Well gee, it’s finally settling in that doubling down on Trumpism in a midterm election is a stupid idea:
Retiring state Rep. John Taylor and HRCC Chair Mark Mustio are worried about the consequences of the state Republican Party endorsing Congressman Lou Barletta’s Senate campaign could have on down ticket races. The House Republican Campaign Committee is tasked with electing – and re-electing – GOP candidates to the state House.
“Mark, I wanted to express my concern about the potentially negative effects of the top of our ticket to our House colleagues in 2018,” Taylor wrote in an email obtained by PoliticsPA.
Taylor’s concerns stem Barletta’s emphasis on immigration and his close ties to President Trump. Taylor believes that the election could become a referendum on Trump, hurting southeast Republicans.
“I am concerned that Lou Barletta’s candidacy, with the media emphasis on immigration and the President, may cause each of our House seats to be a referendum on the President as well. Our message, from the top to the bottom of the ticket, will be lost and it could be a straight party vote against up in the Southeast,” Taylor wrote.
“I’m also concerned about the possibility of the 2018 election becoming more of a referendum on Donald Trump than on his policies of economic growth and a strong foreign policy that work for all of us,” Mustio wrote.
Mustio and Taylor both confirmed the authenticity of the emails to PoliticsPA.
Both Taylor and Mustio have endorsed one of Barletta’s Senate primary opponents, their colleague State Rep. Jim Christiana’s (R-Beaver).
While few in the party have openly expressed concerns about Barletta, their worries about Trump echo those voiced by many Republicans in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Trump’s popularity in the Southeast has never been very strong, with Clinton winning all of the southeast Congressional districts, and a large majority of the state House districts in the region in 2016. In 2017 Democrats made massive strides, picking up county and local seats that have been Republican for over 50 years, and in some cases seats that have never been held by Democrats.
“All five of the counties in the Southeast were rocked in the election last November. While results in Philadelphia were not surprising, the outcomes in Chester, Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery certainly were,” Taylor wrote.
“We lost seats we have held for generations.”
There are other issues that plague Barletta’s campaign that Pennsylvania Republicans are worried about:
Republican political operatives say the Senate race is a legitimate opportunity for the GOP to pad its 51-49 majority in Washington, despite a tough environment and the challenges that historically hamper the party in power in the White House in the midterm.
Trump in 2016 won the support of many traditionally Democratic voters in central and western Pennsylvania who were attracted to the his populism and repelled by their old party’s leftward lurch. Casey, who won his first term in 2006 as a compartively conservative Democrat, has since drifted left, becoming an ardent liberal on key issues.
But to capitalize, Barletta needs to raise more money. He closed the third quarter, at the end of September, with a little under $1 million in the bank, compared to Casey’s whopping $7 million. Casey told reporters this week that he is "ready for this fight in 2018." Barletta had only been in the race since August, but the fourth-term congressman’s lackluster fundraising during the final three months of 2017 isn’t going to help calm any nerves.
Some Republican insiders say Barletta, never a prodigious fundraiser, hasn’t put in the work. Other Republicans say Barletta is mistakenly relying on Trump for cash. According to knowledgeable sources, Barletta took the president too literally when he wooed the congressman to run for Senate by committing to raise him millions from his loyal supporters.
“Sometimes, it takes time to build up relationships with donors in statewide races, particularly when challenging incumbents,” Josh Novotney, a Republican lobbyist based in Philadelphia, said. “From my understanding, he’s been working it even though it doesn’t look like it has completely materialized yet in the last fundraising period.”
A second Republican operative from Pennsylvania, granted anonymity, was less charitable.
“He’s looked at this thing pretty naively. Lou’s is not known as the hardest worker in the world and has never been a prolific fundraiser. He thought that simply by branding himself with Trump, it would mean tons of cash. That’s not been the case,” this Republican said.
And one of Barletta’s primary opponents warns that there are way more headaches coming for the GOP:
State Rep. Jim Christiana warned Thursday that a report about U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta associating with Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists on the far right of the immigration debate was just a hint of what would come if Barletta wins the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate.
Christiana’s comment came after CNN published an account detailing how Barletta, R-11, Hazleton, did an interview, headlined a rally and appeared on a panel with individuals who promoted anti-Semitic and white national views, as well as conspiracy theories denying the Holocaust and questioned the truth behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“These groups and individuals have some radical beliefs, and to share a stage and a microphone with them on a continual basis leads many people to believe you share an ideology with them, as well,” said Christiana, R-15, Brighton Township, who is running against Barletta and four others for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, in the fall.
“Sen. Casey and the national media have a library full of these statements, acquaintances and relationships from Lou Barletta’s past that are ultimately going to surface if Lou Barletta is the nominee,” Christiana said. “They’d provide a great distraction from Bob Casey’s record in the United States Senate.”
Meanwhile, Casey is focused on doing his job:
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is pushing for full funding for community health centers.
Casey hosted a conference call with reporters Thursday to discuss funding for these centers, which are a “vital part of our health care system.”
They provide access to health care through education, rehabilitation, preventive services and direct care.
“This is a basic safety net for so many Americans across our country, and ... what Congress is doing right now is death by 1,000 cuts,” said Sister Mary Scullion, of Stephen Klein Wellness Center and Project HOME in Philadelphia, who was also on the call.
In Pennsylvania, more than 260 health centers serve about 800,000 people, Casey said. The health centers, which also employ thousands of Pennsylvanians, provide “critical services” in both rural and urban areas, often where there are limited options for primary care or clinics that provide preventative services.
The centers provide access to health care for low-income working people, homeless people and people who don’t have health insurance, Scullion said.
Mountaintop Area Medical Center, located in Snow Shoe Township, is Centre County’s only center, and it’s operated by Keystone Rural Health Consortia Inc. Additionally, there are seven centers in the surrounding counties.
Funding expired for both the Community Health Center Fund and the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Sept. 30.
Of course, let’s not take this race for granted and be ready to go. Click here to donate and get involved with Casey’s re-election campaign.