Lamb, Saccone in final leg of race for Congress
Charles Goldberg scrolled to a photo on his cellphone. It was an image of the masked shooter in the Parkland, Florida, high-school killing rampage.
Goldberg, who manufactured sports-themed T-shirts for a living, said Democrats should use the photo in political ads, along with an image of Donald Trump, to drive home the point that the country is going to hell, and that Trump and Republicans in general are to blame.
Goldberg, now retired, had just got done listening to Conor Lamb, the suburban Pittsburgh Democrat running for Congress in a special election March 13. Lamb spoke at a campaign event in Canonsburg last Sunday.
Goldberg and Lamb are not on the same page when it comes to guns.
Lamb is decidedly more moderate. He has said he favors tougher background checks for gun purchases, a position he repeated during a debate with his opponent, Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone, the following night.
Goldberg thinks civilian assault weapons should be declared illegal.
“I can’t sleep at night,” Goldberg said. Fearing for the future of the country, he was hoping that Lamb would take sharper positions in the race in the 18th Congressional District — a district that encompasses the disparity of western Pennsylvania politics: tiny Mount Lebanon and rustic western Greene County.
Instead, Lamb, in a rather remarkable display of political restraint, given the times, has refused to go off the deep-blue pier where most Democrats are anchored. (91 percent of Democrats in a recent Quinnipiac University poll support an assault weapons ban.)
Having staked out a moderate position on guns, Lamb has also split the difference on abortion, saying that while he is personally opposed to abortion, he still supports a woman’s right to choose. On health care, he said he opposes the latest Democratic rage, “Medicare for all,” in favor of strengthening the Affordable Care Act.
“I think it’s very important for (Lamb) to walk a tightrope,” said Larry Maggi, who was the last Democrat to run in the 18th. That was back in 2012, when he fell to incumbent Tim Murphy, who resigned from Congress in disgrace last October.
Maggi, a Washington County commissioner, knows just how conservative and Republican-leaning the district is. He lost to Murphy 64-36. Donald Trump carried the 18th in 2016 by 20 points over Hillary Clinton.
Maggi thinks Lamb is doing a superb job. “It’s a tight race,” he said.
As the finish line nears, Maggi’s former commissioner colleague, Bracken Burns, senses things are going Lamb’s way.
Burns, who has spent a lifetime in politics, said that front yards which once sprouted Make America Great signs now trumpet support for the 33-year-old Lamb.
Burns says Lamb is that rare thing in politics. “He had excited the troops. I’ve never seen this level of enthusiasm for any candidate, in any race, in any vote. He has a presence.”
Lamb is tapping into altogether new political terrain, Burns claims. “I’ve been going to (political) meetings for years, and you see the same faces.” Lamb, a former federal prosecutor, is bringing out people who until now have kept their distance from politics, Burns said.
Partly, this is due to the president. Democrats are up in arms against Donald Trump.
Indeed, anger at the president is so intense that Democrats are willing to look beyond even the most problematic policy positions.
Lamb “could have been tougher” on high-caliber assault rifles, Burns said. “I find it hard to understand why anyone needs one.” But it doesn’t make any difference as far as the election goes.
Burns figures that Lamb is on the side of the angels while Saccone is in league with the devil himself. Goldberg agreed. He can’t wait to vote for Lamb.
Burns thinks that Lamb, who told the Canonsburg crowd he was “tired of political manipulation,” is on his way to pulling off a major upset. “I know the pundits are saying it’s close. But I’m seeing so much passion for Conor.”
He thinks those Lamb yard signs in Republican Peters Township signal a blue wave rolling to shore.
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.