Thread by @Pinboard

Last @jessforcongress event of the day is in lovely Lampeter, PA at sunset.

This is the view towards Gettysburg, some 80 miles west, where thousands of Union soldiers died to keep the Confederate flag out of Pennsylvania.

Journalists: you can’t write your think piece on the Mennonite progressive revival until you learn to say Lancaster, Lampeter, Reading and Ephrata.

Tom, a local volunteer, is talking about election night in 2016, a formative event for so many people in this room

Jess opens every event talking about Social Security. Her father died in a plane crash when she was very small, and her mother was left to raise three kids on social security survivors' benefit.

King cites the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology as a pathway to the middle class in Lancaster. Graduates get 50K/year jobs. The college could grow tenfold and still not meet demand.

Jess's ten minute stump speech consists of biography, Biblical values, health care, education, campaign finance reform, and a commitment to taking the 'servant' in 'public servant' literally.
Jess: "I'm so thrilled that it's Friday night and you're..."
Crowd: it's SATURDAY night!

First question: when you get to Washington, how do you handle the people on the other side of the aisle who don't want to collaborate? We had this same question in Dallastown. Jess talks about trying to bridge the distance with Republicans over shared values.

Question: how are you getting people to register and vote? Over 60 interns on the campaign this summer, some too young to vote themselves. Instead of hiring DC consultants, they hire locally. Second congressional campaign to unionize. One intern registers campuses exclusively

In Pennsylvania there are now more voters under 35 than over 65. Getting them to vote will be critical.

Question on guns and gun violence, from a nervous first-time attendee of any political event. Jess compares active shooter drills to her mom's memories of duck-and-cover. We're teaching kids to be afraid to go to school.

A teacher who is a hunter says it's easier to buy a gun than get permission to chaperone an elementary school field trip. The NRA is a corporate lobby, their goal is to sell more guns. They spend more money on the incumbent, Smucker, than on any other member of Congress.

Question on term limits: Jess is strongly for them. Culture of perpetual campaigning, average member of congress spends 30 hours a week fundraising. [personal note: 30 hours a week is nothing!]. Jess also commits to never being a lobbyist

Question on campaign finance: how to you make a change when you're one person elected to a large body controlled so completely by money? Jess: accountability to people and pledging not to take corporate money is important. Most vital is maintaining a connection to community

Question on Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. Jess: eminent domain was used for corporate profit, not public good. Pipeline should not have been built, FERC did not make fair decisions, respect property rights. Same thing is unfolding over power lines in York county

Question on immigration. The issue divides both parties. How do we get to a consensus? Jess: immigration is being used as a political pawn, to divide and conquer with fear. The rhetoric on immigration has been shameful and un-American. Republicans see the benefit of division

(this is the only time Jess mentions Trump). Family is an American value. Separating families is never okay; we need more elected officials pushing back. Lancaster Chamber of Commerce (not the most liberal group) proved that refugees and immigrants contribute more than they get

Reasons that brought Mennonite and Amish refugees here remain the same 400 years later. These are bedrock American values. The legal immigration process takes years to get through. We need a functional immigration system based on our values

Follow-up from same questioner: "we've become captives of jingoism. We've stopped questioning whether something is true. How do we fix it?" Jess sees direct community involvement as a way around the impasse. Get off Facebook and Twitter (hey!)

Jess talks about being inspired at seeing children attend her events, but "we have to make sure our civic discourse is appropriate for children," which is the most devastating indictment of Trump I have heard.

Question: do you have any sense in terms of polling where you stand? No polls, anecdotal evidence and observation is very hopeful. [I would love to see a poll of PA-11]

I attended three of Jess's five town hall events today and need to take about a week off. I have no idea how they do this.