Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/24/progressive-democrat-fends-off-republican-backed-centrist-in-pennsylvania-primary.html
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The press is utterly addicted to pushing the horserace, partly because they think they need a horserace to sell papers and partly because they love Republicans and can’t believe no one else does.
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Looks like she went to my high school!
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Always struck by the Beltway/pundit/mainstream media assumption that Pittsburgh is purple. Even when they realize they’re wrong—even when Summer Lee is personally explaining it to them!—the tone has this vague air of “how could it be?”
There is something to the question (something something “only big city in appalachia”) but it’s not like they get anywhere near it.
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Congrats! I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe enough to be that specific about myself online.
I left Appalachia for about a decade, and was laid off from my job right before COVID hit. My dad had worked on the Carter campaign, and told me I should pick a candidate to support and I’d probably find a job if I “do some volunteer work”.
(That didn’t happen, but I did get to experience some very scary interactions after I hung a Gainey sign in my window and put a button on my laptop bag. Interactions unusual even by Pit I ended up being asked to stand next to my polling station with a phone, ready to dial 911 if someone came in armed. That’s how contentious things got.)
Back during the Bush era, people used to whine that 3rd party candidates split the vote and send elections to Republicans, but when progressives run within the DNC they encounter massive resistance, even if the alternative is folks like Trump, as we saw when the Clintonian wing wrenched the primaries and sealed the deal for Donnie in 2016.
It’s almost as if these corporate media congomerates have a vested interest in perpetuating a false reality.
One of the ideas I have in a little vi file of possible essay ideas is breaking down how the media lies to us. (But first I’d have to go re-read “Manufacturing Consent” since it’s been a decadeish).
But basically, the media loves to dichotomize Pittsburgh. If there’s an election, they say 45±10% of folks here support Trump (or another GOP) person. Well that’s not accurate.
When you factor in a huge chunk of people don’t vote, and then another huge chunk don’t vote for the nominee in the primary, the actual number of people supporting the fringe are quite small.
Look back at the mayoral race – Trump loving Tony Moreno lost to Gainey in the primary, switched partie to run, and lost ~3:1, garnering only ~28% of votes in the general. Moreno, a man with no wikipedia, minimal engagement on his hate filled Twitter.
Over and over, they put forth the other side for their both sides BS, artificially boost them onto WPXI and WESA, and then impressionable, entitled people latch onto them.
Unfortunately, this is not a sustainable long term strategy: studies have shown that when you have a system with a strong president, and multiple factions, instability follows:
https://kellogg.nd.edu/documents/1338
Nevertheless, they persist in putting forth candidates who are fascist and unlikeable.
featured, article:
wikipedia:
So, something like 39% support in 2020, which sets Allegheny county as quite comparable to NYC.
Elections are often razor-thin and nowhere is as blue or red as its stereotype.
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