Saccone, Reschenthaler not much room for error
Guy Reschenthaler has a values problem. Rick Saccone has a winning problem — or maybe it’s a losing problem.
Both men have a domicile political problem. Neither lives in the House district he wants to represent.
Nevertheless, both Reschenthaler and Saccone very much want to be elected to what is disingenuously called “the people’s house” — one half of the beguilingly deceptive gleaming domed structure on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Their district — the newly reconfigured 14th — comprises portions of Westmoreland and all of Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.
Before moving on to the big shakedown — eh, I mean the big show — they first have to negotiate the Republican primary on May 15. They are butting heads over which will contest the general election in November in a district, had it existed in its present form in 2016, Donald Trump would have won by 29 points.
Reschenthaler is a former district magistate and Navy prosecutor from Jefferson Hills who currently serves in the State Senate.
Born in 1983 and raised in Steelers Country, he brags that he knows western Pennsylvania better than just about anyone else. According to his campaign’s website, the candidate was “raised in the values and traditions that have made our region great: hard work, honesty and common sense.”
That Reschenthaler knows how to push a button or two was on full display when he won his seat in the state Senate in a 2015 special election. He took down his Democratic opponent that year by throwing out the well-worn GOP bromide that she didn’t “share our values” — shorthand for “You gotta watch out for this one.
“She’s doesn’t cherish and respect the flag and the Constitution like a true American should. Certainly not like you and I do.”
Of all the un-American things to campaign on, that may be one of the worst.
Reschenthaler thinks well of himself. His website proclaims that he was “born to lead and called to serve. He’ll fight for your values.” (There’s that word again.)
Contrasting himself with Saccone, Reschenthaler told the Post-Gazette on April 2, “For one he’s a career politician. I’m a proven leader. He’s not effective. He’s ineffective.”
Poor Rick. A member of the state House, Saccone, 60, hails from Elizabeth. By many accounts, he bears a well-known name. He barely lost a recent special House election to Democrat Conor Lamb. A multimillion dollar extravaganza, the contest riveted the national media — cable TV and otherwise — for weeks.
The thing is Saccone wasn’t supposed to lose. The now defunct 14th District was a Republican bellwether, a Trumpian enclave. Candidate Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the district by 20 points in 2016.
Even before the votes were counted, Saccone was on the receiving end of Republican hate mail: he was a poor fundraiser, it was said; he campaigned with all the zest of a pregnant water buffalo, it was said; he looked like a walrus, it was said; when he spoke, the words dribbled out his mouth, it was said; he had no message.
The low point of the Saccone campaign took place just days before voters went to the polls when he told reporters that Democrats “have a hatred for our president. And I tell you, many have a hatred for country. I’ll tell you more … they have a hatred for God. … You see it when I’m talking to them. It’s disturbing to me.”
Evidently meant to bolster support from the far right of the electorate, Saccone’s ill-considered utterance cost him plenty of votes in places like Republican Upper St. Clair, according to political scientist Joseph DiSarro of Washington & Jefferson University.
Even before the campaign was underway, Saccone was blasting out the notion that he was “Trump before Trump was Trump.”
During the campaign Donald Trump Jr., Vice President Mike Pence and the president himself all stumped for Saccone. It came to naught. Saccone lost. Officially, he was THE loser.
Party leaders have taken note. Sen. Pat Toomey has endorsed Reschenthaler in the current campaign. So have Westmoreland County state senator Kim Ward and her Fayette County colleague Pat Stefano.
DiSarro told me he thinks Saccone has a slight advantage over Reschenthaler, owing to his superior name recognition, a result of the campaign against Lamb. DiSarro expects a higher-than-normal turnout. He also expects a flurry of television ads the last two weeks of the campaign.
Neither candidate has much money. And neither has much room for error.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown and is the author of two books — Grand Salute: Stories of the World War II Generation and Our People. He can be reached at dick.l.robbins@gmail.com.