I don’t post often, but I’d like to follow up on yesterday’s primary in PA. Yesterday, establishment candidate Katie McGinty defeated repeat candidate Joe Sestak and Mayor John Fetterman. In doing so, Democrats have nominated an establishment candidate for a winnable Senate seat with an electorate full of anti-establishment zeal.
What makes this disappointing for me is that I heard nothing about John Fetterman until I did my usual pre-election research a few days before the election. I’ve been focused on Raise the Wage and Democracy Spring this spring as part of the Unitarian Universalist Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Network’s (UUPLAN) work, as well as engaging with the Friends Committee on National Legislation. So, I was a bit behind on candidates this year — a low information religious voter.
But, despite little support or coverage, Fetterman managed to take 21% of the vote. What could he have done with more help? If we are going to build a movement, if it is going to be about us, not Bernie, then we need candidates like Fetterman — candidates focused on inequality. We need them to run and we need them to win. We need to support them. If I’d heard of Fetterman through the Bernie campaign earlier, I would have contributed. I donated more this year than in all elections I’ve voted in combined. I had a yard sign up for the first time ever until it was stolen Monday. Bernie is the first presidential candidate I’ve been excited by since Nader (back when I had no money and no yard).
I would ask Bernie to please, for what’s left of the primaries, dig into local races, from city council to senate races and lift up the anti-establishment candidates. Get word about them out, raise money for them. Work for them in the general election. Build a movement that will last.