Philadelphia Inquirer: “Pennsylvania Republicans running for Senate were nearly universally opposed to the bipartisan bill. Democrats plan to run on its benefits”
PENNSYLVANIA — New reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer highlights what’s becoming a key division in Pennsylvania’s Senate race: the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Republican primary candidates are lining up in opposition to the widely popular plan that would create much-needed good jobs and invest billions in Pennsylvania’s highways, bridges, and broadband coverage. The GOP field’s near universal opposition to investing in Pennsylvania will be a major liability for the eventual nominee.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer: Biden’s infrastructure bill gave us a preview of a key clash in Pa.’s 2022 Senate race. Here’s what we learned.
By Jonathan Tamari
August 12, 2021
Key Points:
- A bipartisan vote in Washington this week provides a glimpse of the partisan clash coming to Pennsylvania.
- Though 19 GOP senators supported the $1.2 trillion plan, including their Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, the Pennsylvania Republicans campaigning to join his caucus had a nearly uniform response: They’re against it.
- Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidates, meanwhile, made clear they intend to run on what could become one of President Joe Biden’s central accomplishments. They argued that the GOP contenders spurned a bipartisan compromise that has unusually widespread support in public polling and will create jobs, expand internet access and public transit, and shore up the state’s decayed roads and bridges.
- Paired with the expanded child tax credit, which Democrats pushed through in March without GOP support, Democrats envision 2022 campaigns that emphasize tangible benefits everyday voters see in their family budgets and local travels, a contrast with what they say is a GOP focused on divisive cultural issues rather than results.
- “The Republican Senate field continues to demonstrate that they have no real solutions to offer voters while Democrats deliver for Pennsylvania,” said Jack Doyle, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
- It’s easy to picture the Democratic Senate nominee next year standing beside construction vehicles rumbling at a bridge repair, arguing that the Republican would have blocked that very project.
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