Rally for Trump-backed Pennsylvania Gov. candidate flops hard after only 60 people show up

[catbyte]

Brad Reed
September 26, 2022



Doug Mastriano, the far-right Trump-backed candidate for Pennsylvania governor, held what was supposed to be a "big rally" in the state capital of Harrisburg.

However, the New York Times reports that the rally was a massive flop after only 60 people showed up.

The Times notes that the rally debacle was just the latest setback to Mastriano's campaign, which has drawn criticism for trying to find support on the right-wing social network Gab that is a haven for bigotry and anti-Semitism.

"[Mastriano] is being heavily outspent by his Democratic rival, has had no television ads on the air since May, has chosen not to interact with the state’s news media in ways that would push his agenda, and trails by double digits in reputable public polling and most private surveys," the paper writes. "There’s no sign of cavalry coming to his aid, either: The Republican Governors Association, which is helping the party’s nominees in Arizona, Michigan and six other states, has no current plans to assist Mr. Mastriano, according to people with knowledge of its deliberations."

snip

Full article

NYT article (paywall)

[Blue Owl]

1. Suck it Donny you hulking loser

[lindysalsagal]

2. Pretty pathetic since it was outdoors and free......

I really don't understand why these evangelicals think they have any chance, at all. Unless they believe the PA house and senate will cave and just insert him.

[Ray Bruns]

3. Because they think they talk to gawd and gawd told them

They would save America from the evil socialists

[vlyons]

18. They believe their invisible sky god can wave his magic wand, and

change the laws of physics, make spaced time flow backwards, etc.

[DBoon]

57. ... or make republican votes magically appear ...

when no republican voters actually cast these votes

[ZonkerHarris]

30. They are counting on cheating to win

[Hortensis]

51. But the Orange Jesus wasn't there. nt

[blue neen]

4. Mastriano is reaping what he sows.

It couldn't happen to a bigger jerk.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

24. True. Also not paying the media via ads and not paying hem with interviews and sound items other

than the crazy kind.

Play with the media or die!

Or if you can’t play with the Media because you smell even worse than Trump Pigpen, then u die also!

Pay and Play, is way of the political ad thirsty Media.

[crickets]

5. Good. Mastriano is a nutbar. nt

[Wounded Bear]

6. Pretty bad when the media outnumbers the "fans"...

What's he gonna do? He calls in trump, who spends 2 hours whining about his problems and says 10 words about Mastriano.

Tough to be a repub these days in some places.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Perhaps There's A Lesson There's To The Media

Pool resources! If more people are covering him than care to show up for a candidate's rally, maybe theres too many people covering the event.

[calimary]

19. Ya think???

Well, having worked in that arena, my first thought was - sheesh - what a waste of resources, sending camera crews out to cover an "event" that pathetic a visible and provable failure.

But on second thought - maybe THAT'S the story.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. It May Be The Actual Story...

...but it still only took one person to cover it!

[durablend]

7. Step on the gas and floor it, Josh

Leave this loser covered in skidmarks

[Demovictory9]

9. Lol 😀

[Deminpenn]

53. Don't worry, Shapiro is taking

Mastriano very seriously.

[Zambero]

8. The best fascist events

are the ones where no one shows up. This one was extremely "successful".

[peggysue2]

11. Mastriano doesn't deserve even 60 participants

Reportedly, good ole Doug has been bellyaching that he hasn't had the support of GOP leadership nor any backup from the Governor's Association. Why? Because the man is a total embarrassment, saying the things that many Republicans may approve but know are not palatable to the majority of the electorate.

Mastriano cannot help himself. He says the cray-cray out loud while pounding his chest and promising the fringe results that Qanon and serious theocrats want to hear. He'll bring The Storm, The Reckoning, The Real America back for 'real' Americans.

He deserves to be crushed like a bug!

[calimary]

21. Evidently, other Repubs smell loser stench, and don't want to risk getting any of it on them.

It's unfortunate when you're a failing political candidate. Awfully hard to find friends.

[peggysue2]

25. Exactly right!

That Loser BO is pretty potent.

[Cha]

31. Mahalo, PeggySue, for that little synopsis

on why the Fascist Freak Mastriano "Needs to be Crushed like a Bug"!

GOTV Josh Shapiro!

[peggysue2]

33. Hey, Cha!

Hope everything's going well in your corner of Paradise.

As for Pennsylvania? Things are looking very positive and Dems are united throughout the state. Shapiro and Fetterman have linked arms in solidarity. Read an article yesterday that both men are playing off the other's strengths, despite being very different political contenders. And all John's Fetterman's primary opponents? They're all out there supporting and talking up our Democratic slate.

Don't want to get cocky but I'm feeling pretty damn good about our prospects.

Take care and great to hear from you.

[Cha]

38. Thank You for More news on PA &

the Dems being United who are running there!

United.. that's the way it should be.. none of this Egocentric More "whatever" than thou crap!

Staying Strong Focusing on A Democratic WIN Blue Wave in November!🤞🤷‍♂️🤞

[Mr.Bill]

48. These are probably the same people that would show up

in similar numbers to look at a car accident.

[peggysue2]

50. LOL!!

Says it all, Mr. Bill.

[Tommymac]

12. Very cool...but...we cannot rest easy in PA. We must continue to GOTV for Josh like we are losing.

And until we win, we ARE losing.

GOTV is the only way we can insure a MASSIVE voter Turnout in November.

The QOP GerryManders and social manipulations and lies can be stopped, but only by hard work and a huge turnout.

Don't stop now.

[dchill]

16. Absolutely!

[patphil]

13. Over 6.8 million people voted in Pennsylvania in 2020.

Last edited Mon Sep 26, 2022, 05:03 PM - Edit history (1)

Biden won by a little over 1 %. Trump got 3,377,674 votes, and Mastriano gets 60 people at his rally.
Fetterman's going to win by 700-800 thousand votes!

That's not a win, not even a rout, it's a bloody massacre! Maybe next time the Republicans will think before they select a candidate.
Personally, I hope they don't.
Oops, Shapiro is running for governor; Fetterman is kicking Oz ass in Pennsylvania for the Senate.
No matter, they're both going to win big.
Sorry, I'm not from PA, or New Jersey, so what do I know?

[Demsrule86]

47. That is not true. He won by a bit more than 2%. He beat an incumbent which is huge...only

done 4 times counting Trump in 100 years.

[patphil]

56. Biden got 50.01%. Trump got 48.84%. That's a 1.17% difference.

The margin of victory for Biden was 80,555 votes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Pennsylvania

https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/pennsylvania/

I stand by my original statement.

The point I was trying to make was that Biden got a narrow win in PA, but now, 2 years later, Democrats are ahead by huge numbers in 2 big races in the state. It shows how much things have changed in just 2 years...2 years of competent leadership in the White House, and really bad far-right Trump humping candidates.

[tishaLA]

14. If only he lived in AZ

He and Kari could duke it out.

[liberalla]

15. This makes me happy!

[dchill]

17. This "no talking to the press" thing is really paying off!

Keep up the good work, Doug!

I mean that sincerely.

[speak easy]

20. That's a pit stop rally. There's no signage, no flag, no mic.

[Cha]

22. This Good News! GOTV for Josh

Shapiro, PA!

[Ford_Prefect]

23. My guess is they had something better to do on a sunny afternoon...Wouldn't you?

[Brainfodder]

27. Nice to see sucking this bad not be rewarded, eh?

MORE OF THIS PLEASE EVERY DAY!

I want TFG to have trouble selling lunch with him for $20, besides that is a bit much for prison food?

[Pinback]

28. Did they check the local landscaping companies?

Maybe a bunch of his fans showed up there.

[peggysue2]

34. LOL!!

Yeah, Big Doug needs to give Rudy G. a call. That will definitely turn it around.

[chriscan64]

44. Four Seasons, my second favorite story from 2020 to Trump losing.

It still has not been explained. My guess is that Rudy told Trump the press conference would be at the Four Seasons, then checked his wallet. Upon finding nothing, he got out the Yellow Pages and went with the first business named Four Seasons he could find.

[Pinback]

45. I still want the Lego set!

https://uproxx.com/viral/four-seasons-landscaping-lego-rudy-giuliani-photos/


All the networks!!

[nattyice]

29. Oh well.

[mountain grammy]

32. Thank goodness

This is a beautiful sight.

[Deminpenn]

35. Matriano's strategy is to preach to the choir

hoping they all turn out to vote for him, but his voters are a minority.

I live in a red western PA county and a red municipality within it. I have seen exactly 1 Mastriano sign while out driving and I know there are Trump voters along route because of the yard signs they had out in 2020. The house with the Mastriano sign is a household of fundamentalist christians from the sighting of kids' graduation signs from the local christian school.

[Brainfodder]

37. A possible sign that the CHOIR is starting to get a little deaf from the banging the drums so hard?

Somehow they made this another ELECTION for the ages!?!

I have to have good feels for this one, caz a Rep takeover is a disaster for all but the rich, same as always?

Reagan, I was too young, and he seemed real OLD, and now Joe Biden, I am older, and he doesn't seem quite as old?

[Deminpenn]

49. The people who support Mastrisno are

true believers.

Of course yard signs don't tell the story and there aren't all that many anyway, but I am surprised by the lack of any yard signs around here for R candidates.

[Brainfodder]

54. I take that as good sign, backing off, TFG royally fucked up: ESPIONAGE a bridge too far finally...

Takes ESPIONAGE.... and I recall being told 10x worse than you know, ok ESPIONAGE kinda fit that bill.

I am expecting the PDF file to disseminate just TFG federal charges to be YUGE!

Files so big, they can't afford to disseminate them as paper copy, except to the archives?

His paranoia of electronic media is all I can think of for doing ream boxes, 42, good grief dumb dumbs.

Claiming 42 boxes from archives is NOTHING, or NYOB, also poppycock.

We sick of poppycock, please make go away.

This has to be mob activity, and just the real mob word, not short for anything... because that mob would not be fucking this up this badly without a trail of dead gangsters, if you look carefully, does TFG have that trail, I guess start with his pal Jeffrey?

[durablend]

55. He's hoping his legal imp

Jenna Ellis can sue to get all the Democrat(ic) ballots thrown out so he wins by default.

[lame54]

36. 200,000 in Trump math

[BumRushDaShow]

40. LOL

And Harrisburg is not that far from Mastriano's own PA Senatorial District just west of there.

Huffington Post was rough...

A Small, Cruel Rally For Doug Mastriano

A poor turnout at Saturday’s extremist-laden campaign event could be an indicator the far-right candidate for Pennsylvania governor is losing steam.


By Christopher Mathias Sep 25, 2022, 12:42 PM EDT | Updated 8 hours ago

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Michael Daino smiled as he unloaded folding chairs from a car and lugged them up the Pennsylvania capitol building steps. “One of the sharks!” he said when I told him I was a journalist. “Circling the waters looking for bait.” The activist from Delaware County was excited. He’d met Doug Mastriano at a 2020 COVID denial rally ― a “reopen” rally, he called it — in the early days of the pandemic, when Mastriano was just a state senator. Now, two years later, Daino was organizing this get-out-the-vote event on Saturday for Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor. How far they’d come together. Up to 2,000 people were expected here.

Mastriano had posted a video urging folks to come to the “big rally.” He was going to give a speech. But only 50 or so people turned up to hear Mastriano speak. An embarrassing showing. (“This was in my neighborhood and I didn’t notice,” one nearby resident tweeted. “Tremendously low energy.”) Daino told me the event must’ve been suppressed by tech companies, blaming Facebook for “shadowbanning” the event page ― a common gripe among the MAGA faithful.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the rally was such a bust. Maybe Mastriano didn’t advertise it enough? Or his hostility to the media meant little publicity? Or maybe his supporters were more interested in the Jan. 6 Truth Rally down in D.C.? Or just wanted to watch the Penn State game? Or maybe Mastriano’s campaign, six weeks before the election, is losing steam.

What is clear is that the event once again demonstrated what an extreme figure Mastriano is; and how he and his supporters are animated by a cruel set of grievances ― against democracy, immigrants, trans people and the media ― that make his candidacy one of the biggest emergencies in American politics.

(snip)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doug-mastriano-rally-harrisburg-pathetic-extreme_n_63306367e4b0e2478903fa4f

Link to tweet

Christopher Mathias
·
Sep 24, 2022
@letsgomathias
·
Follow
Replying to @letsgomathias
People slowly trickling in. A contingent here wearing South Central Pennsylvania Patriots patches with III Percenters symbol I think

Some merchandise for sale
Image
Christopher Mathias
@letsgomathias
·
Follow
Well so far this Mastriano rally is a total bust. Organized just blamed it on being “shadow banned on Facebook”
11:58 AM · Sep 24, 2022

[The Jungle 1]

41. matriano is antisemitic and not fit for office

Haaretz | Jewish World
Far-Right GOP Candidate Mastriano Uses Antisemitic Tropes Against His Jewish Opponent
The Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate, known for his ties to antisemites and white supremacists, is running against State Attorney General Josh Shapiro in an increasingly heated campaign
https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2022-09-15/ty-article/.premium/far-right-gop-candidate-mastriano-uses-antisemitic-tropes-against-his-jewish-opponent/00000183-416a-d83c-a39b-f56ee8ed0000

[FakeNoose]

42. The Republican Governors' Association (RGA) doesn't fund lost causes

From Raw Story:

The Times writes that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, the RGA's co-chairman, hinted earlier this year that Mastriano might be a "lost cause" unworthy of receiving a major injection of funds.

“We don’t fund lost causes and we don’t fund landslides,” he explained after being asked about Mastriano. “You have to show us something, you have to demonstrate that you can move numbers and you can raise resources.”

One wonders how Mastriano won the PA primary, since he never had any backing or support from Chump?

[BumRushDaShow]

43. He actually got a last minute 45 endorsement

3 days before the primary!

Inside the last-minute Trump endorsement that enraged Pa. Republicans



By Meridith McGraw and Holly Otterbein

05/18/2022 05:50 PM EDT

Updated: 05/18/2022 08:05 PM EDT

Donald Trump and some of his top lieutenants spent the last year privately disparaging Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano. The far-right lawmaker played an instrumental role pushing forward Trump’s conspiracies about the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania. There was no soldier more loyal to the cause. And like almost every aspiring Republican candidate in the state, Mastriano was eager to win Trump’s endorsement.

Yet Trump — who scrutinizes candidates for their presentation and star power — remained unconvinced. Mastriano’s loyalty alone wasn’t enough to earn his support. Trump wanted more concrete action.

Trump was skeptical of Mastriano, according to a source familiar with his thinking, because he had “done nothing on the audit promises in a year,” a reference to an investigation of the 2020 election that he pushed in the state.

But on the Friday before Pennsylvania’s primary, with Mastriano ahead in the polls and ensconced as the clear favorite in the primary for governor, Trump changed his mind. He called up the state lawmaker and delivered the news he would endorse him, according to a person familiar with the conversation. A day later, Trump issued a statement announcing the nod.

(snip)

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/18/trump-endorsement-mastriano-pa-republicans-00033573

Of course the GOP establishment threw their support behind Lou Barletta, and bringing up the rear, Bill McSwain, who some thought may have been a harder one to beat, came in 3rd.

[Deminpenn]

52. Closed primary

and a large primary field. Saner Rs tried to consolidate behind Barletta but it was too late.

[MagickMuffin]

46. Ya mean ken Paxton isn't butting into Pennsylvanias election?

Does he have a fever or something?

[PatrickforB]

58. Good.

[3catwoman3]

59. May there be a similar turnout...

…for him at the polls.

[twodogsbarking]

60. Sixty may be a gross overestimate.

Twenty maybe.

[SouthernDem4ever]

61. Any trumpers left in PA

are probably being paid to follow the orange buffoon around and stand behind him at rallies.