No Endorsement in the US Senate Race? No Problem.

Join host Jesse White as he breaks down the recent endorsement vote (or lack thereof) by the PA State Democratic Committee in the upcoming US Senate Primary. Conor Lamb fell just short of the 67% vote threshold, so we will have an open primary. How does this impact the candidates, and what should we expect to see moving forward?

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Transcript

[jesse]: 0:31

I welcome to the Keston Recording podcast on near host Jesseight, today, we're going to be talking about the endorsement or lack thereof of the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee in the upcoming U S Senate primary. So for those of you who missed it, the State Committee met this past weekend. Uh, they met in a hybrid, so it was partially virtual for anybody that couldn't make it due to covet, or as it turned out, a Bl, Lizzard, and in person forby the one to be there, and for those of you that have never been to one of these meetings, This is how it works. It's the state committee members that are elected Uh, by different districts, all'll have a vote in whether or not somebody should be endorsed and the way it works. As there's a first ballot, everybody votes and then you have to get fifteen percent to make it to the second ballot. If nobody meets the Th two thirds threshold, which is a pretty heavy number to meet. If you don'. If nobody gets two thirds, Everybody that got at least fifteen percent moves on to the second ballot. And that's exactly what happened here. Valarkush did not get fifteen percent, so she didn't make it to the second ballot. So when they got to the second ballot, Uh. Connor Lamb came in with about sixty one percent of the votes. Uh. John Feederman came in at twenty three percent and Malcolm Kinyaa came in at, And I have to do math. Looks like about sixteen percent of the votes. So because nobody got sixty seven percent, there was no formal endorsement so one. in an interesting side note the politicaltico picked up on was that there was a a counting error where there were several individuals whose votes were not counted. Uh, but Itverb's been assured, and the Lammb campaign has acknowledged that it was a a technical difficulty that came along with the The The hybrid approach, because it was the first time it had been done and that it really that they knew wouldn't have made a difference. So it was Uh, you know, it was one of those things where Yes, there was a little bit of a stumble, but it was it had no bearing on the actual result. So, uh, and it's interesting that the way that the different candidates approached it right, so the Lamb campaign obviously was putting a lot of emphasis on this. They saw this as a big opportunity to jump over federment in money, Uh, and momentum more than anything else. So from all accounts, Uh, Connor Lamb was working the phones pretty hard. He was calling committee people multiple times. They were doing mailers. they were doing. You know everything was. It was basically a little mini election that most voters will never. You know we don't even see they were. You know, they were basically campaigning to a very small set of people that would have the power to give an endorsement, so there was a heavy pitch made there, and obviously he did well. I mean in, in addition to this, you know, as part of the sixty one to sixty two percent he brought in, he also got the endorsement of the Uh state Committee, Democratic cock, or I'm Sory, Hispanic Caucus, which you know, W, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at. So, and and the reason that was given behind that way, they talked about Connor's accessibility and all these things. Now it should be noted that you O'connor also, and he's kind of come by the title of institution candidate. Uh, you know, insider candidate, honestly, uh, in that you know, he first ascended to Congress in a similar process in the old Eighteenth Congressional district. Uh, you know, he was nominated by at a nominate convention among committee people, and he worked the process. You know he. He used his political connections and and you know not, there's nothing wrong with. It's just what he did and he was able to jump into that race. He beat Rixicone. He gets elected to Congress and the first big victory. Uh, After Trump was elected in that special election that had national attention and then redistricting. he gets into a safer district and now it looks like the district's going to disappear, so he decides to run for U S Senate. Okay, so just to where we're at. Uh, there's clearly you know, Connor is definitely a A. A moderate to conservative de Democrat by anybody's accounting, including his own, Uh, you know, and there are people that are saying well, That's exactly what you need because we need a centrist. We need someone that can you know be a voice of reason and moderation that could win statewide. The left side of the party is saying that's exactly what they say about Jo Mansion, And do we want to go through all this to get a Democrat elected who at the end of the day isn't going to be all in on democratic policies and ideals, And it's a V. That's a valid complaint. I mean that our valid concern that you know, W. This, we're we're about to go to war, um against whoever the Republicans put up for this crucially important U S Senate seat to replace Pat to me, And if at the end of the day we get somebody that we're nothing but frustrated with the entire way through, It's going to be a Ba leto for people. it's go to be a huge frustration. So there's a lot of. there's a lot of concern on that part of it. And we're as as this election gets close, or we're goingnna dig deeper and deeper into this on the podcasters'll let you have a lot of stuff planned that we're gonna talk about people that we're going to talk to about this race. But I think that this endorsement situation is a good microcosm of kind of where things sit. So you have Connor, who's working the inside game to some success, but not the level of success where he could have come out and declre a clear victory in the process. Uh it? It should also be noted that Conner is getting a lot of endorsements from like the building trades and a lot of traditional democratic stakeholders. But and this is a whole other subject for debate, you know, I. I would make the argument that the, the, the, the building trades and organized labor are not the democratic stalwarts that everybody thinks they they are, or that they once were, because. I I think if you look at where they actually give their money and their support, I think you'll see that it's not really what people think it is, but that's again, something for another day. So that's the corner lamb situation. The Federman folks came out afterwards and you know, knowing uh, that they couldn't possibly win the endorsement, you know, kind of made it as a a badge of honor right that you know, while we're you know we weren't trying for it, So the fact that we didn't get it doesn't really make a difference. That's the. you know. That's the way that they framed it and you know that's the smart thing to do politically right. If you know you're not going to win, you basically say well, we don't want it anyway, and that seems to be exactly what Federman did. And given the fact that Federman has you know a polling league Ga, in the The. The Ma, The fact that he's raised so much money, Uh, you know, because of his Ne know national profile, you know that's probably the right ta right. you know. He's go to say. Okay, so the insiders, Uh, you know the insiders are don't want John Federman to win right. He could turn that around and used that almost as a rally and cry and say, Look, you know, Establishment doesn't want John Feder, and therefore you should want John Feederman if you don't want. you know. if you wantnna, you know the the Democratic version of Draining the swamp, So to speak, Um, I, you know I. I. it's interesting to see how that's gonna play out. Um, you know, because I, I think there is a thought. Hey, wait a minute. John Federman's a citying lieutenant governor. there should be. you know. a how. wait. shouldn't it be a done deal that the the party should be behind him? Well, Obviously, you see. you know. Uh, you know anybody that's on? You know that's been paying attention to this, has known for a while. that's not the case. And I think that other people the kind of the the casual observers of this casual voters are going to start to see that, too. Uh, that it's not I, it. It's by far, uh, not the slam dunk that everybody thought it was going to be. And you know, and there are a lot of reasons for that. Also, um, I, I think that A and again this is something. we'll get into it a lot more detail. I, I think that Uh, Republicans, I think that the their opposition research on John Federman is much deeper than the Fa than the up research. They have a Conner Lamb, Um. That's just the reality of it all. Um. I, I think there's you know th there. not that there's some dirt or skeletons or anything I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about good, you know, policy arguments, established positions, things of that nature, Uh, that they'll be able to haul out and and give uh, you know a better argument against Federman Uh, than they would against Lamb, But at the same time, uh, you know if there's something to be said for enthusiasm, and if Democrats are enthusiastic about John Feedterman and there're lukewarm on Connor Lamb, I'm talking about the progressive end of the party, the activists, the people that knock the door and make the phone calls, or write the postcards if they're not excited. About Connor Lamb, then they're not gonna. you know. you're not going to get the same. Uh. You know, the same enthusiasm and an enthusiasm gap is important. so it's a lot of moveing parts here. Um. the other piece of this that that needs to be discussed is Balcu Kenyata, the state representative from Philadelphia, Um, African American openly gay candidate, Uh, who announced very early. Uh, And you know he's gotten some significant endorsements. And and he's you know, you know out there doing the work you know, like the other candidates. Obviously, he doesn't have the financial resources. Uh, he doesn't have the name idea, especially outside of Philadelphia, but it will be very interesting to see where he comes down. And this is. He could have stay in this to the end. Um. where? if he does, I think that that hurts John Fetterman. If it's a close race, Um, I think the progressives that would, uh, that would be voting for Malcolm would probably be votes that would normally go to Federman. However, there's also the issue with Federman and the the story about him track, you know, chasing down the African American with a shotgun outside of his home years ago, and that has left a bad bitter taste of the mouth of a a lot of folks as well. So there's uh. It's It's not a given, but I, I think that there there would be more inclined to swing Federman's way at the end of the day. So you have all these different moving parts, but I to me, when you add all this up and you look at it, it doesn't really change a whole lot right. There's uh. You know, Federman has the money and the leading the polls, Connor has the institutional support. Malcolm Kiyata has kind of a A. A, a small but devoted following, and uh valarksh is is kind of on the you know, on the the fringe and would have to do. I think something pretty substantial to to really make a a significant inroads at this point. But again who know you know there, there's a being a woman in the race or something to be said. For that. She's from the south Eastast, there's you know. it's a very vote rich environment. A Democratic primary, So there's there are a lot of things there, But to me, the fact that the party didn't endorse is a blessing because all what's gonna happen would have happened is if the party had endorsed and everybody just look goes and does what they were going to damn well do. anyway. All you're doing is setting up all these democratic in war in fighting, and all these you know, these little uh, these battles of you know in every county well, I'm for Federman, but you can't be 'cause you're a state committee person. The the The Party endorsed this person and you're the. It turns into just a giant mess. It's just a huge mess of Democrats fighting with democrats. Uh, over, you know, Uh, a lot of in, you know, Uh, inside baseball. that really doesn't seep its way out into the general population and it just creates a lot of uh, disharmony and a lot of conflict within the party, which obviously something nobody wants right now, so I think it' brace this high profile. Uh, I think the goal, and clearly that I think that was the goal of of the other candids, which is prevent Conn or Lamb from getting the endorsement so we can avoid all of these things. Um, and I, I think that's where we ended up so. in a way, Uh, I, I think it's better, and and personally, I think it's better to to leave this as an open primary. Um. we saw plenty of time. These are very different candidates with very different policies, very different personal stories. Uh, and I think there will be a very clear contrast for the voters to choose from, And I think that the voters are definitely paying attention. This isn't going to be some race where like no one knows what's going on, you know we're going to know we' for and what we're about. And that is, you know that that's a good thing it gives you. It gives the candidates the opportunity to do outreach until the last minute, and to kind of work off of a blank slate. So, uh, you know, sometimes the best action is no action, and that's what we saw here, so that was just a quick, uh, a quick, uh, update on what happened in the Uh, with the democratic cent of primary. Um, Obviously, and we'll talk about this more. Coming up soon is the Republican Primary where it, we're already seeing not just ads, but we're seeing negative ads between Doctor Ozz and Dave Mccormick, and and all this other crazy stuff. So the the spending there is already getting ridiculously out of control. Um in in as to be expected when you have a bunch of really rich people that no one knows about. So you have to do a ton of money on name, I D, and those sorts of things. So it it just goes to show that this is going to be one of the most expensive senate races in U S. history. Uh, you know from from the the time we start to the time we're done, and I think I'd be remiss if I was talking about the the state committee without mentioning one of the most oppressive feat I've ever seen, which is Joshupiro going un uh unopposed for the endorsement for governor because he is running unopposed and that is a pretty damn impppressive thing to do. And it it it goes to show the strength of Josha's political machine. Um, you know, and that he was able to establish that as someone who ran statewide in twenty twenty and one where other than Joe Byd, and he was the only Josh's the only person that won his reel Elect for attorney General. He he show he could win statewide. He can raise a ton of money. Uh, you know he's He's well vetted. He's been around and you know he. he's gonna. You know. He was clearly the best candidate in terms of you know, the the absolute necessity of holding the governor's mansion, and I think that everybody kind of saw that, and there were people that were that were looking at it and realizeed that this was just goingnna be a. A. You know a, a bad it it. they were. You were going to make more enemies than friends by jumping in and mounting a hopeless campaign in a primary where you were going to be dramatically outspent. You were going to attack the front runner, which would have then given amo to the Republicans. Uh. This way the Superio campaign can sit back. They can hold on to their money. They can keep their powder dry and wait for the Republican blood bath to uh to sort itself out. Although I firmly am in the camp oflieving that it will be du matriano. The the psychos, state senator Um is go to emerge on the Republican side, But that could be. That's a debate for another day. so anyway, that's our update. Uh and I will be back. We have a couple of really cool things coming up in the next couple of days. Um, a great Ca. a very interesting Congression candidate. I'm not going to say anything else. Uh, but uh, we'll be talking to her later this week and I will be talking also about the Lieutenant Governor's race, which uh ties into some of these things, but it it merits its own conversation, so stay tuned for those. Uh, as always, I appreciate your listening. You can. uh, learn more at Keystone, Reckoning Dot Com. We function solely on donations. Uh, so please, if you have the opportunity keeps to recording Dot com. There's a huge Donate button, takes you directly to our Act Blue, and that allows us to have the resources to keep the podcast going and do the voter outreach that we need. Thank you very much. I'm Jesse White, Have a great day.