It is really thrilling that John Fetterman won so decisively.

[madaboutharry]

Last edited Wed May 18, 2022, 08:54 AM - Edit history (1)

I barely knew who Conor Lamb was before this election. That tells me he was something of a back bencher in Congress. Frankly, that is not what democrats need. The time for candidates "out of Central Casting" has long past. Democrats and America need people in Congress and in the Senate who have big ideas, big mouths, and say it like it is.

This country needs a democratic majority in the Senate. His presence will not only give democrats an expanded majority, it will also marginalize a couple of sabotaging democratic Senators who have too much power.

On edit: I get it. Conor Lamb is a good guy. I agree he is, but the atmosphere now is different. Of course all democrats would vote for any democrat, but Fetterman can peel away votes that a moderate democrat wouldn't get. I think that is what I was trying to say.

[Lovie777]

1. I liked Connor Lamb as well . . ...

Fetterman is quite colorful and a bright light that is needed in this day and time.

[H2O Man]

17. Right.

Lamb is a good man and a solid Democrat. I have a high opinion of him.

One of my PA cousins knows Fetterman, and has been telling me for some time that he would soon be a national figure. I think he has the broad appeal that our party needs at this time.

[peggysue2]

2. The extraordinary thing about Fetterman's win?

He won everywhere, in every county. He did exactly what he said he would do: reach out to everyone--blue, red and purple--across 67 counties.

Fetterman can win this thing for Pennsylvania and the country. Although Fetterman had few early endorsements, they're pouring in now because success gets noticed. Carville said Fetterman was the best retail politician he'd seen in over twenty years (a wink and nod to Bill Clinton). Michael Steele referred to Fetterman as the 'everyman' who would be very difficult to beat in November because of his broad, populist appeal.Senator Casey jumped on the wagon and President Biden applauded the win and the man,

It was a berry, berry good night!

[LymphocyteLover]

7. there is a worry he won't be able to pull in the Black vote though

given that shotgun incident... he will have to work to overcome that

[IronLionZion]

12. That was a bigger hurdle in the Dem primary than the general election

He might be facing this douchebag in the general

[AllyCat]

19. Violent GOP.

Always have to show themselves with their first loves…their guns

[IronLionZion]

20. They're always compensating for something

[Deminpenn]

15. Jmho, but Black voters like living in safe neighborhoods, too

This happened in Braddock, a poor ninority community with more than its fair share of gun violence. What Fetterman did was stop and hold a person who he saw in vicinity of where gunshots were fired. That person was not hurt or even arrested after the cops determined he was unarmed. This inicident is not the same as other instances of AfAms being arrested for minor infractions that escalate or attacked and killed by white supremacists.

[The Jungle 1]

22. The man involved in the shotgun incident SUPPORTS Mr. Fetterman.

This should be a non issue.

[LymphocyteLover]

40. Great! I had said that was a concern, but awesome if it's not an issue.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

48. That shotgun incident was blown wayyyyyy out of proportion because that's all they had.

[LymphocyteLover]

52. I figured it was. Still there is this piece of data

Link to tweet

[peggysue2]

23. I think Fetterman and his team are smart

If the breakdown in the primary numbers show a dip in AA numbers, they have the next 5 months to engage, persuade & convince. I'm sure the entire Democratic election team will be on it and address any holes in the coalition.

The incident in 2013 will surely come up and Fetterman will need to address it bc, as you suggest, there have been questions and anger. Not so much in Braddock (where it happened) but elsewhere.

On the other side of the equation is Fetterman's activist work on the Board of Pardons, his advocacy for prisoners serving life sentences. He butted a lot of heads in the process but his passion for the work should be a plus on the Dem scoreboard. The man says what he means and means what he says. However, I have no doubt that very advocacy will be weaponized by Republicans--squishy on crime, yada, yada.

So yes, there's still work to be done and a fierce fight ahead. But I think Shapiro and Fetterman offer us the very best chance to secure the state for the Democratic Party.

[LymphocyteLover]

41. Yeah, that's my thought

[The Jungle 1]

56. We could not have asked for a better team.

Fetterman and Shapiro are top of the game.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. "there is a worry he won't be able to pull in the Black vote though"

Contrary to popular belief and repetitive assumptions, black folk aren't "monolithic" or endlessly tunnel-visioned like MAGATs. Otherwise Biden wouldn't have been elected.

Here is how Philly voted since most of the "black people" in the state live here and who represent 41% of the city's population per the last census (with ~95% tabulated) - https://results.philadelphiavotes.com/ResultsSW.aspx?type=STW&map=CTY





I am going through the pages of Ward/Division votes to see a more detailed view of where Lamb even got any support here (i.e., majority vote in a Ward). This will take some time and I'm plodding along.

But eyeballing the city map with a zoom-in, it appears that Lamb won 3 out of 66 Wards (still want to see the Division breakdown).

The results aren't final yet though, but this does show how the residents who did vote in the Primary ignored the party "machine" endorsements and voted for who they wanted. And yes, that means that black folk also ignored the often overly-cited "Black Clergy", who endorsed Lamb, and appeared to have gone with Kenyatta.

IOW, if you want to see how Philly had been red-lined and segregated over the past century, this is clearly illustrated on that city voting results map.

As a note - Kenyatta and Fetterman are to the left of Lamb and pretty much have a similar platform.

[LymphocyteLover]

42. Yes, and I saw Kenyatta endorsed Fetterman now, so hopefully a non-issue

[BumRushDaShow]

43. I know it will be a non-issue

Malcolm Kenyatta like his elders in the other chamber - the PA state Senate (e.g., Anthony Williams and Vincent Hughes, where Kenyatta is in the state House) are the firebrands letting Harrisburg know that yes, Philly is "in the House"!

The below was infamous "chaos in the PA State Senate" during the 2021 swearing in of that next class of State Senators where the GOP loons refused to seat one Democrat from Allegheny County, whose election had been certified by the state.

Anthony Williams lit into them (I have posted other versions of this but the above also has an interview with Fetterman explaining what was going on). Williams is the one of the longest serving and powerful Democrats there, where his own father had served for years in the same seat before he took that seat. Williams participated in part of Fetterman's "Listening Tour" on legalization of marijuana here in PA several years ago, so he knows him and has worked with him.

The other who has a similar strong constituency and has been in the State Legislature (both House and Senate) since 1986, is Vincent Hughes, who is similarly a firebrand (a video of him in action is at the below link - won't embed here - but the below remarks were done in the PA Senate Chamber the day before the January 6 insurrection).

https://www.senatorhughes.com/hughes-responds-to-pa-senate-gop-refusing-to-seat-sen-jim-brewster/

So Kenyatta, as the young up-and-coming legislator (he has been in 2 terms) is "standing on the shoulders" of those 2 men who are in the State Senate, and doing the same in the State House. He did also win the primary for his current seat and will be on the ballot for re-election in November.

[TeamProg]

37. The choice is clear if Dems are to keep the Senate. What's more important right now? n/t

[Deminpenn]

14. There are many "discouraged Democrats" in these

rural, red counties. It's like why bother to vote, but Fetterman is looking to pull out those voters which will help Dems up and down the ballot. Fetterman is telling these voters they aren't being overlooked or forgotten. That means the world to them.

[Cosmocat]

21. I posted that a few days ago

As a lifelong PA resident and someone who has been politically active for a long time now, he is absolutely the best retail politician I have seen in Pa - he has made countless trips throughout the ruralish counties to meet and greet, I have seen him stay after events with about 50 people to talk each and everyone who wanted to speak with hi afterwards ...

He has the best social media operations I have seen here, too. He wears me out with texts and emails, but past that he uses it not just to fund raise and stoke the hot topics, he uses it to go after Rs like so few Ds have the stomachs to do.

All with a VERY soft and simple tone.

[bigtree]

3. should celebrate the win

...without trashing the opponent.

[madaboutharry]

4. I didn't trash him.

I just made an observation. I am sure he is a very fine man, but democrats need something different in these times.

[Tree-Hugger]

6. Excellent statement

I like Lamb. He came on the scene by winning a contested seat in a red-leaning district and I think that's why he's not as "flashy." While he wasn't my chosen candidate yesterday, I would have certainly voted for him in November if he had the nomination.

His statement here is pure class and truth - we must be united in November.

[peggysue2]

9. That was a gracious statement by Conor Lamb

As was the reported phone call of congrats by Kenyatta. At the end of the day, we're all Democrats and we know what needs to be done in November:

WIN.

Which is exactly what we're going to do.

Shapiro and Fetterman will not only save Pennsylvania. They could easily save the whole damn country from an authoritarian takeover. That's how critical this race in PA truly is and we have excellent candidates.

Happy Days!

[IronLionZion]

13. Good respectful response

much better than what I expect from the other party. Let the GOP fight each other for a change.

[gab13by13]

5. Yeah, well Lamb is a good guy,

Lamb is a Democrat, Fetterman is a Democrat, that is all we need to know. Vote Democrat is the general election, our democracy depends on it, whether the candidate is a moderate or a progressive it doesn't matter.

[LymphocyteLover]

8. Lamb is a moderate Dem and a good guy... Fetterman is a more exciting

candidate though

[agingdem]

27. no more playing nice..

we need loud mouths...no more "when they go low we go high"...when they go low we kick them in the nuts...we call them racists, Nazis, self righteous sanctimonious bigots, haters of women...let Jamie Raskin and Brian Schatz punch back their contempt with "congress-speak"...let Joe Biden scold Manchin without a chorus of "OMG now he's really done it!"..educate the Trump moronic rally goers in language they will have no choice but to understand..."if you continue to vote your hate, you win nothing, but you do lose Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/healthcare"... if George Floyd and the BLM protest marches taught us anything it's this: we're done taking shit!...Hooray for the new generation of in-your-face Democrats!!!

[LaMouffette]

10. "Big ideas and big mouths"! Yes! Speaking as an introvert, I believe we need more Dem extroverts

in Congress who can be loud and righteous and get in the Repubes' faces. Yes, our introverted Congress people absolutely do stand up and fight back when they're pissed off, but a lot of us "innies" are just not as good at the anger thing as "outies" are.

[multigraincracker]

11. From his GED to his Harvard Graduate Degree.

If he ever runs in a national election, he will sweep the Rust Belt and bring back the traditional blue collar vote.
I expect the Publicans will have a fit and throw all kinds of crap his way, until he ask them to step outside for a talk.

[Cosmocat]

25. Last part is not his jam

He is a big, biker looking dude, but he is very soft spoken and natured. He never backs down on republican BS, and likes mixing it up with them. But, isn't the kind of dude to try to be intimidating in any way.

[AZLD4Candidate]

34. I expect them to say "he wants more illegal immigration. . .look at his wife" to be a campaign issue

The barrel has no bottom with them. If I continued my campaign for Arizona State House, I all but expected my Chinese wife to become a campaign issue since "see, he is beholden to China" and "he wants to bring in more foreigners to take your job."

[Upthevibe]

16. madaboutharry.....

I grew to really (as many of us probably did) love John Fetterman. I'd love to see him in the Senate.

[AllyCat]

18. Lot of black Twitter people saying they are sitting out

with Kenyatta out. I hope this is how some feel in any primary and then most come to support the democrat, even if they were not our first choice.

I really feel we cannot save our democracy without the black vote. Indeed, they are what has saved this country for 4 centuries.

[Native]

24. Good to hear that Kenyatta will be campaigning for Fetterman.

[AllyCat]

31. Oh this is good news!

[gab13by13]

26. Why listen to anything on Twitter?

10% of twitter is not real people. It was Russia who started the Bernie Bros., it was Russia who is behind the anti-vax movement.
Kenyatta is still running for his House seat so in that sense he is not out.

[AllyCat]

33. 90% are real people. Real black people whose opinions I trust.

Well aware of the Russians. It’s the shotgun incident.

[AZProgressive]

39. When it comes to Twitter

Bernie Bros are a myth.

There is hard data that shows "Bernie Bros" are a myth

(Snip)

A few weeks ago I penned a story for Salon attempting to qualitatively disprove the Bernie Bro myth by pulling from psychological theory and the nature of online behavior. To summarize my conclusions: First, there is a general tendency for online behavior to be negative, known as the online disinhibition effect — but it affects all people equally, not merely Sanders' supporters. Second, pundits systematically ignore when other candidates' supporters are mean online, perhaps because of the aforementioned established stereotype; in this sense, the Bernie Bro is not dissimilar from other political canards like the "welfare queen." Third, Twitter is not a representative sample size of the population, and is so prone to harboring propaganda outfits and bots such that it is not a reliable way of gauging public opinion.

Now, to add to this qualitative assessment, there is quantitative evidence, too — reaped from studying hundreds of thousands of interactions online — that reveals the Bernie Bro myth as, well, a myth. Jeff Winchell, a computational social scientist and graduate student at Harvard University, crunched the numbers on tweet data and found that Sanders' supporters online behave the same as everyone else. Winchell used what is called a sentiment analysis, a technique used both in the digital humanities and in e-commerce, to gauge emotional intent from social media data.

(Snip)

"Bernie followers act pretty much the same on Twitter as any other follower," Winchell says of his results. "There is one key difference that Twitter users and media don't seem to be aware of.... Bernie has a lot more Twitter followers than Twitter followers of other Democrat's campaigns," he added, noting that this may be partly what helps perpetuate the myth.

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/09/there-is-hard-data-that-shows-bernie-bros-are-a-myth/

There are pro Russia leftists on Twitter but they use Bernie and his movement for their own selfish purposes but Bernie Bro was a campaign smear.

[AntivaxHunters]

59. Can we please stop blaming Bernie for everything already?

I swear, how long is this going to go on for?
It's 2022. Republicans are taking away my rights as a woman.
2015 is ages ago. Let it go and focus. We need unity. NOW. If we expect to ever beat the fash trash right.

[KPN]

28. Legit Twitter people or trolls? With everything that is on the line right now,

I just can’t see how any Democrat in a State where Ds are competitive and actually have a chance could possibly sit this year’s election out. I’d be surprised if that actually happened in PA this year.

[AllyCat]

32. Legit Twitter people. The shotgun incident.

[BumRushDaShow]

38. Nobody here in Philly is talking about any "shotgun issue"

It's interesting how the amplification of this nonsense has persisted. And I expect 99+% of this city has no idea where Braddock is nor knows that the town has around the same population as Northeast High school here (one of almost 60 high schools).

[AllyCat]

45. That is good. Hoping that goes to the rest of the state

and people influencing multiple demographics are able to get that point across to those who are still taking a pause from it.

[BumRushDaShow]

46. The main thing they are talking about here in the community is getting the ghost guns off the street

as well as getting the straw purchasers locked up, and that has been directed to the mayor Jim Kenney, D.A. Larry Krasner, the AG (and Gov candidate) Josh Shapiro, and ATF.

They were able to at least break up what was called an "iron pipeline" of guns that have been funneled up here from GA and SC.

Feds: Hundreds of guns illegally trafficked to Philadelphia from South Carolina and Georgia

Associated Press
April 12, 2022·1 min read

Federal authorities have announced charges in connection with hundreds of firearms they say were illegally trafficked to Philadelphia from two states in the South. Officials said fourteen people face gun trafficking and conspiracy charges in connection with nearly 400 firearms purchased in Georgia and South Carolina and brought to the city.

“Almost 400 firearms illegally trafficked to Philadelphia — made available on the black market to people who aren’t lawfully allowed to purchase guns — each with the potential to destroy many lives,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said. Some of the firearms allegedly trafficked were used in crimes in the city, including shootings, and “dozens” remain on the streets of Philadelphia, said Matthew Varisco, special agent in charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Eleven people are charged in connection with nearly 300 firearms purchased from dealers in the Atlanta area and transported to Philadelphia for sales on the black market for a total of more than $100,000, authorities said.

Three people are charged in connection with more than 100 firearms purchased around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and brought to Philadelphia, authorities said. Three people are also charged in the two cases with dealing firearms without a license.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/feds-hundreds-guns-illegally-trafficked-112511739.html

So an incident in an obscure town several hundred miles from here that happened 9 years ago is the last thing on people's minds!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

49. It's just crybabies on Twitter who didn't get their way.

The “shotgun incident” was the result of not having anything else to attack the guy on.

[SunImp]

55. +1

[Historic NY]

29. Except now his health will become the issue...

Republicans will run with.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

30. Malcom Kenyatta is needed in Harrisburg.

He is a very charismatic person with a lot of support in his State House district.

[TeamProg]

36. PA Statewide: Fetterman 59% ! Lamb 26.5% Kenyatta 10.3%

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/17/us/pa-primary-elections-nc#john-fetterman-wins-pa-democratic-primary-senate




Democratic Primary
Candidate Votes Pct.
John Fetterman
692,805 +59.0% 59.0%
Conor Lamb
310,801 +26.5% 26.5
Malcolm Kenyatta
120,918 +10.3% 10.3
91% est. reported

(The INSANE) Republican Primary
Candidate Votes Pct.
Mehmet Oz
411,942 +31.3% 31.3%
Dave McCormick
409,348 +31.1% 31.1
Kathy Barnette
325,883 +24.8% 24.8

[Polybius]

44. Fetterman beat a little Lamb

From now till November, his popularity will only grow.

[Caliman73]

47. No need for that.

Lamb is a decent Democrat. They were opponents and may have different priorities, but there is no need to trash an opponent, especially from the same side.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

50. I contributed to Lamb when he took the seat the first time around.

Then he proceeded to try and unseat Speaker Pelosi and voted with Trump way too much.

People like that are ok in The House but they would have too much power to further harpoon President Biden’s progressive agenda - like those other two who shall remain nameless.

[Caliman73]

51. You can name them. Sinema and Manchin have been horrible.

I am glad Fetterman won in PA. I think that he will fight for what Democrats should be doing. I am simply saying that we don't need to kick down, especially with taunts that might be heard on a playground.

You can simply say that I am glad Lamb did not win because he was too far to the center or right for me.

Maybe it is just style for me. The same way I cringe when people say, "Rethuglican" and other made up, disparaging remarks. I am fine with people calling Republicans "assholes" but some of the other stuff just seems childish to me.

[FakeNoose]

53. If Conor Lamb had won the primary, I would have supported him

He is a good man and a good Democrat, however in this election I feel that Fetterman is the better choice.

[SunImp]

54. I guess "The Swarm" hates these threads

Not a lot of people crying about the shotgun incident now. John Fetterman is a good man and not a racist! I hope EVERYONE supports him and all the other Dem candidates who just won.

[betsuni]

58. Who are "The Swarm"? Democrats?

[Nixie]

60. Looks like something the brogressives use to "swarm"

[progressoid]

57. Hope he stays in good health!

Go Fetterman!

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

61. Yeah, he's way cool. Not from PA, but I plan to support his campaign. nt