Jeff H. Bloodworth: The midterm fight for Pa.’s nostalgists

At its best, politics can prove quite simple. “You’ve got to make it,” John Peace told me, “personal and emotional.” Peace, the campaign trainer for Rural America Rising,…

At its best, politics can prove quite simple. “You’ve got to make it,” John Peace told me, “personal and emotional.” Peace, the campaign trainer for Rural America Rising, added, “You don’t sell the steak, you sell the sizzle.” The sizzle is pricey. In the 2026 midterms, Americans will spend $11.6 billion on ads, door-to-door and get-out-the-vote efforts. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has dropped $42 million on his re-election race.

The sizzle is costly but basic: a promise of a better future, premised upon nostalgia for simpler times.