a mixture of Red and Blue ideals?
I can get behind that thinking. It's better that we have that kind of thinking than the kind that says, ONE side has all the answers and the other side knows nothing. That's an idiotic way to view things.. without question.
What this election is really saying is that the "CENTER" is winning for a change.
If you want a similar case, look to Joe Manchin. A democrat for years in a state that trump won like 70% of the vote. lol
I was able to find a source (npr) for the first quote. Where is the second one from? I googled the quote verbatim and the only link that came up was this thread....
I have family in that area too, Canonsburg, Waynesburg PA, some in Washington (which the locals keep calling Warshington!)
I think this was less about lamb and more about apathy about POTUS and the GOP in general. My family in that area overwhelming went Trump in the 2016 election because he said he'd bring back coal jobs (they are all coal miners) and they could really use those jobs. We're now well into the Trump administration and... not much. At least a handful of my family members feel one of two ways:
- Trump lied to them to get their vote - Trump wants to help but it's in GOP interests to suppress coal
So that leads to apathy and disdain for the electoral process, so fewer trump voters coming out that would have helped Saccone.
CONOR LAMB’S VICTORY IN TRUMP COUNTRY SHOULD TERRIFY THE G.O.P.
And reveals how the Democratic Party can reclaim red America.
BY T.A. FRANK MARCH 13, 2018 12:02 PM
o: last night we found out, in a way, whether Donald Trump is doomed. That, at least, is the best spin I could use for sexing up Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district. Like all of the elections between now and the midterms, the race is a little bit important as a gauge of the public’s mood. Donald Trump won the 18th district by 20 percentage points in 2016, so the defeat of Republican Rick Saccone by Democrat Conor Lamb, who is the apparent winner by a razor-thin margin, is a bad sign for the G.O.P.
A quick reminder of who is who: Lamb is a former Marine and federal prosecutor who, at age 33, was seeking elective office for the first time. Republican State Rep. Rick Saccone, 60, is an Air Force veteran and businessman. Lamb ran to the center on abortion and guns, vowing to be independent from Nancy Pelosi (even stating he would prefer she be replaced as Speaker in a Democratic House), and Saccone deviated from the line of Paul Ryan, supporting the tariffs on steel that Trump recently imposed. The district is heavily white and working-class.
The final absentee ballots are still coming in, but let’s jump ahead to lessons and recriminations. After all, even if Lamb loses, he’ll have gotten very close to winning. So we can assume that Republicans will be distributed into three angry factions, while Democrats will be distributed into two angry factions. Each will have its own spin on the results. Here’s what they’ll be saying:
Among Republicans: 1. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he embraced Trumpism.
It’s no secret that many establishment Republicans (and even non-establishment Republicans) hate and fear Donald Trump. They feel his election was a historical fluke that voters are already looking to undo. So the explanation that Trump caused this setback seems to make sense. Lesson among faction one: elected Republicans should stick to traditional party priorities and give Trump and Trumpism a wide berth. Otherwise, they’ll lose as badly as Rick Saccone did.
2. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he didn’t embrace Trumpism.
Saccone told people that he “was Trump before Trump was Trump,” but it’s a debatable claim. In policy, Saccone is associated much more with Tea Party preferences, friendly to fiscal austerity and antagonistic toward unions, and he’s also determined to bring more church into the business of state, introducing a bill to require the posting of “In God We Trust” at every school. Trump doesn’t care about reining in spending; he imposed tariffs on steel, in part, to make unions happy; and religion played no central role in his campaigning. Saccone hasn’t campaigned heavily on the issue of immigration; Trump did. Therefore, according to the pro-Trump faction, Saccone’s problem was that voters saw a conventional Republican when what they wanted was Trumpiness.
3. Republicans and Trump are fine. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he was a uniquely bad candidate.
This is a handy explanation that lets everyone walk away as friends, provided you aren’t in faction one or two, or at least not openly. Unsurprisingly, the G.O.P. establishment and the White House have tried to emphasize common ground. Which means tax cuts. These were the focus of Vice President Mike Pence when he went up to campaign for Saccone, barely mentioning stress points like trade or immigration. See? We agree! And then the lesson becomes to change nothing, because it was the fault of Saccone, who is a uniquely bad politician—and a lousy fund-raiser to boot. Never mind that Saccone is much more thoughtful and much less weird than Alabama’s Roy Moore. (He speaks Korean and has a Ph.D. in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.) Losing a district that was lopsided in favor of Trump was all Saccone’s fault.
Among Democrats: 1. Lamb shows us how to win in 2020.
Conor Lamb is supportive of steel tariffs, skeptical of gun regulation, and rhetorically pro-life, and he told voters, “I’m not running against President Trump.” As a pro-gun Marine, he also checks a number of patriotic and conservative boxes at once. This helped him win back the votes of Democrats who had defected over to Trump. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb shows that the party must proceed toward the middle on some social issues to win back the white working class.
2. Lamb does not show us how to win in 2020.
Lamb tailored his message to the sentiments of his district, which is generally sympathetic to Trumpism, if not to Trump the man, especially when it comes to guns and trade. But millions of Americans are coming into voting age, and the country is changing. Winning over tomorrow’s voters is more important than salvaging yesterday’s voters, and tomorrow’s voters are as interested in non-economic social issues as economic ones. They want to be at the forefront of social justice. Plus, we want to capitalize on the anti-Trump fire out there, not douse it. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb’s social moderation is fine locally, but in no way fine nationally.
Two other factions will stick around: Bernie Sanders fans who take Lamb’s impressive showing as proof that Bernie was right—Lamb went populist on economics but stayed subdued on culture—and Hillary Clinton fans who reject such an interpretation. Clinton managed to revive the issue over the weekend, when she told an interviewer in India that she won the wealthiest places, the “places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward,” while Trump’s campaign had a different sort of supporter: “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs.” That promptly opened up two more factions: those who deplore that Clinton would say this and those who deplore that she would think this. Conor Lamb seems to respect the voters of his district, and his showing was a reminder that the Democratic Party might try being more inclusive, itself.
I know TYT / Justice Democrats supported him so he must have a progressive streak. Did Trump support him too?
Sorry bud, a NY vanity times writer I don't think has a good pulse on the area. You keep clinging to some guy/woman who is writing purely a speculative article, over what is actually going on. Please do, because that is exactly what got the Dems in trouble to begin with.
They started listening to these fringe left ideas, LA/Ny dems, and the country voted for trump because of that. If the dems want to make win seats again, they need to run guys like lamb, who are centrist. Plain and simple. But please, believe what you want to hear, instead of the facts.
I have family in that area too, Canonsburg, Waynesburg PA, some in Washington (which the locals keep calling Warshington!)
I think this was less about lamb and more about apathy about POTUS and the GOP in general. My family in that area overwhelming went Trump in the 2016 election because he said he'd bring back coal jobs (they are all coal miners) and they could really use those jobs. We're now well into the Trump administration and... not much. At least a handful of my family members feel one of two ways:
- Trump lied to them to get their vote - Trump wants to help but it's in GOP interests to suppress coal
So that leads to apathy and disdain for the electoral process, so fewer trump voters coming out that would have helped Saccone.
its def warshington -
Obviously there are going to be exceptions, there are every year. I voted for Obama once. people go back and forth all the time. I am looking at this as whole, not just one particular family.
Coal miners union back LAMB. I would suggest that your family who are Coal miners, had some calls / letters from their union asking to vote Lamb. That would sway them I bet.
Quote:
so fewer trump voters coming out that would have helped Saccone.
Im sorry I don't agree with that. Saccone was down +5 points in the polls, Trump came out and its a dead heat going into the morning after the election. That tells me TRUMP got people out to vote for him, when they otherwise would have not.
This isn't about trump, im sorry. This was about a centrist marine vet, who shares a lot of the same values as both left and right voters, AND got most of the Ind. vote.
CONOR LAMB’S VICTORY IN TRUMP COUNTRY SHOULD TERRIFY THE G.O.P.
And reveals how the Democratic Party can reclaim red America.
BY T.A. FRANK MARCH 13, 2018 12:02 PM
o: last night we found out, in a way, whether Donald Trump is doomed. That, at least, is the best spin I could use for sexing up Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district. Like all of the elections between now and the midterms, the race is a little bit important as a gauge of the public’s mood. Donald Trump won the 18th district by 20 percentage points in 2016, so the defeat of Republican Rick Saccone by Democrat Conor Lamb, who is the apparent winner by a razor-thin margin, is a bad sign for the G.O.P.
A quick reminder of who is who: Lamb is a former Marine and federal prosecutor who, at age 33, was seeking elective office for the first time. Republican State Rep. Rick Saccone, 60, is an Air Force veteran and businessman. Lamb ran to the center on abortion and guns, vowing to be independent from Nancy Pelosi (even stating he would prefer she be replaced as Speaker in a Democratic House), and Saccone deviated from the line of Paul Ryan, supporting the tariffs on steel that Trump recently imposed. The district is heavily white and working-class.
The final absentee ballots are still coming in, but let’s jump ahead to lessons and recriminations. After all, even if Lamb loses, he’ll have gotten very close to winning. So we can assume that Republicans will be distributed into three angry factions, while Democrats will be distributed into two angry factions. Each will have its own spin on the results. Here’s what they’ll be saying:
Among Republicans: 1. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he embraced Trumpism.
It’s no secret that many establishment Republicans (and even non-establishment Republicans) hate and fear Donald Trump. They feel his election was a historical fluke that voters are already looking to undo. So the explanation that Trump caused this setback seems to make sense. Lesson among faction one: elected Republicans should stick to traditional party priorities and give Trump and Trumpism a wide berth. Otherwise, they’ll lose as badly as Rick Saccone did.
2. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he didn’t embrace Trumpism.
Saccone told people that he “was Trump before Trump was Trump,” but it’s a debatable claim. In policy, Saccone is associated much more with Tea Party preferences, friendly to fiscal austerity and antagonistic toward unions, and he’s also determined to bring more church into the business of state, introducing a bill to require the posting of “In God We Trust” at every school. Trump doesn’t care about reining in spending; he imposed tariffs on steel, in part, to make unions happy; and religion played no central role in his campaigning. Saccone hasn’t campaigned heavily on the issue of immigration; Trump did. Therefore, according to the pro-Trump faction, Saccone’s problem was that voters saw a conventional Republican when what they wanted was Trumpiness.
3. Republicans and Trump are fine. Saccone lost (or nearly lost) because he was a uniquely bad candidate.
This is a handy explanation that lets everyone walk away as friends, provided you aren’t in faction one or two, or at least not openly. Unsurprisingly, the G.O.P. establishment and the White House have tried to emphasize common ground. Which means tax cuts. These were the focus of Vice President Mike Pence when he went up to campaign for Saccone, barely mentioning stress points like trade or immigration. See? We agree! And then the lesson becomes to change nothing, because it was the fault of Saccone, who is a uniquely bad politician—and a lousy fund-raiser to boot. Never mind that Saccone is much more thoughtful and much less weird than Alabama’s Roy Moore. (He speaks Korean and has a Ph.D. in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.) Losing a district that was lopsided in favor of Trump was all Saccone’s fault.
Among Democrats: 1. Lamb shows us how to win in 2020.
Conor Lamb is supportive of steel tariffs, skeptical of gun regulation, and rhetorically pro-life, and he told voters, “I’m not running against President Trump.” As a pro-gun Marine, he also checks a number of patriotic and conservative boxes at once. This helped him win back the votes of Democrats who had defected over to Trump. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb shows that the party must proceed toward the middle on some social issues to win back the white working class.
2. Lamb does not show us how to win in 2020.
Lamb tailored his message to the sentiments of his district, which is generally sympathetic to Trumpism, if not to Trump the man, especially when it comes to guns and trade. But millions of Americans are coming into voting age, and the country is changing. Winning over tomorrow’s voters is more important than salvaging yesterday’s voters, and tomorrow’s voters are as interested in non-economic social issues as economic ones. They want to be at the forefront of social justice. Plus, we want to capitalize on the anti-Trump fire out there, not douse it. For this faction of Democrats, Lamb’s social moderation is fine locally, but in no way fine nationally.
Two other factions will stick around: Bernie Sanders fans who take Lamb’s impressive showing as proof that Bernie was right—Lamb went populist on economics but stayed subdued on culture—and Hillary Clinton fans who reject such an interpretation. Clinton managed to revive the issue over the weekend, when she told an interviewer in India that she won the wealthiest places, the “places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward,” while Trump’s campaign had a different sort of supporter: “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs.” That promptly opened up two more factions: those who deplore that Clinton would say this and those who deplore that she would think this. Conor Lamb seems to respect the voters of his district, and his showing was a reminder that the Democratic Party might try being more inclusive, itself.
I know TYT / Justice Democrats supported him so he must have a progressive streak. Did Trump support him too?
Sorry bud, a NY vanity times writer I don't think has a good pulse on the area. You keep clinging to some guy/woman who is writing purely a speculative article, over what is actually going on. Please do, because that is exactly what got the Dems in trouble to begin with.
They started listening to these fringe left ideas, LA/Ny dems, and the country voted for trump because of that. If the dems want to make win seats again, they need to run guys like lamb, who are centrist. Plain and simple. But please, believe what you want to hear, instead of the facts.
Yes we should listen to the GOP and seek out centrist candidates that are more like republicans... Hmmm, you just described HRC! How'd that work out for us? You bet your horses, I'll bet mine.
What you fail to realize, is that regardless of where YOU think Hilary fell on the spectrum of politics, the right did a FANTASTIC job of convincing that she was a far leftist. Also, the country as a whole was sick of the Clintons, sick of her, and sick of being talked down to by elitist, which she excelled at as she is still going around doing it.
You fail to realize your downfalls, please continue - its doing us great!
Im sorry I don't agree with that. Saccone was down +5 points in the polls, Trump came out and its a dead heat going into the morning after the election. That tells me TRUMP got people out to vote for him, when they otherwise would have not.
This isn't about trump, im sorry. This was about a centrist marine vet, who shares a lot of the same values as both left and right voters, AND got most of the Ind. vote.
Laying his win to rest as just being about him, while convenient, obscures several key points:
Trump beat HRC by 20 pts in 2016 in this district
Trump rallied for Saccone the saturday before
Trump announced steel tariffs right before the election
Cook ranks the district R+11
All those points above, especially the Cook Report offset, make it straight up shocking that Lamb won. You seem to be arguing that Lamb is GOP-lite, which makes some sense, but why not go for the real thing? Centrists often get railed as fence sitters.
The biggest concern the GOP will have come Nov is that this district is far more rightward politically than most of the November races. And considering that Trump is the head of the GOP (whether by brand or by policy), that means that a blue wave happening in November will indeed be a referendum on the President. Just as a red wave in 2010 rebutted the presidency then.
Best description of Lamb I could come up with after seeing Lamb climb a mountain to win his election in a district Trump won by over 20 points and what appears like a Blue Wave to come......
“Getting over the top is easy. These are like professional mountain climbers. They are incredible climbers. They can’t climb some of these walls. Some of them they can.”
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Lamb with less than a 600 point lead just came out and declared victory before election officials turned in final counts to officially call it! Nice victory speech too! lol
Even if it goes bad for him, I like that he said screw it I'm doing it!
Somehow I have a feeling that if a Republican declared himself the winner in that situation you would not be so excited about it.. in fact I'm pretty sure you would call him a stupid, arrogant, SOB, just like all conservatives and blahblahblah...
•Trump beat HRC by 20 pts in 2016 in this district
I think the trump election cannot be quantified as far as votes go. Just like Obama's first election, you had EXTREME turnout and excitement. As well as the fact you cannot factor out the fact that a lot of people VOTED against Hilary. I can say this for me personally, I would have no problem voting for lamb, I would not vote for Hilary if my life depending on it.
Quote:
•Trump rallied for Saccone the saturday before
This actually supports my theory. Lamb was AHEAD by over 5+ points, then trump came into town and its a 600 vote race. . . .
Quote:
•Trump announced steel tariffs right before the election
Im pretty sure for towns that live outside the steel city, that's a plus for them. The tariffs (taking personal thoughts out of it) are good thing for steel workers in America. I would actually say the firing of REX was more an issue to voters than the tariffs.
Quote:
•Cook ranks the district R+11
And those ratings are on the basis of PAST elections. The demographics are drastically different, especially for congressional election. I again turn to Joe Manchin, a democrat that has won a lot of elections in WV - a state that is VERY MUCH MORE Trump country, than this district.
I am saying that your have more on the right and more independents that would vote for a centrist then the far right candidate Saccone, who did not campaign. If lamb was pro abortion, anti 2nd amendment, wasn't a former marine, I would be huuuuugggeeee tax return this year he would have lost in a landslide. But he appealed to republicans that are more moderate, the ones that voted for trump because they wouldn't vote for Hillary.
All this election shows is that republicans voters have no issue voting against party, and will vote the best candidate. Sadly, the left cannot say the same. I give you nancy and chuck .
