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

[coloradocowboi]

I’m still on board with Reschenthaler, because the others are too moderate for me.

As Reschenthaler's constituent, you do NOT want this guy in the U.S. Senate.

He seems like the PA version of Mike Gallagher. It's not like we're talking about Senator Doug Mastriano here, are we?

https://twitter.com/GReschenthaler/status/1346868343295389704

Truly a sane Republican

That's not much different than what we hear Ron DeSantis and Dan Crenshaw talk about. That doesn't bother me.

Yeah and they are both craven apologists for our Nazi president too. But go ahead and nominate him, because as a Dem I would v much like to win

[coloradocowboi]

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/trump-navy-secretary-pennsylvania-senate-463848

Former Trump Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite may be considering a bid. He also worked for Arlen Specter, so he's hardly a full-blown MAGA guy.

This is maybe the only GOP candidate mentioned thus far that I think would have the upperhand against Fetterman. Very dangerous for Dems. Hopefully he isn't crazy enough for the PAGOP

[coloradocowboi]

I saw a thumbnail image of Fetterman on YouTube earlier today, and his appearance fits the stereotype of a tough, no nonsense, blue-collar, WWC miner, construction worker, contractor, or factory worker. I don't know that much about his background. Is this why many seem to have such confidence in his capabilities as a candidate for federal or statewide office?

He's got a master of public policy from Harvard and comes from a rich family.

I see, and this doesn't surprise me at all. Many politicians who portray themselves as "WWC populists" actually are not, with Trump himself being the most notorious example of this.

Well yeah duh, it's not like upward mobility is easy in this country. And it takes a lot of capital, including cultural capital to run for higher office

[coloradocowboi]

See they've already begun messaging against Fetterman to paint him as an out of touch elitest.

https://twitter.com/RyanCostello/status/1361434448525463555?s=19

3+ hours & only 63 likes? I'm already shaking in my boots because of just how effective this messaging is proving to be.

(/s if it wasn't painfully obvious)

Remember he's still undefined, they'll be running ads in WWC communities slamming him for being pro-open borders, woke and from a rich family allowing with accusing him of dishoney in his image

See they've already begun messaging against Fetterman to paint him as an out of touch elitest.

https://twitter.com/RyanCostello/status/1361434448525463555?s=19

Are you really going to tell me with a straight face that the first guy is more in touch with the average Pennsylvanian or whatever? Costello could win but it won't be because he successfully paints Fetterman as a coastal elitist lol

Not wearing a suit doesn't make you in touch.

I'm sorry but I'm not gonna trust someone named LiberalHack to have really astute opinions on working class aesthetics.

But, Ryan Costello is not gonna be the GOP nominee anyway lol

[coloradocowboi]

Ugh, Lamb running would be bad, because he opens up a vulnerable House seat. We don't need this and can't afford to lose more ground. Additionally, Fetterman is easily the better alternative here because we don't need another Joe Manchin type of Dem in the senate. Fetterman would add a crucial progressive to the Dem conference. Neither am I convinced Lamb would have a better chance to win the seat. Lamb needs to run 4 reelection to the House and keep us a swing seat.

All of this is true, but doesn't matter because Lamb prolly has a big ego, oil lobbyist will stroke that ego and tell him that he alone can win, convince him to go with their GE messaging for Republicans against Fetterman, and like a chump he'll do it. Happens all the time

[coloradocowboi]

As a resident of PA, this race looms large for the control of the Senate next year. I'm currently undecided on Fetterman, but I'd fully support Conor Lamb. He might be too left on environmental issues, and as a Progressive, I fear that he could potentially struggle in the suburbs.

I really don't get why you should. The whole "climate change rhetoric sank Biden in Western PA" thing is another neoliberal lie. He even outperformed Lamb in his own district, despite Lamb bowing down to oil and gas.

I think if Dems are gonna survive in 2022, they can't go with focus-grouped, uncharismatic, boring white centrists. It will be a base turnout game more than a persuasion game, but I think Fetterman is the best for both anyway.

[coloradocowboi]

ANOTHER WFP socialist who wants to defund the police.
https://mobile.twitter.com/WorkingFamilies/status/1362569864297259010
Safe R.

Look, I’m the guy who called Nina Turner a radical socialist. But Kenyatta isn’t a radical socialist. He’s just a Warren Progressive type

He was a pretty ardent Biden supporter in the primary too

This and electability concerns are the reasons I'm supporting Fetterman. I like Kenyatta, it's weird that he would support progressive policy while also being strongly for Biden over Bernie or Warren. It makes me think his beliefs aren't that genuine.

I don't think any politicians public beliefs are genuine, but Kenyatta seems to have a problem with not centering himself in any movement or discussion of progressive politics.

However, I think egotism is still a benefit in politics. I think the American people have some sick admiration, prolly stemming from social media and reality tv, for ladder-climbers. And, honestly, if he were not Black and gay, he might be the frontrunner here... but not for reasons I personally admire or like.

[coloradocowboi]

Fair. The MAGA wing of the KHive would be a better term for it.

That feels like a low blow but I’ll ask in good faith what you mean by MAGA wing? When I think of MAGA on the left, the closest parallel would be a) ppl who won’t support the Dem nominee because they aren’t left enough b) people who buy into the same sort of conspiracy theories (“DNC rigged the primary against bernie,” “Nina only lost because of dirty Jew money,” etc.) For all of some K-Hiver’s faults, you can’t dispute that they are unfailingly loyal Dem votes

I’m genuinely curious what you mean by MAGA wing, not trying to start some proxy argument with you considering we probably see eye to eye on 98% of political topics and I’m a huge fan of all your NH insights

There is a smaller (but very vocal) part of the KHive that, in my opinion, views the Democratic left as a larger threat than the GOP and would have gladly thrown the election to Trump if Bernie won the nomination. Basically, this group of fans is more concerned with their idea of the Democratic Party than the party's well-being itself.

When I talk about the MAGA wing, I'm talking about the people who promised not to support the Democratic nominee if they were too far left and boosted far-right smears against Bernie and AOC. I'm talking about the people who sent death threats to Bernie, defended the murder at Charlottesville as an "accident", and the people who turn on any politician for praising The Squad. I'm talking about the people who called for a journalist's head because she asked Lisa Murkowski about Neera Tanden's mean tweets.

This wing (which does have nonzero influence) does have some sway and it is a bit troubling. But in the grand scheme of things, it's all just a bunch of Twitter drama that doesn't matter. I think we all know that you're not a part of the MAGA wing.

I wouldn't call them MAGA wing necessarily, but yeah there is this super portion of the K-Hive who exist solely to be anti-progressives and punch the left. This includes only bringing up and referencing Lauren Underwood to tear down AOC, pitting minority women against each other. This also includes minimizing and mocking AOC's trauma about 1/6. It's comical to see them suddenly become huge Carolyn Maloney or Dan Lipinski fans, simply because progressives and left-wing groups opposed them. I won't say that there aren't some left-wing groups and individuals who are toxic and come off as just being entirely anti-establishment just because, without ideological consistencies. It is perfectly fine to be critical of progressives and their policies, but this faction of the K-Hive engages in toxicity that seeks to just attack progressives for no consistent reason.

Not no consistent reason, they do it because they have a misguided belief in meritocracy being good cuz deep down they want to be like Kamala... a girlboss or whatever. They are neoliberals driven purely by self-interest and most would be Republicans if they weren't Black, women, LGBTQ, etc...

The funniest part is though that they do it all in the name of the candidate who sits in the middle off the Venn diagram for why both progressives and establishment Dems are unelectable, our current VP who was laughed out of the primaries and who will guarantee president DeSantis if she ever follows her own inflated ego to a White House bid.

But in more relevant words, is this primary going to guarantee a Senator Parnell? It is already developing in a really nasty fashion. I honestly think only Fetterman is electable. Kenyatta is a terrible fit for statewide office, Lamb is totally uninspiring to base voters, and Arkoosh is too unknown. But they are all sniping hard at Fetterman and it's hard to see how he wouldn't come out of this without serious reputational damage, especially now that Lamb is in and obviously willing to let any corporation spend whatever amount of money they want getting him elected.

[coloradocowboi]

James Carville is the absolute worst this party has to offer: as divisive and spiteful as any SJW ultra-feminist culture warrior, but also thoroughly corporate and corrupt. When is the last time any of his predictions came true?

Conor Lamb is gonna regret getting in bed with the Clinton people. At best, he will just win a scorched earth primary, lose the general, and go down in history as a tool.

[coloradocowboi]

Decided to look at some of his top comments, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, 9/10 of who I could find was from out of state ( Most coming from CA of course )

Lol my dude his opponent doesn't even live in Pennsylvania

[coloradocowboi]

I am as far from an Oz supporter as one can get, but the obesity crisis in America has reached disgustingly high levels. Doctors should not be afraid to tell their patients they're overweight, though many are scared to now because of the kindness over facts cult that has infested much of academia.

How many fat studies books have you actually read? Or did you just hear some propaganda piece on Fox News about "healthy at every size" (which is ironic bc Fox News viewers have much higher BMI than other network viewers) and then decide academia is "out of touch" based upon that.

I work with people who study this issue, and while I certainly disagree with them that you can be "healthy at any size," they have through peer-reviewed research often passed through hands belonging to someone as skeptical as you, proven that: 1. fat people receive subpar medical care because of stigma; 2. fat kids are bullied because of stigma; 3. bullying and chastisement worsen the obesity epidemic because it makes fat people depressed and anxious. And what they propose isn't radical or even particularly socialist - just treat people fairly even if they are fat. What is wrong with that? What is "unfactual" about any of what I just said, which is the basis of fat studies pretty much?

It just annoys me bc--listen I dk you so I'm sorry if this sounds ranty--but I do know my colleagues and they aren't the ones fighting the culture war, it's you. If you want to rebut research with research that's fine, but don't misrepresent the research for the sake of a culture war that just needs to end already. I dgaf what people put in their mouths - hot dogs, sexual organs, drugs. It is none of my business, and hardly the basis of anybody's politics. And the more we argue about dumb s*** like that, the further we get from solutions to real problems

[coloradocowboi]

Incredible ad! Some dark money super pac needs to spend millions of dollars micro targeting it to all of Pennsylvania’s most racist registered voters.
https://twitter.com/reallyamerican1/status/1562596798849757189?s=21&t=WpeWkT...

This is a little racist, but will probably be very effective. I had no idea he was not only still a practicing Muslim, but a member of Diyanet. That's like on par with scientology as an electoral albatross, getting a little to close to cult territory

[coloradocowboi]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand why conducting routine scientific trials on animals as a researcher at Columbia is a big deal.

Are people just now realizing that when you test unproven medicines on animals sometimes the animals suffer and die? Obviously they try to make it so that the animals don't suffer much if things do go south but that's literally how we test all potential medications before we move on to human trials.

Maybe people are just daft or don't understand the scientific process. The abortion story in Georgia seems like clearly the bigger deal to me.

Here in Central NJ there's a huge pharmaceutical industry. Animal testing is how the sausage gets made when it comes to researching new medicine. It sucks because the animals suffer, but that doesn't make all of the people I know in the pharmaceutical industry, whose research needs animal subjects, psychopaths.

I don't know whether people calling Oz a murderer are aware that the dogs were going to die even if the research was conducted as ethically as it could've been. It was more that they weren't euthanized quickly enough or that they weren't given adequate painkillers to reduce their pain after they were given the medicine.

It's not like Oz was being dog Mengele. He was conducting legitimate research funded by 75 NIH grants. His lab wasn't just injecting dogs with random drug cocktails just to see what happens, it was still following the scientific method. Any pharmaceutical or medical research is going to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of animals over the course of decade like Oz' lab did. Faulting him for that is more of a criticism of animal testing as a whole, as the NBC article did.

Nice to see we are at the point where the blue avatars are unironically saying s*** like “at least he wasn’t dog mengele.”  

That is straight from the Selina Meyer School of Politics.What’s next “hey at least he didn’t f*** the dogs!”

[coloradocowboi]

I’ll repeat it again: it does not matter what “technicality” you bring up. Simple messages win election, especially lies. If anybody knows that it should be Republicans. And while you may not like it or even agree with it, your five paragraph “well, actually” posts defending animal testing (which is controversial anyway) can’t change the fact that we can and will call him a puppy killer

[coloradocowboi]

Nobody believes Oz personally killed 300 puppies himself.

Some people definitely do and as far as I'm concerned the more Pennsylvania voters who do the better.

Yeah that’s where I’m at too.

Mind you animal testing is not objectively “necessary” and has been controversial in science from the beginning, *and* even tho Oz was not the hand that killed the dogs as the PI he absolutely was responsible in every sense of the word, including legally which is what matters anyway.

But having this discussion about the ethics and practices of animal testing don’t help Oz at any rate because the voters this will turn off are already too stupid to get the nuance. All ppl know is dogs are dead and it’s Dr Oz’s fault. The only remaining question is which and how many voters that would sway.

[coloradocowboi]

I get that people here are desperate for a (pseudo)leftist to be as unpopular as Dr. Oz but I think it's over, folks. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fetterman win by 5 points now, which is an achievement in PA this year after having a stroke.

Blue avatars, it's time to do some soul searching. You can't just say "socialist, weak on crime" anymore and win.

[coloradocowboi]

Any particular reason we’re rehashing Fetterman’s stroke months after the election? Did something else happen or is this just nostalgia?

Because he is not healthy.

He should not be on the Democratic ticket in 2024 or 2028 or 2032.

It's sad.

Fetterman's stroke shows that working class people have hard lives and universal health care should be a reality.

Also, working class people should eat better and exercise.

This is also a social justice issue. How do you go to a gym on a $15/hr salary? What kind of food can you afford? What kind of food is accessible to wherever you can afford rent?

It's weird that ppl obsess over his health tho when multiple outlets have been insinuating that Dianne Feinstein has alzheimers since 2017. We just let California get represented for a whole term by a woman who doesn't always know who she is speaking to or what's going on. Prolly nobody cares cuz she's not a threat to our precious capitalism