The point would be “The Republican won, in spite of all the Evil Dems efforts!”. That’s all, but that’s enough.
All of his actions are impulsive, so who knows, but the timing does match.
Mithras gave a margin of 641, same as you, so I assume same info.
If Alleghany, Westmoreland, and Washington county absentee ballots have all been counted, that just leaves Greene, which IIRC is by far the smallest of the four counties in terms of population in PA-18 as presently constituted. Can’t see that changing the outcome dramatically.
So the answer to the question in the thread title is:
YES!!!
Donald Trump doesn’t have the Midas touch, he has the Mierdas touch.
A win here is huge for Democrats. Not only because it would energize the base, but because it will encourage more challengers in previously safe GOP districts. More challenges means more news about the ‘Blue Wave.’ It means the GOP has to spread its money around even more. It makes the big GOP donors more wary. And then there’s all the ‘Trump referendum’ news that goes with it, not to mention the wound to Trump’s pride since he went out there and gave his personal endorsement.
Honestly, Conor Lamb’s actual physical presence in DC is almost ancillary to the benefits of his win.
If Conor Lamb loses, even by .01%, the Dems have to run with “hey, we almost pulled it off and if you look at the statistical breakdown compared to the 2016 election it’s still a really meaningful outcome!”
That doesn’t sell quite as well.
Last night MSNBC was saying that there were only about 200 absentee ballots in Greene County.
Not to mention encouraging GOP reps facing unexpectedly tough races to decide that they’re rather spend more time with their families.
Given how slim the final margin turned out to be, this bit of defeatism and blame-gaming might just have been enough to tip the scales. :smack:
I love the latest GOP spin: “Well, Lamb is basically a Republican anyway, so…”
¯_(ツ)_/¯
I’m guessing the Republicans are huddling this morning trying to figure out how to turn this around. The conversation is probably like:
“OK guys: Tariffs on steel and aluminum didn’t do it. Exploding our debt with the tax giveaway didn’t do it. What else can we try to get people to like us? Free blowjobs outside the polls?”
All the more remarkable, considering the winner hates America, the president and God. Also, baseball, apple pie and your mom. And puppies!
A very pro-union Republican, too! How many of them hold elected office these days? 
Is there a chance the House Republicans refuse to accept the result and ask for recount after recount until they get a “favorable” one? Hey, it worked for the Democrats in, what was it, 1984?
If you ask me, the Republicans should just eat this loss, rather than drag it out and most likely make things worse - one vote in the House is not going to matter, and it’s too close to the next election anyway.
To quote Jon Favreau:
Conor Lamb campaigned:
- For universal health care
- Against Trump’s tax cut
- For expanded background checks
- For stronger unions
- Against cuts to Social Security
- For a woman’s right to choose
- For medical marijuana
“Conservative Democrat.” Ok. Cool.
Toss in a passion for Universal Basic Income and we’re staring at my youngest - and socialist - brother.
Probably not the best time for Republicans to be discussing payments to prostitutes.
I just read it as they’d all have to take their turn in the barrel.
Yup. Check out this PDF map of PA steel facilities - PA18 is in that cluster to the SW.
https://www.steel.org/~/media/Files/AISI/Public%20Policy/Member%20Map/2016/Pennsylvania.pdf?la=en
The big cluster is in PA14 (i.e., Pittsburgh proper). There’s only a couple of mills in the 18th.
(I mean, the districts are on the map…)
ETA: This wouldn’t sufficient to flip PA14 to Red.
Well, March 14 is National Steak and Blowjob Day.