In 2020, Pennsylvania is poised to live up to its slogan as the “Keystone State”. Our electoral votes are repeatedly pointed to as the likely tipping point of the 2020 electoral college. You’ve heard about Joe Biden’s old stomping grounds of Old Forge and Scranton. You’ve seen on-location reports in Erie and Pittsburgh, Allentown and Altoona, Harrisburg and Lancaster and endless references to the Philadelphia suburbs. So, dear politically astute folks, you already know how important Pennsylvania is. I don’t need to persuade you that now is the time to leave it all on the rolling hills and beautiful mountaintops of Pennsylvania.
Daily Kos has curated a high quality list of endorsed candidates for the Pennsylvania State Assembly that are poised to flip one or both chambers. The gerrymandered trench dug in 2011 by GOP redistricting has kept both Houses of the Assembly in the firm grip of Republicans. That means no progress on criminal justice reform, marijuana regulation, and statewide LGBTQ protections. It also means Republican dirty tricks such as the attempt to create an elections integrity commission with subpoena power, threats to impeach state Supreme Court Justices, and hints that the GOP-controlled Assembly may try to seat their own electors to overturn the will of the voters. So please, look no further than the DKos endorsees if you want to help flip the state assembly.
Persisting in NorthCentral Pennsylvania
But my friends… listen closely and you might hear some other hopeful whisperings. Just as Kansas, Alaska, Georgia and even Texas suddenly have polls showing winnable Senate races for Democrats, parts of Pennsylvania are coming alive with Democratic activity unseen in generations.
In 2016, Pennsylvania not only gave its electoral votes to the Republican nominee, it also barely reelected faux-moderate GOP Senator Pat Toomey, who was buoyed by blowout margins in Central PA.
Troublingly, Hillary Clinton was held to just 25% in Lycoming County, the worst showing for a Dem nominee in decades.
But those demoralizing 2016 margins improved dramatically in 2018, helping Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and US Senator Bob Casey get reelected with big wins.
In 2019, Lycoming County seat, Williamsport, made history by electing its first black Mayor, Democrat Derek Slaughter.
And 2020 is poised to be the biggest year of all. I recently published a diary about the Rural Pennsylvania Democratic Coalition, a group of candidates from NorthCentral PA who have crafted a Rural PA Bill of Rights.
This crop of candidates has activists excited about the prospects of scoring an upset victory for one of the Assembly seats in NorthCentral PA. They are being backed by several very active Democratic organizations that are not only persisting, but pushing back, and putting steel in the spines of voters who are often demoralized or unmotivated from a sense of being overlooked electorally in the Keystone State.
Introducing the Lycoming Women Democrats
The Lycoming Women Democrats (and allies) are workhorses of Central Pennsylvania. They have been organizing over the long haul for this very moment. All year, they’ve been selling hand-sewn masks, having bake sales, holding socially distant fundraisers, and slowly building a war chest that was just unleashed on the region in the form of billboards that support the Biden/Harris ticket.
Led by chair Linda Sosniak, these activists have used their hard-earned funds to counter-program against Republican messaging that usually dominates the area. And it’s getting noticed. Sosniak and crew’s early organizing put them in position to lock down some of the best billboard locations in the county for the final stretch of the campaign.
When the first billboard went up on old route 15 near Cogan Station, the “Trump Regatta” facebook group shared a post of the billboard’s location. The vitriol against it was palpable, sheer rage that anyone would dare promote Biden in this region.
These folks sadly are following the behavior of their bully-in-chief, conceiving several ideas to drown out a positive message for Biden. We are watching closely to see how long they last before the signs are defaced.
What was the message that had the snowflakes melting down?
After being programmed by endless hours of FOX disinformation, seeing a message that Joe Biden has significant military support caused psychic pain for Trump’s true believers. They raged, they mocked, they said the leaders were from other countries. But simmering underneath, another seed of doubt was planted.
Here’s a small taste of their reactions:
- You know that fake news. I don’t know any military that like or trust Biden and I know a lot in high places
- WHAT THE HELL?? I don't want to see that every day when I go to work.
- wouldn't a LARGE RED M.A.G.A. look good over that Biden sign???
- I’d like to see that list of military leaders! I don’t believe that statement for 1 minute!!
- WTF! This is Trump Country! Any US Military Leader that trusts Biden should have their leadership taken away.
- Hang a Trump flag from that trash
- Pedo Joe signs make me sick
VOILA!!! The Lycoming Women Dems have taken control of the debate, changing the subject to Joe Biden’s strength with the military, and implicitly attacking a weakness of the current President.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the county, one local family partnered with the Lyco Women Dems because they felt compelled to respond to the President’s slurs against the military. This searing takedown will be seen near Muncy, Pennsylvania, and was made possible by the preparation of the Lyco Women who quickly jumped at a chance to help this family get their message out.
Help us Keep Up The Fight in Small-Town Pennsylvania
And they’re not done yet, not by a long shot. The Lycoming Women Dems are about to go live with several more digital billboard messages, and have launched a fundraising appeal to also take out ads in our local print media.
It’s not just the Lyco Women Dems making waves, they’re working along side the party committees as well. The Lycoming County Central Committee and neighboring Union County Dems have been hard at work along side the Lyco Women, raising money, supplying yard signs and sending hundred and hundreds of postcards to voters.
Closing Out 2020 Strong
There are many worthy causes that you can send your dollars to right now, and i won’t pretend to advise you what is best:
- We need Biden/Harris to win big to prevent any sort of post-election day controversies.
- We need to flip control of the US Senate back to Democrats to give a President Biden a working majority, and give powerful committees over to progressive leaders such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to chair.
- We need to retake state legislatures across the country to ensure fair redistricting so Democrats are no longer at such a massive structural disadvantage in winning the US House and state legislatures.
If you have some dollars to spare, and want to do something out of the box to help Biden lock up Pennsylvania’s electoral votes, you can see for yourself that the all-volunteer Lycoming Women Dems will use your investment wisely and strategically.
You can help repair damaged signs and amplify these positive Biden/Harris messages in print. Please consider throwing $10 into the hat.
Regardless of whether you can help financially, I hope you also can rest a little more easily tonight knowing that Democrats are on the move, not just in the big cities, but everywhere.
And especially to those of you in a rural or small town areas, our hearts are with you. We are all so inspired when you stand up and speak out, even when it seems you are drowning in a sea of republican messaging. It can be very lonely, but sometimes you’ll find your allies are right next door or down the lane.
May this diary also be a life line to you, too. We see you. We value you. And we are reaching out to make this a more perfect union for all Americans, rural, urban, midwest, coastal and most especially deep in those beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania.