PA-SN 2022 megathread: Shrek vs. The Wizard of Oz

[Ritz]

I wouldn't be surprised if Biden endorses Lamb, assuming he endorses anyone in the primary.

Biden said the Lamb reminds him of his son Beau, which he also said about Buttigieg.

While he is more moderate than Fetterman or Kenyatta, he wouldn't be another Manchin or Sinema. He'd be more like a Booker, Klobuchar, or Gillibrand.

Lamb's voting record is similar to Sinema's and Angus King's. Booker, Gillibrand, and even Biden when he was in Congress were way more progressive than him.



He seems like an unnecessary pain in office with a mixed record electorally having underperformed Biden last year.

[Ritz]

I wouldn't be surprised if Biden endorses Lamb, assuming he endorses anyone in the primary.

Biden said the Lamb reminds him of his son Beau, which he also said about Buttigieg.

While he is more moderate than Fetterman or Kenyatta, he wouldn't be another Manchin or Sinema. He'd be more like a Booker, Klobuchar, or Gillibrand.

Lamb's voting record is similar to Sinema's and Angus King's. Booker, Gillibrand, and even Biden when he was in Congress were way more progressive than him.



He seems like an unnecessary pain in office with a mixed record electorally having underperformed Biden last year.

Biden won by 3, Lamb won by 2. It was basically the same

If Lamb only won by two in a D+3 year, he’s not winning statewide in what likely will be a R+0 or worse year.  Unless his district gets materially worse for him, he should just run for re-election.  I don’t believe any Dem can win the PA Senate seat in 2022.  No need to throw away a House seat for that.  Dems have nothing to lose with Fetterman.

Can't really extrapolate his district performance to the entire state.

You can’t.  I’m just saying that his performance in 2020 does not indicate that he has some magic power that can allow him to defy gravity in a statewide race in what is likely to be at least a slightly Republican year.

His performances in 2018 and especially the special election were pretty impressive

Both in a good Dem environment. 

Even factoring that in, they were both impressive performances.  Good year or not, Lamb had no business winning that special on paper.

The old PA-18 was a lot more Dem down-ballot though, Wolf and Casey both carried it, and Shapiro only lost it by 4 in 2020. Considering Dems in KS-04, SC-05, and AZ-08 also outran Clinton by similar margins, and he went on to underperform Biden in 2020 he seems more like a replacement-level candidate.