Why I Voted for Conor Lamb

 

There are three good choices for Senate on the Democratic ballot. While I haven’t been active politically the last few years I have kept an eye on what’s going on. Not a close eye, mind you, but an eye. This post will not debate the qualifications of all three or compare them; you should do your own work on that. I’m just sharing why I decided to vote for Congressman Conor Lamb. [congressional site: lamb.house.gov ; campaign site: www.conorlamb.com]

I looked at websites, read some articles, and attended a Lamb event. I was trying to decide between Lamb and another candidate. There were a few things that pushed me towards Lamb. Here they are:

He’s a veteran. This isn’t the sole reason I vote for a candidate, and I don’t vote for every vet solely for that reason. But PA does have a high percentage of veterans, and military service forces people to work together even if they have significant differences; handy experience in elected office. If I’m deciding between two candidates and one is a veteran that person gets extra point in my book. Not every person in the service sees active duty in a war zone, but every person in uniform could, and they know it. On any given day any one of them could be given orders to go anywhere. It isn’t the only way to demonstrate patriotism or serve your country, but it is one way. I haven’t been in the military, though many of my relatives have, and it is something I respect.

He is pragmatic. This isn’t a popular word right now, so this isn’t a quality a lot of people would look for, but it is one I value. You work for things you can get done, and play a strategic, sometimes long game, on others, keeping an eye open for opportunities. But day to day you look for things you can get done. When I heard him speak he mentioned about raising the wage cap on Social Security deductions. For those who don’t know, there is a dollar wage limit on how much of your salary is taxed for Social Security. Raising that limit would help solve any long-term issues with Social Security funding.  I don’t think he brought this up but I’m mentioning it here – paying people with stock options means Social Security taxes aren’t deducted, because that isn’t a wage. (see this site for an explanation of this https://www.thebalance.com/taxation-of-employee-stock-options-2388965)

He has experience in federal government; I think that tends to help. It isn’t a necessity and I have definitely supported candidates who didn’t have this experience, but, for me, it is usually a plus. He's currently serving in the US House, in a district that often votes Republican. Being able to pull in R votes is another plus. Some people split their votes; let's give them a reason to do that.

Some of the things he discussed are adding vision, dental, and hearing aid coverage in Medicare (blogger’s note, for a list of things Medicare doesn’t cover see this site, note that insulin, other than an insulin pump, is listed: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage?coverage_search=dental). I think these things are priorities as well. You focus on the issues that can bring the largest number of people together to get something passed. I admire passion and ideological purity but you can only pass what you can get the votes for.

He supports things that are important to me – voting rights and women’s bodily autonomy.

This last thought is most decidedly an old-fashioned one these days. He practices civil discourse. He doesn’t seem to engage in name calling or smack downs. I imagine things get livelier in a general election, but when he was asked about his primary opponents, he pointed out differences in a straightforward but polite manner.

So, there you have it. That’s why I voted for Conor Lamb. [Full disclosure I also donated a small amount to his campaign.] You may decide differently. I can easily support any of the candidates in the general election.