As Special Election Draws To A Close, Trump Jr. Campaigns For Saccone
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- With some polls showing Democrat Conor Lamb with a slight lead, Lamb held no public events on his last campaign day and scheduled no media availability.
That brought this retort from Republican Rick Saccone.
"He's Conor the chameleon. He knows he can't dodge it any more. He's been on one side of the issue, on the other side of the issue. We've outed him on most of those issues, so he has nowhere to go, nowhere to hide," Saccone told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Monday.
Saccone was very public Monday, staging a tour of Sarris' candies in Canonsburg with Donald Trump, Jr.
Lamb's last public event was Sunday in Waynesburg with members of the United Mineworkers Union.
"This is a time in our country where many of our most important promises seem to be up for grabs. It's not just the miners. It's all of organized labor. It's the pensions of many of our labor unions. And it's also things like social security and Medicare that apply to every American," Lamb told the audience.
In Canonsburg on Monday, Trump Jr. urged his father's supporters in the 18th district to vote for Saccone on Tuesday.
Delano: "Are you worried that Republicans aren't going to turn out to vote tomorrow?"
Trump: "I guess we'll see. I think they don't realize right now what's at stake. All of the things that they've been winning like tax reform, all of that can go away. It can go away. That's all the other side wants to do."
Saccone says he was feeling good on this last day of campaigning.
Delano: "Last day of the campaign, how are you feeling?"
Saccone: "Feeling great. I'm feeling great. Getting my second wind. All morning I've been with voters. It's been an overwhelmingly positive response from them."
Coming off a packed rally for him by the President on Saturday night, Saccone says he's feeling good even if some polls show him a few points behind.
"I always say I'm a walking poll. I meet thousands of people, and I can see that so many are with us. They know we are about the agenda that they voted in a year and half ago," Saccone said.
That agenda is, of course, the President's agenda.
Trump won this district by nearly twenty points, and if his voters turn out, Saccone should win, too.
But that is hardly a done deal, which is why Trump Jr. joined Saccone on Monday.
"Obviously I'm here campaigning for Rick Saccone in the special election in PA18. It's an important thing to make sure that our people realize that we are supporting this. We want them to turn out," Trump Jr. said.
At Lamb headquarters, volunteers were on the phones calling their supporters to make sure they vote, too.
Saccone re-enforced why voters should back him.
"Cutting spending, cutting taxes, rolling back regulations that are strangling our business, repealing and replacing Obamacare, taking care of our veterans, rebuilding our military, vanquishing ISIS, protecting our unborn children, enhancing our Second Amendment rights," Saccone said.
Saccone says it really comes down to experience to serve in Congress and supporting the President's agenda.
"My opponent would vote against every one of those things. His two biggest accomplishments in life is that he was appointed by Obama and voted for Hillary," he said. "And I'm the person with the experience and the record of doing that. He has no record, come on."
In contrast, says Trump Jr., Lamb is a typical Democrat.
"They get in line. They say whatever they said on the campaign trail. They forget about all that. They tow the line. They follow whatever Chuck Schumer says in the Senate. They follow whatever Nancy Pelosi says in the House, and nothing happens," noted Trump.
One thing is clear.
The national media has descended on Pittsburgh for this election, looking for signs that a Democratic wave in 2018 will sweep Republicans out of Congress and Democrats in.
Delano: "Is this election a referendum on your father's performance in the White House?"
Trump: "No. Not at all. I don't think it is. This is a small, in many respects, a small special election. That's my point. Our guys have to realize that this stuff is going on. This isn't on the forefront of everyone's mind, but they have to realize it because they have to realize that anyone going in there, they're going to do what all the other Democrats have done."
Well, Trump Jr. may not think this is a referendum on his father, but many others do.
And it's the passion of the anti-Trump voter to send a message that has boosted Lamb into a slight lead in a district no Democrat has carried in years.
KDKA did reach out to Lamb multiple times in multiple ways Monday, but his campaign says he preferred to focus on door-to-door campaigning with no public or media events.