Silence of the Lamb? Not in this election

A funny thing happened in southwestern Pennsylvania this week. A Democrat won. In a district that Donald Trump won by 20 points a little more than a year ago.

And after a couple of visits from the president himself, as well as a parade of GOP heavy hitters.

The message, at least if you believe House Speaker Paul Ryan, was pretty clear. The Wisconsin Republican believes the results in the special election for the 18th District seat in Congress should serve as a “wake-up call” to his party as they face what is increasingly an uphill battle to hold onto their majority in Congress.

But it also just might be a wake-up call for Democrats, a guide to regaining their footing in what was once a dependable blue voting block.

That would be blue collar, middle-class working people.

Those very voters who fell for Trump’s populist allure, who felt their voices no longer were being heard – or much mattered – in Washington, D.C.

Those voters who felt they were shunned by Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ standard bearer in 2016.

Conor Lamb, the Democrat who posted a razor-thin victory over Republican Rick Saccone, is not your normal Democrat. Yes, Republicans are considering a recount and even a legal challenge. It won’t change the bottom line: This was in part a referendum on President Trump and his political clout. Voters rejected it in favor of a Democrat who didn’t always sound like a Democrat.

Even the president’s triedand-true campaign tactic, slapping him with a mocking nickname, didn’t work this time. That’s because “Lamb the Sham” was nothing of the sort.

Republicans tried to paint him as a potential puppet for House Dem boss Nancy Pelosi. In other words, this Lamb would be another sheep in Pelosi’s flock.

But Lamb wasn’t having it. He actually ran against his party’s leadership, noting early in the campaign that he would not support Pelosi for Speaker should the Dems win back the House.

And that’s not all. Lamb didn’t sound like a traditional Democrat on another key issue, either. He’s a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights.

But he also zeroed in on two elements that used to be the Democrats’ bread and butter: union rights and economic fairness. He campaigned against the Republican tax cut plan as being excessively tilted to the wealthy. He focused on health care, which polls said was the No. 1 issue in the district. He railed against expected attacks from Republican leaders in Washington on Social Security and Medicare.

He also eschewed any attacks on those who supported Trump in the district. Instead he extended an invitation to Trump supporters to back him, instead of lashing out.

On the flip side, Saccone spent the final days of his flailing campaign aligning himself with the president, at one point indicating that he’d like to be his “wingman.” It didn’t work out.

Democrats, already licking their chops at what they see as a potential anti-Trump blue wave in November, might use the Lamb campaign as a blueprint to win back those areas that cost them the White House in 2016.

They could use Lamb as a prototype for candidates in conservative-leaning states where they struggled in 2016.

In more moderate districts, especially here in southeastern Pennsylvania, the stunning setback for the GOP likely set off even more alarm bells – and possibly will cause more incumbent Republicans to mull their future and consider getting out, as many have already done.

The hard lesson from Tuesday’s vote for Republicans is that it’s entirely possible that the president won’t be able to save them.

The White House, of course, tried to paint a different picture. They trotted out the argument that Lamb won because he ran a “Trump” campaign.

Democrats counter instead that the results merely show the limits of Trump’s popularity and the growing anti-Trump sentiment among voters.

Ryan in essence told his troops to put the wagons in a circle, that they need to “get to work,” not take anything for granted, and expect a tougherthan-ever battle among Democrats rejuvenated by their huge win in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The silence of the Lamb? Not this guy. His message is being heard all across the country.