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Honk for impeachment: Horns blow at rallies across Western Pa.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Honk for impeachment: Horns blow at rallies across Western Pa.

The cacophony of car horns on Washington Road did not signify a spike in evening road-rage events Tuesday in Mt. Lebanon. Rather, it was a display of unity.

The beeping was an audible endorsement of the several hundred sign-carrying people in front of U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s district office, and at times it drowned out the crowd's chants calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The rally -- held in the freezing cold and organized under the nationwide umbrella of "Impeach and Remove" events Tuesday evening -- came on the eve of the House of Representative’s historic vote on impeachment. Mr. Lamb, a moderate Democrat, had been on the fence about how he would vote until last week, when he announced he would favor impeachment.

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"It's always the right time to do the right thing," said 52-year-old Lamb constituent Joe Shaughnessy, "and this is the right thing."

Protesters at an “Impeach and Remove” rally in Tucson, Ariz., on Dec. 17, 2019.
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Though their rallying counterparts across the country echoed general calls for impeachment, this group wanted to specifically thank their congressman and call on others to join him, including those in the Senate, where a trial will be held if the House, as expected, votes to impeach Mr. Trump.

 

Elaine Giarrusso, a retired dentist and activist who organized the Mt. Lebanon rally, noted the diversity of the political leanings of the crowd, and said impeachment was unifying moderates, progressives and some conservatives alike.

The rally was organized before Mr. Lamb announced his support for impeachment, Ms. Giarrusso said, and was intended to be an outlet for constituents to tell Congress that they don't accept allegations that Mr. Trump dangled congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in exchange for a political investigation, then attempting to cover it up.

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At the rally's peak, more than 400 people lined the sidewalks, carrying signs that proclaimed, "Thanks, Conor," and, "Trump is Not Above the Law."

"We wanted to let [Mr. Lamb] and every other congressperson know that there are a lot of people who are very unhappy with the current administration and the things the president has done," Ms. Giarrusso said.

Claiming the president had shown a pattern of disrespecting the law, David Paine, a Mt. Lebanon resident, said he came out in the cold because he wanted to support Mr. Lamb in the face of Republican attacks.

Since Mr. Lamb announced last week that he had seen enough evidence to vote to impeach Mr. Trump, national Republican groups and the Trump re-election campaign have ramped up their efforts to warn Mr. Lamb and other swing district representatives that their pro-impeachment stances will alienate voters and cost them re-election.

President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday Dec. 17, 2019, during a visit with President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala.
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The president's re-election campaign released polling Tuesday that claimed the issue of impeachment is endangering the 30 Democrats holding House seats in districts Mr. Trump carried in 2016 -- including Mr. Lamb in Pennsylvania’s 17th. According to the campaign, a majority of surveyed voters in those districts oppose impeachment.

In a statement, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said the Democrats' electoral chances are in "serious jeopardy' and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has walked her majority caucus "off the plank."

Alexander Wolfe, a 20-year-old Duquesne University student who lives in Upper St. Clair and studies international relations, said he applauds Mr. Lamb for having "political courage" and standing up for the rule of law, even in a district that's purple.

That district, said Allegheny County GOP Chairman Sam DeMarco, will boot Mr. Lamb from office next year.

Coming from a fundraiser for congressional candidate Sean Parnell, who is challenging Mr. Lamb as a Republican, Mr. DeMarco rattled off the economic successes he thinks the Trump administration has triggered, and asked, "Who wants to change that?"

"I believe when most folks go to the polls, they're going to recognize the job that this president has done," Mr. DeMarco said. "They may not be a fan of his style, or everything he says and the way he says it, but I think at the end of the day, this president has delivered on the promises he made."

The Mt. Lebanon rally drew a few Republicans.

Amy Sarkett, a self-proclaimed "conservative Republican" who lives in Upper St. Clair, said she wanted to give Mr. Trump a chance when he won in 2016, but his administration confirmed her worst fears -- that he'd run a corrupt administration.

A frequent Republican voter, Ms. Sarkett remarked that she doesn't know why her party seems beholden to Mr. Trump.

"I'm sad that our country has become this polarized. I’m sad that different sides can look at the same events and see things so differently," Ms. Sarkett said.

Another self-proclaimed Republican voter, Linda Regan of Mt. Lebanon, said Mr. Trump made an activist out of her. She said she's concerned he's trying to undermine a free election by leveraging funds "to a country that's at war."

Those accusations will be at the center of the House's historic vote Wednesday, in which no Republican is expected to vote in favor of impeachment.

Elsewhere in Western Pennsylvania, similar pro-impeachment rallies were held in Downtown Pittsburgh, Beaver County, Greensburg and Washington.

On the steps of the City-County Building, speakers took a more activist approach.

Brenda Tate, a retired city police officer and head of Allegheny County's Black Democratic Caucus, said she will be working to register voters and drive seniors to the polls.

"Our goal is to make every vote count in 2020," Ms. Tate said. "What happened in 2016 cannot happen in 2020."

First Published: December 18, 2019, 2:33 a.m.

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