Write-in campaign a possibilty
It’s too bad that in the entirety of Pennsylvania’s 9th congressional district, not a single Democratic had the gumption or the wherewithal to file papers to run for Congress.
It is true that the district, which takes in all or parts of 12 counties, including Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, Greene and Somerset, is a Republican stronghold, despite voter registration figures.
Those numbers are mere window dressing. According to the non-partisan Cook Political Report, the district ranks 16th among the top 25 Republican trending districts in the country.
The district is built for GOP success, and the guy who has benefited most from the cozy fit has been Republican congressman Bill Shuster.
After a decade and a half in Washington, Shuster, whose dad was a congressman, has risen to become chairman of the House Transportation Committee, an assignment that affords him access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from the airline and other transportation-related industries.
Shuster has banked $1.8 million. So says the Center for Responsible Politics, which keeps track of these things.
Shuster may need the dough, not for the general election but for the primary coming up on April 26: he faces a stiff challenge from arch-conservative Art Halvorson, who, like Shuster, is a mid-stater, hailing from Bedford County’s Manns Choice, which surely is one of the great town-names in all of America.
Divorced, Shuster consorts with an airline industry girlfriend, which in the view of some Republicans scores him as morally bankrupt.
Others see in Shuster the face of the Washington establishment: a whole lot of those dollars flowing into his campaign war chest come from just two zip codes, Washington itself and nearby Arlington, Va., both of which are members in good-standing of the lobbyist wing of the American republic.
Now here’s the thing about Shuster, Congress and Democrats. A down-the-line conservative in most respects, Shuster has on occasion reached across the aisle to fashion — hold on to your seat — bipartisan legislation.
Indeed, from time-to-time he’s cited as one of the few members of Congress willing to call at least a temporary truce to the bitter game of Washington name-calling and ideological warfare to get things done.
Imagine that: a guy who’s been known to round off the rough edges of the great party divide. Call him Bill Shuster, small “d” democrat.
The question is, why? What is the incentive? Surely, one reason is to keep those campaign donations pouring in. Shuster delivers the goods for any number of businesses with major skin in the transportation sweepstakes, and they in turn deliver for him.
Congressional politics is an expensive proposition, and never more so than in the age of Citizens United. Like most members of the national legislature, Shuster knows this, and acts accordingly.
Another incentive is that just maybe Bill Shuster likes to get things done. If he’s at all like his father Bud, he’s a dealmaker. When he isn’t standing still with the rest of his GOP colleagues, Shuster seems perfectly willing to move, to act, to legislate, and not in a narrow partisan sense. God bless him.
A third possibility is the presence in his district of, gulp, Democrats. This, frankly, is the least likely reason, given the configuration of the district, which is rural, blue collar, and 94 percent white. The 9th District is a regular beehive of 21st-century conservatism.
Swat one conservative, and two more quickly take their place. Buzz, buzz.
Still in all, there are Democrats in the district, and Shuster seems, in some sense, anxious that he play to their sensibilities. Every once in a while he throws the mutt a bone.
How much less likely is this to happen in the absence of a Democrat on the general election ballot? Given the nature of democracy itself, the answer is fairly clear: that bone becomes a chewed piece of rawhide, or nothing at all.
But, Democrats, the good news is that you are likely to have a name on the general election ballot.
According to Ron Fairman, the Democrats’ southwest Pennsylvania caucus chair, there were actually three Democrats who expressed an interest in running as write-ins on this month’s primary ballot.
The other two fellows gave way to the one, Fairman said.
By law, a write-in needs a thousand votes minimum to qualify for the November ballot. That shouldn’t be a problem. But the challenge is actually to be competitive. The Center for Responsive Politics places the bar at $1 million for a congressional seat.
For Democrats, the prospects are not bright, despite brave assertions by Fairman and other party leaders that establishment figures like Shuster are targets of opportunity in a campaign season fueled by anti-establishment fervor.
The Democratic candidate for Congress will need all the fervor this feverish political year can muster, and then some.
Shuster, if he emerges victorious against Halvorson, should welcome the challenge. It will give him a reason to keep on legislating.
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 grandsalutebook@gmail.com.