BTRTN: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing -- Mike Lawler (R-NY17) Holds a Town Hall
Born To Run The Numbers reprises an article reporting on a town hall held by Mike Lawler, Republican incumbent in New York's 17th, a crucial Congressional swing district. BTRTN reveals Lawler to be "a wolf in sheep's clothing" -- a charlatan who hides Trumpian beliefs behind a veil of moderate-speak. Pass this link on to friends in NY-17 -- electing Democrat Mondaire Jones would flip a key race.
https://borntorunthenumbers.com/2024/10/08/btrtn-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-mike-lawler-r-ny17-holds-a-town-hall/
Excerpts: "Lawler came to my town for a Q&A session a few days ago ... Over the next 100 minutes, Lawler proceeded to put on a wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing performance to an audience that appeared to be largely leaning left – and was not buying his act. It was perhaps a typical performance for a swing district representative, but highly unusual to watch in our polarized times. He generally avoided any of the FOX News red meat that enrages the left, occasionally rebuked the worst of his GOP colleagues, and just as occasionally praised President Biden. But he quite often spoke in unmistakable GOP code, using party line bullet points. He smoothly bobbed and weaved by adopting an approach in which he rarely detailed his own views, except when pressed (hard), instead summarizing the positions of both sides and cluck-clucking about the need for compromise. On the harder issues, he would consistently “pivot” to frame them on terms with which he was comfortable. At times he cut off persistent questioners and talked over objections from the crowd, always seeking safer terrain and eliding over obvious logic (and data) gaps in his thought process.
"Our swing district mirrors our polarized country. On issues like the gun control, reproductive health rights and climate change, the district surely reflects what every national survey shows: that the vast majority of Americans are aligned with the Democratic Party in seeking to limit access to guns that enable mass killings, guarantee the right to make decisions over one’s own body, and enact legislation that will accelerate decarbonization. Lawler is not fighting for any of those things, although he pays lip service to them... At the end of the day, we who reside in NY-17 deserve representation that will fight for our majority views on these issues."