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Anyone have any insight on the PA race? I moved out so my ear's not to the ground anymore. I liked Sestak a lot last time around, but I think The Establishment is still angry that he went after Specter.
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May 22, 2015 19:04
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The American Prospect ran a big piece on Kirkpatrick's 2014 campaign, for those interested.Bob Moser posted:Few Democrats in Congress were as well positioned as Kirkpatrick to undertake a campaign of Clinton-style triangulation. She voted “just” 89 percent with President Obama, according to the Sunlight Foundation—one of the lower partisan-purity tallies on the Hill. But Kirkpatrick had tried the “no-D Democratic” approach before, in 2010, when she spent the campaign on the defensive after voting for Obamacare, insisting she was actually a model of “independence” and pledging fiscal responsibility and aisle-crossing. She got whomped. So this year, Kirkpatrick made the curious strategic decision to run as herself: a deal-cutter who brings millions in grant money to her cash-starved district; an opponent of EPA regulations when they threaten local jobs, and an environmentalist otherwise; and, most important, a progressive populist on such defining issues as immigration reform, corporate taxation, and health-care reform. The Prospect has been beating this drum for a while now, that Dems have to run more liberal candidates even in tossup districts. I always suspect there's a bit of wishful thinking at play, but this seemed like a pretty well-supported article. Bob Moser posted:The Obamacare attack ads flew fast and furious, but Kirkpatrick didn’t flinch, pointing out that the law had benefited thousands of her constituents. “I talk to people almost on a daily basis who now have coverage they never had before,” she said in a September debate. “Thank heavens.” (Thank heavens for Obamacare? Smelling salts for the consultants, quick!) By being so unblinking and unapologetic about supporting the ACA, she put herself in a position to turn the issue on Tobin, who had opposed Arizona’s Medicaid expansion as House speaker. “He fought Medicaid expansion, and 21,000 people in my district just signed up for Medicaid,” she told a Phoenix radio host in September.
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May 27, 2015 02:22
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Pawlowski seems weak to me. I liked Sestak last time around but the critiques earlier in this thread convinced me he's a crappy candidate, too. I feel like the state party did a great job finding and electing Tom Wolf, but if this is the best we've got for a Senate race against a beatable one-term incumbent in a presidential year...I don't know. Isn't there anyone on the bench?
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Jun 24, 2015 03:59
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Edit: Just beaten, drat it.
GalacticAcid has issued a correction as of 17:37 on Jul 6, 2015 |
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Jul 6, 2015 17:34
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De Nomolos posted:Why's everyone in PA scared to step up against him? Isn't there a DA somewhere that can do it? De Nomolos posted:Why's everyone in PA scared to step up against him? Isn't there a DA somewhere that can do it? The state party is backing Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski. Allentown City Hall is currently taking some heat from the FBI. quote:City officials believe the search was focused on Allentown's contracting process, city spokesman Mike Moore said Friday. So hopefully there's alternative, otherwise we might be stuck with Sestak. Kathleen Kane is the state AG and at one time seemed like the Great Blue Hope, but she's probably toast. From Allegheny County, I've seen Eugene DePasquale (state Auditor General), Rich Fitzgerald (county Executive, he doesn't have a great reputation with county employees though), and Dave Hickton (US Attorney for Western PA - highly unlikley, really low-key guy without any name recognition) all mentioned. I don't know as much about the rest of the state.
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Jul 6, 2015 22:27
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De Nomolos posted:Does Rendell seriously have something better to do? He can still back Clinton I the process. He wants a cabinet position. He speaks constantly about infrastructure ~ at think tanks, on TV, on the radio, and on Twitter, so I suspect he's angling for Transportation. Although if the Clintons asked him to run for Senate instead, he probably would.
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Jul 8, 2015 15:29
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Some rumblings on the PA Senate front. Seems like the DSCC wants Katie McGinty to run. She is currently Governor Wolf's Chief-of-Staff. It's still possible she will decline to run in order to focus on the budget fight currently under way between the Governor's office and PA's moronic and reactionary GOP-controlled legislature. But: quote:Katie McGinty’s flirtation with a U.S. Senate run appeared more ardent after her weekend trip to Martha’s Vineyard for an event for potential candidates hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Sestak must be panicking! The DSCC, courting a challenger to his presently unopposed candidacy? How will he react? quote:Danielle Lynch, a spokesman for Mr. Sestak said he, too, had been invited to the DSCC event... Oh! I guess they were both just there so DSCC members could feel them out and - quote:...but chose not to attend, żWhat could have happened? Is the prospective Senator unwell? quote:spending his weekend instead “meeting Pennsylvanians from Elk County to Bucks County.” Ah.
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Jul 14, 2015 20:17
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Badger of Basra posted:He wants to be Secretary of something. Yeah. A page or two back I mentioned that I think he wants to be Secretary of Transportation. He's a militant Clinton loyalist and would most likely wind up in her cabinet in some capacity, so the only way I could see him running for Senate would be a visit from Hillary or Bill instructing him in no uncertain terms to do so.
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Jul 15, 2015 22:33
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Rendell now thinks McGinty will run.quote:When rumors first started to become reality and Katie McGinty began considering a Senate run, it was thought Rendell would be a vocal supporter. After all, not only was Sestak an old foe but McGinty had served in his cabinet as DEP Secretary from 2003 to 2008. Rendell was lukewarm, though, stating that he didn’t believe McGinty would ultimately pull the trigger. Perhaps the passage of some time, or McGinty’s journey to Martha’s Vineyard, changed his mind. According to John Baer of the Daily News, Rendell now believes there is a 70% chance McGinty will run. Possibly worth noting that the Senate race was closer than the gubernatorial race in 2010. Onorato was a weak candidate though.
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Jul 21, 2015 02:53
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Jim Burn, the state chairman for the PA Democrats, is resigning in the interest of party unity. There had been rumors this was coming for some time. Regardless, it seems likely to add to the coming shitshow.
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Jul 21, 2015 16:27
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Speculation is over, McGinty is in.
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Jul 22, 2015 21:45
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The US Steelworkers have endorsed Katie McGinty in the PA Senate primary.
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Aug 5, 2015 20:14
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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:Just as long as they can keep Ernst away from him. ^  Also, I suppose we can now firmly put to rest any hopes that Rendell could be convinced to enter the race. 
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Aug 17, 2015 05:16
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A guy named Richard Douglas has entered the race for the Republican nomination in Maryland.quote:Douglas served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush and spent five years on Capitol Hill as a senior attorney to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee. During the 1970s, he was a machinist's mate on a Navy attack submarine and, in 2006, was recalled from reserve duty to serve in Iraq. Obviously should be a non-starter since barring a once-in-a-century catastrophe the real race will be the Democratic primary.
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Aug 24, 2015 20:41
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Franco Potente posted:North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) says he won't be running for re-election. Roll Call speculates that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) might go for the open seat. I imagine, were that the case, that seat would flip red in a heartbeat. The ND legislature conveniently passed a law requiring a special election to fill a Senate vacancy. Heitkamp's seat isn't up until 2018. Prior to this law's passage, she could have run for governor, won, and appointed her own replacement. The state's GOP basically passed the law to guard specifically against that possibility. An off-year election in North Dakota - you are correct, the seat would undoubtedly go red.
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Aug 25, 2015 16:01
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Yeah I was wondering what the DNC's preference would be on that. Steve Bullock has already made some noises in his capacity as DGA chair indicating that he would strongly support a Heitkamp run. How popular is McCrory? NC seems like the only other plausible site for a Democratic governor pickup. Mike Pence is pretty unpopular but...it's Indiana. Evan Bayh might win if he entered, I don't think he will though.
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Aug 25, 2015 17:38
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He was a terrible senator but to be fair he was representing a terrible state.
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Aug 25, 2015 18:20
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Disinter Claude Pepper and endorse him.
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Aug 26, 2015 21:52
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De Nomolos posted:There needs to be a Young Democrat Relocation Program. There's something structural at play here. I've struggled to articulate it but basically I think liberal-minded young people increasingly abandon their home areas and relocate to the vanishingly few places in America where there is still something like a functional public sphere ~ New York, SF, DC, Philly, college towns. What can a liberal do in Fayette County, PA? There's no money in the community so you can't fight for more school funding. You can organize your workplace - but if you're employed you are probably either a Corrections officer or a cop, so congratulations you are further entrenching the carceral state as a crucial element of your region's political economy. It's depressing. It also leads to the feedback loop of liberals existing in a closed circuit - which in turn leads to the kind of True Progressive circle jerking that infuriates the red state Democrats who populate this forum. I'd like to do a deeper analysis of this at some point and try to back it up with historical data since right now it's basically just my Hot Take.
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Aug 27, 2015 19:05
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Joementum just reported in the USPol thread that Bob Casey has announced support for the Iran Deal. Pat Toomey has been one of the most vocal opponents, so I'm guessing this will be a general election issue for Toomey vs. the Democratic nominee. I don't think it will hurt the Democrats in PA. I think since 2005 / 2006 most people are pretty moderate / gently anti-war on foreign policy, I have been wrong before though.
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Sep 1, 2015 18:51
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An economics-based campaign would probably be good for the Democrats. Wolf beat Corbett head-to-head in a nasty, nasty year for Democrats because GOP fiscal theories were self-evidently damaging to school districts and communities. Wolf's approval ratings are pretty good (47-32-21 in late June per Quinnipiac). Rendell is McGinty's campaign chair, so if she's the nominee there's no way in Hell it's going to be based around social issues. It'll hammer on the stimulus, Obama's job numbers, and all the programs the GOP wants to defund. They'll defend Planned Parenthood, sure, but PA Democrats run the gently caress away from social issues every chance they get. Bob Casey is pro-life.
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Sep 1, 2015 22:54
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John Fetterman is entering the Democratic Primary for the PA Senate seat. He's the mayor of Braddock, a Pittsburgh neighborhood. He's popular guy with national media and a symbol of gentrification in Pittsburgh, as far as that goes. He'll rally a lot of college volunteers from Pitt, Duquesne, and Point Park, probably get a bit of money from some national liberals familiar with his record, and get support from some of the successful local entrepreneurs that his policies helpled get started. I don't think it will be nearly enough.
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Sep 11, 2015 22:33
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De Nomolos posted:I'm thinking more so of people who launched themselves into notoriety as a Mayor. For example, being Mayor launched Sanders' career and was the base he had to run for Congress from. Obama on the other hand launched his career from the IL state house. He wasn't a Senator, but there's an anthropomorphic cheesesteak who fits this profile and will likely end up in the cabinet of a hypothetical Hillary Clinton administration. EDIT: Beaten by Cliff Racer. Anyway Fetterman's website is worth a look. As I mentioned, he has allies in national media, at least on the left-liberal end of things. He was just on Chris Hayes, and The Nation interviewed him. He's bald, covered in tattoos (he gets one every time someone is murdered in Braddock), and went to Harvard for a policy degree after doing community service in the Hill District for a few years. Obviously he's got no chance, and I personally like McGinty for the nomination, but he's an interesting guy and the Nation interview is well worth the read.
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Sep 29, 2015 01:40
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Fetterman has Bill de Blasio's campaign manager on board. As expected, he's getting financial support from Pittsburgh restuarateurs. Kevin Sousa is the biggest name in Pittsburgh dining circles, and he owes Fetterman pretty big. He netted about $122,000 in his first week after announcing, which is chump change in the long run of course. But I could see him getting significant media attention ~Sestak has been pretty bad with media relations, and McGinty has been off the radar. To reiterate, I don't have any illusions that John Fetterman could be the Democratic nominee, let alone unseat a well-funded Toomey in the general. And the Pittsburgh Restaurant Scene is hardly the kind of economic powerhouse that turns the tides of statewide elections with national consequences. Still it might be good to have a goofy, reasonably qualified person to bring some focus on the race and get people interested. Cliff Racer posted:As to PA news, I still support I can see the reason for your trepidation given the lack of any buzz around her campaign. And Sestak gets a ton of poo poo but he kept the Senate race closer than the gubernatorial race. (Possibly worth noting, the Post Gazette endorsed Sestak...and endorsed loving Tom Corbett. Plus Senate races get more national attention and funding than governors' races.) He also has a really impressive head to head timeline comparing his life to Toomey's - unfortunately his site buries it pretty deep on the "About Joe'" section of his website, and I suppose that memories of 2004 are too potent to put too much faith in this kind of thing. And the graphic itself isn't particularly compelling:  Still, having talked with some people who worked for his campaign - he sounds unpleasant on a personal level, and instead of spending the intervening years. building up his resume or doing something with a cool narrative, he's spent Pax Toomey acting like World's Thirstiest Would-Be Senator. Anyway I don't think he'd be quite the electoral disaster that a couple of the other posters ITT do (I voted for him instead of Specter last time around, sue me), but I'm still putting my trust in the Wolf team and Rendell. And of course, all of this comes with the caveat that I left PA a couple years ago so I'm not the freshest set of eyes or ears. Definitely not staking out claims of omniscience here.
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Oct 1, 2015 05:33
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PPP released poll results for the PA senate race. John Fetterman 14% Katie McGinty 22% Joe Sestak 29% Undecided 35% Nothing conclusive yet by any means.
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Oct 17, 2015 17:32
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PoliticsPA with a full report on Fetterman's FEC report. Almost 20% of his money came from family members. Here's an equivalent report for McGinty. They haven't published one on Sestak for Q3 yet.
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Oct 22, 2015 01:56
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Vitter lost tonight, that makes 2016 more interesting.
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Nov 22, 2015 05:54
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In case anyone has a G to blow:
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Nov 28, 2015 20:58
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 lmao
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Dec 11, 2015 22:13
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Lexington Mayor Jim Gray files to challenge Rand Paul. He's rich so could partially self-fund, but he's also openly gay which...I don't live in Kentucky but doesn't seem like it would do much to endear him to the voting base there, although I'd be happy to hear from the Kentucky goons ITT.
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Jan 26, 2016 17:08
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Joementum posted:Schumer will at least be entertaining. If you want a guy who's going to spend all day trolling Republicans for the media, Chuck's your guy. Well, he will spend all day trolling. But not only Republicans.  source
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Mar 14, 2016 04:29
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Bernice Anders posted:I like him already. I enjoy his disposition but he's been unsupportive or hostile towards some critical liberal victories during Pax Obummer ~ most notably PPACA (he voted for it of course but later complained that it was poor timing and primarily benefitted people who don't vote lol) and the Iran Deal (which he announced his opposition to, but didn't campaign for other Democrats to join him in opposition).
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Mar 14, 2016 05:50
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My Imaginary GF posted:Alpha House and Veep are much more realistic depictions of national politics than House of Cards will ever be House of Cards, beyond its zany subplots and intricate idiocies, ultimately rests on too outlandish a premise to even give the show a second thought: A Democratic Senator from South Carolina
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Mar 15, 2016 02:58
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Somebody's doin' the rapin', I do declayuh.
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Mar 15, 2016 03:14
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Mar 16, 2016 21:46
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She already included the tweet in a fundraising email haha.
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Mar 16, 2016 22:28
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I'm surprised the senate GOP caucus didn't let him break ranks on this issue. Would be a perfect "moderate" thing to do before what promises to be a nasty election for him, and it wouldn't swing the nomination either way.
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Mar 17, 2016 04:50
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McCain's holding out on Garland until after the election as well. Kirkpatrick is a strong candidate - won't be strong enough to unseat McCain of course but I'm hoping if she keeps it close a few House districts might turn. But lol gerrymandering.
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Mar 17, 2016 20:33
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Oo sweet, I had heard Kirkpatrick's district had been redrawn into tougher borders, so I assumed it was gerrymandering at work. Thanks for clarifying.
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Mar 17, 2016 21:03
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The DSCC officially endorsed McGinty today, which I'm sort of shocked hadn't happened already. The polls are still pretty close but I would bet on her outperforming them given the union endorsements (SEIU, AFT, Steelworkers, probably others but those alone should swing it), ad buys coming from Emily's List, and probably additional buys from the DSCC hoard.
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Mar 24, 2016 03:49
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