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Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 242 ~ 27 of 46
the district to ll airwaves and social media with depictions of the rst-time candidate as little more than a lemming for Nancy Pelosi — the California Democrat, House minority leader and GOP punching bag.
Seemingly embracing the attacks, Lamb cut an ad calling it all “a big lie” since he’d already declared he wouldn’t support Pelosi as oor leader, much less a return to the speaker’s rostrum. He’s added his op- position to major new gun restrictions — though he backs expanded background checks — and declared himself personally opposed to abortion, despite his support for its legality.
Lamb mostly avoids Trump, who remains generally popular in the district, even if slightly diminished from his Election Day dominance.
He adds those tacks to Democratic Party orthodoxy on the new GOP tax law, hammering it as a giveaway to corporations at the certain future expense of Social Security, Medicare and the nation’s scal security. And he embraces unions, highlighting Saccone’s anti-labor record at the statehouse — a noticeable devia- tion from Murphy’s status as a union-friendly Republican. The AFL-CIO counts 87,000 votes from union households — around a fth of the electorate.
Lamb’s campaign has inspired Democrats’ core supporters. “I was really down after the presidential election, but Conor has me totally enthusiastic again,” said Patricia Bancroft, 62, as she took a break from working the phones at a Lamb campaign of ce Monday afternoon.
Over the weekend, Lamb celebrated an endorsement from the United Mine Workers, a union that sat out the 2016 election rather than endorse Trump or Hillary Clinton.
The Democrat’s efforts also have been effective enough to frustrate and even spook Republicans.
Dan Greene, a GOP committeeman in Westmoreland County, groused Monday about Lamb distinguish- ing himself from his party on guns and, less so, on abortion. “What has he done to prove that?” Greene questioned. “Rick Saccone has walked the walk.”
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, at one point deviated from its Pelosi-bashing scripts to send Democratic voters mailers praising Lamb for opposing new gun restrictions. It was part of the fund’s $3.5 million investment in the race, about a third of the total that outside GOP forces have injected.
Trump, begrudgingly admiring of Lamb’s tactics, added his own warning Saturday. “The people of Pitts- burgh,” he declared, “cannot be conned by this guy Lamb.”
As for Saccone, he plans to be a congressman, not a punchline.
“I’m ready,” he said.
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Levy reported from Waynesburg. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this
report. Follow Barrow and Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarowAP and https://twitter.com/ timelywriter .
Military bases unprepared for childhood sex assault By The Associated Press
When the children of U.S. service members sexually assault one another on a military base there often is no justice.
That’s because federal law governs civilians on many U.S. military installations, and federal prosecutors have little interest in pursuing juvenile sex assault cases. As a result, both victims seeking closure and young offenders needing treatment often receive neither, an Associated Press investigation found.
One solution, known as “retrocession,” offers some hope.
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WHAT IS THAT?
It’s a legal process in which the Pentagon and a state’s governor or legislature transfer jurisdiction over
juvenile cases that occur on base to local authorities, who have the resources and experience to counsel victims and rehabilitate, or punish, young offenders.
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