Pennsylvania victor is not a Pelosi Democrat

Democrats celebrate Conor Lamb's victory in Pennsylvania.  Look closely at him.  He is a rural, blue-collar progressive.

Rick Lamb reveals the kind of Democrat who appeals to voters in swing districts.  The question is whether Democrats want to win on those terms.  Will their urban base  tolerate a candidate who is patriotic, religious, and supportive of blue collar vocations?

In today's Guest Post Thad Guyer describes Conor Lamb's victory as a "rejection of progressivism."  Lamb said he was not a "Pelosi Democrat."  Paul Ryan mocked him, saying he ran like a "Republican-lite."  Guyer makes reference to "centrist and conservative Democrats." Guyer says that candidates like Lamb, are are electable because they have rejected progressivism.

Progressive Patriotism

I look at progressivism differently. 

I think Conor Lamb is a progressive Democrat.  

His supposed conservatism comes largely from matters of style and policy which progressive Democrats abandoned, to their detriment. Patriotism and service were front and center in the Conor Lamb biography and campaign material. There is nothing "conservative" or "non-progressive" about patriotism.  Pelosi-style urban elite progressivism has ceded displays of patriotism to supposed conservatives. Lamb is a proud Marine veteran. A great many people appreciate and respect military virtues of courage, respect for authority, duty, and loyalty.  Ceding these moral virtues to Republicans was Pelosi-style progressivism's mistake, not Conor Lamb's. Patriotism and service are progressive values.

Catholic

He also featured his Catholic upbringing and Catholic school roots, linking him deeply with his community and its religious traditions.  Pelosi-style urban elite progressivism has become actively secular, as if accepting the premise implied by political conservatives that Jesus Christ votes the straight Republican ticket. Conor Lamb did not make that mistake. Progressives have traditionally linked religion with social justice.

Lamb was unapologetic in sticking up for the local people and interests of his district: steelworker and trade union jobs.  Pelosi-style urban elite progressivism sees industries like technology, health care, education, and finance as legitimate; they own and manipulate data. The work is done in an office, often by women. It is an urban perspective.  Urban Democrats see steel, petroleum, agriculture, mining, trucking, and forestry--industries that deal with things that come from the ground or are heavy--as somehow less legitimate. The work is done outside or in factories, mostly by men. Rural and blue collar people perceive this Pelosi-style orientation and they resent it.  They believe there is no shame in getting ones hands dirty working.  Lamb embraced the work--and workers--of his District.  Progressives support blue collar workers and vocations.

Click for Ad: "Thank you to the people who serve" in vocations.

Conor Lamb differs from deep blue-enclave progressives by having kept true to progressive values as they are understood in manufacturing and rural areas. It is the Pelosi-style urban and college town Democrats who drifted. They became narrowly urbane, secular, condescending, and hypocritical.  Educated city dwellers avert their eyes to the fact that the natural gas that heats their homes was drilled, fracked, and transported; that the office towers they work in are made of mined minerals; that the packaged meat at Safeway or Whole Foods was grown and slaughtered. 

Conor Lamb was electable because he brought progressivism back to its roots and true self: patriotic, loyal, appreciative of honest vocations.  

Guest Post by Thad Guyer

“The Growing Rejection of Progressivism May Save the Democratic Party in 2018 and 2020”

Thad Guyer

“The Growing Rejection of Progressivism May Save the Democratic Party in 2018 and 2020”

The election of Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania is good news for the Democratic Party, and builds on the centrist wins of Democratic candidates like Doug Jones as the new Senator from Alabama and Ralph Northam as the new Virginia governor.  Few congressional districts could have provided a stronger message for Democratic progressives than Pennsylvania's 18th.  Despite the media hype disingenuously suggesting that Lamb won in a Republican district, in fact, it is a blue district where Democrats have 70,000 more registered voters than the GOP. See, Wikipedia, “Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district”, (https://goo.gl/jr8epT).  Lamb’s win shows that we can win in Trump Democratic strongholds and swing districts if our candidates vocally break with progressives and instead support Trump policies on strong borders, tax cuts, deregulation, and blue collar trade policies. 

Doug Jones has thus far kept his word to Alabama voters by casting dissenting votes from the Democratic Senate leadership.  Lamb campaigned with anti-Pelosi and non-progressive rhetoric.  And Ralph Northam reversed course in Virginia with a new pledge to oppose sanctuary cities.  Progressive rhetoric, bitter Trump denunciations, avante garde political correctness, open borders, single payer demands, 2^nd Amendment disarmament, globalism as a religion, high corporate taxes, and calling Trump supporters ignoramuses, these all make us feel good and provide dogma for our tribe.  But that is a luxury reserved for Democrats in deep blue cities and boutique enclaves. 

The stability of American politics is and always has been centrism and moderation.  Sanders couldn’t win against Hillary because his progressive rhetoric had a fringe sound to it. Hillary couldn’t beat Trump because the American electoral map simply is not that shade of blue, will never support weak borders, and abhors liberal elitism.

Centrist and conservative Democrats are gearing up for the 2018 midterms with non-progressive campaigns.  See, The Hill, “Conservative Dems target rural voters with new task force” (https://goo.gl/sWbS5T, Mar 1, 2018).  Indeed, the Lamb lesson is that we can still mobilize Democrats even with a campaign strategy that decidedly avoids anti-Trump bombast.  See, The Atlantic. “This Democrat Is Running for Congress—but Not Against Trump”, (https://goo.gl/eE1BuR  Mar 5, 2018).  

Lamb was clear that he intended to “split ways with the national party”.  In the same week that progressives and leaders like Hillary Clinton were bashing Trump supporters, Lamb courted them and thanked them.  See, Politico, “Conor Lamb thanks Trump supporters after too-close-to-call election”, (https://goo.gl/gBo6KQ Mar 14, 2018).  During Trump’s Pennsylvania rally last weekend, he urged Republicans not to be tricked by Lamb’s conservative stances.  See, NBCNews, “GOP: Conor Lamb ran as a Republican”, (https://goo.gl/t7cFhi Mar 14, 2018). 

Lamb in Pennsylvania, Jones in Alabama, and Northam in Virginia show Democrats how they will have to campaign in the 2018 midterms if they want to win swing states and districts that aren’t deep blue.  

To unseat Trump in 2020, we will need a centrist “workfare” candidate like Bill Clinton, or a “deporter-in-chief” like Obama. And although Democrats typically over-react to a Nixon or Reagan with second term challengers from the too-far left (as we likely will in 2020), Lamb, Jones and Northam show that with enough self-discipline, Democrats could make Trump a one term president.