General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Let's look at Conor Lamb [View all]Deminpenn
(15,312 posts)that's well-known. It was undoubtedly the upset of the year when he won the old, pre-2018 PA 18th CD. It was less surprising he won re-election for a full term again in 2018. By the time the state supreme court threw out the heavily gerrymandered CDs and ended up drawing and imposing their own map, the 17th CD was bluer and Lamb was re-elected fairly easily.
Fracking has boomed in western PA, no surprise Lamb supports it or that Fetterman does. This area has been desperate for jobs for nearly 50 years after the mills started closing or moving out. Fracking has created jobs, although not even close to the scale the mills did, and it provides a small stream of revenue to the localities where the wells are.
Now the choice is between a centrist and a true, progressive Dem. If Lamb was running for re-election in the 17th, I'd vote for him, but with a clear choice in the Senate primary, Fetterman has my vote.
Just a word on "electability" which is the Lamb campaign as far as I can tell from his ads. There are lots of people here in western PA living in towns like Braddock that are still struggling to recover from the loss of the good paying jobs with benefits and pensions. When those jobs left, there was nothing for the younger generations and they left. That started a downward spiral. Don't underestimate how much Fetterman's moving to Braddock, continuing to live there and dedication to turning it around means to voters here.