Charles McElwee, founding editor of RealClear Pennsylvania, wrote Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris' pro-abortion, anti-Catholic stance could jeopardize her chances of winning in northeastern Pennsylvania.
President Joe Biden grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is “home to Irish Catholic families” and has “one of the highest concentrations of white Catholics,” McElwee said. spoke. I wrote in politiko.
McElwee said Biden's ties and cultural roots contributed to his strong performance in Lackawanna County, which is increasingly Republican.
By contrast, Ms. Harris does not have the same ties to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area that Mr. Biden does.
It's not just the loss of Biden, an older white Catholic man with working-class affiliations, as a front-runner that worries local Democrats. That's a cultural dissonance with Harris, a Californian and woman of color who has led the party's posts.Dobbs Abortion message. That profile makes her a poor fit in the heavily policed, economically distressed working-class neighborhood that has historically been a stronghold of anti-abortion activism.
Biden is not that popular here. But as a natural son, Biden is viewed through a nostalgic lens. To many in once-strong Democratic areas, he embodies an older generation of the party with close ties to organized labor and a focus on economic issues. Mr. Biden moved to Delaware as a child but maintained close ties to his native city, where he was seen as a protective force against the progressive wing of the National Party.
Harris' political agenda to win support in this part of the Keystone State is not limited to abortion. She also denounced Catholic judicial officials during her time in the Senate because she was a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.
“We don't have a Catholic connection to Harris. We don't have a local connection to Harris,” said Phil Condron, an advertising executive and Scranton native.
He added: “Therefore, there is no reason to believe that she can come close to the numbers that Biden got the last time he ran.”
Harris also reportedly refused to attend a Catholic and Al Smith fundraising dinner, a first for a presidential candidate. skipped Historic dinner since 1984.
“There are so many Democrats here because they grew up Democrats and they still register as Democrats, but they're more “Because they vote Republican.” There are still people who grew up Catholic and say they are Catholic, but perhaps haven't gone to church in years or raised their families in the Catholic tradition. ”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter at Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
