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

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/ColemanLamb/status/1487944023167967236

We now have Lamb's brother attacking one of PA's premier labor economists, and someone who has been instrumental in the nationwide fight to raise the minimum wage.

Occasionally, the mask slips. My apologies to Manchin - at least him and his thugs don't regularly attack labor economists as political hacks for not kissing his ring.

[Morning in Atlas]

F*** around and find out.

[Morning in Atlas]

Arkoosh officially out:
https://twitter.com/JuliaTerruso/status/1489626089240633353

Very glad that I can finally call the Arkoosh contingent on this forum Lamb simps now.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/ConorLambPA/status/1500259991483256834?t=iynNFdbY28yUc1ezT4h...

Cringe. Matt Cartwright finally takes an L.

[Morning in Atlas]

I have not heard of RootsAction before this post and will probably forget who they are after today.

[Morning in Atlas]

"Electability" and January 6th does not sound like a winning general election message.

Still holding out hope that we can pull a victory out of our asses. Maybe Lamb is good for the primary but for the general he seems like an accident waiting to happen.

[Morning in Atlas]

Honest question, why all the negativity about the Dem candidates in PA and Fetterman in particular? There has been no GE polling I have seen and the little Dem primary polling has Fetterman in the lead. Is there some scandal or gaffe I am missing or is this just the same doom saying for Democrats that is going on for every other race on this site?

(fair warning, I'm one of the biggest Fetterman hacks on the forum. I'll let someone from the Lamb camp expand on make their case against Fetterman)

* Fetterman has been sleepwalking through the primary. I'm not even gonna try and bullsh*t here. Most of his campaign has been done online. He's foregone most major events and gone for an "every county" gimmick like Sestak did. There's also the aforementioned jogger story, which doesn't play well among black people and paternalist PMC-types. He's also aligned himself with the Bernie wing.

* Conor Lamb's campaign, as of now, is a culmination of the problems in the party. His primary campaign seems to be more centered around January 6th, rather than kitchen-table issues like inflation. Certainly plays well in the primary but isn't exactly a hot-button issue in the general. From my eyes it looks like a lot of the failed candidacies we've seen, like Sara Gideon and (in the primary) Amy McGrath. I keep saying this, but we won Georgia off of $15 and $1400, not Trump and Kavanaugh. There are also significant ideological questions about him, given that he only stopped voting like a Manchincrat once he got redistricted into friendlier territory.

To editorialize for a bit, these ideological questions are strong enough that had I been living in PA still, I would not vote for him in the general.

Of course, there's also the question of the state party rushing to endorse Lamb over Kenyatta. The unity candidate has been here all along! Malcolm Kenyatta is a progressive who's been working his ass off all cycle and getting endorsements. And you look at the sudden wave of high-status endorsements for Lamb and it looks more like a coronation based off of "electability" and fundraising than anything else.

From my personal view Conor Lamb represents many of the failed tropes about out-of-touch Democratic leadership. As the party has become more professionalized, experience and money are more valued more than actual campaign skills and evaluations. The machine still exerts control over the primary process and puts their thumbs on the scales for the most "moderate" candidate, despite moderates killing the Biden agenda. His campaign isn't totally devoid of kitchen-table issues but it's more centered on anti-Trumpism and anti-filibusterism.

[Morning in Atlas]

I mean, yes, Lamb's message (and all of their messages) are going to be different right now in the primary vs. the GE. So not sure why it matters that he's not focusing on things like inflation right now specifically when I'm sure whoever is the winner of the primary will definitely focus on all those things after May...

Not to mention, at the same time, I don't think it's correct to say his entire message revolves around the filibuster and 1/6, b/c that's just not true if you follow him.

Also just given Lamb's objective electoral history, not sure how he could really be called 'unimpressive'. Fetterman for better or worse just doesn't have that concrete argument since he's never been in a GE.

Of course - it's not utterly devoid of kitchen-table issues like Gideon's or McGrath's campaigns were. And even I don't think it'll be in the general.

But from what I've seen he's pretty clearly centering social issues over economic issues.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/hollyotterbein/status/1503888138464382979

Y'all wanna see what happens after f**king around?

[Morning in Atlas]

Honestly, Fetterman's a terrible candidate at this point. I'm for this, even if I agree with Fetterman more on policy. The most important thing is winning. Of course, it's not likely than any Democrat can beat any Republican in Pennsylvania this year.

Boo hoo. It's either us or McCormick/Oz.

We're tired of out-of-touch politicians deciding who the best nominee is. We're especially tired of voting for Democrats that campaign like Democrats, grift and leech off our ideas, and vote like Republicans. We're also tired of the increasingly sportsified approach Democrats have taken to elections. Cool, you won an election. What's the point when you can't pass a bill because you elected a bunch of serial flip-floppers whose loyalty lies with rich donors?

[Morning in Atlas]

This is an unhealthy attitude to have. It is Democratic voters who have the same good intentions as you that decide who the nominee is.

That's ideally how it should be. I've never once demonized the Democratic voters. I'm just telling the truth - the concept of "electability" is, at its most charitable, sportsified crap. It prioritizes the idea of power, rather than power itself. At worst it's a marketing tactic that conflates electability with centrism (read: subservience to the rich).

However, there's a major difference between "I'm a politician and I believe Conor Lamb is the best candidate" and the Philly machine coordinating to put their thumbs on the scale for a candidate because - in Jim Kenney's own words - they "want to win".

If they want to make a go of it without us, then we will give them their wish.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/drmattkenyatta/status/1505626944913780742

Never forget what the state party did to this man for the horrible, heinous crime of being a progressive.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/drmattkenyatta/status/1505626944913780742

Never forget what the state party did to this man for the horrible, heinous crime of being a progressive.

what exactly did the state party do that was so terrible?

Froze him out of the primary race in favor of your preferred candidate.

[Morning in Atlas]

Part of it is the professionalization of the party - the same sext of the party that sees the primary process like a job interview. Lamb's on-paper resume is impeccable. Part of it is Kenyatta being a progressive.

But I'd be lying if I didn't think race and SO had a part in Lamb's coronation.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/hotlinejosh/status/1505854581925892099?s=21

The real takeaway is James Carville's PAC using straight-up Republican talking points against Fetterman. There's a difference between "Medicare for All is too expensive" and "Medicare for All is a government takeover of healthcare". Not to mention the blatant red-baiting. Something that Lambchin himself has done and his campaign gleefully parrots.

If you took away the name of the PAC I'd have thought it'd come from the McCormick campaign.

Truly Orwellian stuff from the Democrat establishment, folks. Submission is unity. Lies are truth. We can't afford more Sinemas, but we need Sinemas to win. Corporate subservience is progress. Occasionally, the mask slips, and candidates like Conor Lamb and Kyrsten Sinema show their true colors. When these people tell you who they are behind closed doors, believe them and reject them at every turn.

[Morning in Atlas]

For the love of god, there is no reason to compare Lamb and Sinema. Stop.

>Conor Lamb makes hyperbolic comparisons and red-baits John Fetterman to hurt his image
>wbrocks: crickets
>some internet idiot who hasn't lived in PA for 5 years compares Lamb to Manchin and Sinema to hurt his image
>wbrocks: Stop this hyperbole right now! How dare you! This isn't productive if he wins the general!

You see, the difference between Lamb's comparison and mine is that the socialist attacks come from a candidate he supports.

[Morning in Atlas]

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.

All by design, friend. The corporate Democrats would rather lose with their gravy train flowing than win and have someone change the system.

[Morning in Atlas]

PA Dems were handed a golden candidate on a silver platter, but have instead decided that it should be a two-way race between a man who refuses to wear pants and is possibly scared of Black people, and the man who is the human equivalent of corn flakes.

I would have gone with unseasoned chicken, but that also works

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/JohnFetterman/status/1507388165199478789?t=EH1dICnjVu6xPkxlG...

I can hear Conor Lamb pearl clutching from here.

[Morning in Atlas]

They have a machine. We have an OC.

We will beat Republicans in May and November.

[Morning in Atlas]

I'm sorry. I made an error. James Carville does not own Penn Progress. He worked with them and did events for them, but isn't affiliated with the PAC's leadership itself.

Its executive director is Erik Smith, a spokesperson and executive for Partnership for America's Healthcare Future - a front group for Big Pharma that peddled their interests throughout the 2018 and 2020 cycles. So the Lamb campaign is being propped up by Big Pharma, not the establishment that I love to hate.

As I have said before - the mask slips. When the pharmaceutical lobby is doing a full-court press to support a candidate, avoid them like the plague.

[Morning in Atlas]

I literally could give two sh** what any super pac is saying. This is a primary, words will be slung from all opponents.

I too love allying with Big Pharma to own the progressives

[Morning in Atlas]

Well, at least he's decided to drop bullsh*tting the good people of my former state.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/Alex4USSenate/status/1505212924469649410

You know he had to do it to em.

[Morning in Atlas]

Well, at least he's decided to drop bullsh*tting the good people of my former state.

What do you think of Lamb's recent shift in direction? Of this attack? What does this say about his prospects and the state of the race?

I think it's a great thing. Fetterman is an existential threat to the nomination, not to mention a virulent racist. He's just too far left for the state and it's about time someone finally said it.