The Republicans just handed us a gift in Pennsylvania, if we’re willing to seize it
Any Republican Governor of Pennsylvania would likely try to screw with the 2024 presidential election. Doug Mastriano, who ended up with the Republican nomination last night, was merely the loudest about it – and he’s also the most beatable of the bunch. Instead of sitting around lamenting about what Mastriano might do, let’s treat this like an opportunity.
From a competitive standpoint, Mastriano’s nomination is a gift for the Democrats. Mastriano is unpopular enough that when he won the nomination last night, Cook Political Report instantly changed the race from “toss up” to “lean Democrat” based solely on Mastriano’s unpopularity.
This means we have to put in the work in order to win this race for Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro. Volunteer, donate, phone bank, work on voter registration. You know the drill. No race wins itself without us putting in the work. But the Democrats are now slightly favored in this race, which means that if we put in the proper amount of work, we will win it. So let’s stop idly lamenting about defeatist scenarios, and put in the work to win.
By the way, this isn’t “optimism.” It’s literally just how elections work. When the other side’s nominee is an extremist who’s unpopular with persuadable voters, your side’s odds of winning go up. If you’re slightly favored to win and you put in the proper amount of work, you win. No matter how much time the defeatists on our side waste trying to think up ways we can lose, it still comes down to the math of whether the (real) activists on our side put in enough real world work to win.
