Barnette Blames Hannity for Loss; Declares She Will Not Support Either Potential GOP Nominee
John Fetterman's chances of flipping Pat Toomey's senate seat to the Democratic party just got even greater the day after the primary as Kathy Barnette, who finished third on the GOP side, declared she would not support either of the other Republican candidates who are waiting on the results of a statewide recount to find out if they are the Republican nominee.
When Fetterman became the Democratic nominee, the Cook Political Report moved the race from the "toss up" category to "leans Democrat." How much influence Barnette has over those who supported her remains to be seen, but there will be some fallout from her rhetoric. But if people have seen her, believe her and trust her enough to vote for her, wouldn't some of them decide that they wouldn't vote for any of her former contenders? In Pennsylvania statewide races, Republicans can't afford to lose even a small part of their base, and they can't win without independent support.
From Birds of a Feather to a Falling Out Among Thieves
What a wonderful thing it is to see a bona fide extremist right winger go after Sean Hannity following a primary election loss. That kind of honesty from a right wing extremist is rare. Of course she's just resentful and angry that Hannity didn't take her side and in spite of the fact that she, Hannity, McCormick and Oz are not all that far apart in their extremist views. But, here we have a right wing extremist whose words and actions post-election are publicly questioning Hannity's credibility and refusing to support the party's nominee, including the former failed President 45's hand-picked endorsement. That's quite a wide crack in Republican la-la land.
With Fetterman secure, by a wide margin, in the Democratic party, and favored to win in a state that has only been close for the GOP in statewide races once in the past four election cycles, Barnette's little temper tantrum is a big threat to whichever Republican winds up being the nominee. And the longer it takes to count the ballots, and recount, since it will likely be well within the margin to trigger that, the longer it will be before the party leadership can bring about damage control. She's still kicking and screaming today on social media and getting some press attention.
So Kathy Barnette may actually wind up doing something positive and contributing to the safety of American democracy after all. Who'd have ever thought that was possible?
Failed President 45's Actions Tell Americans He Lied About Voter Fraud in 2020
Former failed President 45, who made a huge deal out of endorsing Dr. Mehmet Oz, and whose ego is taking a major beating over the fact that many of his endorsed candidates are losers, and that this race is too close to call and his endorsee could barely get past the 30% threshold, couldn't hold it in any longer. I knew, somewhere, somehow, some stupid jackass Republican would try to explain away their defeat by claiming voter fraud. As it turns out, that jackass is the former President 45 himself.
Barely a month into primary season, and FP 45 is pushing the voter fraud narrative again. Does he, in his blind rage, realize that he is not accusing Democrats this time around, but is undermining his own party? He's accusing another election denier of trying to steal an election because of mail-in ballots cast by Republican voters. Even among right wing Republicans, that's going to cause some real credibility questions and along with Barnette's refusal to endorse the winner of the GOP primary, will discourage a lot of Republican supporters of both McCormick and Barnette from voting in November.
Religious bigotry runs high among conservative Republicans in rural Pennsylvania, whose dislike for Oz was openly expressed by booing him at a rally with FP 45, where a real "crowd" never actually materialized. Oz isn't really a Pennsylvania resident, but actually lives in New Jersey, and while rural conservatives who live for daytime television generally like his controversial "alternative medicine" quackery, none of that has much appeal among independents.
With this development from the former President, though, I'm not sure whether Oz or McCormick would be the weaker candidate. If McCormick wins, a lot of Trumpies will see voting for him as being disloyal to Trump, and their loyalty belongs to the failed former President, not the GOP. If Oz wins, religious bigotry and hatred for Muslims will cancel out a lot of Republican votes. Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, who is the popular Democratic nominee for Governor, are a formidable political force in a state where there are a million more registered Democrats than Republicans and a GOP victory depends on getting a super majority of independent voters. This wonderful, lovely fight will keep some Republicans at home, and convince most independents to support the Democrats.
Note: The author was a resident of, and voter in Pennsylvania when Fetterman was originally elected to his current state post. His comments include his previous experience as a resident of rural, Western Pennsylvania.
Very insightful, thanks.
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