As events are unfolding, the importance of this election are clear- while presidency is important, we must not forget about the Senate. Larry Sabato, a well regarded pundit, currently predicts the next Senate as 47 D, 50 R, and 3 toss-ups (NH, FL, NV). He has Pennsylvania as leans Republican.
If PA can swing to us- it becomes 48D, 49R, 3 tossups- I feel much safer having to win 2 to tie (with a Dem president) than having to win all 3.
It is clear that we must win the Senate. Would President Clinton or Sanders be able to get a good Justice confirmed with a Republican Senate? No. But.. worst case scenario, we face a Republican President, President Obama would have a window between Jan 2 and Jan 19 to get a Justice through. If we get to a 50-50 tie, and VP Biden is the tie- breaker, as the front page mentions, the Nuclear option could be used.
It is important we back candidates who can win. Toomey is a horrible Senator and must be defeated. We need a strong candidate , While Joe Sestak fought admirably in the past, having him as our candidate seems like a losing proposition. We need Katie McGinty in PA
Ms. McGinty is currently chief of staff for Governor Tom Wolf.. She has a great background in environmentalism (working closely with former Vp Gore) and fought early on against climate change.
In her website’s own words,
With a commitment to creating jobs and protecting the environment, Katie led the charge to attract clean energy companies to Pennsylvania – resulting in over a billion dollars in new investments and 3,000 new jobs. Under Katie’s leadership, Pennsylvania became an environmental leader among the states, and renewable energy companies from around the world set up shop in Pennsylvania making the state number one in wind and number three in solar energy jobs.
She has worked in the private sector and has worked in India. She has cross-over appeal to Republicans which is vital in PA, a swing state. Moreover, she would be the first woman Senator from PA and can make history
Katie seems like a good bet to be the nominee- she has the support of Ed Rendell, Governor Wolf, former Mayor (of Philadelphia) Nutter, and many unions. However, she does not have wide spread name recognition across the state.
DK- let’s support a Dem that we NEED in the Senate- Here is a link to her ActBlue page for those interested. I gave $50- let’s all get behind her. Win PA.. win the Senate.. and we can make change happen.