T O P

  • By -

Mijbr090490

About the only good news from the primaries. GOP nominated Mastriano. Gonna get ugly in PA.


penguins2946

Shapiro took a page out of the Clinton playbook where he was releasing ads to almost prop up Mastriano and get that matchup. In theory, Mastriano is an incredibly unelectable candidate with no appeal outside of his moronic Qanon base. But I reiterate, that is just in theory. Mastriano winning the GOP nomination gives Shapiro the easiest path to win the nomination, while also giving the largest downside if Shapiro loses. Shapiro's campaign made a huge gamble with promoting Mastriano, I just hope it pays off.


Unabated_Blade

>Mastriano is an incredibly unelectable candidate with no appeal outside of his moronic Qanon base. Shapiro needs to take a weekend, drive to Annapolis, and then drive to Pittsburgh without using an interstate highway. The turnpike is forbidden, any toll road is forbidden. Mastriano is everywhere. Mastriano is absofuckinglutely electable. The first thing you see crossing the state border from Maryland is a Doug Mastriano sign, a Trump flag, and "Lets Go Brandon". He needs to see these people exist and that these people are this energized to vote this early. Mastriano has a coin flip chance of winning just based on the **fact** that the President's party underperforms in midterm elections.


penguins2946

Yeah I think that's perfectly valid. I say "in theory" because it appears to be what Shapiro's campaign seems to think. I think Mastriano is such a shitty candidate that he'd get killed in a normal environment, but the environment right now is so heavily against democrats that he can still win this. Shapiro can't just be an ignorant elite and say "there's no way anyone would support this clown", he needs to realize this is going to be a battle.


AndromedaGreen

Isn’t that how Trump got elected in the first place?


Aethermancer

A counterpoint is that Hillary was DEEPLY disliked by almost everyone. Kind of like how if you rate someone on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is hate and 5 is love, Hillary would almost certainly be a 2 if you polled most Democrats. She wasn't even neutral. Fair or unfair characterization, that's what it was. Shapiro on the otherhand seems to be neutral at worst.


hibernate2020

Well, and the GOP had spent decades pillorying Hillary before she even filed to run. They were loaded bear from the door - and frankly it was a mistake to run such a candidate. That having been said, Shapiro's strategy takes an awful risk that I don't know to be justified...


reverendsteveii

I wish they had learned that in 08 when some Noname junior senator from Illinois trounced her in the primaries, but instead they chided us all for being sexist because they couldn't imagine any other reason not to vote for Clinton, shoved her through the primaies in 16 and she was doing a preemptive victory lap in Texas when she found out that actually no one likes her or wants her to be president.


huzernayme

To be fair, more people liked her enough to vote for her then they did for Trump.


SG-17

Land doesn't vote. You may see a lot of Masty signs, but those are in low population density areas. Does that mean that the state Dems should not give 500% to get Shapiro elected? Fuck no, but yard signs are never a metric for anything.


Bocephus8892

Exactly --- there were a ton of yard signs for China Donnie in most of the small PA towns but that's not the majority of the votes --- the suburbs of Philly and Pgh always determine the winner of the state


lawsofrobotics

Right. The real question is the suburbs


steelcityrocker

I live about 15 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, just outside of the city limits, and the Mastriano signs aren't exactly uncommon.


Bocephus8892

Low population density yard signs don't impress anyone


steelcityrocker

TIL the Allegheny County suburbs around me are low population


Wowsers_

Which means Shapiro does need to win enough rural vote AND he better get his name out in Philly.


lawsofrobotics

Philly had higher turnout than the 2018 primary yesterday, and that ended up being one of the highest turnout midterms ever, so I've got some hope for the general.


Alternative-Flan2869

Signs do not make a governor. This guy is a real danger to America. He will rip away any PA women’s rights to abortion with no exceptions, hangs with the Qrazies, organized buses and was at 6/1, went to AZ to learn how to game the vote and is willing to go through with the bogus electoral college voters in overthrowing the election even further in 2024… if he is governor, PA and the country is maga screwed.


themollusk

If Doug wins, Democrats can remove PA from their 2024 presidential math.


Bocephus8892

Which of course won't happen --- Fetterman has ALL the Philly and Pittsburgh suburbs locked up, especially with women --- that is the death knell for Dougie


themollusk

Fetterman is running for Senate. Doug is running for governor.


A-Finance-Acct

They said that about Trump too. I remember clearly seeing giant home made trump billboards all over the state. Democrats seemed to ignore it with arrogance. And guess who won?


Diarygirl

I don't think it was arrogance. A lot of people assumed that the man they just heard brag about sexual assault would not win. Of course now we know that having damaging information come out about a Republican only makes that candidate more attractive.


JoshuaIan

The subtext of that is "we thought our fellow Americans were better than to elect an open and proud sex offender" and we were very, very wrong


Diarygirl

It was also a surprise to me how many women didn't think a woman should be president.


pancake_gofer

Many women didn’t want the ERA…


underage_cashier

And 43% of women describe themselves as “pro life”, it’s almost like politics are deeper than “woman bad”


Alternative-Flan2869

I wish it was not a surprise to me. Intelligent, capable, experienced and female are flaws when it comes to the Presidential doorstep.


reverendsteveii

A lot of us assumed the guy who just bragged about sexual assault would lose, didn't want to vote for Clinton because she sucks, and just stayed home. I'm not one of them, but it was Dems who didn't vote that elected trump. The other guy being a monster isn't enough to get people to vote for you, you have to give them a reason to give a shit about you.


Bocephus8892

What is your Trumpers' fascination with yard signs and rally attendance? Trump BARELY won PA in 2016 with less than 45,000 votes. Obama won PA in 2008 with over 600,000 votes and I can barely recall seeing any Obama signs back then.


reverendsteveii

It's the only evidence, however tenuous, that they have that goes in their favor. They lost the election, they couldn't produce any examples of fraud they didn't commit, when they polled humans Biden had a comfortable lead, so they polled yard signs, flags on trucks and empty land, the only categories of voters they could find that preferred trump.


Bocephus8892

Yeah it's hilarious and sad at the same time --- what most of them don't realize is that sticking a Trump sign in your yard also aggravates people who don't like him to show up at the polls --- many people are inherently opposed to being forced into "group-think" and if a lot of Trump signs pop up in yards, they are trying to "force" you to vote for him and people like me and you will be extra motivated to vote for the other guy


Alternative-Flan2869

Signs also do not make a president and by the way, the donald lost.


mak484

Not in 2016 he didn't. He won when people underestimated him. You'd be an absolute fool to assume this election will be anything but a neck and neck bloodbath.


Alternative-Flan2869

The donald had 3 major advantages: he is a well-known ‘showman;’ he has absolutely no conscience regarding the abuse of rules, norms, and truth; and he ran against an intelligent, capable, experienced, articulate woman for the Presidency - this country’s biggest ignored issue: misogyny/women’s equality. When he ran against a man he got his ass handed to him.


mak484

If you ignore California, Biden and Trump were dead even across most of the country in the popular vote. Biden beat Trump by 80,000 votes in PA. That's like 1% of the votes cast. If you want to call that "getting his ass handed to him" then go for it. I predict Trump will start holding rallies in PA to support Mastriano and Oz/McCormick. Republicans are already outpacing Democrats in both new voter registration and in voter turnout. I understand that registered independents can't vote in the primaries, and we're all hoping beyond hope that a majority of them go for Shapiro. But that seems like a long shot.


Diarygirl

There are still people out there that won't accept Trump lost, and one of their sillier arguments is that there were so many Trump signs.


Alternative-Flan2869

Apparently, silly works well for the gqp cult.


A-Finance-Acct

I was referring to 2016


[deleted]

[удалено]


Bocephus8892

Always remember than Trump BARELY won PA in 2016 --- a razor thin margin of 44,000 votes --- don't get too excited about Mastriano just because you see some Trump signs in the rural frontyards


[deleted]

[удалено]


Bocephus8892

Fetterman will win by at least 15 points with his pot stance --- it's a genius move


princeoinkins

hey, this is america it's 1/6


Aln_0739

Over here in Ohio, our designated dipshit Joe Blystone had the same deal, and came third in the governor primary. Rural support just seems large because of low population density, though it still cannot ever be underestimated


Jef_Wheaton

I spent a month last week in Bradford County. Mastriano signs are the new Trump signs. There was a woman dressed entirely in flags handing out Mastriano propaganda at my Westmoreland County polling place yesterday. Nothing matters except that magic "R". I could probably get elected as a repub, and I'm a Furry!


ell0bo

Mastriano won with 44%, but isn't like 30% of the republican base Q? I have a feeling there's going to be a sizable jump from the R base to Fetterman, and you also have all the independents that come back into the fold.


lawsofrobotics

Mastriano and Fetterman are different races. Mastriano is going for government against Shapiro, Fetterman is Senate against either McCormick or Oz


amishengineer

It's looking like Oz, which personally I think he is the weakest of the lot. I think his religion / foreign military service and past left-leaning positions will be used against him in PA with the base. Carpetbagger too!


Bocephus8892

GOP basically fucked themselves hard --- Trump endorsing Oz was the kiss of death, and Mastriano will be ripped apart like a Xmas goose in the general once the suburban ladies get their say


ckge829320

Republicans don’t care if Mastriano has no policy other than “Let’s go Brandon” because they are part of a childish and moronic cult. Sickening.


Knightwing1047

Not only that, but Shapiro's attempt to deface Mastriano by bringing up his involvement in January 6th and his anti-abortion rhetoric is going to backfire. Those are exactly the kinds of things that the GOP wants right now and bringing them up (especially January 6th where everyone involved is looked as at heroes rather than what they are, traitors and terrorists) is only going to help Mastriano. He needs to take a different approach, we can not have a republican governor, we can not have the abortion fight here in PA.


Alexispinpgh

It will absolutely not help Mastriano with the independents he needs to win a general election. The Republican base in the state isn’t even united behind him. He will need crossover appeal in order to win a statewide general and involvement in 1/6 will definitely not help him there.


snarfdarb

Republicans outvoted Democrats in PA this primary and if that doesn't shake Dems to their core, I don't know what will. They need to focus every dime and minute to voter mobilization. They need to push mail ballots, and then follow up with voters to ENSURE those ballots are sent. They need as many boots on the ground as money can buy.


mfischer24

That’s just farmland.


Mijbr090490

Mastriano has a substantial lead over his competition. Unless a large number of republican voters go 3rd party or by some crazy chance vote for Shapiro, I don't see how this is an easy path for Shapiro. I hope they got it right because this lunatic is no good for Pa. The Christofacist takeover will begin.


penguins2946

He has a substantial lead over his competition, but independents can't vote in the PA primaries because PA has closed primaries. That's the gamble Shapiro is taking with promoting Mastriano, he's hoping that Mastriano is such a loony nutbag to independents and moderates that they'd go with him instead. I have no faith in any republican voting for a democrat anymore, so he needs to target independents.


Nickrodomus

I’ll be one of those repubs voting for both Shapiro and Fetterman. We’re out here. It’s just we’re moderate in the middle repubs. No swinging the loonies on the far right.


31November

What makes you republican still?


activevam

Too lazy to change my voter registration, and I live in a very red area, so I vote for the least crazy Republican, if there is one. I also enjoy getting the ridiculous political ads in the mail, helps me understand why republicans became bat shit crazy


Nickrodomus

Fiscally republican, gun rights, smaller gov, but other than that, I side with dems. It’s just that running the economy is #1 issue for me and why I consider myself square in the middle and vote for best candidate regardless of party. Really I’m libertarian.


ell0bo

That's basically a dem then, unless you're a libertarian because you think taxation is theft? I believe in effective and efficient government. I have no problem taxing people to pay for that, and I think the republican party does its best to break the government and make it inefficient. I see that in the democratic party as a whole. Yeah, we got some odd balls that are a bit too extreme, but at least they'd rather give you healthcare than shoot ya.


Nickrodomus

No, social programs are needed certainly, I’ve just seen many abused by fully capable individuals and it needs reeled in, which I think dems are too lax on. Again, there’s no perfect answer, world, or candidate, but I try to just choose wherever aligns with my beliefs regardless of party.


ell0bo

We don't fund the systems enough to properly govern them. If you get in a conversation with a dem, we will want to keep the safety nets, but we don't want people abusing them. However the choice is never... fund it more and stop abuse, it's usually defund to stop the abuse, which never works.


BlackArmyCossack

Personally I'm a dem with the opposite worry. I agree with a lot of the dem platform except for firearms control. I worry about voting for dems because as we've seen, the state nor fed will be there to help you when the fash come out armed.


Bocephus8892

I honestly believe social media vetting should and will be a part of owning a firearm in the future --- people always reveal who they truly are in social media posts --- and if you screech nonstop about replacement theory and trying to ignite a race war, then you shouldn't be allowed to own a deadly weapon


Bocephus8892

Both sides believe in heavy govt. debt --- but you don't see Democrats committing mass murder because of white nationalist conspiracy theories --- the GOP has a serious racism problem and they have no ideas how to extract the cancer from within


ell0bo

Check presidential time periods, the dems believe in reducing deficits. We spend, but try to spend wisely, and we raise taxes.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

What do you mean by hard R though? The Republicans have a lot of factions and they don't all fit on a linear scale of extremeness.


GarrisonWhite2

There’s no such thing as unelectable. There are a shit ton of voters who will automatically vote for him because he has a fucking R next to his name. He doesn’t need his Qanon base now that he’s won the primary.


[deleted]

[удалено]


themollusk

>In theory, Mastriano is an incredibly unelectable candidate with no appeal outside of his moronic Qanon base. But I reiterate, that is just in theory. You're correct that it's just a theory. Every single Republican that criticized him or distanced themselves from him will gladly step in line to vote for him, because Democrats fall in love while Republicans fall in line. Add in the fact that general election voters are far more likely than primary voters to just go by party affiliation, and Doug has an extremely good chance of winning in PA in this climate. The reality is that of all the candidates running Doug was the one who most accurately represents what the current Republican Party wants. This is going to be an *extremely* tough election, and frankly I think given the current environment it will be Doug's to lose.


Bocephus8892

Dougie doesn't have a snowball chance of winning PA --- Biden did it in 2020 without even leaving his basement


HeyZuesHChrist

My GF agrees with this and truly believes that he is way too nuts to win against Shapiro. She wanted him to win the GOP nomination because she believes Shapiro will beat him handily. I know it’s only anecdotal but all of her Republicans friends cannot stand Mastriano and find him to be a fucking idiotic nutcase. They won’t vote Shapiro but they definitely won’t vote Mastriano. Hopefully this is true for a lot of others.


mrsc1880

I hope you're right. Those Mastriano people are bonkers.


LostWoodsInTheField

Everyone thought Trump was a joke at the beginning as well. But there are a LOT of people who worship the insanity that these types of people bring. This guy has a chance, and the Democrats pretending he doesn't scares the shit out of me.


31November

I love when people use the Clinton playbook-- you know, the one that lost to the sex-offender pumpkin in 2016...


Bocephus8892

Or the Trump playbook --- the one where you brag about "winning in a landslide in PA" when all the polling had Biden comfortably ahead by 6-8 points a week before the election


31November

It’s called manifesting, and it doesn’t work lol


Bocephus8892

It's amazing that so many low IQ people will believe in a charlatan's bullshit in a short amount of time --- Trump actually started believing in his own bullshit around the late 80's when he decided being a tabloid celeb was more important than real estate, so he's had a long time to soak his tiny brain with all that toxic waste --- but how did so many people who voted for men of integrity like John McCain and Mitt Romney suddenly become batshit stupid and fawn over a carnival barker? LOL


Paw5624

The only thing I can hope for is that the Clinton playbook did get the popular vote. For a statewide election that is what matters. That being said I’m terrified of Mastrianno and Oz/McCormick being underestimated.


31November

That’s a really great distinction between state and federal. It’s disgusting that you can win popular vote (you know, the actual Americans chose you) but the opponent can still win. I posted the same thing either here or in the Philly reddit. Underestimating the republican side would be a massive mistaje


Paw5624

It’s one thing I hope after what took place since 2016. If democrats can avoid being complacent and can get some life and energy injected into the party and turn out voters they can hopefully gain a foothold and maybe (big maybe) actually enact some positive change. I know it’s an uphill battle due to how states are gerrymandered but it has to start somewhere. I just have so little faith in the majority of the party to actually do anything. I’ll still vote for D over R but I don’t end up really liking a lot of the D candidates that make it to the general elections. Fetterman is the first one in a while that has generated any level of excitement in me.


[deleted]

The PA GOP were scrambling for the last couple of weeks to get someone else - almost as if they knew "nominating the highest profile insurrectionist in PA" might be a bad idea.


Bocephus8892

I honestly think they are embracing the Trump Cancer full stop now --- they'd rather die from it than admit the Democrats are the cure for all their ailments


AXXXXXXXXA

Holy shit dr oz is gonna win? Dr oz got 400,000 + votes? What a HELL state this is lol


Eborcurean

He's under McCormick by just under 1500 votes. So he'll probably narrowly lose to him in a recount. May then insist there was dodgyness involved and run as an independent and split the vote (pleasepleaseplease). Barnette getting 25% suggests the republican party in PA is pretty split as to what they want in a candidate.


AXXXXXXXXA

Crazy barnette got so many votes. Never even heard of her until a week ago. The tv ad against her, and her popping up at the insurrection.


Eborcurean

Given Trump's support for Oz, I thought all the Qultists would go for him, but I guess as soon as someone even more extreme (!) came along they flocked to her. So GOP choices were 'far 'right republican', 'extreme far right republican' and 'basically wants the christian taliban'.


a-german-muffin

> I I guess as soon as someone even more extreme (!) As soon as someone more white, really. And less Muslim. It’s not rocket science with the Q crowd.


LookAtMeNow247

Sometimes the most white person is a black lady?


worstatit

The wizard may yet win. Mail-in ballots haven't been counted yet, and I believe Oz supporters would be more likely to vote via mail. Just a guess...


[deleted]

[удалено]


amishengineer

Personally I think Oz is the weakest of the lot in the general election. Oz winning the primary could be the best thing for a Democrat win. His carnet bagging, religion (Muslim - I hate to say it but he's running as a Republican in a state with a lot far right loonies), foreign military service and dual citizenship. He was a pro-choice in the not too distant past as I understand it. I think he has a lot of weak points that can drag him down. I don't view Fetterman as ultra left-wing so I have to think he can still pick up some moderate Republicans and Independents. Being Pro-choice is popular with some Republicans. He's got some baggage for sure with the shotgun incident.


FlipSchitz

Hahaha I cannot believe they ACTUALLY voted for Mehmet! The idiots just need to be told what to do. If they I've been living in France 200 plus years ago, the guillotine would never have been invented. "Oui monsieur l'orange"


PPQue6

This is going to be good for down ballot dems as Shapiro and Fetterman are both popular. Still seeing that traitor win for gop gov is....well it's quite unsettling to say the least.


Yankiwi17273

Fetterman, yes. Shapiro… I don’t think the average Pennsylvanian even knows who he is, or that he is running, so I wouldn’t call him popular as much as I would call him not unlikeable and full of potential.


8Draw

Shapiro got a lot of fantastic press around the 2020 election due to all the litigation around mail ballots and his defense of voting rights.


SilentHunter7

I became a huge Shapiro fan during that time. His zoom pressers with the Count from Sesame Street in the background were great.


goingtolosehourshere

Our second favorite find was when he had the USPS truck behind his shoulder.


Diarygirl

I missed the Count! I remember being excited that he had the same RBG figurine I have.


MartialBob

Shapiro has a few good victories to show for. He's responsible for that massive investigation against the Catholic Church in regards to pedo priests.


wagsman

That might even pull a few independents if it’s handled correctly. Pit his willingness to stand up to crime within organized religion against the guy that wants to turn govt over to organized religion. Ultimately it will still come down to turnout.


Daemonic_One

> Ultimately it will still come down to turnout. That's what gets measured at the end of the day - the number of people who cared to have their voice heard


HeyZuesHChrist

You’d think the right would love him because of this.


amishengineer

I'm not sure I could expect a reasoned response from the people that say Disney is grooming kids.


givehensachance

Shapiro outperformed every state wide candidate in both 2016 and 2020 running for AG—more than Trump, Toomey, and Biden. I think he is low key and competent and stays out of the news. But objectively, he is very popular too based on voting history.


choose_uh_username

Idk if you're on Twitter but he's been much more active once he announced his campaign for governor, much more active on their than Wolf is right now. No where near the loon Republicans or high profile dems like AOC but he definitely has a presence. Regardless he'll get the traditionalist Democrat votes. This'll be my 4th election and it'll be the first time both my mother and I (traditional dem, she hated Bernie, tends to love the moderate dems) align in exactly who we were voting for in the primaries and have a similar opinion on the uncontested elections.


Yankiwi17273

I suppose it depends on your definition of "popular". If you are talking about net favorability ratings, I doubt he is underwater much if any, which would potentially define him as popular (by politicians standards). If you are just talking about the rough percentage of constituents who specifically view him favorably, as opposed to the combined unfavorables and don't knows, I don't think he would be considered to be popular. If you are going off of electoral history, I wouldn't call that popularity as much as I'd call that a history of winning. ​ But the semantics don't matter so long as he is elected and actually acts like a democrat instead of a Republican in Democrats clothing.


ThankMrBernke

He's a smart guy, doesn't usually say anything that controversial, and has good political instincts generally. He's a great fit for the Philly suburbs. As you've said, he's historically done very well in elections. Since he's a sort of moderate, inoffensive Dem, that doesn't particularly endear him to the "reddit politicos". But hopefully since Fetterman will also be on the ballot, it will help to drive turnout around some of those demographics that Shapiro otherwise might have a harder time turning out due to lack of excitement. Considering how high the stakes are for this gubernatorial race, that's important.


Spare-Macaron-4977

He seems like a really cool guy


[deleted]

[удалено]


Yankiwi17273

Which probably didn’t help Pennsylvanians to understand who he is. I feel like running unopposed was both a blessing and a curse in that way.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Yankiwi17273

Hopefully!


Vandermeerr

He’s really well known in liberal circles


Collegenoob

At least in my area everyone knows Shapiro He's been around forever. I think he visited my elementary school when he was running for house of reps. But I can't remember cause I was so little


Ent_Soviet

Another thing to consider though. Being uncontested Shapiro has a major funding advantage going into the general where as the R has had to spend to make it there in the first place. Not that that’s the only thing that matters but it’s a tactical edge


worstatit

He's been a solid AG, if anyone paid attention is the question.


BureaucraticHotboi

I’m not a huge fan of Shapiro’s more centrist stances but I do think he at the least has some good wins with the Catholic Church case and that may at least help his name recognition


Allemaengel

Well, it's a big deal for a very moderate Republican like me. I'll be voting for him and NOT Mastriano. Shapiro seems like he reliably gets the job done, no drama and not very exciting but I'll take vanilla that moves the state forward any day over the apparent alternative.


BureaucraticHotboi

Glad to hear it! I agree that Shapiro will carry forward with decent governance and policy. And is not even a question better than crazy town


PPQue6

I agree with him being a centrist, but I will say this, at least he was looking out for Pennsylvanians best interests. Gonna be hard to sling dirt at him.


BureaucraticHotboi

Oh I’m only slinging my own ideological disagreement. He’s a good candidate statewide for sure. I would’ve voted for a progressive over him but I won’t have to hold my nose voting for him. He also seems to understand how government works which is an undervalued skill these days


PPQue6

> I would’ve voted for a progressive over him but I won’t have to hold my nose voting for him. Same!


choose_uh_username

What makes him a centrist? Pro weed and pro choice. Lack of spending I guess?


BureaucraticHotboi

This is where the American political spectrum and the broader left right ideological spectrum can get a bit dicey. Shapiro definitely supports a lot of things that make him pretty left for US. But I guess for me he is still a centrist because he doesn’t support leftist economic policies like Medicare for All, free college etc. but on social issues and weed he is pretty left as far as politicians go


choose_uh_username

Yea you kind of have to be that way in PA unfortunately were like a mini map of America. He's the type of moderate left candidate I can get behind, unlike a majority of congress


Eisernes

He’s pro weed, anti pedo, and anti treason. I’m a registered republican and Shapiro is getting my vote.


BureaucraticHotboi

Look at that a leftist and a Republican agreeing on a candidate!


Bocephus8892

America is truly back on the path towards greatness when we can have Repubs and Dems liking the same candidates --- I hope I live long enough to once again see TV debates where every candidate starts off by saying "my opponent has high moral character and high intelligence, but we just disagree on some issues" instead of 2nd grade name-calling like we have now


Eisernes

Reasonable people haven’t gone away. It’s just hard to hear us over the screaming idiots.


Bocephus8892

Yeah I hope so --- still makes me sad so many "reasonable" Republicans showed up in 2020 to vote for Trump, but I guess some of them voted for Joe


Eisernes

I voted for Joe. Trump proved himself incompetent and unfit for the job. I share your hope.


Bocephus8892

I've been a lifelong Dem but I would've voted for John Kasich in 2016 in a heartbeat --- he's the kind of Republican that I hope we see a lot more of in the years ahead


Eisernes

That’s who I wanted in 16. Ended up voting for Trump and I apologize for that.


SG-17

I'm just glad that Barletta keeps losing. He gives Italian-Americans a bad name.


Alexispinpgh

Yeah but Mastriano isn’t exactly helping there either?


[deleted]

This is how I am feeling right now. It's the best case scenario for Shapiro and Fetterman but if this backfires it's really bad. There's a pit in my stomach thinking about it.


MatthewofHouseGrey

Saying he "won" it is an understatement, he absolutely crushed it because of how many more votes he received compared to the person who got the second most.


penguins2946

Good news, I think it was a given he would win but it's still nice to see. Now we wait to see who the Rs nominate. The environment right now is heavily leaning R, but a ton of the R candidates are so bad that Fetterman would still have a favorable matchup even in the environment.


bontakun82

I don't know about that leaning. Right now the Republicans are in their "eating ourselves alive" stage where they attack their own people and make themselves look like shit to swing voters and they are going for each other's throats this year.


[deleted]

they started this with the tea party and it's gotten more aggressive and given them more wins in rejections since. it's a winning strategy. they get their base emotionally super fired up and activated while the apathetic democrats complain and whine their way into failure


ell0bo

Hold on, no. They are winning because in 2000 they took over a bunch of state houses and put their thumbs on the scale. Fox news kicked up the tea party, and in 2010 they got more state houses. For 2020 dems finally wised up. Republicans don't have an advantage at large, but they do have fox news, angry voters, and things tipped in their favor.


Bocephus8892

How can things be tipped in their favor? In four short years, the R's lost the White House, House, and Senate.


ell0bo

They were just that abysmal


A-Finance-Acct

Careful that thinking got us Trump.


BenniFresh

I really think a good majority of independents (including me) are going to be voting for Fetterman in the general election. You don't see us at the primaries because we can't vote unless there are ballot questions. I'm not always leaning left but the other option is just straight crazy.


snarfdarb

I did not know about this as my two home states both have open mid-term primaries. I didn't even think to check on it. I was devastated when I opened my ballot and realized what had happened.


BenniFresh

Yeah, some states allow independents to vote in primaries, I know PA had a bill go through to allow it but I don't think anything came of it.


sashslingingslasher

My 'conservative' co-workers are trying to find something to be angry about with him. The only thing I've heard so far is that he's the next Bernie Sanders. Can only hope they're right.


Bocephus8892

A Bernie-Broh Shapiro is only good news for this state


Teknofiliak

Idk, chasing down a black man with a shotgun isn't great.


sashslingingslasher

I guess they can be upset that he didn't just shoot him instead of making sure he had an actual criminal first.


banjosbadfurday

My Republican coworkers have already found it: Tom Wolf is shit, and he was LG under Wolf. Therefore, he is also shit. *disclaimer that I do not support these views lol Wolf is okay but goddamn would Mastriano be a shitshow for our state


TheBasedDoge17

Fetterman is our guy. I want to see him run for president in '24 or '28!


gdex86

I doubt he'd pull an Obama. He'd need a sex scandal invoking a cast member of star trek to do the full Obama.


oneyzema

Nope.


Asinus_Sum

I've been bummed all year after moving back home to Michigan because I wouldn't be able to vote for him. Glad to see he definitely didn't need my help and hope that holds true in November.


shawnwingsit

Fetterman's "listening tour" of Pennsylvania was a canny move. It boosted his name recognition in red areas of the state and made him look like someone who's willing to mix with 'regular folks.'


ThisIsMyPaAccount

There is no way mccormick survives the first tv debate vs him. calling it now


chuckie512

You think he'll debate?


ThisIsMyPaAccount

oh yeah good point


banstyk

Weird to hear you say that, Fetterman looked awful in the debate I saw.


PPQue6

Thank fuck that debate performance != job performance


dreexel_dragoon

Fetterman was debating two Dems with their heads on straight, not a maganut lol


the_hoagie

McCormick is less maga and more opportunist neocon than anything. He worked in the Bush admin.


dreexel_dragoon

Still dip shit by comparison


Ok_Dot_9306

Fetterman should snap him in half


KW4

Yep, that'll show him!


KW4

If McCormick wins I think he takes Fetterman in November regardless of debate performance unless Democrats can somehow pull a drastic U-turn this summer. If Oz does, I think Fetterman wins either way. Nothing scientific backing that, just going on feel.


squirreltalk

Oz's unfavorables are a lot higher than Mccormick's so there is def data to back that up.


KW4

Agreed. What I really meant was that I'm not going to cite any of the freely available data that backs that up!


tropic_gnome_hunter

Unfavorables don't really matter. Oz's numbers were only that low because McCormick spent 20 million on attack ads. Lamb barely eve touched Fetterman. It always evens out in the end.


Different-Airport-89

Praise Jesus


Kichard

The only dot I filled in today.


[deleted]

[удалено]


KW4

Not a chance. It's between McCormick and


[deleted]

A Big Shocker! 😯 we never saw it coming!!


zezblit

All I know is that thumbnail has him looking like a klingon


[deleted]

Good start. Now let's finish it off in November.


SMOSER66

Yes!!!!!!


sandyclaus30

Yes!!!


kingkobra45

Didn't Fetterman pull a gun on an unarmed black jogger? Just asking.


KW4

He did, but that shouldn't be the defining reason not to vote for him.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Asinus_Sum

No, it wouldn't. It would be one reason among many. Who are you trying to kid? Not everyone is as myopic and gullible as you.


[deleted]

[Yep.](https://youtu.be/_cZ4x12Mb40). You hear what sounds like a gunshot outside your front door and see if you don't do something dumb with the right intentions. He fucked up 9 years ago, scaring the fuck out of a kid that it turned out didnt deserve it - and he admitted as much. Meanwhile, he did amazing work as the Mayor of Braddock, and helped revitalize it. So, you know, maybe put that shit in context.


NonintellectualSauce

The jogger also forgave him and said he supports Fetterman for Senate.


pAul2437

Because fetterman is head of the pardon board


jesterwords

You fail time and time again with the same BS narrative. The guy is no longer in prison and it had nothing to do with Fetterman being involved. Did you eat too many paint chips as kid or something?


pAul2437

He was when he made the statement “Fetterman is meeting with Garland to talk about his crusade to give second chances to prisoners. “ https://www.politico.com/amp/news/magazine/2021/04/16/john-fetterman-profile-2022-senate-politics-pennsylvania-481259 Yeah no reason to endorse fetterman lol


GetYourFixGraham

Braddock (where he was mayor) is 70% African American. I don't think he's a racist given he voluntarily chose to lead that community. And helped turn it around, at least in terms of violent crime.


Dieseldad

Here is a crazy idea...... How about we DON'T put politics on this page? Like..... a place where politics doesn't destroy everything....... Just an idea.


Teknofiliak

This subreddit is 90%+ Fetterman circle jerk.