Posted on 03/03/2017 9:54:36 PM PST by 198ml
Pennsylvania's 2018 race for U.S. Senate is getting underway.
Rick Saccone, a fiery Republican state lawmaker from suburban Pittsburgh, formally declared his candidacy Tuesday to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. Saccone held the event in the Pennsylvania Capitol, where he was joined by conservative supporters.
The 59-year-old Saccone is one of the state Legislature's staunchest conservatives and is a strong backer of President Donald Trump.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
Santorum wiped the floor with Casey in 3 nationally televised debates(2006). Didn’t help him. Hopefully times have changed.
The 2018 mid-terms are going to be fun to watch !
HOORAY Rick Saccone!
HOORAY Pennsylvania! “I see no pathway to 270” - rat propagandist.
http://www.270towin.com/maps/2016-actual-electoral-map
WOOOOOOHOOOOO President Trump
If this guy is as good as this article indicates, I hope President Trump campaigns with him.
A candidate thought not exactly top tier.
It's time to get out the big broom and sweep the uniparty pubbies OUT !
Will he support challengers ? Challengers to established hacks ?
That will depend on how he handles his COS Prince Rebus.
Good news for this Pennsylvania voter.
Casey is just a rubber stamp for the unions and rat leadership. He cannot think for himself. Casey is and has been forever utterly unqualified for any position in government. He is another Thad Cochran, who relies on his handlers for everything.
Casey is low hanging fruit. The GOP can take this senate seat with a good messenger. Pennsylvania is trending more and more Republican, as blue collar whites move away from the rat plantation.
Philadelphia will still be a problem. The GOP challenger will have to be careful not to do anything that will rile up the black welfare thugs in Philadelphia.
If Trump campaigns in Pennsylvania with a message of job creation, we can take this one.
I don't care. If he appears to have one percent more brain cells than Casey he'll get my vote.
I trust you are referring to casey......
I agree. The only thing Casey has going for him is his dead dad.
Of course I’m not referring to Casey, he’s the flippin 2 term incumbent with his bigshot daddy’s name.
Don’t mistake me, I’m sure Saccone is a swell guy and maybe he’ll turn out to be a strong candidate who will win.
But in a large State like PA, a State Legislator (from the lower house no less, 1 of a massive 203) from the 2nd largest metro area is not a top tier candidate for the US Senate. What do I mean by top tier? Someone with name recognition, major fundraising ability, past experience in a big race, ect. you know what I mean. Things that are predictive of the only thing that ultimately matters, victory.
I’m not knocking the guy and if he’s the only dude that’s gonna step up we’ll roll with him. But if I’m the NRSC or the State Party I’d be working hard to recruit someone higher on the food chain that would be more likely to run a strong race and win. That’s all.
“Thad Cochran.” HA! PERFECT!!!
Dang, I’m gonna miss the vote. Only regret I have for moving to NC. :)
Amen. A largely unknown candidate who won’t come close to matching Casey in fundraising would start off with a huge disadvantage. Smith was a great campaigner in 2012, a strong conservative with some money to spebd, yet Casey beat him by like 9%. We need someone with a higher profile in a state like PA. Given that the PA GOP currently does not hold any statewide offices (apart from Pat Toomey’s U.S. Senate seat), and that the most recent GOP governor was soundly defeated for reelection, the obvious place to look is in the state’s congressional delegation.
As I said a few weeks ago, I think that recently retired (after upholding his three-term pledge) Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick of Bucks County (whose brother, Brian, succeeded him in PA-08) would be our strongest candidate. He has name ID in the Philly metro area (by far the states’s largest and most expensive media market), conservative issue positions and voting record without sounding “scary” to suburbanites, the ability to get votes both from middle-to-high-income folks in Montco and Upper Bucks and more blue-collar voters in Lower Bucks, a good relationship from PA’s Republican officeholders, experience running tough races. I think that Mike Fitzpatrick would have the best chance of replicating Toomey’s 2016 performance (no one in PA can replicate Trump’s map, least of all against a Scranton boy) and unseating Casey.
If Mike Fitzpatrick isn’t interested, there are several good, conservative Congressmen who could be good candidates as well, but not “total packages” like Fitzpatrick would be. Congressman Lou Barletta of Hazleton is tough as nails and could cut into Casey’s home-region advantage in Coal Country, although Barletta may not run particularly strongly in the Philly area. Congressman Mike Kelly of Butler County represents Erie and some Pittsburgh exurbs and has turned a tough district into a safe seat (with some help from redistricting), but, again, is largely unknown in the Philly area. The Philly-area GOP Congressmen either have ruled out a run (Pat Meehan), haven’t been there very long (Ryan Costello, Lloyd Smucker and Brian Fitzpatrick) or are RINOs (Charlie Dent).
So if not Mike Fitzpatrick, whom can we run? Maybe a conservative businessman with deep pockets and some name ID—perhaps the owner of Yuengling? Or a Philly-area state senator? We certainly can’t pass up the opportunity to defeat Casey Junior once and for all.
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