washington i was talking to a gentleman on the streets and still registered democrat, life-long democrat, voting for donald trump in november 2016. he said he is voting for rick saccone and five-generation family of steel in this very district at the same time you should note that conor lamb is similarly suggesting he backs the tariff and united steel workers union that backed conor lamb in this race. the democrat. and had rally for him in pittsburgh two nights ago. both are taking the high road along side the president knowing there is about 18,000 steel workers and their family members in this district alone. all right. thanks for that. let s talk about the national implications. i know you wrote a piece where you looked at this. obviously the president touted the fact he won this district by 20 plus points. but in some ways this is now seen as national referendum on his policies and could be a signal going into mid terms later on this year. what are the implications of it if in
same script? that challenge that we have had certainly since 2016 but even back before that. but i also look at how in the governor race in virginia you have the governor sort of not embracing the removal of confederate statutes at that time because he was, you know, campaigning very specific for his state. i that i that s one of the things we have to pay attention to. number one, do we national the raises so much, thinking of georgia, do we nationalize the races so much that folks in the district feel there is all th happening in their homes. i this i conor lamb has been doing good about doing that balance and walking that line. so the hope is that you know should he win, and i hope he does and i think he will, that we can start to use his leadership to bring his constituent to where we need them to be on gun control. john, let me ask you quickly before we let the panel go here,
labor activist now democrats who are trump voters in 2016 are now coming home to conor lamb in part at least because of some of the anti-labor votes that rick saccone made in anti-laborcy appleably. i want to ask you about what president said yesterday about his tariff plan. take a listen to this. your steel is coming back. your steel is coming back. those plants are going to be opening. what we have done with 25% tariffs for those guys that come in and dump their steel all over the place and by the way, it s not good steel. you guys know what i mean. it s crap. but your steel is coming back. all coming back. von, so much much issue is the steel debate, tariffs and what have you, weighing in on the minds of vote rs out thers you think? exactly. we re in coal country right now. just over this morning in washington, which is about half hour south of pittsburgh and
7% block who are undecided in this race. it has come down to personality and to policy. and in large part due to weakness for one, conor lamb is the strong person casting democrat but a lot of weakness on the part of rick saccone. who has been a reliable conservative vote in pennsylvania state legislature for about 3 1/2 terms now. what was interesting is tim murphy, republican congressman who held the seat previously, one of the reasons he withas successful is he builds bridges to organize labor and is strong on that part of the district. saccone while a member of the pennsylvania house cast toxic anti-labor votes. talking to people on the ground there that cost him support. there is a republican state senator out knocking doors out there i m told not too long ago. these super voters who answered the door said i m voting for you but not for rick saccone. an conversely now sort of these labor voters from these
worked faux for 37 years in the coal mines and he said the issue driving him is miner s pension benefits and he said he is looking for somebody in congress to fight for them. he said he believes well donald trump he voted for him just two years ago and he still has faith in donald trump. he believes that conor lamb is the best candidate in this particular race to look after the likes of coal miners and communities like this. there is more than 80,000 union workers here in this district. you talk to voters and some they say were voting for conor lamb because he is a fresh face. others say they are are voting for rick saccone because he is going to back the trump agenda. a lot with these voters that i think should be taken into account. i do want to mention that we tried to ask conor lamb it respond to what the president said last night which you heard the plethora of there and he turned his shoulder to us and got in the car. i asked, how will you work with donald trump and there is a qu