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

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Sherrod Brown was elected in 20o6/ a very long time ago and reelected during D wave years, the problem with Keyanetta is obvious his sexual orientation, if he was a different, like Mandela Barnes or Raphael Warnock he obviously would gain more traction, but this race has always been Fettermans

[Senator-elect Spark]

Can Kenyatta upset Fetterman somehow by running up margins in Eastern PA?

[Lambsbread]

If Lamb gets in, Kenyatta’s chances will be boosted exponentially.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Fetterman is the nominee, it never was in doubt

[wbrocks67]

Kathy Barnette is an absolute lunatic. I knew it last year when she ran in my district against Dean, but this just outlines her total lunacy.

https://twitter.com/PhillyInquirer/status/1419648887405559810

[LabourJersey]

Can Kenyatta upset Fetterman somehow by running up margins in Eastern PA?

Most likely not, since Val Arkoosh will do reasonably well in the Philadelphia suburban counties and probably elsewhere in Eastern PA.

At this point I'd say that Arkoosh is the candidate more likely to beat Fetterman, though for now I think Fetterman is the favorite.

[Utah Neolib]

If anything, the second most likely democratic nominee is Arkoosh

[NewYorkExpress]

Former Arlen Specter aide Craig Snyder will announce today.

Next year’s race to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate will help shape the direction of the Republican Party. And Craig Snyder thinks there’s still time to take a sharp turn away from former President Donald Trump.

Snyder, a 60-year-old Republican from Philadelphia and onetime top aide to the late, moderate Sen. Arlen Specter, will announce his candidacy on Wednesday in a race that will help determine control of the Senate.

He’s aiming squarely at the political middle, allying himself with prominent anti-Trump Republicans, and calling for a party reckoning. His slogan: “Not Trumpism. Not Socialism. Common Sense.”

“In the absence of the kind of movement that I’m trying to mobilize, Pennsylvanians are going to end up next November with an unacceptable choice between a MAGA extremist and a woke progressive extremist,” Snyder, a business consultant and lobbyist, said in an interview Monday ahead of his formal announcement.

I don't think positioning oneself as a member of the Romney/Cheney/Kinzinger wing of the party is the way going forward, and besides, didn't Specter get run out of the Republican Party anyways?

[Calthrina950]

Former Arlen Specter aide Craig Snyder will announce today.

Next year’s race to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate will help shape the direction of the Republican Party. And Craig Snyder thinks there’s still time to take a sharp turn away from former President Donald Trump.

Snyder, a 60-year-old Republican from Philadelphia and onetime top aide to the late, moderate Sen. Arlen Specter, will announce his candidacy on Wednesday in a race that will help determine control of the Senate.

He’s aiming squarely at the political middle, allying himself with prominent anti-Trump Republicans, and calling for a party reckoning. His slogan: “Not Trumpism. Not Socialism. Common Sense.”

“In the absence of the kind of movement that I’m trying to mobilize, Pennsylvanians are going to end up next November with an unacceptable choice between a MAGA extremist and a woke progressive extremist,” Snyder, a business consultant and lobbyist, said in an interview Monday ahead of his formal announcement.

I don't think positioning oneself as a member of the Romney/Cheney/Kinzinger wing of the party is the way going forward, and besides, didn't Specter get run out of the Republican Party anyways?

Specter almost lost his primary to Pat Toomey in 2004 (Toomey was considered to be a staunch conservative back then), and was saved from defeat by the support he got from Bush, Santorum, and other members of the Republican establishment. He subsequently switched parties in 2009, as he would have lost a rematch to Toomey, but ended up being defeated in the Democratic primary by Joe Sestak, who himself then lost to Toomey in the general. Either way, Specter was a goner in 2010.

And yes, I agree with you that positioning oneself as a member of the neoconservative wing isn't going to lead to your advancement in today's Republican Party. Cheney and Kinzinger are themselves in danger of losing their primaries next year, and Romney may not run for reelection in 2024.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Any Republican who starts their pitch with 'Not Trumpism' is heading to electoral doom. Successful anti-Trump Republicans like Phil Scott carve out their brands a little more carefully.

[RogueBeaver]

Lamb will announce next Friday.

[SnowLabrador]

Lamb will announce next Friday.

Ugh, can't he stay and hold down his seat? He's also probably weaker than Fetterman.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We have enough people in this race it tilts D just like WI due to PA and WI need upgrades on infrastructure have you seen WI, it's a factory based state and so is Pittsburgh, they want to look modern, all the candidates are gonna split Philly and Fetterman wins Pittsburgh like LG and he easily wina

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Lamb will announce next Friday.

Glorious news

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Lamb will announce next Friday.

Glorious news

Fetterman is still heavily favored, the only poll on this race had Fetterman leading the primary and GE by nine pts in GE

[Epaminondas]

Lamb will announce next Friday.

Suppose he runs and discovers that moderate-hero Democrats don't play so well in the PA Senate race, and that nobody needs a third Dem obstructionist in Congress, when is the deadline for him to fall back on his old seat where he's actually useful? March 2022?

[Mr.Phips]

Apparently Lamb wants to throw away his career.

[Meatball Ron]

I can't stand Fetterman (I think his lack of remorse / apology related to the gun incident displays a lack of racial awareness that we don't need in the party right now, and I am generally averse to the "look at me" / always online / show horse over workhorse brand of politics), BUT I actually think he's a better option than Lamb. Lamb's slight underperformance last year concerns me, and I generally don't think he'd be able to excite voters to get the turnout we need. That said - PA's successful statewide Dem candidates (Wolf, Casey, Shapiro) are all relatively serious / "unexciting" so maybe I'm wrong here. I don't think either candidate will be particularly strong with POC (relative to Dem baseline) so that is a wash. I also think Fetterman would be a more reliable vote if actually elected to the Senate (I think concerns that Lamb would be "another Sinema" are overblown but generally I don't want to have to worry about securing the votes in our own caucus).

It's a real shame that it comes down to these two - Kenyatta, Dean, and Houlahan would be orders of magnitude better.

[Meatball Ron]

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, but 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.

Eh, I don't think this is a fair critique at all - my policy beliefs are more in-line with those of Bernie/Warren, but I preferred Harris over both of them in the primary (and I preferred Biden over Bernie, but not over Warren). So I wouldn't say it's a matter of genuineness - rather, it's that policy isn't the only factor; some people also like to look at leadership skills, coalition-building abilities, etc. when evaluating candidates. I knew that Biden would get us closer to Bernie's agenda than Bernie himself ever could - seeing as how ineffective the guy has been in Congress and his poor relationships with other legislators.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Fetterman should of ran for Gov and Lamb and Keyanetta for Senate but that leaves out Shapiro, the D's wanted an easy pickup to concentrate on other races, but it backfired on them, it looks like 2020 all over again, D's winning only 2 WI and PA and Loosing GA, if Abrams don't run for Gov, Herschel Walker should not be underestimated due to a Runoff

With Biden at 51/46% approval rating the same as he was on Election isn't Landslide Biden, like Bill Clinton was he is a 278 Clinton like Hillary was and is tared by Tara Reade like Bill Clinton was with Lewinsky

[wbrocks67]

I think the Lamb hate here is pretty overblown, and given PA's propensity for loving your "average sort of liberal Democratic white guy" (Wolf, Casey, etc.), Lamb fits the bill.

He's also not really as conservative as people make him out to be.

[GALeftist]

Fetterman is probably still the frontrunner with Lamb, but without him he was a prohibitive favorite since the Philly vote was getting split but not the western vote. I think Lamb has a greater chance of acting as a spoiler for western PA than actually winning, tbh.

[free my dawg]

Absolutely f***ing not.

[Lambsbread]

Nobody more grateful for this news than Malcolm Kenyatta. Two white dudes from Pittsburgh splitting that vote gives him a real shot to capture not just Philly and the surrounding areas, but a lot of areas that would otherwise have voted for either Lamb or Fetterman like Erie, Lancaster, Lackawanna, etc.

[ctherainbow]

It's a real shame that it comes down to these two - Kenyatta, Dean, and Houlahan would be orders of magnitude better.

I would have to disagree that it comes down to Fetterman or Lamb; with the Western PA vote split, that opens a lane for an Eastern PA candidate, if a frontrunner amongst that swarm can emerge and successfully winnow the field (as of now, I'd say Val Arkoosh, but I'd prefer Malcolm).  None of them have as much political fame or fundraising behind them as the FetterLamb do, so I imagine it's likelier that some of them will drop out rather than Fetterman or Lamb.

Don't underestimate the electoral divide along geographic lines in PA; it's pretty weighty, and if there's a 3 or 4 way primary that features 2 Western PA candidates, it's likely one of the Eastern PA candidates who will come out on top.