More great news from Public Policy Polling out of Pennsylvania:
In a hypothetical US Senate election matchup, voters prefer Democrat Bob Casey over Republican Lou Barletta 54-36. Among voters who say that health care is the most important issue, Casey’s lead grows to 56-29 over Barletta.
Again, it’s all about health care:
Health care is ranked as a top issue for 71% of voters (25% saying it is the most important issue and another 46% saying it is very important). Only 6% say it is not that important or not important at all.
Pennsylvania voters disapprove of the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act by 17 points (52% to 35%). Among independent voters, the disparity is even wider with only 24% supporting the GOP’s health care repeal efforts to 59% opposing them.
Only 33% of voters think the best path forward on health care is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to 60% who think it should be kept in place with fixes made to it as necessary.
Of course, Barletta doesn’t want this race to be about health care. He wants to make it all about immigration:
A Feb. 2 immigration article on the Kansas City Star website provided an interesting contrast for Pennsylvania readers.
The article detailed the detainment of Bangladeshi undocumented immigrant Syed Ahmed Jamal, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, has no criminal record, and teaches at Kansas City-area universities. Jamal overstayed his visa and was allowed to stay in the country on a supervised basis since 2011. Regardless, he was detained by U.S. immigration officials and faces possible deportation.
But that complex story ran in contrast to an ad placed on top of the article’s page by Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Hazleton). Barletta’s message was simple: “We must stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.”
This is just one tactic by the Barletta campaign to showcase the candidate’s opposition to immigration. Pittsburgh City Paper discovered the ad on the Kansas City Star website, but also found Barletta’s online ads stating, “we must secure the border” next to a January CP story about a Pittsburgh undocumented Mexican immigrant. Throughout 2018, Barletta has included harsh anti-immigrant messaging in campaign mailers and emails. And last year, a Barletta-linked group that advocates for less immigration, put out an ad against Barletta’s senate-race opponent, U.S Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton), demanding Casey support funding for a border wall.
These tactics have led Democrats and immigration proponents to claim Barletta is attempting to gain support through xenophobia and fear-mongering. The Barletta campaign says the candidate is pro-immigrant, but that immigrants should enter “through the proper legal channels.” Either way, University of Pittsburgh political science professor Jerry Shuster thinks Barletta’s campaign strategy is too focused on a narrow group of voters and could backfire. Barletta has espoused hard-line immigration stances for more than a decade, and for that reason, Shuster expects more anti-immigrant rhetoric as Pennsylvania’s 2018 U.S. Senate race heats up. Barletta has a few Republican challengers for the upcoming May primary election, including Pennsylvania state Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver) and national-security expert Cynthia Ayers.
And a certain special election should serve as a warning to Barletta:
There's been a lot of talk this week about Conor Lamb's win in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District on Tuesday night providing national Democrats with a playbook to retaking the U.S. House in 2018.
But what if the next play is right here in Pennsylvania? Hang with us for a moment.
Republican Rick Saccone, Lamb's Republican opponent, liked to call himself "Trump before Trump."
But if that mantle belongs to anyone in the Keystone State, it belongs to U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11th District.
The Hazleton Republican was President Donald Trump's earliest Pennsylvania supporter; stumped enthusiastically with him during the 2016 campaign, and remains one of the White House's biggest Capitol Hill loyalists.
Barletta's currently running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate against Democrat Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. And there's speculation this Friday morning that Lamb's win, which saw him reach across to disaffected labor Democrats who voted for, and were dissatisfied with, Trump might be transportable to the U.S. Senate contest. (U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-4th District, may be similarly reading the entrails this week)
Let’s continue to make this upcoming an election all about health care and usher in a big Blue Wave. Click here to donate and get involved with Casey’s re-election campaign.